Before we wrote a line of code we read 138 Reddit posts.
The reading list was straightforward: r/personaltraining, r/online_coaching, r/Fitness, and r/loseit. We searched for “Trainerize”, “TrueCoach”, “HubFit”, “My PT Hub”, “coaching software”, “client tracking”, “workout app”. We read posts and the top-voted comments. We took notes in spreadsheets per post.
We sorted the notes into themes. Five came up over and over.
Theme 1: Sunday admin pain
Coaches reported spending 5-10 hours every Sunday on admin: program updates, weekly check-ins, client message replies, sheet maintenance. The pain wasn’t unique to one platform. Trainerize users had it. Sheets-only coaches had it. TrueCoach users had it.
The pattern: most platforms make the coach update each client’s program manually. Multiplied by 20 clients, that’s the Sunday afternoon.
Selected quote, paraphrased: “I love coaching. I hate admin. Sunday I do admin. I want one less Sunday spent in spreadsheets.”
What we built: the Save Week automation. One button reads the client’s logged RPE and reps, calculates next week’s loads via progressive overload rules, and writes them into the new sheet template. A 30-minute task becomes a 2-minute task per client.
Theme 2: Client app friction
Multiple posts described losing clients because the coaching app was “too much”. Common complaints: clients had to install another app, learn another interface, remember another password, deal with notifications they didn’t want.
Coaches who’d switched to “fancier” platforms reported higher churn than coaches using simple shared documents.
Selected quote: “My clients are middle-aged. They want to open a link, see their workout, log it, close the tab. They don’t want a new app on their phone.”
What we built: a mobile-friendly client web view (PWA-installable, but works fine in any browser). The client opens a link, logs workouts, closes the tab. No app to install. No login to remember (token URL).
Theme 3: Methodology in vs out
Half the threads on r/personaltraining were about whether to use RPE, RIR, percentage-based, velocity, or daily auto-regulation. The methodology debates were lively. The platforms were agnostic.
Many coaches felt their tools forced them toward simpler models (just sets and reps, no RPE) because the platforms hadn’t built in the methodology fields.
What we built: RPE and Achieved RPE columns in the workout plan, an RPE-to-percentage lookup table baked into the template, the 3-test PR protocol for personalized e1RM calibration. The methodology is a first-class citizen.
Theme 4: Data ownership anxiety
Several threads discussed what happens when a platform shuts down (Bodybuilding.com’s BodySpace in 2021, MyFitnessPal acquisition in 2024) or pivots in a way that loses your client data. Coaches with 3-5 years of client history wanted some assurance that data wouldn’t disappear.
What we built: every client’s data lives in a Google Sheet in the coach’s Google Drive. We never have a copy. If we shut down, the coach still has every sheet. If a client wants their data, the coach exports the sheet as Excel or CSV. That’s it.
Privacy/compliance bonus: no third-party data processing for client records. The coach is the data controller; Google is the processor; we don’t enter the chain.
Theme 5: Pricing math
Multiple posts ran the math on per-client pricing. Trainerize at $89/month for 31-50 clients works out to $1.78-$2.87 per client per month. That’s not bad until you remember the coach charges $50-$200 per client; a tool fee of 1-3% feels reasonable.
Where the math broke: coaches just starting out, with 5 clients. $39/month for 5 clients is $7.80 per client. That’s 5-15% of revenue. That’s the difference between a sustainable side hustle and a money loser.
What we built: flat $15/month regardless of client count. A 5-client coach pays $3 per client per month. A 50-client coach pays $0.30. The math finally favors the coach who’s just starting.
What we didn’t build
Five themes generated five product decisions. The themes that didn’t make the cut also told us what we didn’t need:
- AI workout generators (mentioned in 4/138 posts, all skeptical)
- Recipe books (mentioned in 0/138 posts)
- Built-in payment processing (mentioned in 12/138, but coaches said “we have Stripe already”)
- Community forums (mentioned in 6/138, all negative, “another thing for clients to misuse”)
- Whitelabeled mobile apps (mentioned in 8/138, half negative on the per-month price)
The Reddit signal isn’t perfect. It’s a sample of vocal Reddit-active coaches, not the full market. But it pointed clearly: simpler, cheaper, methodology-friendly, data-portable, no app to install.
We built that.
What you can do with this data
If you’re building anything in the online coaching space, the same exercise is worth doing. Read 100+ posts before writing a feature spec. Sort by theme. Count mentions. Let the signal shape what you build instead of building what feels reasonable in your head.
The 138 posts we read are partly archived in our research folder for the curious. The mockup requirements doc summarizes the themes and decisions. Use any of it.