Larbert entrepreneur and former Hearts player hoping to change fitness industry

Aaron Reid, a former Heart of Midlothian and Scotland youth player, ended his football career to move into personal training before launching his ‘Lifestyle’ fitness training website.

The 20-year-old marketing management student then pitched an idea for a smartphone app to a business incubator at Edinburgh Napier University where he studies.

Aaron’s main aim is to help all kinds of people to become fitter, from those who don’t feel ready to even begin a workout to those who regularly visit the gym.

The increasing popularity of “diet fads”, as he puts it, and “unauthentic influencers”, as well as the costs of personal training, motivated Aaron to develop a business idea which is designed to make ‘high intensity interval training’ – or HIIT – affordable, practical and sustainable.

He has since received financial backing for his app from his university and angel investors, resulting in an invitation from global entrepreneurship scouting company eBridge Alliance to push for more funding and communicate his ideas to an international audience.

Lasting only 15 minutes a day, Aaron believes his HIIT workouts will show users they don’t have to spend hours on a treadmill or a weights machine to get fit.

He is also in the process of working alongside four personal trainers to “teach them how to build strong brands”.

Aaron said: “Fitness is plagued with unauthentic influencers misleading our fitness community.

“I want to show people real experts to help these people get fit for free without having to spend money on diet fads.

“A lot of people forget about people who aren’t ready for workouts.

“We’ve found these people tend to go long walks or little jogs but from research it turned out they wanted to do workouts.

“There are three main problems: one was time; the second was money and affordability; the third was build.

“Everyone deserves the opportunity to get fit because fitness changes lives.

“A lot of people go on diet fads and they’re starving themselves and it’s not sustainable. I’m trying to make it sustainable and cost-effective so people can actually enjoy it.

"The idea is I’m going to eventually release the app and it’ll be free and there’ll be an option of additional coaching. I’m trying to change people’s lives and build a community and a movement.

“It’s all about getting people believing in this and themselves.”

Aaron has been discussing his app, which would initially cost £4.99 a month, with students and scouts from across the world via Zoom during lockdown.

While he currently works with a team of 12 and has 28 clients signed up to his website, the former Graeme High School pupil plans to extend his network further.

Aaron continued: “I’ve been lucky enough to be included in the eBridge Alliance which is essentially a scouting agency which picks out entrepreneurial talents.

“They’re looking to fund talents and I’m in this to find other talents.”

Visit www.lifestyletrainingclub.com to find out more.

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