GAIN Fitness launches a much-improved iPhone app

It's like a personal trainer that can fit in your pocket

Good news for workout fiends: GAIN Fitness is releasing an updated version of its iPhone app Thursday, and there is a lot to look forward to. 

The new version will create a full, weekly program catered specifically to an user, according to Gain Fitness CEO Nick Gammell, in an interview with VatorNews. This compares to the older app that could only handle one workout session. 

The app will act almost like a personal trainer, giving instructions, sending reminders and building up workouts from week to week.

How it works

The app takes the data from the user's profile, including their height, weight, age and gender, along with their normal workout routine and experience. The app then compiles that data and creates a workout routine specific to that person. There are currently five levels for users to attain.

While the app isn’t able to quantify its specific user goals, that is something Gammell says he wants to incorporate in the future.

There is another new feature with the new version of the app called the Expansion Pack Store, in which users can pay $1 to $5 for additional capabilities. These include targeted training and specialized equipment like Kettlebells and exercise bands. This builds upon GAIN's goal to give each of its users a workout session specific to their needs.

The new app version comes soon after its official launch in 2011, which follows the launch of the entire site early last year. Already the app has been downloaded 175,000 times, and has been used for more than one million workout sessions. It's good news for the San Francisco-based GAIN, which just this past December raised $650,000 in funding from InterWest Partners, Keith Rabois, Ben Ling, Michael Tanne, Brent Hurley, Seraph Group, and others. All together, the company has raised a total of $965 thousand to date.

While the app is currently free, the company hopes to generate revenue from its Expansion Pack Store, and eventually from a subscription service, Gammell said. Right now, however, it seems to want to build up its numbers first. As Gammell told me, the app was originally priced at $2.99, but after it became free in August of last year, it immediately had 20 times as many users.

Gammell also said that he wants to bring different types of workouts to the app, including yoga, boot camp training and workouts for athletes in specific sports, perhaps even rehabilitation training.

(Image source: muscle-builders.com)