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

6 points by vail130 ↗ HN
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'm wondering if other people feel the same way. I set up a quick splash page to collect some feedback on the idea here:

http://stay-fit-together.herokuapp.com/

All comments appreciated!! Thank you!!

14 comments

[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 36.1 ms ] thread
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!

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

* divorce lawyer costs not included

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!

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.

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!

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!

droope
not sure if trolling or just worst idea ever