Why is Joel Freeman so successful? It’s simple.

Speaking at the recent Sports and Active Nutrition Summit, Freeman​ said that while BODi's (formerly Beachbody) LIIFT4 and LIIFT MORE workout programs have amassed over 100 million streams, “the coolest thing to me is that those numbers show people aren’t just trying my workouts, they’re STICKING with my workouts.”

Home workout programs reached new heights amid the pandemic as gyms closed and many wanted to remain in shape. Freeman said that while many are back in the gym, they’re taking the BODi workouts with them. 

“With COVID, we really saw that people found that they needed structure, and they looked to us at BODi for that structure, and what's been great is seeing now people stay with it, and not just coming in because they were stuck at home, they needed to do some sort of movement, obviously, but now they're still doing it, and they might be taking it to the gyms, but they still want that structure, they want someone to help them and tell them how many reps, how many more, and as they do that, that's where they see their results, so when they see the results, they stick around,” he said. 

On stage, Freeman explained that he has found success by designing his programs with a ‘less is more’ approach. 

"When everything starts to get so complicated and so noisy, that simplicity is a breath of fresh air, and it reduces the intimidation factor for people," he said.

"It makes them feel comfortable, it makes them feel that they can do it, they can try it, and then when they do, they see results. And when they see those results, then that means they're gonna stick with it. So, success is in the simplicity, and that's also how I design my programs too, is to keep them simple, keep them effective, not overly complicated movements and nothing intimidating."

With the evolution of sports nutrition to active nutrition, Freeman noted that he is seeing more everyday people.

"This is not for athletes, exercise is not for athletes, exercise is for every body, and people are realizing they need to do that, and the nice thing is with that information coming in, we're starting to see younger people take advantage of this," he said. "How it used to be, people didn't do a home work out or go to the gym until they were 30-plus, and now you're seeing the 20-year-olds start to get into it, saying, they wanna look good, they wanna feel good, but they also realize that they need to do it."

Lookin ahead, Freeman said BODI is now doing what's called 'Super Blocks,' which are extensions of some of his successful programs.

"These are only 30 days, so it's a great opportunity for people to try the program, and then when they do it, they're like, 'Okay, I can do it, now what's next?'" he said. "So this is a great jumping off point for people to try our already successful programs. So I'm filming that later this year; it'll be coming out in the fall, and then we'll see what comes after that."