

Ask HN: Would you pay $5/month to get your partner in shape? - vail130

I would gladly pay $5 a month to be able to hold my significant other more accountable for exercising and staying in shape, and I&#x27;m wondering if other people feel the same way. I set up a quick splash page to collect some feedback on the idea here:<p>http:&#x2F;&#x2F;stay-fit-together.herokuapp.com&#x2F;<p>All comments appreciated!! Thank you!!
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greenyoda
_" hold my significant other more accountable for exercising and staying in
shape..."_

I wouldn't want to be in a relationship with someone who thinks they have a
right to "hold me accountable" for staying in shape. Nor would I want my
significant other to keep track of my exercise history or be notified if I
fall behind. I'm a responsible adult, not a child. The whole thing sounds
rather creepy. What does _your_ significant other think of this idea?

~~~
vail130
Thanks for you feedback! My spouse and I both agreed that we would pay for
this kind of service before I put up the page, but I can definitely see your
perspective. We both are responsible adults, and we both sometimes lose
momentum when it comes to exercise and staying healthy and fit, so it would be
nice if we could remind and encourage each other sooner rather than later once
that trend starts as opposed to realizing only after a month. That is my train
of though. I can see how the phrasing may not have communicated that
accurately, or at least skipped the context.

Thanks!

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mstolpm
"Staying fit together" should be something ALL partners involved are
participating freely in and not forced on by someone else. I'm highly
skeptical that thus a foundation would be motivational for the "forced"
partner at all. Your presentation focuses more on the spying/pressing aspect
than the benefits and how they would be achieved.

But even ignoring the "spy on your significant other"/"force your significant
other to do something he/she doesn't commit freely to" part and concentrating
on the "stay fit together" idea, I don't see any true differentiators/benefits
for the $5 investment: There are already many solutions that allow to share
and compare my fitness tracking data with others, often for free. In addition,
there are many options to "stay in shape", like going to the gym, power yoga,
pilates, running, cycling, swimming and so on. Your preferred method doesn't
need to be the one your significant other might be interested in. Any solution
to that?

To sum up: From the presentation I really don't see what the true unique
benefit is that your solution provides to the users.

~~~
vail130
Thanks mstolpm for your insights!

I actually couldn't find another option that would allow me and my spouse to
share and have full access to each other's "fitness analytics". I know
MyFitnessPal seems to be popular and there are other apps and stuff, and I'll
admit that I didn't actually try every one of them. I understand that for some
of these services, sharing full data with another person would probably just
be an additional feature, but for my purposes it would be the main source of
value. Anyway, if you know of any solutions that do this, I would love to
hear, because I would start using it today with my spouse.

As far as doing different kinds of fitness activities, I totally agree and
never intended to give the idea that people would have to engage in the same
activities. It took my quite a while to figure out what I enjoy and found to
be sustainable, and I can definitely appreciate diversity in this area.

I really do appreciate your feedback. Thanks again!

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Throwaway0812
You definitely need to rethink this idea, because it's insulting at the
moment. Don't ever use the below phrase.

 _For people who want to get their significant other in shape_

If you want to focus on this niche, use the name in your link, _stay fit
together_. You encourage people in relationships to get healthy together. You
do that because they're a team, they're partners. They both decide to take up
a challenge to improve their health and overall physical fitness.

For example, you create an app that has a 30 day challenge, where it has a
daily workout for him, and a daily workout for her. Mix in couple exercises
and stretches too, since they would be a great way to bond. It would help them
get in shape, and grow their relationship.

~~~
vail130
Thank you Throwaway0812!

I'm sorry the way I phrased it offended you, and I really appreciate your
willingness to spell out what you think about the idea and even provide some
suggestions for improvements! I'll take these to heart. I think your
suggestions is a really good one with solid positioning.

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macguyver
I think this is a great idea and thought of doing this previously in other
areas besides fitness. But the obvious challenge to overcome is that you need
to find people who are into personal growth, are open-minded about stretching
outside of their comfort zone. This can be tough because people will tend to
take these types of issues personally. If you can present your message in a
way that people can accept, I think it's totally worth doing. Good luck!

~~~
vail130
Thanks macguyver!

I think you bring up a really good point: people do take this type of thing
very personally, and react quite negatively if the presentation does not fit
their heuristic. I think your insight into presentation is really valuable and
I'll definitely give that more focus.

I really appreciate your time and willingness to provide feedback!

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pedalpete
from the first few comments, it appears your idea is triggering people's gag
reflex quite strongly.

However, I don't think the idea itself is horrible, maybe just the way you're
presenting it. Look at your app name "get fit together". Doesn't sound like a
fit-babysitting service, does it?

It does seem a bit shallow to say "for people who want to get their
significant other into shape", but the idea of "let's get in shape together"
isn't a bad one, and it doesn't even need to be for significant others, it can
also be just for friends. Make little competitions, allow people to challenge
each other, etc. etc.

Think of how many people run together, do bootcamps together, etc. etc. how
about letting them track or challenge (or whatever your app does) together,
but it doesn't have to be like a tattle tale.

$5 bucks a month? Probably not. but somebody might.

~~~
vail130
Thanks for your insights, pedalpete!

It definitely appears to have rubbed people the wrong way. You're right that
the name does not imply the "tag line" I had in there. I guess I went for
something that would jar people a bit, but I didn't quite expect this
response. I certainly didn't mean to offend anyone.

Anyway, appreciate your straightforward feedback and ideas. The reason I was
thinking of couples instead of just any group of friends is because I think
couples are more invested in each other's fitness and possibly more willing to
actually pay some money for something that helped them keep themselves and
their partners in shape. I was thinking that friends would be more likely only
to use it if it were free. The main reason I think that there might be some
people in relationships willing to pay is because I would pay that right now
for a service that does exactly this.

I think you're right though, that there are tons of groups of friends and
acquaintances who work out together, and that could expand the market
significantly. Maybe some type of freemium model that appealed to friends but
gave people in relationships or power users more for some money would work.

Thanks again!

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issa
Obesity crisis solved. If only we'd all been willing to spend $5* a month
sooner.

* divorce lawyer costs not included

~~~
vail130
touché

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droope
not sure if trolling or just worst idea ever

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mariocesar
Sad

