Strength training startup Grndhouse has launched a new app following 18 months of development.

The app is available through Apple’s App Store and Google Play and will help users keep up their daily strength training schedule by making its sessions more easily accessible.

“We want to be the leaders in strength training,” said Louis Rennocks, co-founder of Grndhouse, in an exclusive interview with HCM. “Peloton and other providers class themselves as an at-home product, but we want Grndhouse to be everywhere: in gyms, hotels, on holidays, at home – it’s boutique fitness in your hand.”

The first iteration of the app mirrors the Grndhouse web offering, however, as the app develops new features will be released. In a few months’ time it will expand to provide a more user-focused library of workouts, including sports-specific and pre- and post-natal strength-training. Little equipment is needed to complete Grndhouse’s workouts – around 15 per cent are bodyweight only, 10 per cent require bands and 75 per cent need dumbbells.

Once community numbers have evolved to an adequate level, AI-assisted strength training solutions will be introduced. “AI needs numbers, so we must build our community for the machine learning to work,” said Rennocks.

Once the AI is ready, users will be able to tap into a personalised strength-training programme that will recommend workouts, not only according to the preferred category, as per the first phase, but also fitness level and body type.

“Over time the app will start to learn what you like and what strength training you want to do – your interface, for example, would look completely different to mine,” explained Rennocks. “It will still have the weekly structure, but will recommend workouts according to your body type.”

By using a heart rate monitor, users can be given a “hustle score” based on the amount of time they've spent in different HR zones. “The algorithm will start to learn how to make progress on the score and push harder,” explained Rennocks. “It will allow people to strength train and feel the progression as well.”

Grndhouse made a splash in the fitness industry after former Barry’s trainers Louis Rennocks, Jay Copley, Connor Minney, Nik Naidoo and Izy George co-founded the company during the pandemic in January 2021. One thousand members joined in the first four weeks and ten months later they secured a £1.5m investment – from Passion Capital, several angel investors and SEEDRS crowdfunding – to create a fitness studio and an app.

The company’s Paddington-based studio – which will be the only physical venue in the UK – opened in December 2021. Designed by Zynk, its orange and black aesthetic is deliberately gender-neutral with features such as a light tunnel built-in to encourage social media sharing. The studio features a light-edged stage from which the online sessions are filmed, but this physical venue also allows members to participate in a live, in-person experience.

The app’s launch heralds a new chapter for Grndhouse that will see the startup pursue its ambitious vision to go global and conquer the American market. The team plans to raise more capital in the USA this summer with a view to launching in the US and potentially opening a second hub that will provide in-person experiences and be used as a filming location. They also plan to extend their reach into Europe and significantly expand their customer base.

“We’re aiming to have 10,000 subscribers by the end of this year, which we think is possible,” said Rennocks. “We’ve had steady growth and our attrition rate is low. Many fitness companies just concentrate on getting people in, but we’re trying to create lifestyle change.”