Many fitness executives talk a good game about the importance of physical activity and healthy living. 

Cedric X. Bryant, PhD, FACSM, lives it.

Named president and CEO of the American Council on Exercise (ACE) last year, Bryant has held various leadership positions within the fitness education and certification provider since joining ACE in 2001. Before that, Bryant was an executive at StairMaster, and throughout his impressive academic career in the fields of physiology and exercise science, he’s authored more than 300 articles and co-authored or edited over 40 books

A fierce proponent of health equity and accessibility, Bryant sat down with Athletech News to discuss the link between exercise and chronic disease prevention, share how ACE is working to bring fitness and healthcare closer together, and give his thoughts on the rise of anti-obesity drugs like GLP-1s. 

The following conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and length. 

Athletech News: Can you tell us about your background in academia and the fitness industry, and what prompted you to join ACE back in 2001?

Cedric X. Bryant: My career has really been split into thirds. The first third was the traditional academic route where I got my PhD in physiology, and then I went the teaching and research route at Penn State, West Point and Arizona State. I focused much of my work on the role of exercise and chronic disease prevention and management, exploring how physical activity could impact conditions like obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and looking at how we could use evidence-based approaches to improve overall health outcomes. I’ve always fashioned myself as a person who effectively bridges the gap between science and practice, who is able to take scientific information and present it in a manner where it’s very digestible to the professionals who are on the ground impacting lives.

The middle third I spent working in the for-profit world, heading up R&D for StairMaster, the exercise equipment company. That was a neat experience because it helped expose me to a different side of the industry. During that time, I became associated with ACE, serving on their scientific advisory board at the time, which evolved into me joining the organization back in 2001 as VP of science and education. That evolved into president and chief science officer, and I’m now president and CEO. I’ve been with ACE for almost 24 years now. 

ATN: How do you view ACE’s role within the fitness industry? 

CB: At a very high level, I see ACE as educating health and fitness professionals so they’re uniquely positioned to advance equity in physical activity and fitness by advocating for more accessible and science-based approaches. Being physically active offers so many important health benefits – and life benefits in general. I believe all people deserve to have those experiences made readily available to them. 

Because that’s such a large task, we’re big on collaboration and partnerships. No single entity can address the problems we’re trying to address as an industry in terms of physical inactivity and the associated issues with being obese and overweight. So we partner with our peer organizations, other health organizations, policymakers and communities to ensure that everyone, regardless of size, ability and background, has access to high-quality health and physical activity services. 

ATN: What have your early priorities been since taking over as ACE’s CEO?

CB: A lot of my early priorities have been an extension of what we’ve been doing as an organization. One is to expand our educational offerings, because I’m a big believer that life is about learning and growing. We want to make sure we’re always offering relevant content and topics so we can help professionals develop and grow throughout their careers. We’re looking at things like the anti-obesity medications and the role that exercise and fitness play with regard to individuals who might be using those to manage their weight. We’re looking at the smart utilization of AI to allow individuals to be more operationally efficient. We’re also looking at mental health and well-being from an educational perspective, and how can the health and fitness professional play an appropriate role while staying within the bounds of scope of practice.

In terms of the industry at large, I’m trying to make sure we play a thought leader role in helping to bridge the gap between fitness and healthcare. We want to strengthen the role that ACE plays, as well as the industry at large, in integrating health solutions and ensuring that exercise professionals are in a position to become viable members of what I call the optimal healthcare team. We also want to play a role in the whole public health sector in terms of increasing our presence in policy discussions around things like obesity, physical activity and health promotion. As an example of that, we’ve served on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s Roundtable on Obesity Solutions since 2014. 

ATN: What’s your take on the rise of anti-obesity drugs like GLP-1s? Will these medications be a positive or negative development for the fitness industry over the long term? 

CB: I think GLP-1s and (other) anti-obesity medications are going to play a positive role in helping individuals who have been impacted by obesity for quite some time but haven’t had success with traditional methods. 

However, I do think we need to be aware of and understand the fact that while those drugs can help people experience rapid weight loss, they’re not without some issues. It’s important that we as an industry understand what those are, and understand how we can play a role in helping to mitigate some of those issues, namely the impact of those medications on muscle mass, metabolism and exercise capacity. Even more importantly, a successful weight management intervention has to be sustainable. We know that unless individuals combine medications with the appropriate healthy lifestyle behavior changes, the results are likely not going to be sustainable. That’s where our industry can partner with healthcare to provide the appropriate supplemental exercise training.

ATN: So far, how would you assess the fitness industry’s collective response to the rise of GLP-1s?

CB: I’ll give you some positives and negatives. On the positive side, I’d say there’s a growing awareness, so more fitness professionals and organizations are recognizing the role of these anti-obesity meds in weight management. Because of that, there are new education efforts underway where some leading industry organizations are starting to offer training on how to support clients taking these medications. ACE has recently introduced continuing education courses along those lines. There are also some early positive signs of collaboration between fitness and medical professionals. 

On the downside, I think there needs to be a better understanding of these GLP-1 medications in terms of what they do and their potential side effects. I’d argue that because they’re relatively new, many fitness professionals lack sufficient knowledge of how these medications impact muscle mass, metabolism and exercise capacity. It’s (also) important that we avoid stigmatizing the folks who are taking these medications, because some fitness spaces still carry weight bias, if we’re honest.

But overall, I’m encouraged that there’s enough positive traction and movement. Better connecting fitness with healthcare is something the industry has been trying to do for decades. This just might be the gateway into that.

ATN: What’s one thing you’d most like to see change in the fitness industry?

CB: I’d say it’s (more) true collaboration. In my humble opinion, it’d be wise for all of us to recognize that we share a common foe: physical inactivity and unhealthy lifestyle behaviors. It’s not each other, regardless of what our acronyms might be. We partner with our peer organizations like ACSM and we work with the Medical Fitness Association, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the National Council on Strength and Fitness, because we believe we can accomplish so many more meaningful things if we work together and look for those opportunities where we have a common interest and a common bond. It’s the old rising tide, if you will. 

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Healthcare reform is talked about in the news a lot these days, although it’s often viewed as an unattainable ideal by the media and general public alike. For Truemed, however, it’s already here. 

Founded by health and wellness entrepreneur Justin Mares and reformed former pharma lobbyist Calley Means, Truemed provides a platform that allows consumers to purchase fitness and wellness products including gym memberships, supplements and recovery gear using tax-free Health Savings Account (HSA) and Flexible Spending Account (FSA) funds.

On a mission to transform Americans’ health by making preventive care more widely available and affordable, Truemed already has partnerships with top fitness and wellness brands including Peloton, CorePower Yoga and Anytime Fitness, to name just a few. 

Mares, who serves as Truemed’s co-founder and CEO, sat down with Athletech News to discuss the rise of HSA/FSA funds in fitness, explain what sets Truemed apart from similar platforms and share his thoughts on what the U.S. government can do to implement meaningful healthcare reform.

The following conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and length.

Athletech News: Can you tell us about your background and why you decided to co-found Truemed? 

Justin Mares: I have a background in founding and scaling health and wellness startups, including Kettle & Fire, Perfect Keto and Surely. I went through my own journey with health and fitness in college, which is when I realized how transformational exercise and nutrition can be for both physical and mental health. The more I learned about the healthcare system, the more I realized the extent to which it’s built around medications and interventions that merely manage illnesses over a long period of time rather than treat them or prevent them from happening in the first place – 97% of medical costs occur after people are already sick.

One of our goals with Truemed was to introduce the idea that fitness, supplements and recovery are effective interventions in the fight against chronic disease, and then streamline the process for qualified customers to use HSA and FSA funds to purchase products and services that prevent or mitigate these conditions. Most people know they can use FSA funds for medical expenses like deductibles, co-pays and prescriptions, but they might be surprised by the broader range of options available. More and more, root-cause interventions like fitness programs, supplements, recovery tools and health technology are being recognized for their power to prevent and manage conditions such as diabetes and heart disease. 

ATN: Are enough Americans aware that HSA/FSA funds exist and that they can use them to purchase fitness and wellness products? If not, what’s the key to wider awareness?  

JM: I think a lot of people are still a bit overwhelmed by the concept, and don’t realize how simple it can be to use HSA/FSA funds for such a wide range of products and services. Part of this is because, prior to a platform like Truemed, the process was much more arduous for these specific types of purchases. Consumers would have to schedule a doctor’s appointment, describe their health history and goals in detail, ask them to fill out a Letter of Medical Necessity (LMN), pay a fee, and then wait potentially for weeks for their claim to be approved. 

Our goal is that by integrating all of this directly into the payment flow – it’s as easy as clicking “Pay with HSA/FSA” at checkout – people will be able to empower themselves to use pre-tax savings for products that manage chronic diseases but that may not previously have been recognized by medical institutions as preventative medicine. During my time at Truemed, we’ve enabled nearly 200,000 Americans to purchase root-cause items with HSA/FSA funds, and we’re confident that this movement will only continue to grow as more people catch on and realize the potential of what they can access. 

ATN: Truemed already has partnerships with top fitness and wellness brands like Peloton, CorePower Yoga and others. How have you been able to convince these brands to join the HSA/FSA movement?

JM: We’ve been extremely encouraged by how many incredible, consumer-loved brands have joined our mission and embraced Truemed as a core part of their business. One of the ways we’ve been successful in recruiting additional companies is by word of mouth, as brands see how much new business Truemed drives for them – in some cases, as much as 15-20% of new customers are ordering through Truemed. 

We’re also seeing that brands are not only getting more first-time customers through us but also different segments of the population that tend to be more cost-conscious. This is really heartening for us, as it shows that what we’re trying to do is working when it comes to increasing accessibility for consumers who want these products but otherwise may not have been able to purchase them without an HSA/FSA fund.

ATN: A few other HSA/FSA platforms have cropped up recently. What separates Truemed from its competitors?

JM: In addition to being the biggest HSA/FSA telehealth platform and working with the best merchants, we’re also the ones who essentially carved out this space and made it what it is. Our brands also tend to see the best results as far as conversion rates, average order value (AOV) and other metrics in comparison to our competitors.   

ATN: Do bills such as the PHIT Act, which would amend the IRS code to treat physical activity as preventive healthcare covered by allowable HSA/FSA spending, have a realistic chance of being passed? Or is a platform like Truemed a more realistic long-term solution?

JM: We aren’t sure if (PHIT) will pass, but what we do know is that there are a whole class of root-cause chronic disease interventions that are eligible and work today, they just require a doctor to issue an LMN.

ATN: There’s been a lot of speculation around what President Trump may do in his second term regarding healthcare reform. What would you like to see the U.S. government do to help Americans become healthier? 

JM: Several steps need to be taken in order to bolster the health of the American people on a societal level, all of which link back to embracing preventative care rather than sickcare. Due to the current structure of the healthcare system, it’s a lot more profitable for doctors to treat sick patients rather than address root causes and keep people healthy from the start, so the more we can do to reveal some of these corrupt practices, the more individuals will be able to take the power back into their own hands. 

As far as specific policy shifts, some sweeping changes that I’d love to see in the near future include ridding our food supply of dangerous chemicals, pesticides and dyes, eliminating our dependence on ultra-processed foods, and removing conflicts of interest from major institutions. In regard to this last point, many people might not realize that big pharmaceutical companies influence everything from nutritional guidance and research to mainstream news to the medications doctors choose to prescribe. Until we separate these larger entities from one another, patients will continue to be routed toward pharmaceuticals as the only solution, rather than first exploring the impact of lifestyle interventions.  

ATN: What’s your vision for the future of Truemed over the next few years? Could the company expand into other areas besides HSA/FSA payments? 

JM: One of our main goals is to continue partnering with great brands that are passionate about making preventative care more accessible for people trying to mitigate chronic health conditions. It’s been great seeing how many companies have already embraced what we’re trying to do over the past year, and we’re confident that we’ll have many more in the months to come, especially following the announcements of some industry leaders like Peloton, CorePower Yoga and Bioniq.

Moving forward, we hope to continue building on categories that are already represented and expand into others, namely health food options, as well as provide personalized guidance on certain partner brands of ours that could be paired together for optimal impact. 

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Orangetheory Fitness has embraced fitness as medicine, partnering with telehealth platform Dr. B to allow its members to use tax-free health savings account (HSA) and flexible savings account (FSA) funds on memberships, classes and equipment. 

Through the partnership, qualifying Orangetheory members can obtain a letter of medical necessity (LMN) stating that they exercise to treat or prevent a medical condition. If approved, Orangetheory members can use their HSA/FSA funds to pay for memberships, class packs and a heart rate monitor at the popular group fitness brand. 

A fast-growing telehealth platform, Dr. B streamlines the process of obtaining an LMN so fitness enthusiasts can use HSA/FSA funds to purchase things like gym memberships, classes and personal training. The platform offers a $15 online consultation that users can complete on their phone; if approved, patients can receive an LMN within one day. 

According to Dr. B, Orangetheory members might save between 20-40% on their workouts by using HSA/FSA funds, which are pre-tax accounts that Americans can use to pay for qualified healthcare costs ranging from medical bills to eyeglasses to fitness products.

On its website, Orangetheory also offers an LMN template that its members can share with their healthcare providers to facilitate the process of obtaining a letter. 

HSA/FSA Funds Gain Ground in Fitness

Orangetheory is one of the biggest fitness brands to embrace HSA/FSA spending, but it’s not the first. Dr. B has struck similar partnerships with brands including F45 Training, BODi (formerly Beachbody) and boutique fitness software provider Xplor Mariana Tek. 

Another telehealth platform, Truemed, has partnered with brands including Peleton, Crunch Fitness and CorePower Yoga to enable HSA/FSA spending on fitness. Hyperice has partnered with Sika Health to allow HSA/FSA spending on the brand’s popular recovery tech items like massage guns and compression boots. 

The HSA/FSA market represents a big opportunity for fitness and wellness brands, having been valued at around $150 billion. Many Americans opt in to contribute funds but some struggle to spend them on qualifying healthcare purchases. 

While the fitness industry has long struggled to make the case to lawmakers in Washington, D.C., that working out should be treated as a form of preventive healthcare, there’s some optimism in industry circles that things could progress under the incoming Trump administration, which has signaled a desire to implement healthcare reform.

“We’re super excited because we’re facing an administration (where) for the first time … we see a receptive voice to understanding the benefits of physical activity and the intervention that’s needed from the federal government to allow more people to have access to it,” Health & Fitness Association vice president of government affairs Mike Goscinski said during Athletech News’ 2025 CEO Summit in New York City last week. 

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Supplying health plans with digital content to engage members virtually and the corporate workforce with endless health benefits, FitOn Health is a facilitator of modern fitness on multiple fronts. As a result, consumers and brands are flocking to the digital platform — specifically eyeing its wellness offerings — and leaving legacy competitors behind in the process. 

“People are seeking wellness solutions that not only help them achieve fitness goals but also foster resilience, manage stress, and improve their quality of life,” said Ed Buckley, CEO of FitOn Health. “There’s a significant shift towards preventive care, mental health support, and sustainable lifestyle changes, which is now influencing what people look for in fitness solutions. FitOn Health’s inclusive, flexible approach meets this demand, empowering members to achieve well-rounded wellness goals that support their long-term health.”

FitOn Health reports that its revenue increased five times over since bringing the brand together roughly 3 years ago. It also expects to add one million lives to its network via new health plans coming out in January. There’s reason to believe it will only continue to flourish, headlined by its ability to address the modern fitness consumer through wellness. 

Meeting Demands

FitOn Health is a highway with multiple lanes — able to put all kinds of travelers on their way to wellness offerings. With its all-in-one wellness platform, the brand has several distribution channels that democratize its access. 

“Users can access FitOn Health through their employer, employer’s insurance, through individual insurance plans if they’re over 65, or directly as individual members,” said Buckley.

It’s this versatility, alongside the brand’s sensible approach to product development and costs, that have led it to profitability.

“We have gone after several ways of serving members — those under 65 with health plans and employers, then in the Medicare segment via health plan partners, and all age groups via direct-to-customer,” Buckley added. “All of the segments in our business help drive us to innovate for the other population. Our rapid increase during the past year is a result of having the best product, at the best pricing, with the best messaging.”

It’s all part of FitOn Health’s efforts to stay on top of all things wellness. 

“The benefits landscape itself is undergoing a major transformation,” said Chris Patton, SVP of Operations & Network Partnerships at FitOn Health. “From worksite wellness initiatives to evolving Medicare offerings, the way benefits are offered and funded is shifting in ways we haven’t seen before. FitOn Health’s platform adapts to these shifts, offering flexible, accessible wellness solutions that align with these new benefit models.”

Spurring Engagement

FitOn Health prioritizing engagement also helps separate itself from the pack — such as those more traditional health benefit providers and gym partners. 

“Other fitness platforms often struggle because they’re not fully engaging or retaining their users,” said Patton. “When engagement and innovation take a back seat, businesses fall behind fast.” 

FitOn Health keeps those factors up front by weaving together all its features and intel — new and old — to establish a complete health hub for its users. When you can get everything from one spot, there are added reasons to visit, and with that, more reasons to stay longer.

“We think of our platform as an entire ecosystem to get our users engaged, healthy and keep them coming back,” Patton added. “Our engagement and retention are industry-leading because we make everything about that experience. We’ve packed nearly a decade’s worth of change into just the last couple of years, staying on top of trends and even leading where the industry is going. That’s where we thrive.”

A Projected Boom 

FitOn Health expects these numbers to only inflate further in the coming weeks. The brand forecasts a significant leap in membership growth at the start of Q1, playing off the same motivational factors that have brought new members to gyms at the turn of the new year for decades. 

“While we can grow at any part of the year, it is no secret that health plans largely revolve around January,” said Buckley. “We will be having a 300% increase in our Medicare population as well as significant launches in our under 65 segments with several key partnerships.”

Further Down the Line

FitOn Health didn’t get to this position by sitting tight — celebrating its current success while neglecting innovative opportunities around the horizon. It doesn’t have any plans to start doing that now either. 

Along with the wellness surge, FitOn Health eyes the weight loss market as a pivotal area of the fitness sector to pursue in the future. The process regarding how to best supply brands with programs and end-users with experiences has already begun. 

“We are certainly going to keep focusing on making our core experience and offering better every day; however, seeing the rise of where weight loss programs are going is interesting to us,” said Buckley. “We are already diving deep by providing content and services within this year. We see the compliments of physical activity, nutrition and mental health as a flywheel that we think we can help our members turn faster and better than what is out there from others.”

The post FitOn is a Market Leader for Health Plans with Wellness Offerings appeared first on Athletech News.

Jimini Health, a digital health company pioneering a clinician-led, AI-supported therapy model, has announced its launch backed by $8 million in pre-seed funding. Investors include Zetta Venture Partners, Lionbird, PsyMed, BoxGroup, Arkitekt Ventures, SCB, CityLight Capital, and SpringBank. The funding will drive the development of its combination of human expertise and AI for mental healthcare.

Jimini Health aims to redefine therapy for patients with anxiety through a continuous care model that bridges the gaps between traditional sessions. At the heart of its approach is Sage, an AI coach that is supervised by licensed therapists. Sage uses prompts and exercises tailored to individual goals to ensure patients remain engaged in clinically guided activities between sessions.

“Therapy has long been constrained by a traditional weekly model that leaves patients unsupported in between sessions,” said Luis Voloch, CEO and co-founder of Jimini Health. “By integrating responsible AI, we aim to empower clinicians rather than replace them, offering a continuous and higher-quality standard of care.”

Unlike standalone AI tools, Sage operates as part of a broader treatment plan, offering a potentially scalable solution to mental health.

Jimini Health was co-founded by industry veterans Luis Voloch, Mark Jacobstein, and Sahil Sud. Voloch, a co-founder of Immunai—an AI-powered cancer immunotherapy company valued at over $1 billion—offers extensive expertise in AI and biotechnology. Jacobstein has a background at Guardant Health and Immunai, and Sud previously worked with Ribbon Health and Palantir Technologies.

“Mental illness is a global health emergency, and it demands a scientifically grounded and clinically rigorous approach,” said Dylan Reid, Partner at Zetta Venture Partners. “Jimini Health’s model prioritizes safety and efficacy, setting a new benchmark for AI in mental healthcare.”

Jimini Health plans to use the funding to further develop its AI and safety protocols, expand its product offerings, and serve its initial clients.

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For Calley Means, fitness is medicine. 

The co-founder of telehealth platform Truemed, Means spoke at the recent Eudemonia summit, where he slammed America’s healthcare system as broken and corrupt while calling for systemic change that would prioritize healthy eating and physical fitness over pharmaceutical interventions like Ozempic to combat a nationwide chronic-disease crisis. 

A proponent of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement with unofficial ties to the campaign of president-elect Donald Trump, Means can be something of a controversial figure. Means is also highly opinionated, and he’s got a distinct view on how the fitness industry should position itself to gain more respect among lawmakers in Washington.

Athletech News caught up with Means after Eudemonia to get his thoughts on fitness and the future of healthcare. 

Fitness as a Medical Necessity 

With more Americans obese and/or chronically ill than ever before, Means is calling on fitness brands to play a bigger role in improving people’s health. 

“We are in a metabolic health crisis that will destroy the United States of America – physical fitness is a linchpin of getting ourselves out of that,” Means told ATN. “There’s a generational opportunity for the gym industry to, in one voice, explain how they’re at the center of health.”

While direct government subsidies for gym memberships might seem like a pipe dream at this time, there are ways to lower the costs of fitness. Means points out that Americans can use tax-free money from health savings accounts (HSA) and flexible spending accounts (FSA) to buy things like gym memberships, workout equipment and supplements.

To use HSA/FSA funds for fitness and wellness, Americans must obtain a letter of medical necessity, or LMN, from a doctor, which confirms that the services in question are being used to prevent or treat a chronic condition.  

“The Health & Fitness Association and every single gym … should be educating every single American to demand a letter of medical necessity for exercise from their doctor if they’re working to prevent or reverse a condition,” Means said. 

The Rise of Truemed

According to Means, around 80% of Americans have the ability to use HSA/FSA funds but only around 40% do so. 

To encourage wider use of HSA/FSA funds, in 2022 Means co-founded Truemed, a telehealth platform that makes it easier for people to use tax-free funds to pay for fitness, wellness and health products. 

“We started the company looking at this proliferation of Adderall and Viagra being prescribed online,” Means recalled. “And we were like, ‘Can we use that same system to prescribe broccoli, Omega-3s and Pelotons?”

Essentially, Truemed speeds up the process of obtaining an LMN, removing time and friction from the shopping experience. When people check out to buy products ranging from exercise bikes to yoga memberships online, they can click an option to “pay with HSA/FSA funds” to get redirected to the Truemed website.

“Our innovation is we add that telehealth qualification process into the payment flow,” Means explained. “Just like a (financial) firm asks a couple of credit questions, we ask a couple of health questions.”

In the two years since its founding, Truemed has established itself as one of the dominant players in the growing fitness-as-healthcare movement, partnering with brands including Peloton, 24 Hour Fitness, Hyperice and AG1.

“We’re working with 18 of the top 20 Shopify health and wellness merchants,” Means said. “Almost every single direct-to-consumer company on our wish list when we started the company … is integrated with us.”

Fighting for Funds

Truemed’s fight isn’t a new one for the fitness industry – the Health & Fitness Association, formerly IHRSA, has long been fighting to pass the PHIT Act, a bill that would make gym memberships and youth sports count as qualified medical expenses under the HSA/FSA system, effectively bypassing the need for services like Truemed. 

Means, a former lobbyist for the food and drug industries who changed course after his mother died from pancreatic cancer, is skeptical that the PHIT Act will ever get passed, citing pharmaceutical companies’ influence in Washington and their interest in making sure such a bill never sees the light of day. 

Instead, Means argues that platforms like Truemed are more practical. As they become more widely used, eventually, a wider pool of HSA/FSA money may become available for Americans to use on fitness, health and wellness. 

“Right now, there’s $150 billion of flexible funds available,” Means said, citing the current nationwide pool of HSA/FSA funds. “In five years, it should be trillions.”

There’s no doubt that the road to improving Americans’ health is a long and arduous one. It almost certainly won’t be solved in one presidential cycle, no matter how bullish Means and his allies are on Trump’s promises of substantive healthcare reform. 

But the Truemed co-founder is optimistic that every bit of progress will help, and that making it cheaper for Americans to access fitness and wellness is a good first step.  

“Everyone throws up their hands and says, ‘People don’t want to exercise, they don’t want to take supplements, they don’t want to eat healthy,’” Means said, hitting back at the argument that Americans’ health problems stem from laziness rather than economics. “I guarantee you, if we steer more money and more medical recommendations to these root-cause items, there’d be a transformation of American health.”

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ROOK, the data integration platform for fitness businesses and more, is building a bridge between insurance, healthcare, and fitness with wearables as its foundational blocks. 

There are several factions within the fitness sector skyrocketing right now — but few are ascending at a rate on par with wearables. The global wearable technology market was already valued at USD $120.54 billion in 2023. It’s projected to grow from USD $157.94 billion in 2024 to USD $1,415.26 billion by 2032. 

This of course comes as no surprise to ROOK. The Miami-based brand has been helping fitness, healthcare, and insurance companies gather and properly apply data collected by wearables for some time now. Nonetheless, the brand knows that’s only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the devices and their potential impact. 

“The concept of ‘exercise is medicine’ is more than just a buzzword; we’re seeing healthcare and insurance industries increasingly focusing on fitness,” said Marco Benitez, ROOK CEO and co-founder. This shift is largely due to the ability of fitness to demonstrate tangible results, with wearable data playing a key role in showing the return on investment (ROI) in fitness.”

Starting with Insurance and Healthcare

Health insurance and fitness have always been intertwined to a certain degree. The former strongly depends on the latter in terms of coverage types and rates. But now, with the implementation of wearables, that bond is even stronger — and ROOK is eager to help facilitate that with its API. 

“Welcome to the future — where your smartwatch might just know more about your health than your doctor does,” said Benitez. “This isn’t sci-fi anymore. Wearable technology is here, and it’s reshaping industries, especially insurance and healthcare. What started as gadgets to track our steps has evolved into a goldmine of data, influencing how insurers assess risks, price policies and engage with customers as well as how decentralized care is facilitated by at-home hospital or remote health monitoring services.”

With wearable devices tracking things like heart rate, sleep patterns and daily activity levels, they not only have the ability to keep their wearers updated on their health and lifestyle in real-time, but also their clinicians and insurers. Doing so allows providers to develop more accurate risk assessments and personalized health management strategies.

All parties stand to benefit from wearable device data being placed in the hands of providers, which is made possible by ROOK. The real-time metrics give healthcare providers and insurers information to make informed decisions with accuracy and speed never thought possible before. This allows them to cater toward each user more precisely with customized treatments and plans — potentially lower premiums for those leading healthier lifestyles as well.

Tying Things Together

By getting insurers the information they need to implement customized plans that relay potential savings for healthy users, ROOK is an important facilitator, helping motivate the public to stay fit and reap those rewards. Healthcare and insurance essentially “use” fitness as a tool to improve their own outcomes.

“It’s a win-win situation,” said Benitez. “Insurers reduce their risk exposure and policyholders are incentivized to maintain healthier lifestyles.”

The wearables and their ability to make accurate determinations are integral to this process as well. ROOK’s API helps fitness, healthcare, and insurance companies to integrate and aggregate wearable data through a single integration and by doing so enables these companies to innovate on top of that data. 

“We see that fitness is just getting momentum when it comes to healthcare and insurance,” added Jonas Dücker COO of ROOK. “Fitness is finally able to show tangible results by tracking progress. We can see tangible returns. We can not only track healthy habits, but we can incentivize them. So this becomes actually a closed loop now between insurance, healthcare fitness.”

“The wearable revolution is here, and it’s reshaping industries like fitness, healthcare, and insurance in ways that were once unimaginable,” added Benitez. “And we are just getting started – with access to clean and harmonized wearable data, just imagine the amazing applications this data will have in AI models within these industries.

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As the longevity movement takes hold, it’s not just infrared saunas, cold plunge and cryotherapy that are making waves.

Wellness-focused Americans are placing a greater emphasis on the things they put into their bodies, whether that be food or supplements. As those in the United States continue to grow weary of the shortcomings of our modern healthcare system, more and more people are coming around to the idea that “food is medicine.”

Amid this backdrop, personalized nutrition has emerged as a new category, one that may help people live better, for longer. 

Athletech News breaks down some of the key players in the personalized nutrition space, including telenutrition, healthy eating apps and new-age supplement companies. 

The Rise of Telenutrition

Eating “healthy” may seem simple on the surface, but the complications and stressors of daily life, a lack of education and individual genetic differences make maintaining proper nutrition much more challenging in practice. 

According to the USDA, more than 100 million Americans are suffering from preventable chronic diseases linked to poor nutrition and physical inactivity. Many Americans don’t know where to start, or how to sort out the complex and oftentimes conflicting dietary advice they’re fed on social media and in news articles. 

Telenutrition – the practice of connecting people with registered dietitians (RDs) through virtual platforms like Zoom – has emerged as one way to help America out of its nutrition-induced health crisis. Investors are highly bullish on space, as are many health experts. 

Earlier this year, Nourish raised $35 million in a Series A funding round, bringing the company’s total funding to $44 million since its inception in 2021.

The New York–based telenutrition startup offers Americans access to RDs through their healthcare plan, drastically lowering the costs of obtaining expert nutrition advice. 

“Our goal is to create a win-win-win for patients, providers, and payers,” said Sam Perkins, co-founder, president and COO of Nourish. “For patients, we unlock access to personalized nutrition care that has historically been limited to a subset that can afford to spend thousands of dollars out-of-pocket. For RDs, we remove the barriers to accepting insurance, enabling them to focus on patients and building their practices rather than administrative tasks and paperwork. For payers, we’re providing access to a high-quality dietitian network and virtual nutrition platform to measure and improve clinical outcomes.”

Nourish is also developing technology to incorporate “food as medicine” into its program, essentially allowing registered dietitians to “prescribe” diets for patients. 

Fay, another startup that connects Americans with RDs covered by their health insurance, raised $20 million in a Series A round announced earlier this year, bringing its total funds raised to $25 million. 

Founded by Sammy Faycurry and Mark Stefanski in 2022, Fay currently has over 1,000 health insurance providers on its platform and is projected to exceed 2,000 by 2025. Registered dietitians on the Fay platform cover more than 30 specialties including eating disorders, diabetes, kidney disease, weight management, gut health and general preventative care. 

“For too long, access to diet and nutrition care has been gate-kept by prohibitively high costs and inability to access RDs who accept insurance,” said Faycurry, who serves as Fay’s CEO. “Fay was born from the belief that everyone deserves access to expert care – allowing the majority of Americans to have easy and convenient access to life-changing nutrition counseling.”

Faycurry, a Harvard Business School grad whose mother and sister are both registered dietitians, believes telenutrition platforms like Fay could hold the key to helping America out of its chronic-disease predicament. 

“This is a critical moment for nutrition in America, as is evidenced by half of adults with one or more preventable conditions linked to eating patterns, changing consumer sentiment around better-for-you products, and increasing use of medications and invasive procedures,” Faycurry told Athletech News. “Demand for help with diet and better nutrition has been surging for a while, with no realistic product in the market that was clinically proven and affordable. We’re excited to be that solution in a market that has needed it for far too long.” 

With the funding, Fay plans to build out its platform with new features, including ones that would make it easier for Americans to obtain healthy food. 

“An example of this is food service delivery integration with our platform,” Faycurry says. 

“This is a critical moment for nutrition in America, as is evidenced by half of adults with one or more preventable conditions linked to eating patterns, changing consumer sentiment around better-for-you products, and increasing use of medications and invasive procedures,” he added. “Demand for help with diet and better nutrition has been surging for a while, with no realistic product in the market that was clinically proven and affordable. We’re excited to be that solution in a market that has needed it for far too long.”

Making Healthy Eating Fun & Accessible

Expert advice on nutrition is important, but so too is motivation and adherence. 

Lifesum, a popular healthy eating platform with over 60 million users worldwide, seeks to make it easy – even fun — for people to make smart food choices. 

Founded in 2013 by tech entrepreneurs with experience in online entertainment, including a former Spotify executive, the app features a slick user interface and offers tools like calorie and macronutrient tracking, meal plan templates and diet plans, and sleep and activity tracking through integrations with Apple Health, Google Fit and Oura. 

“Our north star is to make it easier for people to understand what healthy eating means to them, empowering them to make better choices that allow them to live life to the fullest,” explained Marcus Gners, Lifesum’s co-founder and CIO.

As the longevity movement takes hold, Gners reports that many Lifesum users now view nutrition as a means to improve their overall health and performance rather than just as a way to shed pounds. 

“People still want to manage their weight, but we see an increased interest in our functionality that gives more nuance to the impact nutrition has beyond the standard fueling process,” Gners said. “For example, we see increased interest in the role nutrition can play in improving mental health, athletic performance and sleep.”

In a longevity-focused move, Lifesum acquired Lykon, an at-home biomarker testing company, earlier this year. With the deal, Lifesum users will soon be able to track and monitor their health with at-home biomarker tests, combining those insights with nutrition for a powerful one-two punch. 

Lifesum CEO Markus Falk called the move a “game-changer” for the healthy eating platform.

“Combining biomarkers with innovative technology enables personalized supplements and coaching to truly empower people to take care of their health,” added Lykon founder and CEO Tobias Teuber. “Joining forces with Lifesum allows us to provide consumers with unparalleled insights (into) their health.”

“People still want to manage their weight, but we see an increased interest in our functionality that gives more nuance to the impact nutrition has beyond the standard fueling process,” Gners added. “For example, we see increased interest in the role nutrition can play in improving mental health, athletic performance and sleep.”

Supplement Brands Change the Narrative

Supplements often get a bad rap as overhyped or downright ineffective, but a few innovative brands are looking to alter that perception through the power of personalization. 

Founded in 2017 by Eric Ji Sun Wu and Jahaan Ansari, Gainful is one of the pioneers and market leaders in the personalized supplement and nutrition space. 

After an online quiz where customers are asked information about their background and health goals, Gainful recommends a monthly shipment of products tailored to a user’s unique profile, including protein powder, pre-workout, creatine, fiber, collagen, hydration and greens powder. Gainful customers also get one-on-one access to registered dietitians for further personalized support. 

Dean Kelly, a former Walmart ecommerce exec who took over as Gainful’s CEO in 2023, believes providing a deeply personalized experience is what sets Gainful apart from the many other brands selling protein powders, creatine and pre-workout blends. 

“I view personalization as the feeling that a customer gets at the end of their experience with Gainful that makes them feel as if ‘Gainful is for me,’” Kelly told Athletech News. “And it’s not only because of the products we’re recommending; the way that we talk to you is unique to you. We also bring in expert guidance from real RDs to help our customers with nutrition. It’s completely personalized, so it’s a real person responding to real people with real questions.”

Gainful raised $7.5 million in a Series A round in 2021, which allowed the brand to expand beyond protein and into other supplements. In 2023, it struck a deal with Target to bring its personalized supplement blends into the retail giant’s brick-and-mortar stores. 

Looking ahead, Kelly has said Gainful is looking to raise another $20-30 million so it can make a bigger push into retail and expand its product line into new supplement categories. 

“If you can imagine where we’ll go next, Gainful is all about customization,” Kelly said. “You have a base protein, and then you can start to add Boosts, which might be gut health, menopause, prenatal, postnatal, cognitive, sleep, heart health or joint health. These are all categories we can go into under the umbrella of customization.”

Bioniq, meanwhile, is looking to change the way we take multivitamins. 

The London-based company takes personalization to a new level – users take a blood test and are offered a supplement blend based on those results. (Bioniq also offers users the option of completing a questionnaire instead of a blood test). 

Each uniquely developed Bioniq formula can have up to 120 nutrients. The company leverages a patented algorithm based on blood test data from tens of thousands of people across millions of biochemical data points to support its supplement recommendations. Notably, Bioniq supplements come in a granule form, which the company says enhances absorption compared to traditional pills.

A testament to its approach, Bioniq just raised $15 million in a Series B round led by HV Capital and Unbound. The funding round values the supplement brand at $70 million. 

“We’ve entered a new era in nutritional supplementation over the last six years, where it’s become clear that one-size-fits-all solutions are simply inefficient,” said Vadim Fedotov, co-founder and CEO of Bioniq. “Everyone’s health journey is unique and fluid. Customers need advanced, adaptable products that provide evolving support for personal health goals. Our AI-driven approach and extensive biochemical database allow us to create customized supplements that provide quantifiable results and cater to individuals’ specific needs.”

This article originally ran in the The Business of Prevention, Recovery & Longevity Report 2024. Download the report now to read more insights into how fitness and wellness brands are making strides in key markets.

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Weight loss medication has upended the diet industry and shows no signs of slowing down, with medication shortages only compounding the demand for GLP-1 drugs, which can help patients lose 15% or more of their body weight.

Regardless of the various opinions on medications like Ozempic and Wegovy, the blockbuster drugs can have far-ranging impacts beyond slimming down Americans — Goldman Sachs estimates that they could raise U.S. GDP levels and, at last count, analysts forecast that weight loss medications will likely generate as much as $100 billion in revenue by 2030.

With so much financial promise and a prediction that 9% of the U.S. population will eventually become a GLP-1 user in just six years, nearly every industry is looking to integrate weight loss medication or support its users in one aspect or another. Even food and beverage giant Nestlé is releasing a frozen food line for people on GLP-1 drugs.

As weight loss drugs continue to have a sizable impact at every turn, here is how telehealth companies and brick-and-mortar fitness giants are responding to the Ozempic era.

Diet Industry Heavyweights Embrace Weight Loss Drugs

WeightWatchers was undoubtedly ahead of the game, acquiring telehealth provider Sequence last year to become one of the first to offer weight loss drugs to consumers — a far departure from its original goal as a diet and weight loss OG.

“WeightWatchers is at a pivotal point where we can build new capabilities that expand our market, reinforced by our foundational strengths,” former WeightWatchers CEO Sima Sistani remarked regarding the Sequence deal. “Our goal is to provide sustainable, science-backed solutions to all weight health pathways, whether medications are part of an individual’s journey or not.”

The Vitamin Shoppe, a titan in the brick-and-mortar supplement space, is also getting into the GLP-1 game, launching a telehealth service connecting eligible consumers with licensed healthcare providers to offer nutritional supplements and anti-obesity drugs such as Ozempic and Mounjaro, as well as compounded versions of semaglutide and tirzepatide, the active ingredient in Zepbound.

The Vitamin Shoppe CEO Lee Wright says the company’s Whole Health Rx service is a “meaningful evolution” in its mission to support the needs of its customers – a similar signal to that of WeightWatchers. While it will initially focus on weight management, Whole Health Rx plans to expand into other verticals. 

“As a pioneer in the wellness space since 1977, The Vitamin Shoppe is uniquely positioned to offer a truly holistic approach to weight loss that unites proven pharmaceutical interventions with our unmatched expertise in nutrition support and whole-body health,” Wright added.

New Telehealth Players Emerge

Hims & Hers Health may not have rushed into the GLP-1 space, but it’s done so mindfully — and at a discounted rate. The telehealth platform, witnessing the ongoing shortages of name-brand anti-obesity drugs, will now provide compounded GLP-1s for eligible consumers. The company has partnered with a U.S. drug manufacturer to provide generic medications with the same active ingredients as the Ozempic and Wegovy, shipping them from affiliated pharmacies at a more cost-conscious price point. In time, the health and wellness platform says it will make branded options available after a consistent supply is established.

“The core of our business is to offer a truly personalized experience that customers can trust and rely on,” Hims & Hers CEO and co-founder Andrew Dudum said. “We’ve leveraged our size and scale to secure access to one of the highest-quality supplies of compounded GLP-1 injections available today. We’re passing that access and value along to our customers, who deserve the highest standard of clinical safety and efficacy to meet their goals, and we’re doing it in a safe, affordable way that others can’t deliver.”

Telehealth company Ro, which counts obesity expert Dr. Rachel Goldman as an advisor, is also transforming the way consumers access GLP-1s.

“GLP-1s are allowing individuals who have the disease of obesity to be on a level playing field,” Dr. Goldman said. “They have this extra tool that is helping them get to a place where they’re more in that category of individuals who, if they’re mindful about what they’re eating and exercising a little more, they will likely lose weight. It’s literally giving people hope who felt like they lost hope. Some people saw an option like bariatric surgery as a last resort but GLP-1s are now giving people an additional option. We are also seeing that people after bariatric surgery have weight (gain) recurrence because obesity is a chronic disease.” 

Fitness Brands Cater to GLP-1 Users

Weight loss drugs have also inspired fitness operators to capitalize on consumers looking to lose.

Last year, luxury athletic country club operator Life Time entered the weight loss medication arena with Miora, a medical wellness and longevity clinic featuring GLP-1s as well as infrared saunas, red light therapy, peptides, hormone replacement therapy, IV therapy and cryotherapy chambers.

While Miora is poised to roll out nationally, the clinic is already seeing high demand, 

and Life Time is bolstering Miora’s staff of doctors and physician assistants to handle the traffic.

Life Time founder and CEO Bahram Akradi has been outspoken on weight loss medication, noting that the athletic country club brand has the ideal customer base within its clubs – those who seriously invested in their health – and stated that the popular drugs will remain a “megatrend.”

“It’s going to stay, and it’s not a negative for exercise because you absolutely need to combine the proper weight training and nutrition with these drugs,” Akradi said. “The exercise business is going to get a win out of it. Life Time is uniquely positioned because, in every market, we have facilities where we can launch Miora Clinics for longevity, for addressing weight loss, peptides, all of that,” he said. “We look at this as nothing but an upside.”

Equinox, now heavily invested in metabolic health and longevity with Function Health, hasn’t abandoned the weight loss medication space or Equinox members who opt to take the in-demand drugs. The luxury fitness and wellness brand is committed to helping its members with a personal training program designed for clients on medication like Ozempic and Wegovy or those interested in using GLP-1s.

The brand added a GLP-1 protocol to its internal education program at the Equinox Fitness Training Institute to ensure coaches learn how to create workout plans that address possible muscle loss — a side effect that can occur for those taking weight loss medication.

Digital healthcare company Noom partnered with digital health and fitness platform FitOn to launch “Muscle Defense,” a program designed to combat muscle mass loss with on-demand fitness programming geared towards weight loss medication users.

“We designed Noom GLP-1 Companion with Muscle Defense to be the adjunct diet and exercise program that addresses key dangers associated with taking GLP-1s such as loss of muscle mass,” Noom CEO Geoff Cook explained. “We believe prescribing the drug without such a program carries dangers, given the amount of muscle mass people often lose while taking a GLP-1 and the fact that most people will stop taking the GLP-1 and regain the weight absent of behavior change, which can potentially lead to future conditions like sarcopenic obesity.”

“It’s critical we not leave people worse off than before they started the medication. Healthy habits have never mattered more,” Cook added.

This article originally ran in the The Business of Prevention, Recovery & Longevity Report 2024. Download the report now to read more insights into how fitness and wellness brands are making strides in key markets.

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As the “gym as a clinic” movement heats up, one of the fitness industry’s biggest brands is pushing into the rehabilitation and physical therapy spaces. 

TRX Training has added an online course and in-app content that showcase how the brand’s tools can be used by physical therapists, rehab specialists and patients to improve health outcomes. 

TRX’s Rehabilitation Essentials Online course offers programming that helps practitioners understand how they can use TRX tools, principles and protocols to elevate patient care in their practices. 

The fitness equipment giant is also adding Rehab to Resilience content to its app so patients can use TRX tools at home to speed up their recovery between in-person appointments. The Rehab to Resilience content features specialist-led programming designed to address common musculoskeletal conditions including tendonitis, lower back pain, tennis elbow, knee replacement recovery, discogenic pain and more. 

“We’re a company built on sharing information about how to lead a healthy lifestyle,” said TRX CEO Jack Daly. “Focusing on physical therapy, resilience, and overall health is really important to us. It’s part of who we are and what we do  – it’s why we started in the first place.”

Physical Therapists Embrace TRX

Chris Nentarz, wellness and rehabilitation director at the Healthcare Hub at D’Youville University, helped design the new TRX programming. 

“In this day and age with reimbursement rates going down, copays going up and the general population’s health in decline, we need more comprehensive solutions,” said Nentarz, who also serves as a TRX senior master instructor. “We need to leverage each other, and we need to leverage technology. That’s what we’ve done here at TRX.”

Nentarz noted that he’s already integrated TRX equipment into his own practice. 

“The Suspension Trainer is great because it doesn’t take up a big footprint, and every single patient on your schedule will be able to use it,” Nentarz said. 

Besides the brand’s iconic Suspension Trainer, TRX’s other equipment including the Bandit, YBell, Rip Trainer, Rocker, bands, mats and more are available to be used in rehab and physical therapy settings. 

Interested physical therapists and rehab practitioners can apply to become a TRX affiliate or reseller, the brand says. 

Fitness, Healthcare Grow Closer 

TRX’s move comes as brands increasingly embrace a future where healthcare and fitness become intertwined. 

Commonly referred to as the gym-as-a-clinic movement, this idea has seen fit tech brands like EGYM and Technogym release equipment that measures the “biological age” of users based on factors like flexibility, body composition metrics and fitness levels. 

Gyms and health clubs, meanwhile, have started offering their members access to personal training programs built around blood biomarker test results. 

Earlier this year, CrossFit launched a membership-based medical society designed to educate healthcare professionals on the effectiveness of the CrossFit workout regimen and create opportunities for affiliates to become “health homes” for members.

As Americans grow increasingly frustrated with the barriers to traditional healthcare, experts have told Athletech News they expect to see the gym-as-a-clinic movement continue to gain ground in the years ahead.

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A new wellness event is coming to South Florida, and it’s got the makings of something big. 

Sean Hoess, co-founder of the popular yoga-based festival Wanderlust, is launching Eudēmonia, a health and well-being summit featuring some of the biggest names in longevity, medicine and fitness all together under one roof. 

To be held in West Palm Beach from November 1-3, Eudēmonia will feature over 200 sessions across three days, with science-based talks on health and longevity from speakers including Andrew Huberman, PhD, Mark Hyman, MD, and Gabrielle Lyon, DO.

Celebrity trainer Jillian Michaels and YouTube star Adriene Mishler will lead in-person workouts, while popular figures like Dan Harris and Bryan Johnson will present sessions on meditation and longevity, respectively. SoulCycle is set to stage several workout classes. 

In all, Eudēmonia will offer over 200 sessions across three days, with 100 wellness brands activating on-site including Function Health, AG1, Seed and Parsley Health. Among many experiences, attendees can receive on-site biometric testing from Basecamp and Function Health, and then consult experts for help decoding their results. 

“My goal is to build the South by Southwest of well-being in the heart of West Palm Beach,” Hoess tells Athletech News of his vision for Eudēmonia. 

A Different Type of Wellness Event

Eudēmonia, a Greek word that can be roughly translated as “life well lived,” gives a good overview of Hoess’ idea for the summit, which is designed around five elements: movement, nourishment, mental optimization, restoration and connection.

According to Hoess, who co-founded Wanderlust in 2009 and helped grow it into one of the world’s biggest experiential wellness brands, there’s big demand for an event that combines all the different aspects of health and wellness, from the science of longevity to meditation to working out, into one weekend.

“What I’ve noticed with events, and actually businesses in general, is that there’s sort of a Zeitgeist moment when it’s right for (them) to happen,” he says, pointing to the rise of wellness podcasters like Huberman and Peter Attia, along with Americans’ increased interest in preventive health following the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“I started to notice the interconnection between various things – the people talking about their metabolic health were the same people who were working out or who were interested in certain diets. All of this stuff started to interrelate,” Hoess adds. “I think there’s an opportunity to do something a little more high-minded that’s not just on a particular area of health or a certain fitness modality, but that actually brings it all together under the viewpoint of functional medicine or holistic health.”

Tickets for Eudēmonia have only been on sale for a few months,  but organizers are expecting over 3,000 people at next month’s event, which will be held at the Palm Beach County Convention Center and adjoining Hilton West Palm Beach hotel.

The majority of attendees will be between 40 and 60 years old, but Eudēmonia is also seeing interest from medical students and pre-med students, groups it’s recruiting through scholarship programs and other initiatives. 

Leading With Science

Eudēmonia will feature plenty of fun – Mishler, a Youtuber with over 12 million followers on her “Yoga With Adriene” channel, will perform an in-person version of her popular online workouts while guests can engage in cold plunges, sound baths and a silent disco dance. 

But Hoess is quick to point out that Eudēmonia is, above all else, a place for serious, science-based discussions on health and wellness. He envisions the weekend as an open forum where leading scientists, doctors and entrepreneurs can discuss key issues before an educated and receptive audience. 

Sessions include “Creating Good Energy: Reverse Chronic Disease by Mastering Metabolic Function,” “AI & The Future Of Personalized Medicine,” and “Immunometabolism: GroundBreaking New Research for Brain Health,” which should give some sense of the content on offer for the weekend. 

“We take the lecture part seriously; we do want people to walk away having absolutely learned something,” Hoess says. “At the same time, we want people to be able to unwind, have fun and dance, go to a sauna or check out a new machine.”

South Florida as a Wellness Capital?

Wanderlust became one of the world’s biggest wellness festivals, staging multiple events annually in countries around the globe. For the foreseeable future at least, Hoess will take a more measured approach with his new venture. 

Eudēmonia won’t be expanding to new territories anytime soon. Instead, organizers will focus on making it a can’t-miss health and well-being event, held once per year in South Florida. 

If all goes well next month, Eudēmonia will return to West Palm Beach in 2025, but on an even bigger scale. 

“I want to see an in-person experience where people have their minds blown,” Hoess says. “It’s got to be a transformational experience, where people (leave) and they’re buzzing, and they’re going back to their communities talking about it.”

For more information on Eudēmonia and to register, click here.

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For all the fitness industry’s growth as of late, the vast majority of Americans still don’t belong to a gym. GLP-1s might hold the key to changing that calculus. 

The rise of GLP-1s as weight-loss drugs is just getting started, and experts believe increased adoption over the coming years can be a huge boon for the fitness industry, finally getting a bigger swath of the U.S. population into gyms and studios. 

According to a new report from investment banking firm Harrison Co., the total addressable market for U.S. fitness clubs (including gyms and boutique studios) is expected to increase by $6.8 billion as a result of more people taking GLP-1s.

That’s an increase of around 20% from the fitness club industry’s current addressable market of $35 billion, the firm reports. 

“I think it’s one of the biggest opportunities to come along for the industry in a long time,” Paul Byrne, a partner in Harrison Co.’s Fitness & VMS practice, tells Athletech News. 

The Case for GLP-1s as a Gym Booster

The argument, which has been advanced by Byrne and other analysts, is that as more Americans start to take GLP-1s and lose weight as a result, they’ll be more inclined to want to join a gym. 

For gyms across America, this would be good news, especially since the GLP-1 wave is just getting started. 

Around 12% of Americans have taken GLP-1s at some point, and around 6% currently use the drugs. Those numbers are expected to increase significantly over the next few years as GLP-1s become more affordable thanks to more generic options and wider coverage from health insurance. JPMorgan estimates that the GLP-1 market will exceed $100 billion by 2030. 

While it’s too early to make a definitive judgment on whether the hypothesis advanced by Byrne and others will prove true, the early returns seem promising.  

“Once people go on GLP-1s, the data shows that they’re much more likely to adhere to a (fitness) program,” Byrne says, citing data gathered by Harrison Co.

What’s more, people’s motivation for going to the gym tends to shift from extrinsic to intrinsic, meaning they become self-motivated to work out rather than chase external validation like acceptance from peers or potential dating partners. 

“Once you flip into this intrinsic mode, you’re much more likely to go to the gym, and the data shows that you’re more likely to go more frequently,” Byrne notes.

Designing Gyms for GLP-1 Users

But the initial momentum of more people losing weight might not be enough to measurably increase gym membership numbers in the long run. The fitness industry likely needs to take deliberate steps to encourage GLP-1 users to stick to a workout regimen. 

Americans are famously overweight. They’re also highly averse to stepping foot inside the gym. 

Under 2o% of Americans currently own a gym membership. The fitness industry has long struggled to increase this figure. There’s even a term for these non-gym-goers in industry circles, the infamous “80%.”

“I’ve been in the fitness industry for over 40 years now, and I’ve been able to see the continued challenges we’ve had with breaking through the obesity epidemic,” Jeff Zwiefel, the director of Life Time’s Miora Performance & Longevity Clinic, tells ATN. “What we’ve been doing isn’t working. We’re not reaching the most at-risk people.”

Zwiefel believes GLP-1s can be gamechanger for the fitness industry, but only if operators around the country work to make people taking the drugs feel welcomed inside gyms by providing ongoing support that spans fitness, nutrition and overall wellness. 

Essentially, gyms should position themselves as the link between medical practitioners who prescribe GLP-1s and the people who take them. 

“We’re better-positioned than anybody to connect the dots for consumers,” Zwiefel says. “Who has better access to fitness professionals, equipment, nutrition programming and supplementation than gym operators?”

How can gyms do this? There are already a couple of examples, and some ideas for the future. 

Under Zwiefel’s guidance, Life Time launched Miora in 2023. Miora is a comprehensive program that gives Life Time members access not just to GLP-1s, but to physicians, nurses assistants and personal trainers to ensure they’re getting personalized, expert advice on how to work out, eat and generally take care of their bodies while losing weight. 

Luxury fitness brand Equinox has created a personal training program designed for its members who take GLP-1s, offering fitness and nutrition advice to help them form long-term, healthy habits around weight loss and fitness. 

Democratizing Access to Weight-Loss Advice

So far, and perhaps unsurprisingly, high-end fitness brands are taking the lead when it comes to designing programs that support GLP-1 users. 

It may be unfeasible for gyms on the lower end of the pricing spectrum to offer their members the type of white-glove service found at Life Time. But that doesn’t mean these brands have to sit on the sidelines.  

“There are other ways to access these customers without having doctors and nurses on staff,” Byrne believes. 

The Harrison Co. partner says high-value, low-price (HVLP) gyms can look to partner with local doctors’ offices who are prescribing GLP-1s, working together with physicians to develop training programs that best support the fitness needs of people on weight-loss drugs. Those programs would undoubtedly include a healthy dose of strength training, which is important in helping people preserve muscle mass while dropping weight. 

Gyms can also design digital programs that introduce GLP-1 users to the fundamentals of working out. This is especially useful since many people on GLP-1s have never attended a gym.

“If you have an app that’s specifically targeted to GLP-1 users, you kind of get over the hurdle of intimidation,” Byrne says. 

Zwiefel, meanwhile, is aware that most brands can’t offer a Miora type of program. But he wants to see industry leaders work collectively to educate fitness professionals on how to coach clients who take GLP-1s. This expertise will funnel down to gym-goers, whether they attend Planet Fitness or Life Time. 

“I would encourage operators to make sure they have foundational certification expectations,” he says. “I want to work with the industry to ensure there’s an accredited certification so that pros can gain this (knowledge).”

Right now, much of the talk around GLP-1s and fitness is highly speculative. But the ball appears to be in gym operators’ court when it comes to harnessing the power of weight-loss drugs to get more Americans working out. 

“I think it’s going to be a massive game-changer and a tremendous tailwind for the industry,” Zwiefel says of the increased adoption of GLP-1s . “But it’s like any tool, it can be used wrong and abused, and it can be used right.”

Download Harrison Co.’s 2024 fitness industry report, “Weights of Change: A New Era of Fitness Shaped by Gen Z, Millennials and Social Media,” here.

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Peloton is making it easier for Americans to purchase fitness equipment with tax-free healthcare funds, partnering with payment solutions company Truemed to offer an HSA/FSA check-out option. 

Through the partnership, Peloton customers in the United States can use their pre-tax health savings account (HSA) and flexible spending account (FSA) dollars to buy Peloton equipment including the Peloton Bike, Bike+, Tread, Tread+ and Row. 

On the Peloton website, U.S.-based consumers can select a “pay with HSA/FSA funds” option at checkout for qualifying purchases, where they’ll be redirected to the Truemed site to complete the steps needed to obtain a letter of medical necessity (LMN) and use their HSA/FSA funds to buy equipment. 

According to Peloton and Truemed, consumers can save up to 40% on their purchase of Peloton equipment by taking advantage of HSA/FSA funds, which are pre-tax accounts that Americans can use to pay for qualified healthcare costs ranging from medical bills to eyeglasses to fitness products. 

The HSA/FSA market is valued at around $150 billion, with many Americans opting in to contribute funds and sometimes struggling to spend them on qualifying purchases. 

“Root-cause interventions are a critical part of healthcare, and helping people find what uniquely works for them is key in sustaining these long-term commitments,” said Justin Mares, co-founder and CEO of Truemed. “With a global player like Peloton, we’re helping connect consumers with more of the health practices they love as we continue our work in improving access, options, convenience, and incentives.”

Fitness Brands Embrace Healthcare Spending 

Peloton becomes the latest major fitness and wellness brand to make it easier for customers to use HSA/FSA funds to purchase things like equipment, gym memberships and supplements. 

Truemed has struck similar partnerships with brands including Crunch Fitness, CrossFit, Momentous and Plunge. Most recently, the payment solutions company partnered with CorePower Yoga to help people unlock HSA and FSA funds for yoga classes and memberships at the popular chain. 

Other digital platforms have cropped up to help fitness brands take advantage of HSA and FSA spending. 

Telehealth provider Dr. B has struck partnerships with brands including F45 Training, SoulCycle and boutique fitness software platform Xplor Mariana Tek. Smart home fitness brand Tempo recently partnered with Flex to make its AI-powered strength training products available for purchase with HSA and FSA funds.  

Last year, wellness and recovery tech brand Hyperice partnered with Sika Health to allow customers to use HSA and FSA funds on the brand’s Hypervolt, Normatec, Venom, Hyperice X, Vyper, Hypersphere and compression wearables lines.

The post Peloton, Truemed Partner To Enable HSA/FSA Spending on Fitness Equipment appeared first on Athletech News.

Humanaut Health has opened its first-ever health optimization and longevity clinic, bringing personalized and preventive healthcare services to Austin, Texas, ahead of a planned nationwide expansion that includes selling franchises.

Located in The Grove, a mixed-use community in Austin, the 4,000-square-foot clinic will feature health-optimization tech including body imaging, fitness testing, an IV lounge and a regenerative medicine procedure room. Memberships start at $355 per month and members will have access to a team of licensed and credentialed medical providers focused on preventive care. 

Humanaut Health says its services are designed to support “long-term quality-of-life goals” including disease prevention, energy, strength, mobility, recovery, sexual health and more.

“We believe that medical science breakthroughs – including body-identical hormone, peptides and regenerative therapies – can help millions unlock their potential to live vibrantly for decades,” said Dr. Amy Killen, co-founder and chief medical officer of Humanaut Health. “Our clinic is designed to be a destination where advanced diagnostics and innovative evidence-based therapeutics meet.”

Founded in 2023 by a team of entrepreneurs and medical experts including Jim Donnelly, the co-founder of Restore Hyper Wellness, Humanaut Health raised $8.7 million earlier this year in a seed round led by The Kabech Fund. The company said those funds would be earmarked for product improvements and franchise expansion strategies.

Following the Austin launch, Humanaut plans to open additional clinics in Dallas and South Florida, and eventually across the country as part of a nationwide strategic growth plan that includes franchising. 

A New Approach to Healthcare

Upon their first visit to a Humanaut clinic, members are put through a full-body health assessment featuring blood lab, body scan and fitness tests to establish a baseline evaluation across 100-plus health markers. Members then collaborate with medical providers and wellness experts to create an individualized care plan based on their assessment results and personal goals.

The Austin clinic offers services including body-identical hormone therapy, body-identical peptide therapy and regenerative medicine procedures, along with nutrition counseling, sleep coaching and personal fitness training.

Humanaut’s baseline Zone membership costs $355 per month, plus a $295 join rate. The Zone membership features semi-annual body and brain testing, continuing provider care and access to wellness services including IV drips, healing treatments and personal training. 

Humanaut also offers a Bond membership, a concierge-level longevity program. For $3,295 per month plus a $1,000 join fee, the Bond membership includes comprehensive testing, physician-led care, telemedicine services and access to cutting-edge regenerative medicine tests including genetic, biological age, gut, toxins and early cancer detection. 

Humanaut sold 40 Bond memberships prior to the Austin location’s launch, which the company says exceeded projections. 

Non-members can also purchase standalone wellness treatments and regenerative medicine programs.

Health Optimization Becomes Big Business

Longevity – essentially the science of aging gracefully, or slowing down the aging process altogether – has emerged as one of the fastest-growing sectors in health and wellness following the pandemic, attracting entrepreneurs, investors and medical professionals in a race to help people live better, for longer. 

Brands like Restore Hyper Wellness, Serotonin Centers and Lindora are opening wellness and recovery studios across the country, offering services from cryotherapy and infrared saunas to GLP-1 weight-loss drugs and hormone replacement therapy (HRT). 

In January, Timeline raised $66 million in Series D funding for a line of longevity supplements and topical skin health products containing Mitopure, a proprietary ingredient (Urolithin A) designed to promote healthy aging.

Fitness brands are getting in on the longevity boom, too, envisioning a world where gyms and health clubs double as medical clinics. 

Life Time launched its Miora Longevity and Performance clinics in November 2023, offering its members access to medical professionals and services including hormone replacement therapy, IV therapy, cryotherapy and GLP-1s. 

Equinox followed suit, launching “Optimize by Equinox,”  a $3,000-per-month longevity membership that gives members access to biomarker tests from Function Heath, personalized training plans, and a team of fitness, nutrition and sleep coaches. 

In a similar move, Fitness SF, a chain of Bay-area health clubs, partnered with health analytics company InsideTracker to offer its members and staffers access to DNA analysis and biannual blood biomarker testing. 

The post Humanaut Health Opens Longevity Clinic in Austin, Eyes Franchising appeared first on Athletech News.

Around 10 to 12 percent of Americans see a chiropractor each year. If Dr. Jason Helfrich has his way, that number will soon be much higher.

That’s not because more Americans will be in back pain, it’s because more people will come to recognize the holistic health, wellness, and longevity benefits of chiropractic care, provided they go to the right office. 

“We do wonderful things for pain, but there’s so much more to function and human potential that we see when we adjust somebody and free up their bodies’ innate ability to function as it was intended to,” Dr. Helfrich, a chiropractor who founded 100% Chiropractic, a franchise brand with locations across the country, tells Athletech News. “It’s super important that we get the message out to people of what chiropractic truly is about, and what it’s not about.”

“We’re focused on getting people’s bodies back to thriving at a level that some people didn’t even know they were intended to live at,” he adds.

Originally a restaurateur, Dr. Helfrich and his wife, Dr. Vanessa Helfrich, decided to change their lives in the early 2000s, moving to a new state and taking out student loans to attend chiropractic school in Iowa. After graduating, they founded 100% Chiropractic in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2004. 

Over the last 20 years, the Helfrichs have turned 100% Chiropractic into a thriving nationwide business. After some initial expansion success, 100% Chiropractic began franchising in 2015, setting the stage for even more growth. Today, the brand operates over 120 locations, with offices in states stretching from New Jersey to Texas to California. 

The Case for Chiropractic as a Longevity Tool

There’s reason to believe 100% Chiropractic could become even bigger, especially if Dr. Helfrich and his peers are successful in changing the narrative around chiropractic services. 

100% Chiropractic is doing its part to make that goal a reality. Besides implementing sound business fundamentals he learned during his time running restaurants, Dr. Helfrich believes a focus on long-term health and longevity is what sets 100% Chiropractic apart from other chiropractic offices in the United States. 

During their first visit to a 100% Chiropractic location, patients are taken through a Discovery Session, where a board-certified doctor of chiropractic reviews x-ray results, a posture analysis, health history, and health goals to develop a holistic treatment plan. The next visit is an Empowerment Session, where chiropractors educate patients on any issues they may be experiencing along with providing general education on the anatomy of the spine. 

While back adjustments are obviously on offer, 100% Chiropractic also provides massages, assisted stretching therapy, cold lasers, and nutrition services for its patients. 

“It’s a very thorough approach to people’s health, as opposed to, let’s get you out of neck and back pain,” Dr. Helfrich explains. “This is more like, let’s get you out of neck and back pain, but let’s get your body thriving. There are different ways we’re going to make that happen for you.”

Building a Franchise Business

Another reason for 100% Chiropractic’s impressive growth likely lies in the way the Helfrichs have approached building the business. 

To grow the brand over the last two decades, the Helfrichs have taken the tricks they learned in the restaurant biz and applied them to chiropractic offices. That included systematizing 100% Chiropractic’s operational procedures from the get-go, so new business partners – and eventually, franchisees – could step in and have their own locations running smoothly from day one. 

“We started to build like we had 10 locations even when we had one,” Dr. Helfrich recalls. “I was always a big believer that people run the systems, systems run the business.”

The Helfrichs also sought to get their peers involved on the business side, initially only selling franchise licenses to fellow chiropractors. Today, around half of all 100% Chiropractic franchises are owned by the chiropractors who run them. 

While 100% Chiropractic now also sells franchises to non-chiropractors, it continues to stay true to its roots as it brings entrepreneurs into the fold. 

“We built the company on being a franchise run by chiropractors for chiropractors,” Dr. Helfrich notes. 

That strategy appears to be working. According to the brand, the average income among 100% Chiropractic clinics in 2023 was $813,365. Offices averaged 248 patient visits per week, significantly higher than the industry average of 168. 

Creating a ‘Movement’

Dr. Helfrich is optimistic that soon, more people will come to recognize the benefits of chiropractic services. While only 10 to 12% of Americans regularly see a chiropractor today, it may not take much more adoption before the movement becomes truly mainstream. 

“When you get to 15 to 17%, you start to really create a movement that culture understands,” he says. “(Going to a chiropractor) has long lived on the cusp of becoming the norm, with people understanding the role that chiropractic plays in their family’s healthcare. We want to push it up and over that edge.”

If that happens, expect to see franchised concepts like 100% Chiropractic become even more popular than they are today. Dr. Helfrich says the brand’s next expansion goal is to open 200 locations, although he doesn’t feel pressure to chase growth, especially amid current macroeconomic uncertainty.   

At the end of the day, though, the Helfrichs have a bigger mission: they want to change the way people view chiropractic care–and healthcare in general – in America, prizing preventive care over sick (or injured) care. 

“We live in a world of, you’re hurt, you take a pill and you get better. Or, if you’re not hurt, then you must be healthy. It’s just not true,” Dr. Helfrich says. “The first sign of a heart attack is a heart attack. We don’t often feel cancer inside of us developing, but it is. Pain is a poor judge of health.”

The post 100% Chiropractic, a Fast-Growing Franchise, Taps Into the Longevity Boom appeared first on Athletech News.

For Garmin, the future of healthcare will be found on people’s wrists. 

At the 10th annual Garmin Health Summit, held this week in Prague, the tech company pointed to a future where fitness trackers and smartwatches are an integral part of global healthcare systems, with doctors having access to patients’ information like sleep and heart rate data to inform better treatment plans, and health insurance companies leveraging large biometric data sets to deliver services on a macro scale. 

Garmin is confident its wearables will be at the forefront of this movement, which the brand calls “smartwatch-enabled digital health.” 

While the smartwatch space has become highly competitive, with some of the biggest brands in the world entering the space, Garmin’s executives believe the Kansas-based company, founded in 1989, has a competitive advantage when it comes to wearables and healthcare.  

“Garmin’s business strategy is to be an ecosystem player,” Scott Burgett, senior director of Garmin Health Engineering, told Athletech News at the event. “When you look at the breadth of our wearable products, the breadth of our data, and the ease of integration – we’re agnostic between iOS and Android – we really are the best company (to work with).”

The Garmin Advantage 

During the Summit, Garmin’s executives touted its wearables as the best devices on the market to support doctors, healthcare companies, and clinical researchers, thanks to their long battery life and high-quality biometric sensors, which track metrics including stress, heart rate variability (HRV) and skin temperature, among others, with high accuracy. 

Most Garmin smartwatches have a battery life of at least 5 days, with some lasting far longer than that. That’s significantly higher than new versions of the Apple Watch (between 18 hours and 3 days, depending on model) and the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 (around 2 days, according to online reviews). 

Longer battery life leads to higher customer engagement and longer wear times, which means more data for healthcare professionals, Garmin points out. 

“It’s so important that you can put on a wearable and leave it on for seven days,” Burgett said. “Every time you take it off, there’s a chance you might not put it back on.”

“We focus on battery life because it’s a unique selling point that none of our competitors really can touch,” he added. 

On the biometric data side, Garmin believes its wearables are the best in the business – the brand released its first smartwatch in 2003, over a decade before other tech players entered the space. 

“In 2015, we launched our first in-house PPG sensor. We’re now on Gen 5 and you can see how often we update that throughout the year,” Burgett said. “It’s one of our constant initiatives. We continue to innovate in our sensor technology.”

Beyond its smartwatch tech, Garmin believes it’s got the best system to support businesses and organizations as they pursue digital health innovation. The brand established Garmin Health in 2014, growing it into a full-scale B2B solution for healthcare, research and clinical trials, insurance companies, gyms and fitness brands, corporate wellness, and more. 

Garmin wearables have been part of more than 1,000 research studies in areas including sleep, well-being, rehabilitation, physical activity, and disease management. 

Executives also touted Garmin’s commitment to data privacy – the Garmin Health API allows third parties to ask customers whether or not they consent to sharing their wearable data. 

A Glimpse Into the Future 

While there’s a consensus among experts that we’re at the very beginning stages of wearables becoming important in healthcare – operational, regulatory, and economic challenges currently prevent wider adoption – some organizations are already embracing the future imagined by Garmin. 

At this year’s Summit, Garmin highlighted some of the companies already using its wearables to make a difference in people’s health. 

VigiLife, Inc., and Metluma were announced as winners of the 2024 Garmin Health Awards, voted on by a panel of industry experts and Summit attendees. 

VigiLife, an Ohio-based company, created SafeGuard, a platform that protects employees from workplace hazards like heat stress by leveraging environmental sensors to detect noise, radiation, and certain chemicals. The brand uses Garmin smartwatches and fitness trackers in conjunction with its environmental sensors. 

Metluma, an Australian telehealth platform, helps women navigate perimenopause and menopause by connecting them with medical professionals and providing other digital support. The female-founded company leverages wearable data to provide treatment for its users. 

“We are thrilled to celebrate this year’s Garmin Health Awards entrants,” said Jörn Watzke, senior director for Garmin Health. “Over 75 leading providers from 35 countries worldwide submitted their innovative solutions. We were so impressed by the diversity and level of innovation demonstrated in these solutions and we offer a huge congratulations to this year’s winners and to all who participated.”

The post Garmin Eyes Wearables as the Future of Healthcare appeared first on Athletech News.

Prenuvo, founded in 2018 by Andrew Lacy and Dr. Raj Attariwala, aims to make preventative whole-body imaging the future of medicine. With a single 45- to 60-minute scan, Prenuvo performs MRI imaging to detect cancer and other abnormalities early. Whole-body imaging is gaining popularity, with celebrities like the Kardashians turning to Prenuvo for a comprehensive baseline of their health risks.

Athletech News spoke with Daniel Durand, Prenuvo’s Chief Medical Officer, about the landscape of full-body imaging and experienced the scan firsthand to understand the buzz.

Durand’s career began in musculoskeletal and molecular imaging at Johns Hopkins. He later moved into roles bridging health and business, including consulting for McKinsey, co-founding the Clinical Transformation Group at Evelyn Health, and serving as Chief Innovation Officer and Chief Clinical Officer at LifeBridge Health.

“Throughout my career, I became increasingly aware of the shortcomings in preventive care,” Durand told Athletech News.

“While we have effective screening methods like colonoscopies and mammograms, the uptake is still low. Only about two-thirds of eligible individuals get screened, and when you consider the overall population that gets all recommended screenings, the number is shockingly low. This led me to conclude that the organ-by-organ approach is flawed, as it leaves gaps in detecting many potential health issues. In fact, only 14% of cancers are detected early, and that’s something we need to change.”

Outdated Approaches

Durand concluded that the traditional physical exam is becoming outdated, as it often does not detect issues until too late. “At Prenuvo, we aim to replace the physical exam with a much more scientific and informative process, providing people with the knowledge they need to live longer, healthier lives,” Durand said. “This is the future of medicine, and that’s why I joined Prenuvo—leaving a job I loved to be part of this groundbreaking shift in healthcare.”

The Radiological Society of North America has published content about how whole-body imaging can cause issues for both patients and medical systems. Patients can feel confused about next steps after they receive their results, and medical systems, which are already busy, may become even more overburdened.

I was worried about such issues before getting a scan: what if something turned up that raised questions, requiring frequent follow-ups? When I arrived at Prenuvo, I found a space that felt like an elevated doctor’s office. It seemed quiet, which I later learned was because the brand staggered patients for a personalized feel.

The Process

Getting my scan was a seamless process. From start to finish, it took around 1.5 hours, including checking in, changing into MRI-compatible clothing, removing all jewelry, and entering the machine. I was not allowed to eat for about four hours before the MRI. The scan itself took around 45 minutes, during which I could watch Netflix while in the machine.

The MRI made some loud sounds, and I found it a little uncomfortable to lie absolutely still during the entire scan, but the television was a good distraction. Afterward, there was a great spread of snacks and drinks waiting for me, and the front desk told me that I might receive my results in as little as several days.

About a week later, I received my results. While getting the email out of the blue was a little stressful, I found the online portal easy to use, and it quickly alleviated many of my worries with its comprehensive explanations. I also had a consultation with a Prenuvo doctor, who explained my results from head to toe and suggested follow-ups. The service laid out the critical nature of each finding, with tags like “critical finding” and “informational finding.” The explanations of each finding also included recommendations.

After the recommendations, the Frequently Asked Questions section addressed several queries that might be your first stop on a frantic Google search. For example, under the “Lung Consolidation” section (which is explained as when the normal air within a segment of the lung is replaced by fluid, blood, or other substances), the questions included “What are the symptoms of consolidation?” and “Can diet and nutrition affect the growth of consolidation?”

Durand addressed the important balance of providing results like “informational findings,” which might not need immediate attention but might be worth keeping an eye on.

“One of the biggest challenges in healthcare today is striking the right balance between informing people about potential health issues and avoiding unnecessary anxiety or overburdening the healthcare system,” Durand said.

“At Prenuvo, we’re providing detailed information through our scans without the downsides of radiation or contrast agents. Unlike incidental findings in an emergency room scan, anything we find during a Prenuvo scan is something our patients want to know about. Our scans provide crucial insights into things like vascular disease, brain health, and even the early signs of cancer, without the immediate risks or complications associated with more invasive screening methods.”

Expansion Ahead

Even the “informational findings” from my scan were delivered in a way that felt useful and not overwhelming. Enough information was provided to alleviate anxiety, and I understood the potential next steps if I wanted to check on them. The only downside is one that is familiar to many: which doctor should I go to next?

Prenuvo will suggest particular types of specialists but does not source them for patients. To me, that made sense, as a list of partner doctors might represent a conflict of interest and potential thorny partnership issues. For “critical findings,” a Prenuvo doctor or nurse practitioner explains all the potential avenues, tailored to a patient’s individual needs.

With AI all the rage in the radiology space, Prenuvo is leveraging the technology as well. Durand explained the multiple ways the technology is used at the company.

“We use AI to compress MRI scan times, which allows us to offer high-quality, comprehensive scans in about 45 minutes,” Durand said.

“We’re also using AI in a research context to analyze the vast amount of whole-body MRI data we collect. This is enabling us to conduct research that would have been prohibitively expensive in the past. By using AI to automate the analysis of scans, we’re able to identify unexpected correlations between factors like visceral fat percentage and long-term brain health. Long-term, we envision AI playing an even greater role in helping us predict and stratify risk, ultimately improving the accuracy and effectiveness of our scans.”

Prenuvo is expanding rapidly. Those frustrated with the traditional healthcare system are turning to full-body MRI services to understand their health more comprehensively and proactively.

“Since 2018, when we had just one center in Vancouver, we’ve grown to 13 centers across the U.S. and Canada,” Durand said. “We’re continuing to expand, with plans to open 16 more centers in the next 12 months, including in Australia, Sweden, and the U.K. Additionally, we’ve established the Hercules Research Center in Boston, which focuses on health equity and provides free scans to individuals in Massachusetts who might not otherwise be able to afford them. We’re positioning ourselves to change the way medicine is practiced globally, making whole-body MRI screening accessible to a much larger population.”

The post Prenuvo is Taking a Preventative Approach to Medicine appeared first on Athletech News.

In the latest episode of Athletech News’ Unscripted podcast, Ed Buckley, CEO of FitOn Health, a corporate wellness and benefits platform under FitOn, one of the world’s biggest digital fitness brands, joins co-hosts Edward Hertzman and Eric Malzone to discuss FitOn’s merger with Peerfit, how to build a remote fitness community and how to be “more than just a benefit” for members. 

Buckley, Hertzman and Malzone also break down the reasoning behind FitOn’s recent strategic partnerships, the balance between fitness, and healthcare and ongoing HSA/FSA fund restrictions. The three also discuss in detail the power of social coercion in fitness and the exponential growth FitOn has experienced over the past year.

Watch this episode of Unscripted for unfiltered takes on the following:

• Key issues in corporate wellness
• The place of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs in fitness
• Ethics in the healthcare system

The post Unscripted: FitOn Health CEO Ed Buckley on GLP-1s, Fitness & Healthcare appeared first on Athletech News.

The longevity movement is growing by the day as Fortune 500 companies and everyday consumers alike embrace the ideal that people should live healthy, disease-free lives into old age. Rony Sellam, the CEO of InsideTracker, a Boston-based health analytics company, is playing a key role in that evolution. 

A former Deloitte consultant and healthcare IT executive, Sellam joined InsideTracker as CEO over a decade ago, shortly after the company’s founding, after a fateful conversation with a prominent cardiologist spurred him to get involved in the preventive care space.

In the years since, InsideTracker has become one of the key players powering the booming longevity space, topping 100,000 members and inking partnerships with smart ring maker Oura and gym chain Fitness SF. 

At a high level, the company combines blood test results, DNA analysis and other metrics to help users make sense of their bodies and take actionable steps – exercise, sleep and supplementation, to name a few – so they can live longer and healthier lives. 

“Where blood testing stops is where InsideTracker starts,” Sellam explains. 

Sellam, who was born in France and started his career in Switzerland, spoke with Athletech News about his unlikely path to becoming CEO of an American tech company, what separates InsideTracker from traditional blood tests, and his predictions for the future of health and longevity. 

This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and length.

Athletech News: Can you tell us about your background and why you decided to join InsideTracker?

Rony Sellam: After business school in Europe, I started my career in consulting with Deloitte, in Geneva, Switzerland. I then moved to Boston after Deloitte offered me an opportunity to take part in their Global Development Program, which is an 18-month to 2-year-long (exchange) program. As soon as I arrived in Boston, I fell in love with the innovation ecosystem, and my wife and I decided to stay. 

In Boston, I quickly got hired away by one of Deloitte’s clients, which happens very often in the consulting space. I fell in love with healthcare immediately upon working in healthcare IT. I was with that company for 13 years and had a great time working directly with physicians and patients, especially on the cardiovascular side. 

The connection to Insidetracker – and to the concept of prevention and longevity – came from a conversation I had with a well-known interventional cardiologist, Dr. Spencer King. He and I were sharing a Scotch one evening in Atlanta, and I asked him what I thought was a pretty benign question: “Hey, Spencer, you’re about to turn 72, you’re on top of the world of interventional cardiology, but what would you do differently looking back?” He looked at me very seriously and said, “I would have spent my career focused on prevention, not intervention. You’ve got to catch people before they’re broken.”

Through one of my mentors at the time, I got introduced to (founder) Gil Blander and scientists from Harvard, MIT and Tufts, who were doing some work for what would become InsideTracker. I immediately fell in love with the concept of extracting data from your body, mapping it to the best available science and coming back with actionable recommendations to help people live healthier and longer. That’s what InsideTracker does.

ATN: What makes InsideTracker different from a typical blood test you’d get at the lab or your primary care doctor?

RS: There’s no difference in the blood test itself. The interpretation, analysis and insights are where we make a difference. The doctor’s job is to use blood testing as a screening mechanism to identify disease, which is extremely important. However, if you’re not sick, there’s very little from a value that accrues back to the patient. For most of us, the absence of sickness does not mean health. In the U.S., there’s a 16-year difference between healthspan and lifespan.

We connect the dots between your blood test numbers and things like your age, gender, ethnicity, level of physical activity, how much alcohol you consume, etc., and offer things you can do to improve on an ongoing basis. Where blood testing stops is where Insidetracker starts. 

ATN: How has InsideTracker – and the longevity space as a whole – evolved over the 15 years since the company’s founding? 

RS: We started with blood and then added DNA and physiological markers from fitness trackers, and we’re about to add food inputs using AI. It’s going down the path of more sophisticated inputs so that actionability is increasingly precise, differentiated and personalized.

Over the last 10-plus years, it’s become really exciting because we can now see that InsideTracker is driving results not just in the first year but in year five, year six, and so on. Seeing those continuous results is amazingly rewarding. 

We’ve now surpassed 100,000 members on InsideTracker. A few years ago, when we talked about healthspan and longevity, people called us crazy. That’s now really become an accepted, exciting and growing segment. Many healthcare organizations are now interested in prevention space, the “gym-as-a-clinic” concept is growing faster and faster by the minute, and you see more and more longevity resorts coming out across the globe. I think consumers are really looking for a solution to health optimization and health improvement as opposed to just disease screening.

ATN: Speaking of the “gym-as-a-clinic,” InsideTracker recently partnered with Fitness SF, a Bay Area gym chain. How did this come about?

RS: Fitness SF has strong leadership with a vision of partnering with their members to make them healthier. Some of their leadership became InsideTracker customers and it’s changed their lives for the better from a health perspective. So they quickly realized the power and the impact this can have, and they are genuinely intent on making the type of service we provide and the type of service they provide joined at the hip; it’s not just a press release or a way for them to sell more personal training time. They genuinely believe the right solution for business success, which comes from driving results for their members, includes a health and wellness offering that is science-based, looks inside, gives you recommendations and allows you to track progress over time. It’s a very exciting partnership. 

In general, we intend to do more business-to-business partnerships. We’re the only company in the space that has published science around our platform. We’ve been around for over 10 years and we’ve accumulated a ton of data. We’re a credible, scientific player, not a fly-by-night company selling magic pills or promising the moon. 

ATN: Can larger, low-priced gym chains benefit from an InsideTracker partnership, or is it best suited to more upscale health clubs?

RS: It doesn’t have to be upscale. You’ve seen Equinox charges $40,000 a year, which is certainly not how we look at the world. We want the masses to be able to live healthier, longer. InsideTracker is absolutely applicable to large gym chains if they’re able to view it beyond just being another SKU, and they move toward a whole-health approach. 

We’re also applicable to many other segments that have a direct interest in making someone healthier, including primary care models, companies in the GLP-1 space and supplement companies. 

ATN: Can you share any predictions for what’s coming next in the health and longevity space that could change the industry?

RS: In 10 years, I doubt blood testing will be done by walking into a lab. I think it’s clear that at some point we’ll all be able to bleed, pee or sweat on our iPhones and get real-time results. We’re already doing something like that currently; we have a model with handheld devices where you get almost instantaneous results that go up to the cloud. It’s not used on humans yet, but that model is working for us at InsideTracker. 

At the end of the day, for a company like Insidetracker, we don’t care if it’s blood, DNA, fitness tracking or how we get the data. We’re the best intel and recommendation engine on the planet for health, wellness and lifestyle intervention. 

The post CEO Corner: InsideTracker’s Rony Sellam on the Future of Personalized Health appeared first on Athletech News.

Six in 10 Americans have a chronic illness. 74% of Americans are overweight or obese, and according to at least one estimate, 93% of American adults are dealing with metabolic health dysfunction.

One doctor and tech entrepreneur, Dr. Casey Means, is looking to break through the noise and deliver a simple message: “I think the most disruptive truth that needs to be brought to the forefront is that it’s actually very simple and very straightforward to be healthy,” Means tells Athletech News.

The Los Angeles-based, Stanford University grad has achieved the trifecta of achievement in health and wellness as a medical doctor, co-founder of Levels, a metabolic health company, and an investor/advisor for TrueMed, Function Health, Farmer’s Juice and Zen Basil.

Having trained as an ear, nose and throat surgeon, Dr. Means became disillusioned with conventional medicine, frustrated with its failure in chronic prevention and reversal of metabolic health conditions. It’s a familiar narrative these days, as other physicians have also become disenchanted, but for Dr. Means, it’s also personal, having experienced her mother’s untimely passing.

“I was four and a half years into my training as a surgeon and sort of had an awakening that the unfortunate reality in America right now is that every single year, American patients across the lifespan are getting sicker,” Dr. Means says. “Children’s health, adult health and elderly health are getting (by most objective measures) worse — our life expectancy is going down for the past three years, kids are developing chronic illnesses that have never before been seen in kids, like pre-diabetes and high blood pressure and autoimmune diseases,  astonishing rates of mental illness. Young people are getting cancer at alarming rates, especially colon cancer.”

It’s a grim picture, but one that Dr. Means says can be remedied. For the past seven years, she’s been on a journey to explore the root causes of Americans’ illnesses on a cellular level.

“When I did that, what emerged was this very obvious reality — that most of the chronic diseases and chronic symptoms are facing the U.S. — essentially, all the top killers of Americans today are rooted in the same thing — which is metabolic dysfunction,” she explains. “It became clear that the reason we’re becoming very metabolically dysfunctional in this country is because the world we’re living in today, the environment that our bodies exist in, is almost universally damaging to our mitochondria, which make energy in ourselves.”

The Great American Health Paradox

Her new book, “Good Energy,” has become a New York Times bestseller. Within its pages, Dr. Means provides a guide that covers the environmental factors that influence mitochondria and simple strategies for building a life that supports mitochondrial capacity and metabolic health. The book also highlights her mother’s own battle.

“I think she really represents the archetypal American patient right now — (someone) who racks up a bunch of symptoms and diagnoses and faithfully sees all her different doctors over the years and takes all the pills they tell her to take and is very dependent on the health care system that ultimately is let down by it and die prematurely from cancer,” Dr. Means says of her mother.

Dr. Means says she is fascinated by the amount of people who are trying very hard to be healthy, but continue to face an uphill battle –  a similar experience that her mother underwent.

“50% of Americans go on a diet every year, gym memberships doubled since the year 2000, and during that rate, obesity has gone up 10%,” she points out. 

CGMs & Biomarker Tests Can Help

She’s encouraged, however, by the rise in technology that allows Americans to monitor their own health, such as CGMs.

Dr. Means emphasizes eating unprocessed, clean food, walking more, lifting weights, managing emotional health and stress, getting sufficient sleep and sunshine, as well as reducing exposure to blue light late at night, and removing synthetic, chemical-laden cleaning products as key actions people can take. Tracking basic biomarkers, such as fasting glucose, can also be helpful.

“We have to understand our baseline and really be the CEO of our biomarkers,” says Dr. Means, adding that comprehending basic biomarkers isn’t tricky. “Then focus on interventions that are simple and safe that improve mitochondrial health, which will improve metabolic health, then recheck to make sure we’re moving in the right direction.”

Taking an almost rudimentary approach to health seems nearly unbelievable at a time when wellness is marketed and sold as a commodity. 

“We are absolutely missing the forest for the trees in the health and longevity conversation — so focused on the margins and on products,” Dr. Means says. “When, in fact, we can get most of the way there by targeting simple elements of our diet and lifestyle towards what actually matters. The average American is eating 70% of their calories from ultra-processed food — step one is literally just making that towards eating real, unprocessed food. The average American is walking 3,500 steps per day, less than two miles. We need to just at a baseline get that up to at least 7,000 steps per day.”

Pressing the Brakes on GLP-1s

In Dr. Means’ viewpoint, the widespread use of GLP-1s is alarming. 

“It’s a very dark trend that is essentially trying to gaslight Americans to believe that health is found in a weekly injection for life and not from changing the environment that is so obviously crushing our ability to be healthy,” she says. “If you had a sick fish in a fish tank filled with dirty polluted water, you obviously would not inject that fish every week for the rest of its life. You would change out the water.”

While Dr. Means agrees that drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy can help a patient jumpstart a weight-loss process and isn’t fully against their use, she says GLP-1s provide neither the end of the journey nor serve as a public health solution.

“Nothing about this injection actually gets us closer to nature, which is fundamentally what we need to do,” she says. “The problem is not obesity – obesity is a result of the metabolic issues caused by our environment.”

Dr. Means practices what she preaches – she buys food as fresh as possible, tries to cook all of her meals from scratch, avoids ultra-processed foods, meditates and keeps in movement. She says focusing her own health journey on a sense of awe and presence rather than avoidance of disease, fear of early death or attachment to longevity has been a game changer. 

“I think that to be healthy, many of our lives are going to have to look very different than they have,” she says. “But that doesn’t necessarily mean it needs to be an expensive, or super time-consuming process. But it’s definitely going to look different because the standard lifestyle in America is leaving us to be very sick.”

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