How a Focus on Form Creates Exponential Growth For One Gym
Interview by Dr. Spencer Lalk
The Form Lab Philosophy: Offering a Unique, Scientific Approach to Fitness in Portland, Maine
It makes sense that The Form Lab founders take a scientific approach to fitness. This personal training startup has grown exponentially since opening in February 2022. The three founders have surprising backgrounds, and their collective success can be traced back to a simple formula. In this post, we’ll explore The Form Lab’s founders, their business and training philosophy, and how they’ve been so successful.
Unique Founder Backgrounds
The Form Lab has three founders. Sarah Olivares, Studio Manager and an active sports participant her entire life, is originally from Portland, Maine. She earned her PhD in molecular biology, cell biology, and biochemistry from Boston University. While working at two consecutive biotechnology companies in San Francisco, she met her husband, Eric Olivares. Also an avid fitness fan, Eric holds a BS and PhD in genetics. Originally from California, he moved to Maine with Sarah, and together they founded The Form Lab. Eric continues his biotech work as Chief Product & Technology Officer at GeneDx and is the founder of SEQanswers.com.
The third founder, Andrew Blais, is also from Maine. He started his career in the family business, a funeral home, working with his father. Upon his father’s retirement, Andrew pursued his true passion and became a NASM Certified Personal Trainer in 2018. Today he is The Form Lab’s Head Coach and Personal Trainer.
From left to right: Sarah Olivares, Eric Olivares, & Andrew Blais - Founders of The Form Lab
Unique Personal Training & Business Philosophy
How did these three individuals come together to create The Form Lab? According to Sarah, it wasn’t until she returned to Maine from California that she came to a realization: in all those years of physical activity, competing in sports, and maintaining her fitness, her technique wasn’t doing well by her body type. She set out to change that and met Andrew, who became her personal trainer and group fitness coach.
“He was so good, I thought, why not join together?"
Andrew, similarly, saw the world as Sarah did. He had been a trainer working in a variety of local gyms and observed that many clients, with the best of intentions, failed to focus on form in order to function better during their workouts. They were, in effect, undermining their ability to maximize their functional strength.
Sarah explained their aligned business and training approach: “We wanted to start something where we could control the mission, the philosophy, and build a fitness community we were passionate about, that made us feel good."
The Formula for Fitness Success
Sarah had learned directly from Andrew that by fine-tuning her form, she could ensure optimal movement, prevent injury, and be active for many years to come. “Most people that I knew in training were not really focused on proper technique and form to optimize results.”
Given Sarah and Eric’s scientific background, they “came from a very different place" in crafting The Formula for their business. Literally, on their website home page is The Formula:
“Start with proper form and the way you move
throughout life knows no bounds.”
In talking with The Form Lab founders, it became evident that there were at least two other elements to their personal training success formula.
Data-Driven Exercise Programming
"Being data-driven and fact-driven, we wanted to understand the starting point for all of our clients," said Sarah. This is why The Form Lab uses Kinotek for all client baseline assessments. The value? Having a complete set of functional movement data including core mobility, asymmetries, and compensations to understand client vulnerabilities, truly personalize programming, and measure improvement.
According to Andrew, there’s power in personalized data. Before Kinotek, he explained, "If I tell someone their shoulder is only getting to 80 degrees flexion, they might believe me or they can be like, no, I was feeling that it was going up higher. The guesswork and vagaries are gone. Trainers now have precision functional movement baselines, tangible data of areas in need of attention, and the ability to quantitatively show progress.” He added that client buy-in and enthusiasm improve when they see their own personalized data.
A Supported Fitness Community…with Benefits
Another unique feature of their formula? The Form Lab offers their staff opportunities for healthcare benefits and education.
“A lot of [trainers] have to piece together this job that they have so much passion for by having multiple jobs. And ironically, they're here to keep us healthy and most of them don't even have access to healthcare," she said. "To me, that struck a chord. I just felt there was a hypocrisy in this industry where these folks, these professionals, aren't really treated as such."
How Successful is The Form Lab?
In their first year (they opened in February 2022), they started with 3.5 employees (two full-time and one part-time trainer, and a manager). Today, The Form Lab has 21 employees, including 10 trainers, four yoga coaches, two massage therapists, a nutrition coach, and two client services representatives. Their client base? At 10X-plus their first year. You could say exponential growth.
The Form Lab’s formula is to start with proper form so that their members can move throughout life “with no bounds.” It appears that their overall business and personal training approach knows no bounds as well.
What can you achieve with Kinotek?
Kinotek is advanced technology that objectively measures dynamic movement health in seconds. Our visual scored report inspires and motivates clients to join your club and sign up for personal training services. Measuring movement health can be a money-maker. See for yourself.