How FitOn Is Using Digital Content To Solve the Nation’s Health Crisis

FitOn is using the ubiquity of smartphones for good, helping 15 million members get healthier with engaging fitness and wellness content streamed to their mobile devices

These days, it’s impossible to find someone without a phone or smart device glued to their hands. However, along with the popularization of digital tools, obesity and diabetes rates are soaring in the United States. 

FitOn, one of the world’s biggest digital fitness platforms, was born to solve the nation’s health crisis with tech. 

While working as an executive at Fitbit, Lindsay Cook, co-founder and CEO of FitOn, realized that even with all the new-age tech at our disposal, the world’s commitment to fitness wasn’t quite cutting it. The tools were there, but they had yet to be applied to health and wellness.

Cook partnered with co-founder Russell Cook to launch FitOn and begin closing the gap between health and technology.

“I realized there was a huge opportunity to democratize fitness for the masses which isn’t possible when selling hardware or fitness equipment,” said Cook. “Our focus has been leveraging the ubiquity of the smartphone to provide every single person with a gym in their pocket.”

“I wanted to give us all a reason to stop putting ourselves last on the to-do list,” she added. “I understood that not everyone can afford an expensive piece of fitness equipment or personal trainers, but that they do have smartphones and gyms down the street.”

Engagement Comes in Many Forms 

While FitOn isn’t the only digital fitness solution out there, the brand stands alone in the way it approaches member retention and engagement to keep people motivated to continue on their fitness and wellness journeys.

FitOn accomplishes this via a hybrid solution, reaching 15 million members per week in different ways. The brand offers a wide range of digital and in-person experiences. Along with traditional fitness offerings, FitOn features mental health resources, nutrition, rehab classes and chronic health condition management support systems, just to name a few.

“We flipped the industry on its head by really focusing on engagement and retention,” said Cook. “We want to provide fitness to everyone in a fun and engaging way that keeps them coming back.”

For FitOn, that means offering a range of content spanning different fitness and wellness modalities, with the idea that there’s something for everyone.

“Living a healthy life can mean many things to different people and we’re invested in supporting all parts of your wellness journey,” added Cook. “One person might love FitOn because they can exercise with their favorite celebrity. Another might have a knee injury and be looking for guidance on stretching best practices. Maybe someone wants to focus on healthy eating but has no idea where to start. It’s all in one platform with FitOn. You can try a new smoothie recipe, do a 30-min ab workout, and recover with a stretching class.”

FitOn’s social component also helps drive retention and engagement. The software allows you to work out with friends, conduct workout challenges and programs together and receive notifications when your friends workout, along with several other features designed to create positive peer pressure. 

“FitOn continues to outpace popular fitness apps and platforms by simply creating a better product and making it more accessible,” said Cook. “You don’t need expensive hardware or equipment to participate.” 

A Powerful Tool for Gyms & Studios

With FitOn Health, FitOn’s corporate wellness solution, employees get access to digital content but also in-person experiences. This gives gyms and studios access to millions of potential members already using FitOn content.

FitOn Health participants can also personalize their fitness journeys to reach their specific goals. The program considers an employee’s regions, cultures, language and more to tailor a plan to their needs. It also features materials online and offline to reach people of all ages in all ways. Different brands can customize offerings like company-subsidized snacks and other healthy food options, pre-meeting meditation and stretches, discounted local gym packages and much more. 

This establishes FitOn as a suitable tool for anyone, no matter where or how they like to break a sweat. FitOn Health partners include a number of major health plans and top employers. 

The Road to 100 Million

FitOn wants to stay committed to its holistic approach to fitness, driving engagement and retention for the foreseeable future. Its focus going forward is fleshing out and further expanding the already existing offerings, primarily the platform’s social element. 

“There’s a couple key areas we’re really going to focus on for the rest of the year,” said Cook. “One is continuing to build on the social experience as the positive social encouragement of our users is one of the reasons people love FitOn today. We’re finding new ways that you can continue to work out and interact with your friends and coworkers on the platform.”

But even without anything totally new coming down the pipeline, FitOn maintains an ambitious look at the future. 

“We are already at 15 million members but our goal is to get to over 100 million members working out on FitOn each week,” said Cook. “We’re just getting started and strongly believe the future of healthcare and fitness is preventative care.”

Sign up for FitOn here, or learn more about FitOn Health here.