The online gym will offer specially licensed music and easy scheduling options. Unlike most gyms, Moxie’s founder says it will only take a 15 percent fee from teachers who pay to use the service. The virtual gym is starting up at a time when in-person gyms and trainers are struggling because of the coronavirus pandemic. Traditional gyms went from a multibillion industry before COVID-19 hit “to zero just overnight,” Moxie Founder and CEO Jason Goldberg said in a video interview. “All of a sudden the 500,000 fitness instructors in the US couldn’t earn a living. And their clients were left looking for a solution to how to keep doing what they love, how do they keep getting and staying in shape.” Goldberg didn’t intend on becoming a fitness entrepreneur. When the pandemic began, he was running an enterprise software company. Then he saw his business slide downhill. “I’m a gym junkie myself and my team did some soul searching and we said what are we going to miss most, if we’re in lockdown for the next six or 12 months,” he said. “And we’re all like ‘how are we going to our group fitness fix?’” Goldberg and his team rushed to develop the gym platform. Moxie has been in a testing phase and has had 3500 classes completed in the last 30 days, he said. The classes vary in price and subscription plans are available.
The Online Challenge
While many gyms and independent instructors are turning to video classes to lure customers during the pandemic, their scattershot approach can be clumsy, Goldberg said. Scheduling is often difficult, payment options are unwieldy and music licensing can be a problem. Moxie aims to solve these issues with its all in one platform, he said. “We heard from instructors that they need a place where they can set up shop,” he said. “They wanted a place where they could have their whole schedule, bring their client base to have everything integrated into one platform, and not worry about chasing people or payments or sending out Zoom links.”
Instructors Like It, Too
Moxie instructor Jill Anzalone says her work schedule at another fitness studio became difficult because of COVID. “My children are also home 3 days a week for homeschool,” she said in an email interview. “I needed to find a way to make an income while having flexibility and working from home.” Switching to Moxie made teaching classes online much easier, Anzalone said. “Because of the all in one platform, I don’t need to worry about scheduling, payments, making playlists or any of the backend stuff that takes up a lot of time,” she added. “I can spend my time creating content, connecting with clients, and adding value to my classes.” For users looking to keep fit when the pandemic has many people staying in one place, Moxie offers an alternative to a physical gym. “I complete about 12 Moxie classes a week,” Moxie attendee Rachele Schainker said in an email interview. “I utilize the video playback feature to complete the workout on my own schedule. Being on the west coast, I can sign up for east coast instructors and do their work out later in the day.” Moxie faces a wide range of competition in the online fitness space. Among the options is Crunch Fitness Live is the video version of the eponymous chain and charges $10 a month for more than 85 “online workouts inspired by Crunch Gym’s most popular classes ranging from total body bootcamp and dance cardio to pilates, yoga, barre and more.” For boot camp aficionados, E.F.F.E.C.T. Fitness On Demand costs $25 per month for live and on-demand classes. There’s also Shadowbox Now Online Workouts for would-be Rocky Balboas at $5 per session. With no end in sight to the pandemic, having many online fitness options like Moxie can only be a good thing. That ‘quarantine 15’ isn’t going away by itself.
