Quote: “To really thrive and survive in fitness, you need some elements of technology woven into your concepts.”

In this episode of the Asia Tech Podcast, Michael Waitze is joined by Jack Thomas, the Founder, and CEO of BASE and the host of the Fitness Business Asia podcast. Awarded as Bangkok’s Best Studio in 2020 and voted Gym of the Year at the Fitness Best Awards in 2018, BASE offers a variety of different training with their unique BASELINE® technology seamlessly woven into each training session that helps them monitor and track their fitness progress.

They discussed Jack’s journey as a fitness entrepreneur, how he went from working in retail to corporate to then starting his own boutique fitness chain that has changed the fitness landscape in Asia, as well as the intersection of technology and fitness.

The Corporate Realisation

“It sucked the soul out of me working for a soulless corporation,” Jack admitted. 

After making the decision to not attend university after highschool, Jack worked a variety of jobs from pushing trolleys in IKEA to working in retail for both H&M and GAP, until he finally landed a job working in a bank. 

“I thought it would be a good career opportunity and progression for me,” he said. Jack explained that after his experience working in retail, he felt beyond lucky and exceptionally proud to be where he was and happily rode that wave.

However, like any wave, regardless of how high and forceful they may rise, they must all eventually collapse within themselves. And as the sparks of his new banking job slowly dissipated, so did Jack’s soul, and he realised that the corporate life in the UK was never going to be the path for him. 

It wasn’t long before Jack made the decision to explore a different career path, and after saving some money, he took his first step into his new future and hopped onto a plane to Thailand. It was there that he discovered a gap in Thailand’s health and fitness market. 

Finding His Base

Over the recent decade, boutique fitness has been on the rise and is only getting increasingly more popular each year, with its movement being felt globally. Bangkok is now home to some of the best boutique fitness centres in Asia, but this wasn’t always the case. 

One of the first people to dip their toes into these unchartered waters of Bangkok’s fitness industry was Jack Thomas. After identifying the gaps in Thailand’s fitness market in regards to gyms and fitness centres, Jack decided to make his career pivot and acquired a personal training qualification back in the UK. 

After that, Jack worked in a small fitness studio for 5 years where he gained the experience and developed the skills he needed to run his own fitness centre, and it wasn’t long before he set up BASE. 

Intersection of Technology and Fitness

“I didn’t realise the intersection in the beginning, there was no real discussion 9-10 years ago,” Jack reflected. 

Technology has made a disruption on every business in a variety of industries around the world - and the fitness industry is definitely no exception. New technological innovations are changing the way we exercise and have started to transform our everyday fitness activities, and BASE has now jumped onto this trend. 

To bring an element of recording and tracking to their client’s fitness progress, they’ve created their own digital product called BASEline, where members can track their workouts and how they’ve done after each class. 

Jack shared his insight on the advantages of the edge technology and how BASE has gamifi...