Turbocharging the Fitness Tech Industry with Your Fitness Coach (YFC)

An Integrated Platform

A platform created to benefit the entire fitness industry, Du Plessis explains that with YFC, not only does the app user gain a good deal, but even the studios and the gyms benefit as well. He adds, “We wanted to create a mutually beneficial platform where everyone including industry fitness leaders, fitness wear companies, and more, are winning from our completely holistic platform. The application touches all the little points in the industry.” The ease and simplicity underpinning the app was imperative and as simple as click and connect to the wearable an individual is already wearing. “There is a seamless integration with an Apple watch or any fitness wearable from where it picks up the data from that variable and consolidates your progress on one display, giving you your steps, your calories, and where you are as of the goals you have set to achieve daily,” says Du Plessis.

Rewards Turbocharge the Experience

Achieving fitness goals for steps taken and calories burned can be incredibly rewarding, but YFC takes it the next level in the form of tangible rewards for fitness achievements. Cherian explains, “The whole idea of rewards is to gamify the experience and let users to not just achieve their goals, but also earn rewards in the form of in-app currency known as “Y-coins.” These coins will be usable in the YFC soon-to-be-launched store which is focused on the fitness industry, variables, fitness apparel, and consumables. Identifying a gap in the market where gym goers were often locked into time-restricted membership deals, the duo were quick to pick up on the gap and aspired to provide fitness in the form of more than just the gym. According to Cherian, fitness can be in the form of sports, outdoor activities, extracurricular activities, and may vary daily. “Through this application, it is not just about visiting the gym, but about going to classes or for studio group classes to do your own regime while earning rewards for it,” he says.

Exciting New Features

Steered by core values to engage, activate, and reward, Cherian reveals that YFC is constantly evolving on the backend deck to facilitate a seamless integration into the users’ experience. On a corporate level, the duo is creating specialized communities for government entities in which core activities and challenges can be designed specifically for the organization. “For Dubai 30X30, we are working with several fitness events which will enable them to not only just participate, but to track, earn and be rewarded for their efforts,” says Cherian, “we have multiple sponsors coming onboard to motivate and align our association, including the Dubai Sports Council; reflecting our commitment to support Dubai in becoming the world’s fittest nation.”

An Upward Trajectory Towards YFC

While Du Plessis met Cherian for a completely different project that was also fitness related, he had immediately noticed the passion that Cherian exuded, particularly for the tech side of fitness. Du Plessis adds, “I knew Cherian was the man I wanted to collaborate with; we think very alike. I look at it from the fitness perspective and he looks at it from the tech perspective.” For Cherian, the foray into launching YFC was more personal, as he explains, “I have always been a person who has lived my passion and being in the tech space for the past 25 years, I had always compromised on my health knowing I required a worklife balance.” This drive for work-life balance aligned with his passion for tech was the stepping stone to convert both into a business. “This is how we took the first step toward launching our own business,” he says. “Du Plessis had the idea which we went on to scale and further develop to produce this integrated approach.”

Motivating Fitness Post Covid-19

During the Covid-19 pandemic and the post pandemic shifts across the globe, fitness became challenging for many of us. To reintroduce the element of community and competitiveness, Du Plessis says that bridging this gap was an objective. He elaborates, “For instance, if you are unable to go the same gym with a friend, we can still work out in separate locations, but compete with one another. This is for the individual who may be at home and cannot get to the gym but can still stream a class. It is amazing the way tech is going, even in R&D, we have virtual studios where people can beam into a studio and technology is driving all of this.” Further adding, Cherian articulates that the whole idea is to ensure the future we build has an integrated approach where those who want to work out of the home can still be a part of a community and part of a challenge, but also be able to buy equipment through their store. “The point is to facilitate people with not just B2C, but also B2B, where we give a platform for brands to reach out to our users,” he says.