Former Marine Commando takes fitness business on-line

Having established a thriving exercise business in Hampshire, ex-Royal Marine commando Simon Weatherall is taking his fitness philosophy on-line.

Oobafit has interactive fitness programmes and videos on how to do the exercises as well as delicious recipes devised by a top London chef who has cooked for Jamie Oliver, Raymond Blanc and actress Natalie Portman.

And in a deal with Tesco, the ingredients are placed in your virtual shopping basket for home delivery.

Once members have joined the free site, they can compete against friends to see who has reduced their waistline the most, or put on the most muscle, if they wish.

The site is the brain child of Simon Weatherall and John Abbott , an internet whizz.

John said: “One of the unique aspects about Oobafit is the opportunity you get to connect with other people like you.

“We wanted to create a community where people can support each other in getting healthy.

“We’ve built a bunch of light-hearted and fun features into Oobafit that let you keep track of how you’re doing, stay motivated and help each other.”

His brother David Abbott is the chef behind the recipes who trained with Raymond Blanc at the Manoir aux Quatre Saisons  who now works at fashionable London restaurant Magdalen.

Simon explained why he was keen to expand his business on-line. “We set out with one objective which was to get everyone exercising more and eating healthier.

“I would like to see Oobafit change the lives of hundreds of thousands of people -  if you think of ebay as a place where you go to sell unwanted items, or Facebook as where you go to socialize with friends, we want Oobafit to be where you go for fitness.

“You've got social networking and social gaming – and now we've come up with social training,” he said.

An Oobafit Challenge has recently been launched with participants going head to head to see who can reach their fitness goal first – and they will be sharing their stories via on-line blogs.

And Oobafit has also developed the fitness plans for Gym for Heroes, a nationwide challenge to be held in fitness centres and gyms raising money for Help for Heroes.

Co-founder Alan Haresign, said: “Simon was involved last year and when we asked for help developing the programme he jumped at the chance.”

For more details visit oobafit.com.