Fitness with a purpose: How this F45 leader walks the talk

[SINGAPORE] Twelve years ago, Adrian Furminger received the news that no one wants to hear from their doctor: Make changes to your lifestyle as soon as possible, or things could take a turn for the worse.

Overweight and leading a sedentary lifestyle, the Australian – who was in his early 30s then – decided once and for all to get into shape.

“It was a pretty significant health scare at the time. Sometimes you need that scare or jolt to get you moving,” he said.

Fast forward to the present, Furminger – who is now a whopping 40 kg lighter than what he weighed then – looks fit as a fiddle and he enjoys being active, whether it’s by playing sports, walking or training at the gym.

He needs to walk the talk too. As the general manager of F45 Training Asia-Pacific, he is responsible for growing the brand across the region’s markets.

According to its website, F45 Training merges three fitness styles – high-intensity interval training, circuit training and functional training – into a single 45-minute class.

F45 Training was founded in 2013 and is based in Australia. Today, there are 1,500 franchised studios in more than 55 countries around the world, with 16 studios in Singapore. F45 Training is also an official global training partner of Hyrox, a popular fitness racing sport.

In a Zoom interview, Furminger, who lives in Brisbane, chats about the growth of the brand, the fitness industry as a whole, and how he maintains a balanced lifestyle.

Tell me more about your role at F45.

I joined the company in late 2024, so it’s been about 16 months now. This was a new role that was created, and I am responsible for accelerating growth and brand consistency across diverse Asia-Pacific markets.

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The three primary markets are Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, and we also have a fairly strong network within other markets including Indonesia, Hong Kong, South Korea, the Philippines. 

Together with my team, we support all our franchisees to deliver disciplined, high-performance training experiences that drive results for our members and long-term engagement.

Can you share more about this strategy to expand via the franchising model?

To me, there’s nothing more rewarding than to see good people invest money and take that leap into owning a business. With the support we provide with our proven business model, these franchisees are able to see the rewards over time.

Yes, it can be a big step for many of them and it can be scary at different times. But we support people through that entire process and help them get a return on their investment. They are also able to live the kind of lifestyle that they want in this fitness industry, and I enjoy seeing and meeting all our business owners whenever I have the chance.

What do you look out for when someone wants to open a franchise?

They must have an interest in the industry and be engaged with the business. If someone comes up to us and says they want to open 10 new studios but they just want someone else to manage them, then that person is probably not the right fit for us.

We know that the higher the levels of engagement that a franchisee has in his or her business, the more likely it is to succeed and perform well.

So while it may look good on paper that we’ve opened 10 new businesses or studios, we must look at the reputational risk too. If we feel that these studios won’t do well, it’s a risk that we won’t take.

The fitness industry is quite competitive, with new players entering the scene and offering something different to consumers. How do you ensure F45 continues to stay relevant?

While it’s true that the competition is increasing, I’ll also caveat that by saying that the percentage of people who are exercising more regularly is increasing as well. There’s a greater population for us to reach out to.

At F45, we are focused on functional fitness with purpose, not just performance. We want to support our members to achieve real goals that make a difference in their everyday lives. 

That could mean seeing an improvement in their strength training, or feeling great and more energetic when they are with their families, or perhaps building up endurance levels so they can check off an item on their bucket list such as completing a marathon.

We are all about improving our members’ quality of life and we regularly say we are in the business of changing lives.

You are on the road quite a lot during the year, I imagine. What’s your fitness routine like?

The great thing about working at F45 is that I spend a lot of time in one of our gyms. I train regularly there and besides getting to stay fit, this gives me the opportunity to experience exactly what our members are experiencing, and seeing for myself what works and what doesn’t.

I’m an early riser, so I’m usually up at about 4.30 am. I try to get about seven hours of sleep a night, and getting enough rest gives me clarity to get through the rest of the day. I have a 10-year-old son and we would sometimes go play some basketball. I’m also looking forward to picking up pickleball sometime this year.