More Than Muscle
Our process
Before
After
From zero conversions to £26,000 in one week,
More Than Muscle (MTM) is a high-performing personal training company run by Nat and Andy, with George as their COO. After winning Best Personal Trainers at a regional awards event, the team decided it was time for a website upgrade to reflect their growing reputation.
Six months later, things looked promising on the surface: 5,000 site visits. But no conversions. Not one. That’s when I met George at a networking event.
The Plan: From Credible to Compelling
MTM’s website is their shopfront. But while their service was premium, the site made them look cheap, more like a gamble than a trusted choice.
Our job was simple: show MTM as they really are, a high-value, high-impact business. The path forward was clear:
• Shift from looking low-cost to feeling high-quality
• Build a recognisable brand where before there was none
• Strengthen the core, then stand apart from rivals
• Claim a space with little or no competition
The bigger vision? To either grow a chain of boutique studios or carve out a specialist niche for high-net-worth clients.
Approach and Strategy
We kicked off with a strategic workshop. Using our Fulfilment Hierarchy we honed in on what really drives decisions:
Needs: Lose weight, gain muscle
Wants: Look good, feel better, gain confidence
Worries: "Is it really worth the money?"
Aspirations: "I want to look fit"
Fulfilment: Self worth and confidence, and longevity.
Our conclusion? The current site paid heed to all of these motivations, but they were buried all over the site,
Our recommendation: Build a conversion-first site, fast. Once results started flowing, we could return to develop a fuller, long-term branding system to move the up to the next level.
Competitor Research
Before anything is designed, we examine the landscape. A sweep through 10 or so competitor sites provides a wealth of insight: tone, photography, colour, layout, and messaging.
We can quickly see which ideas are working, which ideas are overused, and where there’s room to stand out. This isn’t about imitation, it’s about understanding the rules so you can choose which ones to break.
Wireframe and Structure
Wireframes are our skeleton keys. They help define the logic and flow of a site before anything is styled.
With MTM, the homepage was the star. We designed it to meet all the key motivations within a few scrolls. First impressions needed to be: "Yes, this is for me." Followed swiftly by: "OK, where do I sign?"
This is where strategy meets design; our strategic Fulfilment Hierarchy is used to structure the homepage.
The Fulfilment Hierarchy in action
People don’t land on a gym’s website seeking existential insight. They want proof.
– Needs: Yep
– Wants: Yep.
– Worries: Yep, answered in a glance.
But the lever that moves people to action? Aspiration.
Show transformation. Show people like them, see self confidence oozing out of their pores. When it feels real, price becomes a footnote. MTM clients don’t want to just work out. They want too want to feel strong, lean, confident.
Our job was to make that transformation feel inevitable.
Visual Authority
If you can’t say it visually, don’t bother saying it at all. If it doesn’t look good, people won’t engage. Average homepage scroll time is under 5 seconds that’s where a chunk of people bounce. On TikTok, you’ve got even less time, if my daughters are anything to go by then you have less than a second.
Image boards
To brief our photographer properly, we first needed a clear idea of the style of photography we wanted. Competitor sites were useful as a reference point, while wider searches through stock libraries also provided inspiration.
More broadly, depending on the client, we’ll explore galleries, photographic societies, magazines, image libraries, Pinterest, insta… anywhere we can find striking visuals to spark ideas.
Typography
We kept elements of the original font, Moret, but updated the body text to Degular — a more contemporary choice that improves both readability and tone.
Colour palette
A refined palette of red and black formed the foundation, with a cool grey as a section colour, this limited palette gave the site simplicity and solidity.
Photography and atmosphere
With a clear brief in hand, Matt (Nat's brother) photographed MTM’s clients and team. The results were genuine: people smiling, joking, working hard and working together.
These weren’t library fitness shots. They were engaging moments captured by a keen eye. The kind that will help MTM wins awards.
Brandmark
Andy was fond of the original mark, a complex fusion of weights and a greater-than symbol. While recognisable, it was overly detailed.
There was an option here to completely revisit the name and icon in order to give the brand more relevance and punch, this was an idea that didn't sit comfortably with the MTM team, the option wasn't investigated.
Brandmarks should be designed with the audience in mind. Simplicity wins. Just look at your smartphone: short names, clean icons, immediate recognition.
Founders are stewards of a brand, not its sole owners. A stronger brand mark is a future investment worth making.
Handover
We design sites from top to toe before passing them to developers. This ensures coherence and minimises interpretation drift. Partial handovers often result in brand erosion. We've seen it too many times.
Teamwork
Nat, Andy and George brought the passion and delivered a massive amount of content.
Matt caught the spirit of the brand with honest, vibrant photography.
We crafted the strategy, the structure, and the messaging to bring it all together.
Adam, their developer, kept everything on track, building to the blueprint and delivering in record time.
And the result? From a blank screen to a polished launch in just eight weeks.
Results and impact
Within the first week of launch, MTM signed 10 new premium clients at £2,600 each. That’s a £26,000 return. From zero conversions to a high-converting digital asset.
What Next?
The next phase was always meant to be a full brand strategy and positioning piece. Something that would give MTM the edge to expand and compete with national players.
But strong early results can be both a gift and a trap. The follow-up work stalled.
MTM now manage their brand and content independently. It's a testament to their capability, but also a missed opportunity. If they want to scale or step into new markets, a stronger, unified brand will be essential to match and beat the big players.
For now, the foundation is solid. The next move is theirs.