Decoding Gravl: How This AI Fitness Coach Pumps $250K/Month

The Onboarding Machine: Personalization is King 👑

Gravl understands that fitness is personal. Its extensive 24-step onboarding isn't just data collection; it's a masterclass in building perceived value before asking for commitment.

It starts simple, welcoming the user by name ("juie" in this case), creating an immediate personal connection. Then, the crucial data exchange begins. Users can sync with Apple Health for seamless integration or manually input gender, weight, and age. This data isn't just stored; it's the foundation for the "accurate personalised workouts" Gravl promises. 📊

The personalization deepens:

• Training Frequency: How often can you realistically train? Gravl offers options from 1 day/week to everyday, even providing recommendations, guiding users toward sustainable habits.
• Exercise Location & Equipment: Where do you work out? Large gym, home gym, garage gym? Users meticulously select available equipment (barbells, plates, machines), ensuring the AI generates workouts they can actually perform. This level of detail is key to user retention.
• Goal Setting: Users select muscle groups they want to focus on, directly influencing the AI's workout creation.

Crucially, before even hitting the main app, Gravl shows a projection screen: "38% Stronger." It visualizes potential strength gains based on users similar to you, complete with projected 1-rep max increases (e.g., Barbell Hip Thrust +16.0kg). This isn't just data; it's motivation fuel, building belief in the system's effectiveness. 🚀

Notifications are framed as essential benefits – workout reminders, rest alerts, strength score updates – increasing opt-in rates before the standard iOS prompt. The entire flow culminates in an "AI is creating your training plan" screen, complete with progress bars and user testimonials, building anticipation for the bespoke experience.

The Soft Paywall Strategy: Securing Commitment Early 💰

Gravl employs a "No Free Trial - Soft Paywall" strategy. After investing time in personalization and seeing the potential results, users are presented with subscription options before accessing the core workout features.

There's no beating around the bush:

1. Promo Code Option: Caters to referrals or special offers first.
2. Subscription Tiers: Clear options are presented – 1 Month, 1 Year (highlighted as "Best value" 🚀), and 3 Months, with costs broken down per week ($3.49, $1.35, $2.71 respectively). This makes the annual commitment seem significantly cheaper.
3. Urgency Plays: A subsequent screen might offer a limited-time discount (e.g., 36% OFF the annual plan, $44.99/year instead of $69.99) with a countdown timer. This classic tactic pressures users to decide quickly.

By gating the core experience behind payment after a highly personalized setup, Gravl filters for high-intent users willing to invest in their fitness journey. The $250k monthly revenue suggests this strategy, combined with running ads, is highly effective.

Core Loop & Feature Deep Dive: The AI Workout Experience 🤖

Once subscribed and signed up (via email and a 4-digit verification code), users enter the main app experience.

The dashboard is clean, immediately presenting the "Next workout" – a tailored session based on the onboarding inputs (e.g., Glutes, Quads, Hamstrings...). Quick tips guide the first interaction.

Workout customization is robust:

• Viewing & Editing: Users can tap into the suggested workout, see target muscles, and view the list of exercises with sets, reps, and suggested weights.
• Flexibility: Don't like an exercise? Options include Replace, Add to Superset, Add Dropset, Remove from workout, or even "Remove and don’t recommend." This level of control respects user preference and physical limitations. 💪
• Adding Exercises: Users can easily add more exercises, searching by name or filtering by muscle group or category (Equipment, Favorites, Cardio, Bodyweight, Weights).

The exercise logging itself is detailed:

• Instructions & Visuals: Each exercise includes video demonstrations and clear instructions.
• Logging Sets: Warmup and effective sets are clearly delineated. Users log reps and weight for each set, with checkmarks indicating completion.
• Advanced Options: Dropsets are visually integrated (marked with 'D'). Timers are customizable per exercise or globally.
• Exertion Rating (RPE): After completing sets for an exercise, the app asks, "How many more reps could you have done?" This feedback loop is critical for the AI to adjust future weights progressively. 📈

After logging all exercises, the workout summary provides key stats (duration, calories, volume) and allows saving as a favorite or syncing with Apple Health. Completed workouts show detailed records, including projected 1-rep max updates based on performance.

Retention & Engagement Tactics: Building Sticky Habits ✨

Gravl excels at keeping users engaged beyond just logging sets and reps.

• Strength Score: A prominent score (e.g., "Novice 71") with a progress bar provides a gamified metric of overall strength, tracked over time (Month, 6 months, Year, All time). Users can drill down into strength per muscle group. 🎯
• Muscle Recovery: A visual representation shows muscle recovery status (e.g., Glutes 30% recovered, 50 hours left), helping users plan rest and avoid overtraining. This adds significant practical value.
• Trends & History: Although trends require 2 weeks of data, the app tracks workout volume, sets, and muscle focus via a Workout Split diagram. Detailed workout history and personal records (Max weight, reps, volume per exercise) provide tangible proof of progress.
• Plan Adaptability: Users aren't locked in. Settings allow adjusting the weekly goal, fitness goal (e.g., Build and tone muscle), experience level, workout duration, and even enabling/disabling supersets. The AI adapts.
• Profile & Measurements: Beyond workout data, users can track body measurements (weight, body fat, circumferences), providing a holistic view of their transformation.
• Achievements: Badges for total workouts, streaks, and monthly milestones add another layer of gamification.

Growth Signals & Key Takeaways 🔑

Gravl's success isn't accidental. It’s a calculated system:

1. High ARPU Focus: $250K revenue on 65K downloads points to a high average revenue per user, likely driven by the effective paywall and focus on annual subscriptions.
2. Personalization as Value Prop: The extensive onboarding justifies the AI "coach" concept and makes the subscription feel worthwhile. Users feel the plan is truly theirs.
3. Data-Driven Progression: Features like the Strength Score, RPE input, and projected maxes make progress visible and keep users motivated.
4. Smart Paywall Timing: Placing the paywall after personalization but before the core workout leverages user investment in the setup process.
5. Robust Feature Set: Beyond basic logging, features like supersets, dropsets, muscle recovery, and detailed analytics cater to serious lifters.

Gravl demonstrates how a deep understanding of user motivation, combined with AI personalization and smart monetization strategies, can create a highly successful fitness app in a competitive market. Analyzing flows like these reveals the hidden patterns behind multi-million dollar app businesses.