Adarsh Gopalakrishnan, founder of Move101 in Chennai, shares his journey from a school dropout to owning a unique strength and conditioning gym. He discusses making fitness accessible, how word-of-mouth drives his business rather than ads, and the prevalent protein gaps in Indian diets. Adarsh highlights the challenges posed by social media pressures in fitness, while revealing how the pandemic spurred innovation in coaching methods. His insights encourage prioritizing health over unrealistic expectations in a world increasingly impacted by obesity.
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Origin Story
Adarsh Gopalakrishnan started lifting weights to impress a girl who admired a VJ's biceps.
This sparked his passion for fitness, leading him to found Move 101.
insights INSIGHT
Unconventional Beginnings
Adarsh's family supported his unconventional path, including dropping out of school and starting his own business.
His gym, Move 101, thrives as a neighborhood gym with strong community support.
insights INSIGHT
Word-of-Mouth Marketing
Move 101's marketing strategy relies entirely on word-of-mouth, driven by high client retention.
They prioritize consistent service and client satisfaction over traditional advertising.
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The world is getting fatter! In this episode, we dive deep into fitness and nutrition with Adarsh Gopalakrishnan, founder of Move101 in Chennai. Move101 is a unique strength and conditioning gym tailored for regular folks with little to no training background, and it also offers online coaching.
Adarsh’s journey into fitness began in an unexpected way: he started working out to impress a girl who liked the biceps of a popular MTV VJ. He had no biceps and he wanted biceps and he started lifting weight and he got biceps! Thirteen years later, he’s trained hundreds of clients both in-person and online.
Here’s what you can expect in this episode:
Adarsh’s Journey: Being an unconventional, anti-institutional kid who dropped out of school.
Right Place, Right Time: Catching the CrossFit wave in 2008–2010 and building a unique, community-driven gym.
Word-of-Mouth Success: Why Adarsh spends zero on Google or Facebook ads and still has an 80% client retention rate—higher than most big box gyms.
The Protein Problem in India: Why Indians often lack protein in their diets, the supply chain issues around whey protein, and what alternatives you can eat.
Fitness in a Post-COVID World: How the pandemic actually boosted his business and his thoughts on the global obesity crisis.
Social Media Pressure: The unrealistic expectations to look “jacked” and the common mistakes people make in strength training (like too much volume and variety, and poor goal setting).
Adarsh shares insights on improving your communication skills
Training Myths & Realistic Goals: Why you don’t have to train like a beast, loving single-leg squats, and why a six-pack is hard. But a four-pack is good enough!
The Problem with Corporate Wellness Programs: Why Adarsh isn’t a fan and his thoughts on the most effective exercises.
Navigating Diet Fads and Fitness Trends: Adarsh’s advice on avoiding the hype around the latest diet crazes, fitness gadgets, and weight-loss drugs.
The Indian Fitness Market Today: His views on why he’s not interested in scaling his business and how his philosophy on fitness has evolved over the years.
And for a fun finish: we talk about how to handle those family gatherings where well-meaning aunties offer Pepsi and jalebi when you’re trying to stay on track!
The Indian Startup Show