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Trainr – AI-Powered Fitness, Gym Engagement & Monetization Platform
Next-gen, AI-powered fitness & challenge engagement platform.
A deep dive into how Riseup Labs helped Think37 Ltd build and scale Trainr — from AI-powered gamified challenges to subscriptions, gym management, CRM integration, and a complete multi-sided platform.
Traditional fitness platforms and training systems face several critical challenges that make it difficult to build a product that is both engaging for users and sustainable as a business.
Lack of Consistency Among Users
Users often struggle to maintain regular fitness routines due to a lack of motivation, structure, and accountability. Without a system to reward daily effort and track streaks, most users disengage within weeks of signing up.
Low Engagement in Fitness Apps
Most fitness applications focus on passive tracking rather than active engagement, leading to drop-offs after initial usage. A user who logs a workout but receives no feedback, no reward, and no community interaction has little reason to return.
Disconnected Fitness Ecosystem
Fitness data — steps, workouts, nutrition — is often fragmented across devices and apps, making it difficult to create a unified, meaningful experience. Users lose motivation when they have to manually reconcile data from multiple sources.
Limited Personalisation
Generic fitness plans fail to adapt to individual user behaviour, reducing effectiveness and long-term adherence. Users need coaching that responds to what they are actually doing, not just what the app assumes.
No Structured Club Engagement Model
Fitness clubs lacked digital tools to create, manage, and track structured challenges for their members. There was no way to run group programmes, measure participation, or reward completion at scale.
No Monetisation Infrastructure
As the platform grew, there was no subscription model, no payment processing, and no in-app currency. There was no mechanism to generate recurring revenue, restrict features by plan, or financially reward user participation.
Shallow Gamification
While early XP and badge systems existed, there were no levels, no credit economy, no group-based missions, and no leaderboard rewards — not enough depth to drive long-term return behaviour.
Limited Gym Discovery & Onboarding
Users had no structured way to find or select a gym during onboarding, and the platform had no mechanism to capture demand from gyms that hadn’t yet signed up.
No CRM or Analytics Layer
There was no integration with a CRM system for lead management or campaign attribution, and no product analytics to track where users were activating, converting, or dropping off.
Fragmented Social Experience
The community layer was basic. There were no clubs, no buddy system, no pair missions, and no structured way to drive social motivation between users.
We were spending hours building custom plans for members, only to lose their engagement a few weeks later because they didn't have a unified, rewarding way to track their daily progress.
Riseup Labs designed and delivered a multi-phase platform build — growing Trainr from its foundations into a scalable, monetised, multi-sided fitness ecosystem. Each phase addressed a new layer of product complexity while building on what came before.
The foundation of Trainr was a structured system where users participate in goal-driven challenges — step tracking programmes, weight loss challenges, and workout consistency plans. Each challenge features daily checklist-driven activities, progress tracking, completion milestones, and challenge-specific rules and eligibility. This gave users a clear, repeatable daily loop and gave clubs a structured programme to rally members around.
An intelligent coaching system was built to personalise the experience for every user. The AI coach provides daily nudges and reminders, recommends workouts, nutrition improvements, and behavioural adjustments, generates weekly performance summaries, and adapts its suggestions based on real user activity and progress. This moved Trainr beyond passive tracking into an active coaching relationship.
Trainr integrates with Apple Health on iOS and Google Fit on Android, enabling automatic syncing of steps, workouts, calories, and weight. This reduced manual data entry, improved accuracy, and kept the daily core loop frictionless — users could simply live their day and have their activity captured automatically.
A core gamification system was introduced to transform fitness activities into a competitive and rewarding experience. Users earn XP for completed actions, build streaks for consistency, compete on club, challenge, and global leaderboards, and unlock achievement badges and milestones. This gave users meaningful progress markers and a reason to return every day.
A web-based dashboard was built for fitness clubs to create and manage custom challenges, define rules, schedules, and eligibility criteria, monitor member participation and performance, and analyse engagement metrics including Daily Engagement Rate and Active Challenger Percentage. This gave clubs their first real digital tool for running structured member programmes at scale.
A social layer was introduced allowing users to share progress updates, post, comment, and react within challenges, and engage with other participants. A moderation system ensures safe and positive community interaction. This turned individual fitness journeys into a shared community experience.
An analytics engine was built providing real-time engagement tracking, user participation trends, challenge performance analysis, and behavioural insights for clubs and trainers — giving gym owners their first clear view of how members were actually engaging with their programmes.
As Trainr scaled, a full monetisation layer was built across the mobile app and web dashboard. Two subscription tiers were introduced: the Core Plan, with a seven-day free trial, monthly and annual pricing, and a mandatory paywall after seven days of free usage; and the Performance Plan, with monthly and annual pricing and unlimited AI coach interactions. Users enrolled through a gym automatically receive the Core Plan.
The payment system supports Apple Pay, Google Pay, and card, with full handling for discount codes, referral discounts, failed payments, grace periods, retry logic, refund rules, and duplicate charge prevention. An in-app credit purchase flow lets users buy and spend credits within the platform.
The gamification system was significantly deepened. Global XP now tracks a user’s lifetime progress and determines their level. Local XP is challenge-specific and drives leaderboard ranking. Credits became the in-app currency — earned through levelling up, leaderboard performance, badge progression, group missions, and starter bonuses, and purchasable directly in the app.
Group missions were introduced as collaborative challenge goals where all participants contribute toward a shared target. Targets scale by participant count and challenge duration. Rewards are distributed when a group reaches Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Rare tiers. Badge categories were also significantly expanded across tasks, streaks, photos, classes, buddies, reactions, referrals, AI usage, sleep, steps, nutrition, weight, and challenge completion.
Two new AI input flows were introduced to reduce friction in daily task completion. The Describe Flow allows users to explain a completed meal, workout, or habit in natural language — the AI interprets it, maps it to the correct task, and marks it complete. The Photo Flow allows users to capture any activity-related image — the AI identifies it, generates a short label, awards XP, and provides contextual feedback. AI-generated overviews and follow-up questions were also added to each health detail page, giving users meaningful insight alongside their progress data.
To support smoother onboarding and future gym acquisition, a structured seed list of 500 Greater London gyms was built and inserted into the platform database. Each record includes a gym photo, Google Places URL, and identification details for deduplication. During onboarding, users can search for and select their gym. If they choose a gym that has been scraped but not yet signed up, the platform displays a holding message, continues the user as an unaffiliated member, notifies the platform team by email, and flags the gym in the admin dashboard — turning unmet demand into a structured sales pipeline signal.
The gym admin web application was significantly upgraded. Dashboard improvements include date filter presets, leaderboard time filters, and a challenge detail view with separate Leaderboard and Challengers tabs. Custom leaderboards can be built around weight change, nutrition score, tasks completed, and workouts completed. Prizes can be attached to challenges, leaderboards, or group missions.
Challenger management was upgraded with single and bulk email invitations, a Leads & Opportunities tab, and built-in demo users with realistic activity data to help new admins immediately understand how the live dashboard will look.
The My Gym section was expanded to give gym owners full control over their public profile — starter packages, testimonials, FAQs, equipment lists, room details, Google review visibility, and public challenge settings. A setup checklist guides new admins through activation steps, with a membership discount unlocked on completion.
The social layer was rebuilt for greater depth and motivation. The community feed received a UI upgrade with post comments and feed prioritisation — surfacing content from buddies first, then local club members, gym members, and global clubs. Local clubs can be created in-app by any user; global clubs are managed from the admin dashboard. All clubs support invite links and external sharing.
The Buddies feature allows users to find and connect with others, send requests, view profiles, send push-style reminders, build a friendship score out of five hearts, and complete randomly generated pair missions together.
A GoHighLevel integration was built to connect platform activity with gym marketing and CRM workflows. Data flowing in from GoHighLevel includes contacts, leads, campaign source, UTM data, funnel step, and appointments. Data flowing out from Trainr includes challenge enrolment and completion, engagement signals (XP, streaks, task completion, last active), smart tags, pipeline stage updates, AI coach notes, and payment status. Webhook triggers support all key events across the user and payment lifecycle.
PostHog analytics was integrated across all key user journeys to give the platform team visibility into where users activate, convert, and drop off. Tracked events cover onboarding and activation (getting started checklist, challenge enrolment, first task, first image upload), conversion and monetisation (upgrade views, upgrade clicks, plan upgrades, referral and promo code usage), and retention and drop-off (daily and weekly active users, drop-off points, and flow abandonment).
Gym owners with multiple facilities can open new facility accounts within the web app, switch between them, and access both a global dashboard across all locations and separate local dashboards per facility — with metrics tracked independently at each level.
A dynamic overlay system lets users generate and share progress visuals after key activity moments. Workout overlays include type, duration, calories, distance, pace, volume, XP earned, and streak or badge progress. Nutrition overlays include meal type, calories, protein, macro split, and goal alignment. Overlays use locked visual templates with dynamic data mapping and can be saved or shared directly from the app.
Trainr delivers significant improvements in fitness engagement and organizational efficiency:
Increased User Engagement
Gamification, AI coaching, structured challenges, clubs, buddies, describe and photo flows, and social interaction give users significantly more reasons to open the app daily and stay active across challenges.
Improved Consistency & Habit Formation
Streaks, reminders, progress graphs, AI overviews, domain-specific badges, and pair missions help users build and sustain long-term fitness routines.
Higher Club Member Retention
Clubs can actively engage members through challenges, group missions, prizes, and leaderboards — reducing churn and increasing participation in a way that manual coaching simply cannot scale to.
Monetisation Foundation Built
Subscription plans, credit purchases, referral discounts, and payment flows gave the platform its first real revenue infrastructure — with entitlement logic and retry handling built for scale from day one.
Gym Acquisition Pipeline Enabled
The London gym seed database and non-onboarded gym demand capture created a structured pathway for gym sales — turning user interest into actionable signals for the platform team.
Unified Fitness Ecosystem
Integration with Apple Health and Google Fit ensures seamless data flow and a consolidated experience, while workout and nutrition overlays give users shareable, data-driven progress visuals.
Data-Driven Product Decisions
PostHog analytics gave the team a clear view for the first time of where users activate, where they convert, and where they drop off — enabling prioritised, evidence-based product development.
CRM and Marketing Integration
GoHighLevel connectivity linked platform engagement signals to gym marketing workflows — enabling smart campaigns, automated pipeline progression, and better lead management for gym operators.
Scalable Platform Architecture
Multi-location support, global admin controls, challenge templates, global groups, and moderation tools created the operational infrastructure to grow the platform to many more gyms and users without proportional overhead.
Trainr’s journey demonstrates what’s possible when a fitness platform is built with both user motivation and business sustainability in mind from the start — and then evolved deliberately, phase by phase, as the product matured.
From the foundation of challenge-based engagement, AI coaching, and wearable integration, through the expansion into subscriptions, advanced gamification, gym management tooling, CRM integration, and product analytics — Riseup Labs has partnered with Think37 Ltd across every stage of this platform’s growth.
The result is not just a more feature-rich product. It is a fitness ecosystem with the architecture, data layer, revenue model, and community infrastructure to serve individual users, gym owners, multi-location fitness businesses, and platform operators at scale — and to keep growing.
Whether you’re adding monetisation to an existing product, integrating AI into your user flows, or scaling a multi-sided platform from the ground up — our team has the experience to deliver it.
Start a conversation with our team to solve complex challenges and move forward with confidence.
Start a conversation with our team to solve complex challenges and move forward with confidence.
Ariful Islam Shakil is the Director of Business Development at Riseup Labs, with 15 years of extensive experience in strengthening local market presence and driving sustainable growth in Bangladesh’s technology sector. He specializes in building strategic partnerships, expanding client networks, and delivering innovative digital solutions tailored to client needs.
Md. Rezwanul Haque is the Head of Operations, Admin & Compliance at Riseup Labs, where he oversees administration, finance, budgeting, process improvement, and regulatory compliance. With strong expertise in operations management and strategic planning, he ensures financial discipline and legal compliance while streamlining processes for sustainable growth. Rezwanul also leads recruitment, onboarding, and performance management, and guides compliance frameworks including VAT, taxation, and internal controls.
Maria Santos is the Vice President of Global Sales at Riseup Labs, representing the company from the Philippines to international clients. With expertise in BPO, ITO, and KPO, she helps organizations scale operations, optimize processes, and achieve measurable results. Her career spans outsourcing, technology solutions, and knowledge services, covering the full client lifecycle from acquisition to long-term partnerships. Before outsourcing, Maria worked as a scientist and product developer, sharpening her analytical and problem-solving skills.
Christophe M. David is the Vice President of Business Development for Europe at Riseup Labs, where he drives commercial strategies and client relationships across the region. With a diverse career in executive roles, he combines strategic vision, business effectiveness, and human sensitivity. In the early 2000s, he discovered Bangladesh and was inspired by the humanity, commitment, and resilience of its people. This experience led him to engage in meaningful projects supporting economic and industrial development.
Michael S. Longwell is the Vice President of Sales, North America at Riseup Labs, with more than 20 years of experience in consultative contact center BPO solutions. He helps organizations enhance customer experience and lifetime value through front-office, back-office, and KPO services. Before joining Riseup Labs, Michael was Sales Director for North America at SuccessKPI, a SaaS analytics platform using AI to transform contact center performance.
Hamim Zakaria is the Head of Business Development at Riseup Labs, bringing 17 years of experience across software, game development, staffing solutions, and the BPO industry. Joining the company as a Business Development Manager, he played a pivotal role in shaping its transition into global B2B services and steadily rose to his current leadership role.
Enamul Hoque is the Head of Operations, Growth & Strategy at Riseup Labs, where he drives operational excellence, business expansion, and long-term growth initiatives. With over nine years at the company, he has advanced through roles including Operations Manager and Product Manager, building expertise in streamlining processes and aligning strategies with organizational goals.
Ariful Islam Shakil is the Director of Business Development at Riseup Labs, with 15 years of extensive experience in strengthening local market presence and driving sustainable growth in Bangladesh’s technology sector. He specializes in building strategic partnerships, expanding client networks, and delivering innovative digital solutions tailored to client needs.
Ershadul Hoque is the Founder & CEO of Riseup Labs, a tech entrepreneur, innovator, and builder with nearly two decades of experience leading digital transformation projects worldwide. He has played a pivotal role in designing and delivering intelligent solutions across software, games, immersive technologies, BPO services, and AI-powered platforms.
Md. Moshiur Rahman is the General Manager of Business Development at Riseup Labs, with over 13 years of experience across sales, marketing, operations, and strategic growth. Over his 8+ years at the company, he has advanced through key leadership roles including Assistant Manager of Training, Management Officer, and Operations Manager (Sales & Marketing). In his current role, Moshiur drives business expansion, client acquisition, and long-term partnerships while aligning technology-driven solutions with evolving market demands.
Md. Rezwanul Haque is the Head of Operations, Admin & Compliance at Riseup Labs, where he oversees administration, finance, budgeting, process improvement, and regulatory compliance. With strong expertise in operations management and strategic planning, he ensures financial discipline and legal compliance while streamlining processes for sustainable growth. Rezwanul also leads recruitment, onboarding, and performance management, and guides compliance frameworks including VAT, taxation, and internal controls.
Maria Santos is the Vice President of Global Sales at Riseup Labs, representing the company from the Philippines to international clients. With expertise in BPO, ITO, and KPO, she helps organizations scale operations, optimize processes, and achieve measurable results. Her career spans outsourcing, technology solutions, and knowledge services, covering the full client lifecycle from acquisition to long-term partnerships. Before outsourcing, Maria worked as a scientist and product developer, sharpening her analytical and problem-solving skills.
Christophe M. David is the Vice President of Business Development for Europe at Riseup Labs, where he drives commercial strategies and client relationships across the region. With a diverse career in executive roles, he combines strategic vision, business effectiveness, and human sensitivity. In the early 2000s, he discovered Bangladesh and was inspired by the humanity, commitment, and resilience of its people. This experience led him to engage in meaningful projects supporting economic and industrial development.
Michael S. Longwell is the Vice President of Sales, North America at Riseup Labs, with more than 20 years of experience in consultative contact center BPO solutions. He helps organizations enhance customer experience and lifetime value through front-office, back-office, and KPO services. Before joining Riseup Labs, Michael was Sales Director for North America at SuccessKPI, a SaaS analytics platform using AI to transform contact center performance.
Hamim Zakaria is the Head of Business Development at Riseup Labs, bringing 17 years of experience across software, game development, staffing solutions, and the BPO industry. Joining the company as a Business Development Manager, he played a pivotal role in shaping its transition into global B2B services and steadily rose to his current leadership role.
Enamul Hoque is the Head of Operations, Growth & Strategy at Riseup Labs, where he drives operational excellence, business expansion, and long-term growth initiatives. With over nine years at the company, he has advanced through roles including Operations Manager and Product Manager, building expertise in streamlining processes and aligning strategies with organizational goals.
Ariful Islam Shakil is the Director of Business Development at Riseup Labs, with 15 years of extensive experience in strengthening local market presence and driving sustainable growth in Bangladesh’s technology sector. He specializes in building strategic partnerships, expanding client networks, and delivering innovative digital solutions tailored to client needs.