{"id":649383,"date":"2013-03-28T13:00:12","date_gmt":"2013-03-28T17:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gigaom.com\/?p=625283"},"modified":"2013-03-28T13:00:12","modified_gmt":"2013-03-28T17:00:12","slug":"cody-app-makes-a-play-as-virtual-coach-for-casual-fitness-fans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/649383","title":{"rendered":"Cody app makes a play as virtual coach for casual fitness fans"},"content":{"rendered":"

Considering all the fitness apps already available \u2014 from Runkeeper<\/a> and Nike+<\/a> to Fitocracy<\/a> and MyFitnessPal<\/a>, to name just a few \u2014 it\u2019s hard to imagine that there\u2019s still room for more.<\/p>\n

But two former Microsoft product managers believe those apps cater to the more motivated fitness fiends among us. On Thursday, they rolled out Cody<\/a>,\u00a0a fitness app intended for everyone else.<\/p>\n

\"Cody\"<\/a>\u201cThe way I observe the people who use existing apps today, I\u2019d characterize them more as enthusiasts, and we hope that more and more of the mainstream will get into the space,\u201d said co-founder Paul Javid. \u201c[It’s the difference between] what do the enthusiasts want versus more casual consumers of fitness.\u201d<\/p>\n

While other fitness apps emphasize metrics \u2014 either through GPS tracking that automatically calculates the distance of a run or the number of steps taken or through manual input \u2013 Javid said that to reach casual fitness fans (those who might only exercise a couple of times a week or less) Cody is more about the \u201cstories\u201d behind the activity. The image-heavy app encourages users to share posts about why a given activity is important to them or what\u2019s happening around them, as well as tag their locations and add pictures to build up their \u201cfitness graph.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cody also acts as a kind of virtual coach. When users first load the app, they\u2019re asked to identify their goals \u2013 from losing weight to building muscle tone to de-stressing. For now, the app just surfaces original content about workouts, healthy living and other topics that match up with those goals. But, ultimately, Javid said, the plan is for Cody to learn from users\u2019 activity and recommend articles, workouts, people or places that fit their interests. In time, he added, the app could integrate with fitness tracking devices to get an even more comprehensive view of each user.<\/p>\n

\"Cody<\/a>Prior to launching the app, the startup created a couple hundred pieces of original content but it soon plans to syndicate content from fitness and health site Greatist<\/a> and could distribute content from other sources in the future.<\/p>\n

When Javid and his co-founder Pejman Pour-Moezzi first left Microsoft about a year ago to focus on a startup, their plan was to build a social app that would help people accomplish their personal goals \u2013 in a manner not so unlike that of Lift<\/a>, the Obvious Corp.-backed good-habit-building app. \u00a0But Javid said they soon observed that about half of the early beta users had fitness- or health-related goals, so they switched tacks to focus on those needs. To date, they\u2019ve raised $200,000 in seed funding from Ken Irving, a member of a\u00a0powerful oil family in Canada<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Given all the recent interest in digital health <\/a>and quantified-self-type activity tracking tools<\/a>, it\u2019s not surprising that more entrepreneurs are hoping they can carve out opportunities with new tools. But while I think Cody\u2019s highly visual design and clean layout could appeal to consumers who are just starting to get their feet wet in fitness, the crowded landscape could be a big challenge. While other fitness apps may not provide \u201ccoaching\u201d and content, they\u2019re already amassing tons of users\u2019 fitness and health data and could, at some point, roll out data-driven recommendations as well. Also, when it comes to socializing around workouts, plenty of people already use Facebook and Twitter to share workouts, and Fitocracy already offers a dedicated social network for fitness.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, among early beta testers, Cody\u2019s founders have found that the app is especially popular among yoga, crossfit and bar method enthusiasts who don\u2019t focus on metrics in the same way runners and bikers might. While the beta group has been small, it will be interesting to see if that trend continues.<\/p>\n

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