This weekend, Freeletics, a growing fitness app launched the ‘Dare to be Free’ Truck. Begun by NFL Player Pathway Program athlete Christian Wade with model Lisa Ramos, the Truck  is a 24ft glass box truck weighing 24,000lbs and equipped with a custom-built fitness space including a self-run treadmill, squat rack, boxes, chin up bar, battle ropes, kettle bells and gym bench. The Dare to be Free Truck will be touring New York throughout January, visiting popular landmarks including Washington Square Park, Rockefeller, Highline Soho and Central Park before touring the wider US.

NFL Player Pathway Program athlete Christian Wade with model Lisa Ramos

The truck was launched with the purpose of providing additional motivation and inspiration for people to overcome the barriers to working out. Wade commented “The Dare to be Free Truck is a fantastic initiative and provides athletes of all abilities and levels of fitness the opportunity to workout without restrictions. Having Freeletics by my side as I make this hugely exciting step in my career, is invaluable.”

Freeletics CEO, Daniel Sobhani

“Freeletics has created a concept to allow all people, no matter their background, to train their physical strength and willpower without the usual hurdles such as money, equipment, schedules or experience. To train “free” of limits.” said Freeletics CEO, Daniel Sobhani. Founded in 2013 with the mission to challenge and inspire people to become the greatest version of themselves. Since its founding, the company has grown to create fitness and personal coaching apps, and has accumulated 32 million users worldwide in over 160 countries.

The launch of the Dare to be Free campaign comes following the brand’s recent closure of a $45 million Series A funding round. With 120% record growth in core markets, including the US, over the last six months, the company is poised for exponential global growth.

The company’s flagship app, ‘Freeletics: Workout & Fitness‘ is a top fitness app in Europe and offers the most advanced AI technology in the industry. The training app puts a personal trainer in your pocket, enabling users to train anytime, anywhere with a full program of personally tailored workouts. The program’s unique AI allows the app to learn from millions of other users and individual workout feedback, to then develop ongoing smart Freeletics Training Journeys uniquely designed for each user.

A new survey, conducted by Freeletics, aimed to uncover the biggest barriers Americans face when it comes to health and exercise. Age, it turns out, is only one of multiple barriers to exercise Americans face, according to the study, but “not having time” took home the first-place crown with 42 percent saying that time is the biggest reason they fail to work out.

The survey results were revealed at a panel held in New York City consisting of  Sobhani, Joe De Sena, founder and CEO of Spartan Race, Benita Fitzgerald Mosley, Laureus Sport for Good USA CEO and Olympic gold medallist, and Amanda Pullinger, CEO of 100 Women in Finance as part of the Freeletics Dare to be Free campaign.

When asked about excuses they have used to justify skipping a workout, nearly one in four said they have used “stayed too late at work” as an excuse, while a further 36 percent said having too much work to do is a reason they have skipped a workout before. Topping the list with 56 percent was being “too tired” to work out.

According to the results, it seems many Americans will use any old excuse to get out of a workout. For example, nearly a third of Americans have skipped a workout because the weather is too bad, and another one in ten have skipped a workout because the weather is too nice.

While the average American says they work out twice a week already, that number would jump to five times a week if it were more convenient and less expensive. Not only that, the majority of respondents (69 percent) said that they believed regular exercise would help them quit their bad habits.

Sobhani added: “In this study, we see a catch 22 situation, because the majority stated that more regular exercise would help them quit their bad habits. However, because so many Americans are facing these all too common barriers to fitness, they can’t break out of the circle. But the will to be more active is there – we even see that half of Americans feel their habits may be shortening their life expectancy, so it’s a problem that must be tackled.”

“With Freeletics, we have been systematically providing people with these exact elements they need to exercise more,” continued Sobhani. “The ability to have guided workouts wherever and whenever they want with a personal trainer in their pocket, and at less than the price of a fitness class per week. With our brand-new platform approach to fitness in our app – a type of Netflix for fitness – I am hopeful we will help more people discover just how simple and convenient regular exercise can really be.”

NFL Player Pathway Program athlete Christian Wade and Lisa Ramos

To follow the Dare to be Free Truck follow @Freeletics on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter or for more information on Freeletics, please visit www.freeletics.com. The Freeletics: Workout & Fitness app can be downloaded for free in the App Store and Google Play Store.

Here are some of the survey’s results:

TOP 10 REASONS AMERICANS DON’T EXERCISE MORE FREQUENTLY

I don’t have time                                   42%

I don’t have the motivation                   35%

I don’t like exercising                            25%

Work gets in the way                            23%

I feel too old                                          23%

I don’t see results                                 22%

Don’t have equipment at home             21%

It’s too expensive                                  20%

It’s inconvenient                                    19%

Gym is too far away                               18%

TOP 10 REASONS AMERICANS SKIP PLANNED WORKOUTS

Too tired                                                  56%

Too much work to do                              36%

It’s already late                                       30%

The weather is too bad                           28%

Ate too much                                          23%

Stayed late at work                                 22%

Would rather watch Netflix                     15%

It’s dark                                                   12%

Bad traffic                                               12%

Workout buddy cancelled                       11%

HOW AMERICANS WOULD FEEL IF THEY EXERCISED MORE REGULARLY

More energetic                                        68%

More motivated                                       64%

Happier                                                   59%

More focused                                          59%

Less stressed                                         57%

Less likely to be ill                                  53%

Less tired                                               52%

More successful                                     48%

More outgoing                                        42%