Due to the name I immediately felt right at home, that this was totally for me. "Feel Better. Code Better. Level Up."? Heck yeah, speaks right to me.
I signed up without hesitation and enjoyed a nice 26 minute break from coding. Something aimed at "office workers who sit all day" likely wouldn't have gotten that response from me.
(And if the "hacker" tagline really does end up weighing down this venture, spinning off a rebranded version or two for other niches could quickly solve that problem.)
"Feel Better. Code Better. Level Up."
"Being healthy will make you a better programmer."
I think the "hacker" market can be captured without being so patronizing.
This resonates with me more than "...Level Up.", because it's true. When I was working out my whole body worked better, including my brain, so I appreciate that angle in the marketing.
If you want to call it "Geek" fitness or "Nerd" fitness, that's one thing. The whole level up angle is being done by Fitocracy successfully and they aren't targeting coders, they are targeting people who like games and tech, which is a large group of people who may be put off by the hacker angle. By labeling hacker, they are saying that "only people who code will really understand our product".
I'd love to see someone actually address the motivational and cultural differences that people from the geek subculture have, instead of just thinking that you can slap a coat of paint on the same old bro-and-jock approach.