With the on-demand, “Uber for X” business model proving viable in a number of verticals, companies across the board are racing to adopt its consumer-centered approach to disrupt their industries and emerge as the first-place finisher among their competitors. From on-demand doctors to haircuts, nail care, and massages that come straight to your door, Chicago tech companies have been quick to explore what areas of everyday life could use a boost from an on-demand, well, something.
Today, a new Chicago fitness app joined that list, launching with the mission to help users connect with on-demand workout partners throughout the city.
“
is a resource for people who are otherwise disconnected from the fitness community — people who have a goal of getting in shape but have no other way of getting it done,” founder David Hernandez said.
The idea behind Pillar, Hernandez continued, is to arm users with the motivation and support they need to stick with those health and wellness goals. For many people — and for whatever reason — sticking to workout goals is hard. Whether they’re too busy for a regular schedule, too disconnected from their local fitness community, or too intimidated to go at it alone, a lot of well-intentioned people remain stuck in a workout rut.
Hernandez said Pillar’s goal is to remove those barriers from the equation. That’s a huge factor as to why he went with Pillar's current, on-demand model: not only does it provide instant access to workout support and encouragement the moment a user feels most motivated, but it also opens the door to a community of fitness aficionados that a user may otherwise have no access to.
“When I go to the gym in January, it’s crowded with people — the majority of whom have a goal of getting fit,” he said. “What I would say success looks like is the continuation of that goal into March, April, and June. I want to reduce the drop off of people who have a goal to workout more but lose motivation. I want them to have the resources to continue on with their workout goals.”
Upon downloading, users are prompted to answer a few questions in order to assess their experience level and preferences. Then, whenever they're in the mood for a workout, they just select an activity and drop a pin at their workout location. Users can filter results by gender preference or experience level, paying more for workout partners higher up on the experience ladder.
Workout partners aren’t screened by the app but are subjected to user ratings, which Hernandez said will help weed out flaky users or novice partners masquerading as experts. And if you pay more to play tennis with an experienced partner only to find their abilities sub par, for instance, you can contact the app, who will refund your money and work with the partner to lower their listed experience level.
Hernandez said there are currently 10 activities from which users can choose, ranging from running to tennis to dance. In the future, Hernandez hopes to add additional activity options and add on a group fitness component once their user base grows.
Hernandez is currently working out of 1871 and oversees a three-person team, including two developers and a web designer. The app is currently available for iOS, with an Android version of the app on the horizon.
Images via Pillar Fitness.
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