Ashayer, a popular Equinox trainer, has become the face of one of the world’s most recognizable fitness programs at a time when consumers are choosing honesty over hype
When Waz Ashayer laughs, it’s boisterous, infectious and liable to break in mid-sentence. It appears as effortlessly in conversation as his candor about overcoming adversity and addiction.
“I don’t take myself seriously,” the P90X Generation Next lead trainer and former model told Athletech News. “But I take my work very seriously.”
That mindset is part of why Ashayer’s arrival signals a new evolution for one of the most recognizable home fitness programs ever created, launching Tuesday from BODi, formerly Beachbody, right as consumers are drinking less, spending more on their health and wellness and seeking something genuine.
For Ashayer, openness is a lived experience. He will mark 10 years of sobriety this August, following a period spent working in nightlife, a setting that led him to addiction.
“I just didn’t want to wake up,” he tells ATN, recalling his lowest point. He has also spoken publicly about his journey in a clip on Instagram.
But fitness, which had been part of his life since his teens — he became a certified personal trainer at 17 — ultimately replaced chaos with structure.
Before stepping into the role with BODi, Ashayer built his reputation in some of the most competitive corners of the fitness world. His career took shape at BXR, the elite boxing gym concept in London, where he taught classes before being scouted by Equinox in 2019.
What began as a handful of classes quickly escalated. Equinox soon asked Ashayer to go exclusive, tapping him not only to teach but also to help manage group fitness programming.
The Equinox educator who flew in from the U.S. to train instructors in London (and who observed Ashayer’s demo class early on) is now a senior executive at BODi. After watching him instruct, Ashayer said, the feedback was blunt: “I don’t know who you are or whatever, but you’re going to be massive.”
His profile expanded further in 2023, when he appeared as a fitness expert on the BBC reality series “Go Hard or Go Home.”
Even now, Ashayer maintains a presence inside Equinox, teaching seasonally in the Hamptons and rotating through New York City clubs.
That emphasis on commitment carries through P90X Generation Next, a 90-day program structured around seven days a week of 30 to 45-minute workouts that blend strength training, cardio and recovery. The system requires dumbbells, an adjustable workout bench and a foam roller.
“There is no prerequisite to this apart from one thing,” Ashayer said. “And that is that you are willing to commit to your own journey for 90 days.”
The program is structured around P90X-Factor, which consists of metabolic overload training, neuro-performance training and active recovery training. BODi says participants in a controlled 90-day test group lost an average of 18.2 pounds and 14.1 inches from their waistlines. One male participant lost 41.5 pounds and 22.7 inches, while one female participant lost 32.6 pounds and 40.5 inches in a single round of the program.
“Whatever you’re doing in fitness, it has to be measurable and it has to be quantifiable,” Ashayer said. “I think a lot of stuff out there goes off feeling. You always remember the way the instructor makes you feel. But people want more these days. People that are serious about results want data-driven outcomes.”
In return, Generation Next participants are meant to gain more than physical change.
“It shows up mentally,” Ashayer said. “It shows up in discipline, it shows up in your physical appearance. It shows up in many different ways.”
The launch comes as BODi is focusing on its own recalibration. After helping define the at-home fitness category for decades under its old Beachbody name, the company has spent the last few years navigating a post-pandemic market crowded with digital competitors, renewed interest in gyms and studios and a lot of noise.
“I feel sorry for the consumer,” Ashayer said. “Because I feel like the consumer doesn’t know whether they’re being sold something, or whether they’re being told something.”
But he keeps returning to the same idea: showing up, day after day and doing the work.
“You need to know what your why is before you step in the arena,” he said. “Because 90 days is three months. Who’s doing something for three months unless they really want to?”
Alongside studio work, Ashayer has experimented with large-scale, in-person pop-up fitness experiences staged in unconventional locations, including Radio Park, the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum and Rockefeller Center Ice Rink — which could hint at what’s to come for P90X.
“The dream is to get this out to America and tour around,” Ashayer said. “But let’s get people doing it first, and hopefully they like me.”
Access to P90X Generation Next comes via BODi’s digital platform, with a $9.99-per-month subscription that also includes the full P90X catalog of 145 workouts. A higher tier, priced at $19.99 per month or $179 annually, provides access to BODi’s wider library of more than 8,000 workouts across 140-plus programs.
“I’m forever amazed by the power of fitness,” Ashayer said. “How that changes somebody’s outlook, how that changes somebody’s life. I’ll always be in awe of that power and use it responsibly.”
The new program is accompanied by a line of P90X supplements and nutrition products that will launch next month and several brand partners, including premium activewear brand ASRV, fitness equipment brand Core Home Fitness, recovery tech brand Hyperice and activewear giant Reebok.
