Beachbody, the Folks Who Brought You Paul Ryan's Abs

The vote-getting appeal of Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan has yet to be tested, but the ability of the Wisconsin congressman’s abs to help sell loads of P90X workout DVDs is indisputable. Orders of Beachbody’s exercise program doubled in the week after Mitt Romney chose Ryan—a longtime P90X devotee—as his running mate. Yet the company isn’t counting on the Ryan bounce to drive demand for the martial arts- and yoga-inspired regimen for long. “While curiosity behind the program has gotten some extra sales, it isn’t going to affect us on a monumental scale,” says Jon Congdon, Beachbody’s president and co-founder.

Instead, Congdon is tweaking Beachbody’s business model to turn the company into the Starbucks of health and fitness. Moving beyond a strategy that has persuaded millions of people to work out at home on their own, Beachbody is trying to colonize gyms nationwide by starting a P90X certification program for trainers. Pushing into gyms will win more exposure and boost sales of the DVDs and other offerings, including a vitamin drink mix called Shakeology that costs $120 a month and has become Beachbody’s top seller, Congdon says. It could also bring more business to the company’s network of independent coaches, who pitch follow-on products to adherents of the regimen.