VirtualGym TV was a live broadcasting and on-demand online gym, which provided access to hundreds of exercise classes.

The company was created to help address the global obesity crisis, which faces the UK, and the wider general population.  One of the key reasons for this is that more than 85% of the adult population, either can't, won't or don't visit a gym or health club in order to participate in regular exercise. The typical barrier to participation are personal reasons such as self-consciousness, intimidation, cost, and flexibility. The "delivery solution" from VirtualGymTV was designed to permit on-demand access to exercise to eliminate these participation barriers.

The company reached out to an audience of in excess of 130,000 retail and corporate users.

History
The idea was founded when the then Managing Director, Richard Davis, was having a conversation with a high level instructor colleague, where at the time, the only real options were to either create a Fitness DVD and distribute it in the normal way, or to broadcast on the television. Coming from a background in Employee Benefits, Davis developed what is primarily a corporate benefit for large scale, fragmented workforces, but was accessible by the wider general public as well.

The company continued to grow and by the summer of 2008, it formed a strategic alliance with the major sportswear manufacturer, Asics. More recently, they had achieved approval from the Department of Health and are a delivery partner of the Change4Life and MoreActive4Life social obesity campaigns (NHS) before they closed down. They also worked in partnership with their alcohol limits campaign, and the business awareness campaign with the FIA (Fitness Industry Association).

Features
The product's core functionality relied on a specialized software named 'Virtual Personal Trainer' (VPT). This software was designed to collect an array of physiological and psychological data, which was subsequently analyzed by the VPT to generate personalized exercise recommendations. These recommendations were tailored to the individual's needs, prescribing suitable exercise sessions in terms of type, frequency, and intensity. Users could access a diverse collection of exercise content spanning various areas such as Aerobics, Pilates, Stability Ball, and specialized pre & post-natal exercises.

Reports indicated the potential launch of 'Virtual Personal Trainer 2' (VPT2) software in early 2010. This version was anticipated to introduce enhanced features aimed at refining the accuracy of personalized fitness programs. Additionally, it was suggested that VPT2 might incorporate real-time physiological data capture during exercise and offer downloadable software applications for mobile devices.

Classes
Each week approximately 40 new classes were uploaded to the site.  The bank of classes and tuition classes were delivered through the internet to both retail and corporate clients, via their website. Typical classes included aerobics, step aerobics, boxercise, kick boxing, yoga, pilates, t'ai chi, body conditioning, circuit training, body sculpting, medicine ball, dance, stationary (spin) bicycle, treadmill, interval training, and various martial arts training sessions, (including meditation / relaxation).

Classes were scheduled in a similar fashion to a traditional gym, with shorter energizing sessions in the morning and longer sessions in the afternoon and evening, which last between 45 and 60. Sessions were broadcast across a range of ability standards so that customers could choose the appropriate complexity and fitness demand that was relevant for them.

Instructors
Instructors were accredited with the Register of Exercise Professions (REPS), the governing  body for the health and fitness industry, and the National Register of Personal Trainers. They were qualified to a minimum level by the relevant professional organization. Instructors include  Pierre Pozzuto, personal trainer of Gordon Ramsay, Christian Slater and Keira Knightley. Other well known instructors included Dan Little, Jackie Diss and Chris Roberts.

References

Gyms
Health websites