Traineo

The Myspace of fitness and weightloss websites, Traineo was launched by a handful of young, Harvard grad, running enthusiasts in September 2006. Alasdair McLean-Foreman, the CEO of HDO Group LLC, dreamed of creating a place where a knowledgebase of fitness, training and exercise could be fused together and leveraged to provide motivation, support and accountability. Underneath traineo’s polished Web 2.0 hood, there are weight, diet and exercise tracking tools, user created communities, forums and a library choked full of fitness tips from professional trainers.

I joined traineo on a whim invite from a friend who was looking for a way to stay motivated enough to exercise at least four times a week. Oddly, I found that inputting my daily regimen into this machine became a loyal habit that I did not want to break. I felt proud the days I exercised and I felt ashamed the days I didn’t or disappointed with myself the days I forgot to input my statistics.

Traineo’s motivation tool allows users to delegate tracking and monitoring privileges to other users. After signing up as a motivator (or motivatee) for another user, you are habitually sent fitness updates. Here you can track their progress and provide the occaisional reminder to get back on the treadmill or a pep talk about how great they were looking in those pants yesterday. You can view their weight gains/losses, the amount of calories they burned and consumed.

Users are encouraged to create an identity on traineo, which will theoretically, give a person a sense of ownership over the website, the community and their body. I completed my profile with a revealing photo of my exposed abdominals, established some fitness goals and then set out into the forums. What I saw there initially surprised me: overweight American women from all walks of life seeking wisdom and motivation from others, wanting to connect their misery and struggle, and in that unity, be stronger than their urges.

And then I looked at my profile again and felt a little petty. I continued going to the gym and logging my workouts, but I never used the forums or joined a virtual community and I think because of that, malaise overtook me and my motivation to exercise faded.

I envy those in traineo communities, though I no desire to be a part of one. I feel like my body and exercise routine is a private thing. But it really isn’t. I run on one of 19 treadmills. I throw syncopated punches and kick alongside 40 others.

Why do I want to be invisible in the gym? Maybe it’s not because I am a misanthrope, but because I am disenchanted with the idea of an omniscient, virtual God judging my fitness regimen and the occasional spoon of peanut butter. I didn’t need this in Church, and I certainly don’t need it in the gym.

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