Why We Must Decentralize Fitness While Protecting Our Data

I recently went through a very bad experience with a gym called Eos Fitness. Never again will I get swept up into a large fitness business based outside my community so there's no recourse when I get ripped off...

Except there was recourse in this case.

Eos ripped me off when I purchased personal training and they flaked, to put it mildly. I filed a complaint with my state's attorney general and got my money back. But not without a fight and having my time wasted by Eos. (Eos knows not to come for me writing this as I have this all on record and I'm happy to share it with anyone, including the media).

Big Fitness™ Bets Against You:

They bet they're too big to fail and you're too busy or lack the knowledge to fight back.

They bet you aren't aware of what's going on with your finances because you've outsourced it to an app like Rocket Money rather than taking personal responsibility to balance your own books. (I wish this weren't as common as I've seen it be among friends who are otherwise brilliant people).

They bet you won't read the ToS and have no idea when they pull from your account or how much or how often.

They bet you'll give up when they give you the runaround.

They bet you'll give up when their receptionist is rude and chews you out over the phone.

They bet you haven't noticed they've got a corporate office far away from where you live and that you don't notice the money you pay them isn't going back into your community.

They bet you won't notice when your personal trainer flakes because she benefits by double booking even though you don't.

They bet you'll sign over your financial information—your card and/or ACH payment info (your bank account and routing numbers).

They bet you'll fill out the intake info to include your name, personal info, address, phone number, and email—though they'll never work as hard as you do to protect it.

They bet you'll download 1-3 apps for "your convenience."

They bet that you're lazy, unmotivated, and unable to build habits or fitness community on your own and that they'll capture you by creating dependency rather than empowerment.

It Doesn't Have To Be This Way Anymore

I had a terrible gym experience so you don't have to.

I'll never pay for a gym membership ever again.

I'm opting instead for self-empowerment by creating my own fitness challenges with a home gym, weights, pilates equipment, walking, and hiking—all of which I can record privately with RUNSTR, an app created by my friend The Wild Hustle. He now employs me on this project. 😃

Hustle made RUNSTR after having a bad experience with Strava and Nike Run Club. Long gone are the days when I'd run around Wichita to train for a race and then post the map on social media. (I can't believe I used to doxx myself like that!)

I get an email almost daily now saying my email was in a data breach, thanks to the identity protection program I pay for. 😡

I'm tired of being in honeypots. I'm tired of being in data breaches. I refuse to give out my phone number at stores or download whatever app they're shilling that will give me some discount in exchange for my first-party data.

It's not worth it.

Fitness Is Too Centralized

Like many things, fitness is too centralized. I didn't notice this until I went through the above nightmare. This turned on a light for me. 🤯

I was outsourcing my agency to a personal trainer rather than taking personal responsibility and finding self-empowerment.

I was paying a Big Fitness™ gym (with charges on my card coming from its locations across the U.S. in cities nowhere near my own). The high-value-low-price (HVLP) gym I used prior (Planet Fitness) was the same thing. Big gyms with little regard to the local community... They move in, take up real estate, and create low-paying jobs where the employees don't care how they treat customers. These HVLP gyms go for volume, so they don't care how they treat an individual anyway. Another Heather Larson will come along after they screw me. And another, and another...

I'm Doing Better On My Own With a Home Gym

I've had enough of "going to the gym" and getting fleeced like I'm their cash cow and not someone who cares about my personal health, fitness, and wellness.

I built a standing desk and added a walking pad. Now, I stand and walk for much of my workday. I walk ~2 hours a day or more. Daily, with maybe one rest day every 7-11 days, depending on how my body feels.

In the first five weeks of using the standing desk/walking pad combo, my resting heart rate lowered 10 points and my average weight also decreased. I tried a lot of fitness things in 2025 after getting stuck in a rut. Gyms, dance classes, you name it. But here's what's sticking: my home gym.

I use Apple Fitness to track workouts and Apple Health Kit to track health metrics. Both work well with RUNSTR. Then, if I feel like it, I post my workout info to Nostr using RUNSTR. (Apple doesn't offer social sharing). I can earn Bitcoin rewards in RUNSTR and donate to the charities of my choosing.

I walk daily on the walking pad while working or studying for my Yoga Therapy 800-hour certification. Or I read or watch a Suns game.

I work in pilates workouts using Blogilates, which costs $7.99/month.

I bought a 10-lb kettlebell for workouts. It's also a great supplemental piece of equipment for Blogilates pilates workouts.

I purchased a cobra reflex punching bag for quick cardio workouts. (I have years of MMA experience, so this is a no-brainer for me, your mileage may vary).

I also use a "yoga stick" aka a "mobility stick" as an awesome stretching assist.

Finally, I took up hiking because I live in Phoenix and it's winter. This is another no-brainer fitness activity.

Bonus: I can hide Treasures for an app my Soapbox colleague Chad made, called Treasures).

I also become kinda obsessed with logging my workouts in Apple, RUNSTR, and Blogilates fitness journals. For privacy, nothing beats keeping a paper fitness journal! But RUNSTR is a close second.

Nothing has shown me my patterns like keeping a paper fitness journal. I highly recommend it.*

I finally feel like I got out of my fitness rut, I'm getting results, and I enjoy all of my fitness and working out. Coworkers have seen me walking during meetings and have reached out to ask more about it. I'm not alone in wanting the standing desk/walking pad setup!

Notice I don't talk much about yoga here; yoga isn't fitness.

Yoga is yoga. Yoga is a practice, not a workout. Though most in the West use it as a workout... Yoga can aid in fitness, balance, and weight loss. But it will have you coming up short on fitness.

For example, there is not one yoga pose where you do a pull up. Much of yoga is not oriented towards cardio. Yoga is a tool in your wellness tool chest like any other. It's going to be great for health & wellness. It will lower stress and help you focus. Yoga itself, in my experience, doesn't lower my blood pressure but breathwork (pranayama) does.

For those and many other reasons, I don't replace fitness and exercise with yoga. Especially as a yoga teacher! I need cross training. I'm at an age where I must build muscle, worry about protein intake, and preserve my bone density. Fitness goals change throughout our lives and it's important to be aware and adjust.

*Unless you have a process addiction, eating disorder, or are prone to other negative and toxic behaviors towards yourself where fitness and exercise are concerned. Please consult a mental health professional first if this is you.