I launched my Exercise.com app, Simply Strong, in August 2023. I had originally hosted my app on another platform, but discovered that Exercise.com offered a more robust experience, so I made the switch. 

Over the course of my time hosting my app on the Exercise.com platform, there have been many changes and updates to the platform, and the team continues to innovate. In this article, I want to share my experience using Exercise.com to share the Simply Strong App with the world - I’ll detail the good, the bad, and the things that I hope to see from the development team in the future.

Background Information

When I first came to exercise.com, I was working with clients on two different platforms: one for recipes and one for workouts. It was difficult to manage two platforms, so one of the main reasons for transitioning to exercise.com was to be able to combine everything into one platform for a better experience for my clients.

I had used other people’s apps that operated on exercise.com (Moves app, the Gym Nurse, and Macros With Em), so I was already familiar with technology and how the app operated. At the time that I was considering joining, I knew they were launching a bunch of updates to make the user experience even better. 

My ultimate goal was to find an app that allowed me to share recipes and workouts all in the same place, but it was a struggle to find exactly what I was looking for. I booked a call with exercise.com and asked them how they could help accommodate my needs, and they explained that there was a way that I could at least upload my entire library of recipes as PDFs into the platform for easy access by my clients. It made sense for me, and I already knew that I liked their fitness side of things, so I decided to give it a go.

I believe I had signed and paid for one year of my custom-branded app at a time. Once my payment was received, I was able to start the onboarding process and the process of designing my own custom app!

Onboarding Experience

As soon as I paid for the app, I was assigned to an account manager and a design team member. The design team sent me a bunch of questions about the name of my app, the colors I wanted to use, etc. This part of the process was pretty straightforward, and the communication from the design team was good. 

While the app was being built, I was working with my account manager to get to know the app and how it works. I also needed to try to migrate all of my current clients from my other platforms to this one; however, this proved to be more difficult and complicated than it was worth, so I ended up manually switching people over. As a side note, if you are currently using a different app and need to switch, plan on some people falling off during the transition - this is normal and to be expected. These things rarely go off without a hitch.

The biggest thing for the onboarding process was figuring out exactly how I wanted my app set up and how it would operate for my clients. I needed to make sure that the settings were the way I wanted them and that I understood how to program things from my end. During this period, I was on the phone with my account manager weekly, going over my questions and learning more about the app’s functionality. This was super helpful and appreciated - I felt very supported during this process.

I don’t remember exactly how long it took for my app to be fully built and live in the App Store and on Google Play, but it wasn’t long. During that time, I spent my time recording and uploading exercise demo videos, adding form cues, and uploading my recipes (we had hundreds at that point and now have nearly 600!). All of this was very straightforward and simple inside the app dashboard.

App Features and Functionality

As I mentioned, I was already familiar with apps built on the exercise. Com platform, and was already a fan. I loved how simple the app interface was and how smoothly the workouts progressed, as well as all of the tracking and functionality for the users. I was almost more excited to create the workouts for myself than I was for my clients, as I follow the exact programming that I share with my clients and knew I would love it even more when I had an advanced app that was easy to use and navigate.

From the trainer’s perspective, programming your workouts in the app platform is really simple. You have the option to either pull from exercise.com’s library of pre-recorded exercises or record your own form videos (I highly recommend recording your own, as it’s so much more personal). I record my videos on my phone and upload them directly to the app platform, but you can also connect to YouTube or Vimeo and attach your videos that way, too. Within the video uploading area, you have the opportunity to add your form cue notes, attach alternative exercises, tag it by body part or difficulty, etc. For each exercise, you also select a tracking mechanism - weight, reps, time, etc. This will allow your clients to track their progress in the app. 

The workout builder is super easy to use, and it’s gotten even better over the last couple of years that I’ve had the app. It’s basically plug and play for adding your exercises and programming them to your preferences (single sets, supersets, circuits, etc.). Once you get the hang of it, or when you make a standard template for your workouts (if you keep them relatively the same each week/month/etc., It’s simple to create duplicates and plug in different exercises. 

Some of my favorite features of the workout builder are the ability to add exercise swaps (for lower-impact exercises, injuries, equipment availability, etc.), the option to make alternate workouts (I do a 45 or a 30-minute workout option for each workout I program), and the ability to schedule workouts on specific days. A new feature is the ability to record full video follow-along workouts to upload and share with your clients in your app - I haven’t tried this as I do a “go-at-your-own-pace” traditional workout style, but it’s nice to know that it’s an option.

You can create as many workout plans as you want, and you can make them for any duration of your liking. Plans will be private to you until you publish them to your clients/groups in the app. I love that I can schedule my published plans in advance, so when the workout release date comes, I don’t have to do anything; they will be automatically published for my clients on the date of my choosing. 

Other features of the app that are fantastic and make the app a great experience for my clients are the ability to upload as many resources and videos as I want to be shared with my clients for education and use. For example, I have almost 600 recipe PDFs uploaded in the Simply Strong App that I have all categorized and organized to make them easy to navigate. I also have a whole library of videos that I uploaded that help my clients get to know the app and educate them on a variety of topics that are important for my training style.

Another feature that I keep in my app for my clients to utilize is the ability to directly message me in the app. I like to be able to be in direct contact with my clients and know that I am always available for questions and support. There are also messaging threads within groups in the app that you can leave open for clients to post on. I leave this on when I run challenge groups so that I can communicate with the group as a whole daily and allow group members to do the same. 

There are a ton of features that I don’t use on the app due to the nature of my business being strictly an online business and the fact that I don’t offer one-on-one training to my clients. For in-person gyms and trainers, there’s an entire scheduling feature that allows you to track and manage your entire client system.

Exercise.com has recently made a bunch of updates and additions to their reporting and client management, and I am loving it. The new dashboard is making it so easy for me to track my business and see exactly what is happening within it.

I do wish that there were more robust features for nutrition-related stuff, but at the same time, this is a fitness app, so I can’t really expect a ton there. That being said, they do allow you to customize your client’s nutrition in the app, giving them macros to follow and allowing you to upload files for them. I also think they are working on more nutrition features, so I’m excited to see that coming down the road. As a macro coach, this is an important area for my clients. 

Customer Support

Apps/technology will never be perfect, so there will inevitably be some glitches and bumps in the road on your app journey, and I’ve certainly had my fair share of them. When I first started with exercise.com, I felt like the support team was a little slow to respond to my inquiries; however, over the last year or so, they have really stepped things up, and the response times have gotten so much quicker. 

As an exercise.com customer, I get access to support for trainers. Typically, if I have a client with an issue, I will reach out to the support team on their behalf to try to get it resolved. There are many support issues that I resolve on my own for my clients simply because I understand how things work and some of the common pitfalls that clients find themselves in, like signing up under an incorrect email address. In general, though, you can expect the support team to follow up with you promptly when you come to them with an issue. 

I still reach out to my account manager frequently for her help with various topics and updates that I want to make for my app. I like speaking directly with her as she knows her stuff and understands what I am trying to do, versus some of the lower-level support team who can’t necessarily handle all of my requests.

Overall Thoughts and Opinion

Honestly, as soon as I started writing this, I knew I wouldn’t be able to write it all out, as there are so many things about this platform to talk about that it’s hard to condense it all down to one article. My overall experience with Exercise.com has been great, and it keeps getting better. In the beginning, there were more hiccups than I experience now, and I think that speaks to the team’s dedication to continuous improvement and the onboarding of more customer service team members. 

The exercise.com team sends updates often to their app clients, telling them what’s coming down the road - it’s always exciting to hear about the upcoming new features we can expect. Overall, I think exercise.com offers one of the best, most comprehensive, and user-friendly apps on the market, and I don’t plan on leaving anytime soon. 

If you have been looking for a place to house your own branded fitness app, I highly recommend exercise.com, not just because it’s the app software that I use, but because I’ve tried others and they simply pale in comparison. Are there some flaws and room for improvement? Absolutely, but I know the team is dedicated to making the app everything their customers want and need, and they are always open to suggestions.