Intro
This week, we surveyed the community about some “personal preference” questions, programming, tech, cardio, and more.
We also interviewed our podcast guest, Jason Campbell. He is the founder of Surplus Strength and the Universal Pulley System creator. In the Q&A section, we discuss the birth story of the UPS, troubles with bringing it to market, why he started his own home gym, and make some predictions for the home gym industry.
This podcast can be listened on Spotify, Apple, Anchor, and just about anywhere else you’d listen to podcasts.
Survey Results
(2:52) Do you typically follow a workout program, Do you pay for a workout program, and Do you have a 1:1 coach?
- A solid majority aren’t just winging their workouts. Over 71% are typically following a workout program. This question was asked 6 months ago with 73% saying they follow a program.
- With 39% paying for a workout program, more than half of those following a program are not just using free options.
- Nearly 12% have a 1:1 coach. This was also asked about 6 months ago where 13.8% said they had a 1:1 coach.
(7:11) Which piece of cardio equipment are you choosing if you could only have 1?
- The rower eeks out a victory over the air bike with treadmill and stationary bike a bit behind.
- The rower and air bike accounted for nearly 2/3 of the votes.
- This survey was done last January as well. In general, the much of it did not change, but the rower’s lead over the air bike did go down slightly.
- Will the Air Bike win the next battle?
(13:55) How do you feel about tech entering the home gym space?
- The results were nearly identical to what we saw in July of 2021. With 49% voting neutral and only a combined 28% being either a big fan/keep me away, it doesn’t seem to be on the radar of most.
(15:40) “Personal Preference” Questions
- 36.2% have a TV in their home gym (35% said they had one in May)
- 19.1% have the TV on for more than half of their workouts. (only 11% said this in January of 2021)
- 91.2% are listening to music for more than half of their workouts
- 21.6% are listening to a podcast for more than half of their workouts
- 56.4% hang out in their home gym while they are not training at times.
(20:54) Have you heard of Surplus Strength? and Do you know what the Universal Pulley System from Surplus Strength is?
- Only a fraction have heard of Surplus Strength and less know what their primary product is.
Q&A
(23:28) What is the Universal Pulley System?
(26:51) After the prototypes, were you 100% sure on selling them?
(30:55) When did you start your home gym and can you walk us through the evolution of it? What does it look like today?
(34:00) Excluding your products, what’s your favorite purchase you’ve ever made? (36:05) Worst?
(37:53) What are your favorite benefits of owning a home gym?
(41:00) What are some issues you’ve had with bringing the product to market?
(44:48) Would you say that garage gym lifters are your target audience?
(46:07) How is the UPS manufactured?
(56:53) What originally sparked the idea and then ultimately why did you “go for it?”
(60:57) How have you seen the industry change in the last few years? Any predictions on how it may change (big or small) in the near future?
