Now There's An App For Beating The Crowds At The Gym

Flickr/TobyotterOne of the most annoying things about going to the gym is getting there and realizing it's way too crowded, and all of the treadmills are taken.

Enter GymFlow, a new startup created by four current and former students from the University of Southern California.

GymFlow launched at USC's Lyon Recreation Center earlier this year in February. Within a month of launching, peak hour traffic decreased by about 20%, but the same number of people were still going to the gym, GymFlow's business development manager Nhi Duong tells Business Insider.

GymFlow works by tapping into the gym's IT center to provide real-time traffic data, since a lot of them require you to swipe a card at the turnstyle. GymFlow also uses that data to predict how crowded the gym will be in the future.

GymFlowOther than USC, GymFlow is currently live at California State University Los Angeles and is in the process of locking down a YMCA gym in the San Francisco Bay Area. In September, GymFlow will launch at the University of California Los Angeles.

With commercial gyms, it can be difficult for managers to see the value. But people really dread the crowds at gyms, and even cancel memberships because of that. In fact, Duong says 40% of gym members cancel yearly.

GymFlow charges a monthly fee to gyms for analytics, with the value proposition of retaining members. Down the road, GymFlow hopes to expand into places like restaurants, shopping malls, and clubs.

GymFlow is part of USC's startup incubator in partnership with VC firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers, the Viterbi Startup Garage. As part of the program, each startup receives $20,000 in funding, space, and other resources.

Prominent LA angel investor Paige Craig is one of the company's advisors.

Disclosure: The author of this article graduated from the University of Southern California in 2011, but she has no relationship with any of the GymFlow founders.