JaxJox, which makes a smart personalized home gym that uses AI to track and improve your performance and give you a wellness score, just scored itself. The Seattle-based fit tech company announced today that it has raised $10 million to bring its JaxJox “interactive fitness studio” to market.

The company also announced an exclusive retail partnership with Best Buy, and customers can get the fitness studio installed by Best Buy’s Geek Squad.

The system consists of a 43” touchscreen TV that can display fitness classes as well as data about your performance. The screen rotates both horizontally and vertically, and tilts if you’re doing floor exercises. Crucially, however, JaxJox isn’t just about cardio: the system has integrated smart dumbbells and a smart kettlebell — both configurable for different weights — that also report performance data. There’s also a “smart push-up device” and a vibrating, massaging foam roller.

All integrate with Apple’s HealthKit and will integrate with GoogleFit in a few months.

“The InteractiveStudio is the first home gym that includes connected free-weight equipment with AI performance tracking and interactive live and on-demand coaching for a personalized workout experience,” the company says. “Interactive Studio has a substantially richer training experience with personalized, real-time data including repetitions, power and a proprietary Fitness IQ score.”

That Fitness IQ score is generated by AI, the company says, and includes data on peak and average power, heart rate, workout consistency, steps, body weight, and the fitness level you’ve chose to attain.

“Beyond fitness-tech products, my vision is to close the gap between fitness and health,” says JaxJox CEO Stephen Owusu. “By monitoring performance metrics and using AI, we can give users a more holistic view of their health and provide recommendations on improving their wellbeing. We know working out is only one aspect of wellness and will continue to enhance our platform to provide an unparalleled experience.”

This type of home gym, that enables smart workouts either solo or with others — JaxJox has a gym friends feature that lets you work out with a few friends — is the future of home fitness. Along with a few other video-centric competitors (notably Peloton, which of course lacks the weights component) something like this feels like the future of gyms.

At least for those of us who aren’t planning to return to a public gym anytime soon.

I asked Owusu for a few more details via email:

John Koetsier: How close is the full hardware/software package to release?

Stephen Owusu: The InteractiveStudio will be released by the end of this year.

Koetsier: Is there a vision to eventually add a cycle and/or treadmill? Would you build it yourself or integrate with existing players?

Owusu: We always look for opportunities to simplify a consumers experience and allow them to integrate other fitness tech into our platform. That way they can bring all their data to one centralized location. We will continue to engage our members on the benefits of using our equipment to accomplish a total body workout. However, we will look to integrate with existing players so those that do like to run on a tread or bike, will be able to sync their data to our platform for a holistic view. Our experience will eventually include an outdoor running component.

Koetsier: Talk about your vision for health and fitness. Covid-19 has changed everything: do you think that’s permanent? or at least long-lived?

Owusu: There was already a significant move towards health and fitness overall, however Covid has accelerated the at-home element of fitness. We believe this trend will continue post Covid. People used to have gym memberships as their main way of staying in shape and used home workouts as a supplement. We see the home gym becoming the main way to workout and going to the gym becoming supplementary.

JAXJOX has a number of functionalities that bring the feel of a gym to the comfort of one’s home. Personal training, high-energy workouts, music, high quality equipment, to name a few. We know interacting with people is what many love about boutique style gyms.

We’ve developed a virtual group training experience on our platform so other members or family and friends can workout together in the comfort of their own home. This feature will be rolling out in 2021.

On the topic of health, our technology allows us to serve personalized recommendations to our members. The data people have access to is crucial in changing how they consume their health information in the future. People are used to going to a doctor once a year and hearing “you’re healthy” or “there is something wrong.” But what does that mean? We want to provide people with a better understanding of their health by using data along with other health app integrations to educate people on the contributing factors of their overall wellness. By treating our solution as an interactive wellness hub, it allows us to continuously enhance the experience.

Koetsier: Pricing for the full system?

Owusu: $2199 and $39 monthly subscription.

Koetsier: There’s a number of players now with home gym replacements that have extensive video components. Peloton, of course, Mirror … a bunch of others. How does JaxJox stack up? What’s your niche, or how do you beat other contenders?

Owusu: Most of the offerings out there are centered around cardio and even with Tonal which is strength based, it includes cables for resistance and is fixed on a wall, which limits the way people move and interact with the screen. We provide a very similar experience with our content and the features we have to connect our community but we take it up a notch by providing the connected adjustable equipment and real-time data tracking that Mirror does not have.

Mirror provides the screen and the content. People still have to go buy weights and other equipment to workout. Same with Peloton and their new bike and tread experience. Their experience is centered around cardio. Now their members have the opportunity to swivel their screen and do strength, yoga and other workouts. On the treadmill, they have to step down and look up at the treadmill screen. It feels disjointed and expensive because people still need to buy weights on top of the tread or bike.

Tempo is another strength specific gym that requires people to stand a certain distance from the screen to get the form correction and data. The tracking is limited because of that. Additionally their weights require people to manually add or remove weight which can slow someone down during a workout. Our connected weights adjust with a push of a button and happens instantly. Our DumbbellConnect goes from 8-50lbs per dumbbell and KettlebellConnect is 12-42lbs. Total weight for the InteractiveStudio is 145 lbs. JAXJOX is the first true connected home gym that caters to strength, functional training, cardio and recovery.

Our weights and other equipment have the connected technology built into it, which gives users the freedom to move as they please. You don’t need to stand a certain distance from our screen to get your tracking. Our equipment does it all. Because of this, members have the ability to work out wherever and still have the connected experience and not be tied to a specific location. They can workout in front of the 43” TV on the InteractiveStudio or grab a piece of equipment off the stand and go workout in their backyard if they want.

Our live coaching and performance tracking will follow them in the mobile app.

The adjustability is another big differentiator for JAXJOX. Our weights are digitally adjustable and only require a push of a button. People get six kettlebells in one kettlebell and 15 dumbbells all in one compact design. The InteractiveStudio is very compact and allows people to easily adjust their weight mid workout.

Koetsier: Anything else?

Owusu: With the InteractiveStudio, we made sure to think of all aspects of training when developing it. It focuses on strength and functional-training with our connected free-weight component but complements cardio and recovery seamlessly. It wasn’t an afterthought like you’re seeing with other brands in the space. Variety is extremely important for keeping people excited and motivated throughout their journey.

Our workouts and programs led by our team of expert coaches will show people how to do that and they will see the sweat prove it. Not everyone can run; maybe they have bad knees. Using weights is a great alternative. Take the KettlebellConnect 2.0 for example. It is arguably the most versatile piece of equipment out there. You can do so much with a kettlebell. JAXJOX is the only smart home solution that includes a digital, adjustable kettlebell.

We can’t wait to show people how to properly use one with our form classes and how much fun it is to workout with a kettlebell. They will get a total body workout with our kettlebell classes. Personally, I think kettlebell training is addicting because it is challenging and requires a lot of focus but once you learn the proper technique it is extremely rewarding and fun. People will see the results they want.

Koetsier: Thank you for your time.