This former IT employee from a small town in Madhya Pradesh aims to digitise India's fitness industry

ever-growing presence of various Internet-based apps and services plays a huge role in shaping way we interact with our phones and perform our day-to-day activities se days. As apps have become an integral part of our daily routine, we have apps for almost everything. For example, watching movies, listening to songs, calculating GST, scheduling reminders and so on.

In dition to apps like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter that always help us stay connected, we also have some lesser-kwn apps available that t only help us stay connected but also stay fit and healthy at same time.

One such company SQUATS, which is a Pune-based health and fitness firm, has a fitness app called Fittr that aims to digitise India's fitness industry. app, with more than 100,000 monthly active users, has certain features that make it desirable, and if you happen to be a fitness enthusiast, Fittr might be a perfect app for you.

man behind Fittr is Jitendra Chouksey, a former IT employee who quit his job to start his own Internet-based fitness company in Pune.

33-year old Chouksey, who hails from a small town Polaha in Mhya Presh, is a fitness enthusiast himself. After suffering a serious back injury in 2014, he realised importance of educating himself about fitness. Chouksey completed Nutrition Science course from ISSA and that is how he embarked on his serious fitness journey and also went on to win Muscle Mania.

(Jitendra Chouksey)

" idea for Fittr developed out of my understanding of Indian fitness industry. While wellness industry is growing, re is a serious dearth of evidence-backed fitness solutions in country. I wanted to change way people thought about fitness and way y approached getting fit."

Chouksey said while most people rely on fitness tips from so-called experts, y often fall prey to a plethora of misinformation, myths and f diets.

"I wanted to change way people thought about fitness and way y approached getting fit. I strongly believe that education is key and that’s what I set off to do with Fittr – educate people and give m all tools y need for getting fit and staying fit for life."

Chouksey's journey with SQUATS and Fittr is inspired from his early days when he used to run a small WhatsApp group to mentor a few people who wanted to get fit. As more and more people started joining WhatsApp group, he decided to create a Facebook group. He also wrote a small e-book called 'Get Shredded' to help people stay fit which he me available for free to his group members.

"Over time, more people joined my team and group numbers swelled. That’s when I decided to turn my passion into something bigger – we registered as a Private Limited company in 2016 and launched an online health & fitness coaching portal."

Chouksey said Facebook Group he started three years ago w has over 500,000 active members.

When asked about things that make Fittr different, Chouksey said app has been developed with aver person in mind and SQAUTS' understanding of motivation and peer support in helping out people on ir fitness journey is an ded vant. Fittr was launched last year and has been downloed more than 300,000 times across Play Store and App Store so far.

Fittr offers a customised diet to each individual based on his or her physique such as height, weight etc. It offers a diet tool that allows users to create and monitor ir daily nutrition. It also offers a training tool for you to create and monitor your daily workouts. It can also calculate your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) to calculate ideal food proportions based on your goals.

What's more, app includes a huge list of food ingredients, in dition to free recipes training charts and more.

"Fittr has over 180 health & fitness coaches on its platform. We maintain highest expectations from our coaches, t just because y are face of company but also because people trust m with ir lives and health."

(Fittr app)

Chouksey said to become a coach with Fittr, you must clear two levels of exams – Foundation and Expert. Institute of Nutrition & Fitness Sciences (INFS) has created both courses and also ministers exams. He ds course duration is 21 weeks and curriculum is updated on a regular basis. Currently, Fittr has over 180 health & fitness coaches on its platform.

"After clearing exams, students are interviewed by a panel of experts to test ir kwledge and client-handling capabilities. Students who clear both written tests and interviews are onboard as Coaches."

While all training using Fittr happens online, Chouksey believes geography is t a constraint anymore. 

"Anyone who wishes to enrol with a Coach can do so using app. Before training can start, Coach first understands client's current state of health, health & fitness challenges, medical history and fitness goals."

He said coach prepares a custom-me diet and workout charts for client and constantly monitors client and ensures herence to given plans over course of enrollment.

But how does Fittr make money? Chouksey shared some details about company's revenue model. Fittr’s primary source of revenue is Fittr Coaches. app provides users a host of packs to enrol under a Fittr Coach. Meanwhile, businesses can also list ir products on Fitshop, Fittr's e-commerce wing, for which company charges a certain fee.

While Fittr has users from Tier 1 cities across India, Chouksey said app is fairly popular in Tier 2 cities and towns as well. While Fittr sees 77 per cent of its total users in India, most of se users are in bracket of 25-34. Chouksey also said Fittr has 45 per cent female users on platform.

"Health and fitness are more than just an aestic physique. It is equally important to nurture a healthy mind and a sound emotional life. Like anything else in life, patience and hard work will yield results in fitness. Avoid shortcuts. Put in hours, make an effort and concentrate on building strength along with aestics."