The HFA Show 2025 is almost upon us.

Set for March 12-14 in Las Vegas, this year’s show will mark the first event held under the new Health & Fitness Association name, featuring an expanded conference lineup, a robust trade show floor and keynote speakers including Alex Rodriguez and Anytime Fitness founder Chuck Runyon. 

To get you primed and ready for this year’s HFA Show, Athletech News breaks down some of the key trends shaping the fitness and wellness industry in 2025, and previews how these topics will feature in the panel discussions, floor exhibits and networking conversations you’re sure to experience during your three days in Vegas. 

What’s the Fitness Industry’s Future in Washington, DC?

Say what you will about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement, but the fitness industry has something going for it that it hasn’t for a long time, if ever: a voice in Washington, D.C., that’s receptive to the power of exercise in driving healthcare reform. 

Speaking during the ATN CEO Summit in January, HFA leaders Mike Goscinski and Jeff Solsby discussed how the fitness industry’s top trade association was preparing for the administration of President Trump. 

“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,” Goscinski said. 

What could MAHA mean for the fitness industry? It might lead to more support for legislation like the PHIT Act, a bill that would amend the IRS tax code to allow Americans to spend tax-free healthcare dollars from health savings accounts (HSA) and flexible spending accounts (FSA) on fitness-related purchases like gym memberships and equipment.

In the absence of legislation like PHIT, major fitness brands including Orangetheory, F45 Training and ABC Fitness are taking matters into their own hands, partnering with telehealth platforms designed to simplify the currently time-consuming process of using HSA and FSA funds on fitness purchases.  

What To See at HFA Show 2025:

The fitness industry’s opportunity under the Make America Healthy Again movement is sure to be a hot topic of conversation at this year’s HFA Show. 

During a special panel discussion called “The Role of Advocacy in Advancing & Protecting the Industry,” Goscinski and other industry leaders, including ATN founder and CEO Edward Hertzman, will take the stage to discuss the fitness industry’s ongoing advocacy efforts in DC and with state lawmakers. 

Longevity Makes Its Way Inside Clubs & Studios

The business of longevity is booming – and gyms, clubs and studios are getting in on the action. 

Luxury brands like Life Time and Equinox now offer their members access to services including weight-loss support, biomarker blood testing and personalized health plans (for an extra fee), pushing us closer to a reality where the gym replaces – or at least competes with – the doctor’s office. 

High-value, low-price (HVLP) gym brands including Crunch Fitness, Chuze Fitness and EōS Fitness are getting in on the action too, adding everything from infrared saunas to massage guns to body-scanning technology. 

Another big trend in the longevity movement: strength training. Fitness brands are increasingly touting the benefits of lifting weights for longevity, and for good reason. Studies continue to show that preserving muscle mass as we get older is one of the best ways to maintain independence into old age. 

What To See at HFA Show 2025:

Longevity will take center stage at this year’s HFA Show, where Technogym will lead an education session called “Strength for Life: Building a Personalized Resistance Training Plan for Longevity.”

Brands to look for on the trade show floor include Evolt, which raised $20 million last fall. The Australia-based company makes an advanced body-composition scanner that can distinguish between fat and muscle and measures 40 body health parameters. Evolt has notably partnered with top fitness brands including Anytime Fitness. 

InBody, whose body-composition analyzers are found inside top clubs including Life Time, will showcase innovations including its InBody Touch – an interactive touchscreen kiosk that seamlessly integrates with InBody products – and the InGrip, a handheld dynamometer that measures handgrip strength. 

AI-Powered Personalized Fitness Is (Finally) Here

Artificial intelligence has long been touted as the key to creating personalized fitness routines and changing the look and feel of the gym floor. Many experts believe the future of in-person fitness will be forever changed by AI and tech. 

“I think in the next 5, 10, years in the U.S., you’re going to see transformative changes within gyms, where technology and AI – and personalization of training programs – is going to take place,” Marc Magliacano, a managing partner at private equity firm L Catterton, said during ATN’s DISRUPT video series earlier this year.

What might these changes look like? The HFA Show 2025 might give us a glimpse.

What To See at HFA Show 2025:

Fresh off a $200 million funding round, EGYM will showcase tools including EGYM Genius, an AI-powered system that creates personalized workout routines for users and connects the entire gym floor. The Munich-based fit tech giant will also showcase new tools such as its M20 Smart Strength Squat and “Squat Flexibility Test,” which assess people’s mobility, strength and balance during the squat movement.

Not to be outdone, Technogym just launched “healthness,” its new vision for the convergence of personalized fitness, wellness and healthcare. At this year’s HFA Show, the Italian fitness equipment and tech giant will showcase innovations like Biostrength, a machine circuit designed to take the guesswork out of strength training by providing AI-powered, personalized workout routines.

Biostrength complements tools like Technogym Checkup, which uses AI to give users their “wellness age” based on factors including body composition and analyzing strength performances, balance, mobility and cognitive abilities. 

Education sessions at HFA Show 2025 induce, “AI Unleashed: Transforming the Health and Fitness Experience,” a panel where industry leaders including ALTA Technology Group’s Al Noshirvani explore how artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the fitness industry. 

Equipment Makers Go All-In on Strength

No HFA Show would be complete without a vibrant trade show floor. This year, traditional equipment makers are planning to showcase exciting launches that offer new takes on old fitness favorites.

In line with industry trends, expect to see a heavy dose of strength training at HFA Show 2025. 

What To See at HFA Show 2025:

Matrix Fitness has teased that it’ll be unveiling ten new additions to the brand’s Magnum series of Plate-loaded strength machines at at year’s show. The Johnson Health Tech-owned brand will also showcase its Matrix Stretch Platform, an elevated stretching set-up that’s designed to provide a more comfortable and effective stretching experience than the floor. 

Life Fitness is also going all-in on strength. The Illinois-based equipment giant will debut three new additions to its famous Hammer Strength plate-loaded line: the Pendulum-X Squat, the Super Fly and the Multi-Squat. 

Life Fitness will also offer HFA attendees a first look at its new inclusive cable system, a functional cable training set-up that the brand says engages every muscle group in the body. Life Fitness will also showcase its new Symbio cardio line and digital products including Facility Enhance on the trade show floor in Vegas.

Torque Fitness, a Minnesota-based maker of home and commercial gym equipment, will showcase its all-new Tank M3, a reimagined take on the traditional push sled. Torque also plans to present additions to its X-Create functional training line including hip thrust, back extension, hip abductor and cable machines, along with new dumbbells and Olympic lifting platforms.

On the cardio front, Torque will unveil the Stealth Air Rower, which the brand says is more durable and offers a wider range of resistance settings than other rowing machines on the market.

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Fabletics has become one of the biggest brands in activewear, challenging traditional players like Nike, Adidas and Lululemon with pieces that are fashion-forward and available for a fraction of the price of competitors. 

In 2024, Fabletics did around $850 million in sales, buoyed by new product launches, celebrity partnerships and a strong loyalty program. In the years ahead, the California-based activewear brand has its sights set even higher, aiming to double in size and become a global powerhouse. 

“We’re looking to more than double the business over the next five years,” Fabletics CEO Adam Goldenberg tells Athletech News.

Goldenberg sat down with ATN to discuss Fabletics’ rise to the top of the activewear market and outline the brand’s strategy for growth in the years ahead, including a push into new apparel categories and international expansion.

Inside Fabletics’ Rise to the Top

Founded in 2013 by Goldenberg and husband-and-wife duo Don and Ginger Ressler, Fabletics was created to fill a gap in the women’s market for high-performance activewear at an affordable price point. 

“We just had this fundamental belief that the world’s best leggings shouldn’t cost $100,” Goldenberg recalls. 

Goldenberg and the Resslers also wanted to bring some creativity and color to the women’s activewear space, which they felt was too stale in the early 2010s. 

“If you could go back in a time machine and look at women’s activewear in 2011, it was boring. It was black, navy and gray,” Goldenberg notes. “There was no fashion, no fashion collaborations, no colors, no prints. We really felt we could introduce fashion into the category.

While things have evolved a bit since then, Fabletics’ women’s line still features leggings, sports bras and other activewear pieces offered in bold colors like bright pink and patterns including cheetah print.

In 2020, Fabletics partnered with Kevin Hart to launch a menswear line, encouraged by feedback from the brand’s many female customers who were seeking something to buy for their significant other. Hart has since become synonymous with Fabletics, starring in catchy TV commercials and social media campaigns. 

“We look for partners that we feel match the brand,” Goldenberg says of Fabletics’ affiliation with the popular comedian. “Kevin is in incredible shape, and an athlete in his own right. But he’s also fun and approachable, which is a big part of the DNA of our brand.”

Menswear currently makes up around 33% of Fabletics’ total revenue, so the expansion has proved fruitful.  

Thinking Smarter About Customer Loyalty 

In activewear circles, Fabletics might be best known for its VIP membership program, a loyalty program that allows customers to get big discounts on products and access to exclusive drops. VIP members can pay an optional $59.95 monthly membership fee to receive credits on Fabletics pieces. 

Fabletics has around 3 million customers, 80% of whom are VIP members, according to the brand. Besides driving customer loyalty, the VIP program gives Fabletics access to massive amounts of data on its customers, which the brand leverages in creative ways through online sales, digital marketing and inside its 100-plus brick-and-mortar stores.

“The benefit to us as a company is when people become a member, we get a lot of data, and we use that data to buy the right inventory,” Goldenberg explains. “We really have no inventory obsolescence, which helps us from a margin standpoint and allows us to pass great savings on to our customers.”

Fabletics also uses data to see around the corner on product development. For example, the brand launched a scrubs line in 2023 after noticing that hundreds of thousands of its VIP members were wearing scrubs to work.  

To make sense of all this data, Fabletics spends big bucks on its tech stack, including a platform called Fashion OS and an app called Fabletics FIT that features on-demand workouts from personal trainers.

“For a company our size, we probably invest five to 10 times more in technology than our peers, and we see those investments that pay off over the long haul,” Goldenberg says. 

Still, for all Fabletics’ emphasis on data and tech, Goldenberg is quick to point out that quality is king when it comes to building a successful activewear brand. He proudly points out that Fabletics’ number one source of new customers is referrals from existing customers. 

“You can make a business as complicated as you want, but at the heart, we’ve developed a really great product that people love,” he says, adding that the company remains “maniacal” about finding the best-performing and most comfortable activewear fabrics at the lowest possible price. 

Five-Year Plan: International Growth & Category Expansion

Fabletics isn’t planning on slowing down anytime soon. Goldenberg believes the brand can double in size by 2030, which would put Fabletics at around $1.7 billion in sales. 

To do so, the brand wants to push the boundaries of what’s possible for an activewear company. That includes expanding into new apparel categories – and new territories. 

“We have a couple more major category expansions in development that we’re quite excited about,” Goldenberg says, including something slated to “launch toward the back half of this year.”

On the international expansion front, Fabletics is aiming to become a “global brand.” 

The brand already has a presence in Western Europe and is set to enter the Mexican market in a big way in 2025 following a partnership with Liverpool, a Mexico-based omnichannel retail group. Over the next five years, Fabletics plans to explore expansion into additional regions including Central America, South America, Australia and the Middle East.

“International today is about five to seven percent of the business, so it’s still relatively small,” Goldenberg says. “We think that’s going to grow at a pretty fast clip over the next five years.”

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Life Time has opened its 14th luxury athletic country club in Illinois — the first of 2025 — and its second location to feature the Miora Performance and Longevity Clinic, where Life Time members can access personalized health guidance, personal trainers, recovery and longevity therapies and weight loss medications.

The news follows another strong quarter, where Life Time reported an 18.7% increase in revenue to $663.3 million for Q4 2024 and an 18.2% increase to $2.62 billion for the full year.

The 60,000-square-foot Life Time destination is located in the downtown Evanston area and features three indoor pickleball courts, Life Time’s signature recovery zone with Dynamic Stretch, hydromassage beds, cryotherapy beds and Normatec devices, personal and group training programs, five dedicated studios for 90+ weekly group classes, state-of-the-art fitness equipment, a Kids Academy, a LifeCafe smoothie and coffee bar and a dedicated Life Time Work Club Lounge space.

“Life Time Evanston is the first of many planned 2025 openings and also marks the expansion of our Miora performance and longevity clinic beyond Minnesota, allowing even more people to experience the multidimensional approach we’re taking to address all aspects of health and wellness,” said Parham Javaheri, Life Time executive vice president, president club operations and chief of property development officer. “We’re excited to extend our unparalleled Life Time experience to Evanston in a prime location that will serve this community and bring renewed energy to the downtown area.”

Former Life Time chief operating officer and president Jeff Zwiefel told Athletech News late last year that the Miora concept was created to democratize access to health-optimization services.  

“The consumer, now more than ever, is interested in optimal health; they’re interested in looking good, feeling great, and living longer, better,” Zwiefel said. “And there wasn’t a viable, trusted solution on a national basis (that was) out there. … We felt like we could be a tremendous one-stop-shop solution for our customers.”

Miora members start with a blood test that measures more than 90 biomarkers, providing data that guides a personalized blend of longevity, weight loss and performance protocols. The first Miora launched in Life Time’s flagship Target Center club in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as a pilot program.

“We’re now at the stage where we are planning to roll out hub-and-spoke destinations across the other 180-plus lifetime locations,” Zwiefel confirmed. “We’re going to continue to thoughtfully roll Miora out in a very pragmatic and impactful way, but making sure that we continue to maintain the right quality as we scale – and consistency.”

While Miora is poised to be a hit with Life Time members, the athletic country club operator is also breaking new ground with its free LT Digital app, which CEO Bahram Akradi says has attracted more than 1.7 million non-member subscribers, all without any marketing efforts. The number is expected to reach three to four million by the end of the year, he told investors last week.

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Action Black, a brash boutique fitness brand that’s already a hit in Colombia and other countries, is plotting major expansion in New York City and across the United States. 

Marketing itself under the bold slogan, “We’re not a (f*ng) gym. We’re the most revolutionary training model in the world,” the boutique fitness brand features a dimly lit, nightclub-style aesthetic, hence the name “Action Black.” 

Beyond its dark-room vibes, Action Black’s other calling card lies in its approach to group fitness. The brand’s locations feature multiple fitness modalities all under one roof, with separate rooms for classes like boxing, strength training, cycling and HIIT. 

Founded in 2015 by former Colombian reality TV star turned gym executive Wilder Zapata Torres, Action Black currently has over 20 locations and counting in its home of Colombia, with additional studios in Spain and Mexico, along with planned openings coming in Portugal and Brazil. 

Now, Action Black is planning to take over the United States. The brand opened its first U.S. location in New York City’s Tribeca neighborhood last year, followed by a second location in NoMad. 

“Everywhere we go, people love it,” Oscar Toro, an Action Black investor who is helping lead the brand’s U.S. expansion, tells Athletech News. “We opened about four months ago in Spain, and it’s doing amazing. It’s the same thing in Mexico.”

Action Black will soon be opening in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, which will become the brand’s largest facility in the U.S., around four times the size of its Tribeca studio. The Williamsburg location will feature additional perks like a lounge, co-working spaces and potentially, community events like “wine Fridays,” Toro tells ATN. 

Additional New York locations are planned for the Financial District in Manhattan and Dumbo in Brooklyn. 

Action Black isn’t staying confined to the Northeast, either. The brand signed a lease to bring a facility to Miami’s Brickell neighborhood, with construction set to begin there soon.

Standing Out From the Crowd

Action Black is seeking to cultivate a distinct experience in the crowded, often repetitive world of boutique fitness. The workout rooms inside an Action Black are dimly lit with bright neon lights, reminiscent of a nightclub. Each class is led by an instructor, but there are also TVs in class so members can also follow along on screen. 

Similar to other Action Black studios, the brand’s Tribeca location features several separate workout rooms, each of which is stocked with equipment for a different group fitness class. Classes include Jab, a boxing fitness class; Savage, a bootcamp-style HIIT workout that combines strength training and cardio; and Solido, which focuses solely on glutes and abs, among other offerings. Locations also feature the “garage,” a free gym area stocked with strength training equipment like power racks, machines and free weights. 

The idea, according to Toro, is that Action Black members can get all of their favorite group fitness workouts in one place, for one price. 

“At most studio gyms, it’s only one modality. Or they have one only space where they’ll do boxing, treadmill, etc.,” Toro says. “We combine all of these modalities into one (location), each of which has its own individual studio. You don’t have to go anywhere else.”

Currently, an Action Black membership can be had for $299 per month for U.S. gym-goers, with annual plans also available. To drum up interest in America, the brand is offering a buy-one-get-one-free membership deal for friends and family members, along with free-trial promotions and class packs.

The brand primarily targets members in their 20s, 30s and 40s, and at a typical Action Black, around 70% of members are female. 

Big Plans for US, International Growth

While America’s boutique fitness market is highly competitive (especially in NYC), Action Black believes it offers something unique with its everything-under-one-roof approach and its nightclub-inspired look and feel.

If all goes well in New York and Florida, the brand plans to target additional states in the U.S. for expansion, identifying North Carolina and Texas as particular markets of interest. 

The American expansion is part of Action Black’s broader worldwide growth plan, which includes the target of opening at around 135 gyms across the globe. 

Internationally, the brand will open more locations in Colombia, Spain and Mexico, along with planned openings in Portugal and Brazil. Additional openings are planned for Shenzhen, China, Dubai, UAE, and Santiago, Chile, per Action Black’s website. The brand has identified London and Germany as additional markets of interest, it told ATN.

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Few executives have more high-level experience in the supplement industry than Thorne CEO Colin Watts, who has been involved in health and wellness for well over two decades now.

The former CEO of The Vitamin Shoppe, chief innovation officer at Walgreens and president of WeightWatchers Health Solutions, Watts joined Thorne shortly after the wellness and supplement company was acquired by L Catterton in a blockbuster $680 million deal back in October 2023.

That deal, which saw Thorne go private, signaled a new chapter for the company as it looks to make a bigger push into the direct-to-consumer supplement market by providing science-backed products and personalization tools including at-home diagnostic tests, online health quizzes and AI-powered recommendations. 

Watts sat down with Athletech News to discuss how Thorne is working to make supplementation easier and more effective for consumers through personalization, and share his thoughts on the evolution of the supplement industry over the past two-plus decades.

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

Athletech News: You’ve led some of the biggest brands in health and wellness. Why did you decide to join Thorne as CEO in 2023? 

Colin Watts: I got a call from L Catterton when they acquired Thorne to see if I’d be interested in joining the leadership team and eventually coming in as CEO. It didn’t take much of a pitch, honestly. Thorne has a 40-year heritage in the professional channel – in order to service that market, one of the requirements is that your quality has to be pretty unassailable. We’re vertically integrated, so we make (almost) all of our own products in our amazing facility right outside of Charleston, South Carolina.

I also love the innovation profile of the company. What impressed me about Thorne was they weren’t doing the fly-by-night innovation. The supplement industry has a lot of interesting but somewhat superficial innovations that they make a big deal about. Thorne has always been very thorough in its innovation. We were very early into the healthy-aging space, for example. We continue to push in terms of where we’re going with innovation. 

And when I got a chance to meet our people, I saw that the culture is just unbelievable. This is the best company I’ve ever gotten a chance to work for – and I’m not just saying that. 

ATN: When you joined, Thorne, was fresh off a $680 million acquisition. What have your early priorities been as CEO?

CW: My first priority was to take a hard look at how the company was growing and determine where we could prioritize. For decades, Thorne had been a professional-focused company. About seven years ago, we started to pivot more direct-to-consumer, while still continuing in the professional space. As good as Thorne is right now and as big as we become, the reality is that our visibility and accessibility are still fairly low in the category. There’s a lot of headroom, even if you’re a premium supplement brand, to grow that awareness and make sure that more and more people hear the story of Thorne. 

Our second big priority is innovation. In 2025, you’re going to see one of the biggest years of innovation we’ve had in probably 20 years. One of the big areas we’re working on right now is personalization. I think we’re on the cusp of some breakthroughs in personalization, both at Thorne and as an industry.  

ATN: What’s Thorne planning on the personalization front? 

CW: This industry’s been plagued with people over-promising personalization; I’ve watched it for the last 15 years. At the end of the day, if I’m not making changes to my supplement regimen – or my lifestyle overall– then it’s not really personalized. 

At Thorne, we’re taking advantage of advances that are going on right now in AI, along with our participation in the diagnostic, at-home test kit area. We’re also taking advantage of the fact that we’re a leader in the science and professional side, but also master storytellers and very good marketers, to create an experience on the front end of personalization that hopefully will feel as good as the best conversation you could ever have with an expert in the area of supplementation and wellness. We’re going to create something that I believe isn’t going to feel like shopping anymore; it’s going to feel a lot more like asking for help. 

ATN: How has the supplement industry evolved over the last several years?

CW: Today’s consumer, at any age, is no longer thinking about supplements purely from a prevention standpoint. Prevention is really important, don’t get me wrong, but today’s consumer doesn’t want to wait 15 years to see the benefits of supplementation. Frankly, they shouldn’t wait that long.

Gen Zs and Millennials are actually spending more out of pocket for this market than Boomers are, so they’re setting the pace. What we’re seeing is they want to think about supplements – and they want to think about Thorne – as a performance brand. Similar to getting on a treadmill seeing and their (metrics) improving, that same generation is saying, “When I use whey protein, or when I use Catalyte, I want to understand, How is it going to help me perform? How is it going to help me today and tomorrow?”

ATN: The supplement industry is highly crowded, and there’s some consumer distrust. How is Thorne working to separate itself from the crowd?

CW: A long time ago in my career, I got a chance to work with (author and marketing expert) Faith Popcorn. She had this concept that she called a “lighthouse brand.” What she meant is that certain brands in certain industries break out from the pack. If you think about personal computing, Apple is a lighthouse brand. And whether you like Apple or you don’t like Apple, you can appreciate the fact that Apple changed the way that everybody did personal computing and now mobile phones as well. 

I think Thorne has a real opportunity to become a lighthouse brand in this market, because of the quality of our products, the science we put behind our products and our approach in bridging the professional and consumer markets. 

ATN: What’s your vision for the future of Thorne – and the supplement industry in general?

CW: I think we’re coming into a time when supplements will become part of the regular regimen. Consumers taking control of their health: people aren’t just waiting until they get sick, then going to the doctor and saying, “Please treat me.” They’re saying at an earlier age, “I want to perform at my best and I want to stay healthy for the longest I can.”

I’d like to believe Thorne has the opportunity to be a go-to brand. We’re not going to be here one day and gone tomorrow. That said, we also like to think of ourselves as a bit of the maverick of the industry that is constantly innovating and pushing. So if we were having this conversation five years from now, I’d like to be able to point to several points where we as a company have set a new paradigm for wellness and supplementation. 

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The smartphone era has its ups and downs. We’re more informed than ever, but many people struggle to break free from their devices, stuck in a vicious cycle of doomscrolling and other time-wasting activities. 

Paul English, the co-founder of travel booking platform Kayak, is fighting back. Through his firm Boston Venture Studio, English has launched Steppin, a mobile phone app that forces people to walk a certain number of daily steps before they’re able to access popular apps like TikTok, Instagram or YouTube. 

“We want to fight the algorithm,” English tells Athletech News. “If you want some entertainment, it’s okay, but make sure you break away from the screen every day to get outside and get some fresh air. It’s good for your mental health, good for your physical health, and it just keeps things in balance.”

Launched in January, Steppin essentially makes people earn their screen time by walking. Once they download the app, users can configure their phones to block distracting apps until they reach a pre-set daily steps goal. For example, you can program Steppin to block access to Facebook until you walk 5,000 steps (users can override Steppin to access blocked apps if they choose). 

English might have made his name and fortune as a tech entrepreneur by selling Kayak for $1.8 billion, but he admits there’s a downside to too much screen time.  

On a recent family trip to Spain, English’s fiancé, Rachel Cohen, and his son, Mike, realized the group was spending too much time on their phones and not enough time enjoying their Mediterranean surroundings. They got the idea for an app that tied screen time to daily steps. 

“We looked at the market and we couldn’t find anything that correlates steps to screen time,” English recalls. “We just thought it was a very obvious thing to build.”

The Race to Reduce Screen Time

Is there a big enough market for an app that encourages people to walk for their screen time? Some data says yes. Around 21% of Americans used a smartwatch or fitness tracker in 2019, according to a Pew Research Center survey. Meanwhile, another survey found that the average American checks their phone 205 times per day, and that 43% of Americans admit feeling addicted to their phones.

“We’re not inventing new types of users,” English notes. “If you look at the intersection of people who already track their steps and think they’re addicted (to their phones), it’s a huge number.” 

Screen-time reduction apps have become fairly popular in recent years. Opal, which allows users to block distracting apps for a set period of time – during the workday, for example – reported that it has over 500,000 users and 100,000 paying subscribers.  

But those apps don’t incentivize movement in the way Steppin does. For English, prioritizing daily steps is what makes Steppin stand out from the crowd. In theory, this will make the app more engaging for users over time and lead to long-term behavior change. 

Sharing a personal use case, English reports that he deleted X (formerly Twitter) from his phone after one week of using Steppin, realizing how “toxic” the social media app was after he was able to take a break from it. 

“I still have TikTok on my phone, but I use it much less because I have to walk in order to earn it,” English adds. 

Other users seem to be seeing similar benefits. Steppin saw “thousands of downloads” in its first week after launching, the app confirmed to ATN. 

“We’re getting (great) feedback from users, and it’s been incredibly rewarding to build this out,” English says.

Weighing Pricing Options

To keep users engaged for the long haul, Steppin is leaning into gamification. The app just introduced a “streaks” feature that rewards users for consecutive days they stick to their screen-time goals. A “leaderboard” feature is coming soon, which will allow friends to compete with each other to see who can earn the most screen time per day by walking. 

For now, Steppin is available for free with no monthly or annual subscription cost. Steppin hasn’t decided on an exact pricing structure yet, but English says the app will cost significantly less than competitors like Opal, which charges $100 per year for an annual “pro” subscription. Steppin will likely remain free for college students, English adds. 

English is quick to note that while Steppin might prove to be lucrative, he’s not in it for the money alone. The Kayak co-founder has high hopes that the app will make a serious difference in people’s lives, reaching millions of users and sparking a revolution in the way we interact with our screens and ourselves. 

“This is going to sound ridiculous, but I wouldn’t mind if Apple looked at our app and said, ‘That’s a really good idea,’ and they built it themselves and put us out of business,” he says. “My goal is to get as many people as possible managing their mental health and physical health by doing a bit less social (media) and a bit more exercise. So it’s really a mission-driven company.”

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The activewear space is booming, but premium brands tend to place their primary focus on women’s apparel. A new brand backed by former NFL Pro Bowl wide receiver Sidney Rice is looking to change that.

Rice, Seattle-based entrepreneur Daniel Kosh and a group of executives with experience in global sourcing and supply chain have relaunched Sodo Athletic Lab, positioning it as a high-end, men’s-only activewear brand.

Originally founded back in 2013, Sodo Athletic Lab gained a cult-like following among male athletes and entrepreneurs in the Seattle area, heralded for premium, comfortable and functional activewear pieces. Under new leadership, the brand will look to capture that same market on a larger scale. 

“The men’s athletic-wear space is growing and there’s an opportunity in the premium sector,” Kosh told Athletech News. “Our positioning is around versatile clothes with highly technical features like a unique pocketing system and a different level of attention to detail.”

Sodo Athletic Lab will primarily target males between 35 and 55 years old who tend to purchase high-end apparel and footwear options from brands like Alo, On and others. 

The brand’s current product line includes items like shorts, t-shirts, joggers, jackets and hoodies. With pieces ranging from $75 to $185, Sodo sits on the high end of the men’s activewear pricing spectrum, slightly above brands like Lululemon and Vuori which is right where it wants to be. 

“There’s not really a menswear brand in the athletic space that’s servicing that (market) right now,” Kosh believes. 

Premium Touches Make the Difference

Kosh and Rice believe Sodo Athletic Lab is worth the high price tag, pointing to the brand’s use of high-quality materials and attention to detail when it comes to designing features that men actually want in their activewear. 

That includes a smart pocket system designed to keep items like phones, wallets and keys from bouncing around, a common complaint men have with their workout gear. Sodo pockets contain special compartments, zippers and lining materials designed to hold these items firmly in place during movement. 

It might seem like a minor detail, but it could make all the difference in the highly competitive activewear market. 

“We have the opportunity to reinvent the pocket,” Kosh says. “If you think about it, pockets as we know them were designed before we had mobile phones and (headphones). What you used a pocket for 40 years ago is different from the way we use pockets today, but no one’s updated the design.”

Sodo Athletic Lab pieces also include features like utility belt loops, water-repellant fabrics and UPF 50 sun protection. 

Giving Athletes a Say

Rice, who won a Super Bowl with the Seahawks and has been wearing Sodo Athletic Lab clothing since the Seattle-based brand’s initial iteration over a decade ago, jumped at the opportunity to join the Sodo team as a co-founder of the relaunched brand.  

He points to design, comfort and versatility as differentiating factors between Sodo and other men’s activewear brands on the market. 

“I’m a huge sweats guy; I like to be comfortable and relaxed,” Rice tells ATN. “We have a few different SKUs. Some of them I wear out and about for the day, but I also wear Sodo gear when I’m going to play basketball or work out. If I could, I’d wear Sodo to all of my business meetings.”

But Rice brings more than just name recognition to the activewear brand. Already a seasoned entrepreneur as a former owner of multiple successful Wingstop franchise locations and co-founder of the Dossier Wine Collective, the former NFL standout knows what it takes to build a thriving business. 

Rice will advise Sodo on product design and development. He’ll also help the brand attract current and former athletes as brand partners and investors. 

“Those are just endorsements,” Rice says of the typical relationship most athletes have with clothing companies. “We want people who believe in the product, who want to be a part of the team and actually be able to wear what they own.”

Bringing athletes on board as true brand partners rather than just spokespeople will be a key part of Sodo’s growth strategy, the team tells ATN. 

“It’s skin in the game versus ‘wear the thing, take a picture and cut a check,’” Kosh adds. “Those relationships exist and will continue to exist, but this is very different. This is being a part of something and wearing your own stuff.”

The post Backed by Ex-NFL Star, Sodo Athletic Lab Eyes Premium Men’s Activewear appeared first on Athletech News.

Mike Gray is a fitness lifer. The current president and chief operating officer of Club Pilates franchisee Riser Fitness, Gray began his career in the summer between high school and college as a personal trainer at what would become 24 Hour Fitness. 

That term – “fitness lifer” – has taken on new meaning for Gray, who nearly died from unexpected complications from COVID-19 a few years ago.

In April 2021, Gray caught COVID, which initially caused flu-like symptoms, common for a generally healthy middle-aged man. A fitness enthusiast who didn’t smoke and rarely drank, Gray figured he’d shake off the virus in a few days or at most, weeks.

That wasn’t in the cards for Gray, who at the time was serving as president of Club Pilates, one of the world’s largest fitness brands with over 1,000 studios across the globe.

“One evening, my (blood oxygen) level dropped down to 83 and my temperature was at 106. I woke my fiance at the time (now wife) and said, ‘I need to get to the ER, I’m not doing well at all.’ So she drove me to the ER, and that’s all I remember until I woke up,” Gray tells Athletech News, recalling a night that would forever change his outlook on life and leadership. 

An Unthinkable Run-In With Death

After being rushed to the hospital, Gray was placed into a medically induced coma and strapped into an ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation) machine, a life-support system used on patients suffering from severe heart and lung conditions. Placing patients on ECMO is rare – only around 500 hospitals worldwide carry the machines, according to the Mayo Clinic, and many COVID patients who received ECMO at the height of the pandemic didn’t live long beyond the treatment.

Gray was one of the lucky ones. 

Doctors still don’t fully understand exactly what happened to Gray to cause such serious damage to his lungs and heart, but they do know one thing: he’s lucky to be alive. 

“When I was in the hospital, my lungs had completely collapsed. I had zero lung capacity and was actually on a lung transplant list,” he says. “If one of the doctors didn’t administer the ECMO unit as an experiment to see if it would help me, I probably wouldn’t be here today. I had a very small percentage (chance) of living.”

Road to Recovery

Gray spent the next few months in intensive care and acute rehab, essentially re-learning how to walk, eat and live inside a body that had been severely weakened by an unknown ailment. (Gray even had to get heart surgery during his time in the ICU due to related complications).

Eventually, Gray recovered enough to return home, but he had to live with in-home nurses, oxygen tanks and physical therapy. Around that time, he returned part-time to Club Pilates, eager to get back to his normal life as president of one of the biggest brands in fitness. 

“I jumped back into work as soon as I physically could,” Gray says, noting this was important for him physically but even more so mentally. 

Gray’s colleagues at Club Pilates and throughout the brand’s parent company, Xponential Fitness, were excited to see him. 

“The reception from everyone at Xponential was overwhelming,” he recalls. “There were a lot of emotions; a lot of people thought they were going to lose me. People would say, ‘Thank God you’re alive, we can’t believe it.’ And they supported me in every way you could think of, down to helping me carry my water bottle. I was like, ‘Guys, I got this.’”

Gray kept going on his recovery, drawing inspiration, motivation and desire from his young son. More than three years since that fateful night in April 2021, Gray feels much better, but he’s still working to regain full health. 

“My lungs will never be 100%, but my heart’s still ticking and I’m off all my medications,” he reports. “I’m able to work out, go for a walk and ride a bike, the things most people can do. Am I doing what I did before? Not at all. But I’m very thankful for where I am today, and I’m not done yet. I’m still fighting.”

A New Chapter in Pilates

Professionally, Gray hasn’t missed a beat. After several years turning Club Pilates into a global powerhouse, he took a new position as president of the Xponential-owned Rumble Boxing, eager to help grow the young boxing fitness brand in the same way he’d grown Xponential’s Pilates concept.

But Gray quickly felt the itch to return to Pilates. In September, he was announced as the new president and chief operating officer of Riser Fitness, one of the world’s largest operators of Club Pilates studios. Riser has big plans to expand internationally, including in Mexico, and will count on Gray’s expertise along with $72 million in growth capital from Fortress Investment Group.

Gray is excited to be back in Pilates. He’s even more excited to be back inside a startup-like environment with Riser Fitness. 

“I saw what they were building, and it excited me because I enjoy working with people. I felt the bigger we got at Club Pilates, the less opportunity I had – as a franchisor – to help impact people,” Gray says of his motivation for joining Riser. “What excites me now is I’ve got a great group of employees who are hungry and have done really good work. I get to help elevate their career personally and professionally.”

The people part is important. For Gray, appreciating the people he works with more than the work itself is perhaps the most important and lasting mental change he’s experienced from his near-death experience. 

“At the end of the day, this is a job, and it’s gonna keep going with or without me,” he says. “This experience has made me realize how much impact people have on other people. The job is the job, and it was what I showed up to. But the people are what I really work for.”

He’s also learned to stop sweating the small stuff.

“My outlook has changed: the things that typically would have gotten me worked up rarely do nowadays,” Gray says. “And when I do get worked up – because I’m human – I’ve learned how to walk myself through it mentally and compose myself in a way that gets me back into a state of awareness.” 

The post For Longtime Club Pilates Exec Mike Gray, Fitness Is More Than a Job appeared first on Athletech News.

Fyzical Therapy & Balance Centers has emerged as one of the fastest-growing franchise brands across health, wellness and fitness, recently hitting 620 locations and earning a spot on Entrepreneur’s coveted “Franchise 500” list. 

Brian Belmont is responsible for much of that growth. Since joining Fyzical as its CEO in 2018, Belmont has helped the physical therapy franchise expand from around 170 locations to over 600 by prioritizing sound franchise economics and responsible yet aggressive growth. 

A former executive vice president at Quiznos and part of the C-suite leadership team that took Planet Fitness public in 2015, Belmont has taken his franchise learnings to Fyzical, which focuses on fall prevention and vestibular balance in addition to offering a full suite of traditional physical therapy and holistic wellness services. 

Belmont sat down with Athletech News to discuss what separates Fyzical from other physical therapy clinics across the United States, share his keys to franchising success and outline Fyzical’s plans for continued expansion. 

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 join Fyzical in 2018?

Brian Belmont: I started my career in the Marine Corps for 10 years. In my early 30s, I joined Quiznos, which at that time was one of the fastest-growing franchise concepts in the U.S. We grew Quiznos to over 5,000 stores, and I went from national director to executive vice president of development and operations. From there, I went to Camp Bow Wow as chief operating officer. After that, I moved to Planet Fitness as chief operating officer, helping the company go public in 2015. 

So I’ve been lucky to have been with growth brands. When it comes to franchising, I look to see whether there’s a niche – a place in the market that no one else is addressing. For Fyzical, that’s balance and vestibular wellness. On top of that, our founder (Jim Abrams) is an iconic figure in franchising. All of that attracted me to Fyzical. When I got here, we were at about 170 stores. We’re at 620 today, so it’s been a pretty rewarding process. 

ATN: What separates Fyzical from a typical physical therapy clinic?

BB: Our founder realized that no one in academia – or in the market at all – was addressing falls and fall prevention. So he brought on Brian Werner (currently Fyzical’s national director of balance center development, education and training). We adopted his diagnostics as well as his clinical protocol and pushed that throughout our whole system. The reason we’re able to open a clinic in a market that has many, many PTs already is because no one (else) is addressing vestibular imbalance. There’s a huge demand in the market, and all we have to do is capture it. That’s number one. 

Number two is that we have great physical therapists. There’s something I call the “puppy mill” of physical therapy – treating a bunch of people at the same time. We don’t do that. We do individual, episodic, one-on-one care. Over time that creates a lifetime partner. You might have busted your shoulder, but sooner or later, you’re going to have something else that happens to you. You’re going to think of Fyzical because you had such a good experience when you were there. 

ATN: What’s the age range of a typical Fyzical client?

BB: We definitely skew older because of the fall prevention. But it varies by state. I’ve got a 24-year-old daughter who was a dancer, so she’s had a lot of hip and back issues. She became a Fyzical client because she needed that care. If you come to Southwest Florida, however, where demographics skew much older, our average age is probably 58 to 60. So it’s across the board.

ATN: Fyzical has more than tripled in size since you took over in 2018. What’s been the key to scaling the brand? 

BB: At the forefront of everything in franchising is whether a franchisee can make money. At the end of the day, it’s the economic model that solves it all. We provide the systems that help us grow, like business intelligence data, which allows franchisees to know whether they’re making money that day, and track their visits and referrals. Your operating systems need to be adapted system-wide and they need to be uniform within a franchise system. 

ATN: As Fyzical continues to grow, what types of franchise owners are you targeting? 

BB: The best way to build wealth and create a strong brand in a franchise system is through multi-unit ownership, so over the last four or five years, we’ve come to prefer multi-unit operators. You get to a point with franchising where you have the luxury to super select.

We focus on folks who have either already been successful in a career as an executive or who’ve grown a couple of other brands and want another growth brand. We’ve got over 60 area reps who’ve bought anywhere from five to 10 units to grow over five to seven years. Most of our multi-unit owners partner with a physical therapist as a clinical lead.

ATN: What’s your pitch to franchisees about why they should choose Fyzical over other health, wellness and fitness concepts?

BB: Because no one else is doing what we do; there’s no one else in the market that can provide what we do for our patients. And If you want a growth brand, this is easily a brand that can reach a couple of thousand stores. We’re still under-penetrated: for instance, we have almost 80 stores in Florida, which has one of the lowest reimbursement rates in the U.S., and we’re successful there. There are markets like Seattle where we have just a handful of stores. So it’s pretty attractive.

ATN: What are your long-term expansion goals for Fyzical? Could international expansion ever be in the cards?

BB: Based on regression studies, we can get to at least 3,000 over time, so we’re very confident. But it’ll be thoughtful growth. You can’t just grow for the sake of growth, you need to consider, “What’s the impact on an existing clinic? What’s the right market penetration?” However, we do want to continue gaining market share because that’s what keeps everyone behind us, not ahead of us. 

Internationally, there’s a great opportunity to go to Canada. It’s a completely different medical system – they call it physiotherapy – but it’s almost 50% cash-based. We’re exploring that right now. I also believe England or Australia could be good markets because their healthcare systems are similar (to Canada).

The post CEO Corner: Fyzical’s Brian Belmont on the Art of Franchise Growth appeared first on Athletech News.

Funxtion, the digital fitness content platform, and EGYM, a fitness technology and corporate health innovation company, have announced an expansion of their strategic partnership. Together, the companies aim to bridge the gap between traditional gym experiences and digital offerings.

The heart of the partnership is the integration of Funxtion’s FX POD with EGYM’s ecosystem. In April 2023, the brands initially collaborated to embed Funxtions content into EGYM’s Trainer and Member apps. The companies have since collaborated with operators like Fitness First, World Gym, the Gym Group, and YMCA facilities.

“Our partnership with Funxtion aligns perfectly with our vision to make the gym experience more connected, efficient, and effective,” said Philipp Roesch-Schlanderer, CEO of EGYM. “Integrating Funxtion’s content with our Member and Trainer Apps not only unlocks new business opportunities for our enterprise customers but also elevates the end-user experience.”

Funxtion’s FX POD offers curated content that integrates with the broader gym environment, designed to improve individual and small-group training sessions. As part of the partnership, Funxtion will also develop an extensive library of digital fitness content, including single exercises and how-to videos covering equipment from leading manufacturers. Egym will also replace its exercise animations with Funxtion’s single exercise library.

“We are thrilled to take our partnership with EGYM to the next level,” said Ernst de Neef, CEO of Funxtion. “By integrating our FX POD with EGYM’s open ecosystem, we’re creating a fitness experience that is smarter, more personalized, and more engaging for users. At Funxtion, we believe in delivering innovative digital solutions that help operators boost member engagement and increase retention, and this collaboration allows us to do just that in an even more impactful way.”

The post Funxtion & EGYM Expand Partnership To Drive AI-Driven Gym Experiences appeared first on Athletech News.

Fitness enthusiasts are spoiled for choice these days, with enough workout classes, wellness concepts and tech gadgets to fill their calendars many times over. 

For marketers and brand-builders, navigating this landscape requires a deft hand – and some outside-the-box thinking. 

At the Connected: Health & Fitness Summit 2025 held in Los Angeles this week, executives from top brands including Barry’s, Flex, Les Mills and Whoop took the stage to share how they’re building brand loyalty in the digital era. 

ATN breaks down some of the key takeaways from their conversation, including Barry’s balancing act, Les Mills’ targeted approach to influencer marketing and Whoop’s mission to turn wearables into a lifestyle. 

Barry’s Looks To Scale a Unique Culture

Jackie Lamping, a Silicon Valley tech vet, joined Barry’s as its chief marketing officer this past September. She takes over at a pivotal time for the iconic group fitness brand, which just received a strategic investment from Princeton Equity Group to drive expansion in the United States and international markets. 

Barry’s is a cult favorite among fitness enthusiasts on America’s coasts and in big cities across the world, but the brand won’t be without its challenges as it looks to scale beyond an already impressive 89 locations in 15 countries. 

“Barry’s is a workout that I would categorize as probably high friction to join at first. … there’s an intimidation factor with the reputation of the brand,” Lamping said during a panel discussion at the Summit. “We’ve put two things in place to solve for that.”

The strategies include adding a “first-timer experience” that guides new Barry’s members through their first class with touches including a handwritten note. The other strategy is flexible pricing strategies such as the ability to purchase a drop-in class and cancel a membership at any time.  

As Barry’s seeks to become welcoming to all types of fitness consumers, it will need to do so without compromising the culture that’s made it stand out in the boutique fitness scene since its founding in 1998.

“What we want to do is obviously execute against that growth plan but not lose a community-personal feeling of coming in and your GM knows your name, you know the names of your fellow community members and the next person on the (treadmill),” Lamping said. “How do we make sure that we’re scaling while continuing to focus on the hospitality elements of what makes Barry’s so amazing?” 

Les Mills Takes a Measured Approach to Influencer Marketing

When it comes to influencer marketing, sometimes it’s better to think small, noted Tabitha Green, U.S. head of marketing and B2B digital content for Les Mills. 

Green noted that Les Mills prefers to pursue social media partnerships with people who are already familiar with the group fitness brand’s signature workout classes like Bodypump and Bodycombat.

“One of the things that we’re doing differently is instead of using some of our funds to invest in influencers outside of our space, (we’re) really trying to help create more advocates and create more influencers that already have an affinity to our brand,” Green said. 

She explains that Les Mills invests in helping these devotees “grow their communities so that then we can leverage them as internal influencers, as opposed to hiring that person that has a 500,000 (person) following that may or may not have taken the Bodypump class.”

While it might be tempting for fitness brands to chase mega-influencers, there are financial and community-building benefits to aligning with smaller creators who are enthusiastic about your brand, since they can speak passionately about it to their followers. 

“It’s more authentic when you can invest in an advocate that already has a huge brand affinity and might have a smaller … audience, but the quality of their audience is a lot stronger,” Green noted. 

Green also stressed the importance of fitness brands identifying their target audience before spending big on marketing, especially on social media. 

“Not all platforms are built the same; they reach different audiences,” she said. “Meta reaches … primarily people (from ages) 35 to maybe 54, and we know that Tik Tok is the platform where you want to reach … Gen Alpha and Gen Z.”

Whoop Aims To Humanize Wearables 

Whoop has carved out an impressive niche as the wearable of choice for hardcore fitness enthusiasts. While the Boston-based brand tracks data from sleep to strength training strain, it’s also taking strides to humanize the experience people have while wearing a Whoop. 

“We collect a bazillion data points; that can be a really cold experience (for users),” Whoop’s vice president of brand Tatiana Kuzmowycz said at the Summit. “We can market to you, we can show you the data, (but) everybody can do that. How do we then take that to a level that … creates affinity for the brand and a uniqueness to it?”

In its marketing and advertising campaigns, Whoop seeks to position itself as a lifestyle brand for health and wellness enthusiasts rather than just a fitness tracker. 

“Nobody wants to be a product or tool,” Kuzmowycz said. “Those are instantly replaceable. The next thing is going to come out, (and) someone’s going to beat you on price. You actually have to be building something that is considerably more compelling.”

To tell its brand story, Whoop leans on partnerships with top athletes, including soccer legend Cristiano Ronaldo. Whoop is highly intentional about the way it curates partnerships – run-of-the-mill athlete endorsements won’t do for a brand that’s trying to create meaningful connection with its consumers. 

“When we bring up partners, what we ask for is authenticity and intimacy, meaning they have to share their data with us,” Kuzmowycz said. “When we worked with Ronaldo, we literally shot at his house; he was in a bathtub in his house. It was one of the most chaotic moments in my career. But we have to be able to actually bring (our partners) to life.”

For Flex, Digital Payment Solutions Are Essential

For fitness and wellness brands, getting people to your website is only half the battle when it comes to customer acquisition and retention. 

Sam O’Keefe, the co-founder and CEO of Flex, a payments platform that helps fitness and wellness brands accept Health Savings Account (HSA) and Flexible Spending Account (FSA) funds, pointed to the importance of having a robust and user-friendly online check-out experience.

“Once people have discovered your brand, they’ve landed on your page and they’re considering checking out, what is that experience like?” O’Keefe said. “That whole user journey is a reflection of your brand.”

Flex has partnered with top fitness brands including Echelon and Tempo to streamline the process of accepting HSA/FSA funds during online check-out. Besides accepting HSA/FSA funds, O’Keefe says fitness and wellness brands should ensure they’re leveraging other alternative payment methods like “buy now, pay later” and the ability to accept ACH payments. 

“All of these different payment methods have been demonstrated to not only attract users but really increase conversion,” O’Keefe said. 

Alternative payment methods can also help brands reach consumers who might not have been able to afford their product or service using traditional methods, driving additional revenue. 

“Through offering alternative methods of check-out, you can actually make things more financially accessible,” O’Keefe added. 

Eager to hear more elite marketers discuss their strategies for the future of fitness and wellness? Register now for the ATN Innovation Summit 2025, a can’t-miss two-day event to be held on June 17th and 18th in New York City featuring the biggest names, brands, and ideas across fitness, health, and wellness.

The post Barry’s, Flex, Les Mills & Whoop Talk Brand-Building in the Digital Era appeared first on Athletech News.

Nike and Gymshark are two of the biggest brands in activewear, and they both see a massive opportunity in fitness. 

At the Connected: Health & Fitness Summit 2025 held this week in Los Angeles, Calum Watson, global partnerships director at Gymshark, and Tal Ziv, vice president of strategic business ventures at Nike, took the stage to share how their respective brands are marketing to gym-goers across the world. 

ATN breaks down the key takeaways from their conversation, including the importance of social media as a consumer research tool, why in-person events are must-haves in 2025 and why the market for fitness apparel is poised for growth in the years ahead. 

For Gymshark, It Goes Down in the DM

Co-founded in 2012 by pizza delivery boy turned billionaire Ben Francis, Gymshark has set the activewear world on fire over the last decade-plus, becoming the clothing brand of choice for gym-goers across the globe, especially Gen Z. 

The U.K.-based brand is known for having a strong presence on social media – Gymshark’s Instagram account has 7.5 million followers and the brand has partnered with fitness influencers including Steve Cook and Nikki Blackketter. 

For Gymshark, social media is more than just a marketing tool; it’s a way for the brand to gain rich intel about its target audience. Watson and other Gymshark executives often head into the comment sections of the brand’s various social media pages to find out what consumers really want.

“Some of the some of the … enlightened moments from my career where we find true human insights, a lot of times, it’s been in the comment section,” Watson said.

Watson believes social media can be a “gold mine” for brands when it comes to understanding their customers.

“I think a lot of brands and businesses tend to overlook the comment section on social media, but when you actually really delve into … the DMs coming through in your Instagram accounts,  your customers are reaching out,” he said. “They’re giving you real-time feedback.”

The Importance of IRL Events

While mining social media comments is helpful, both Ziv and Watson stressed the importance of in-person events, especially following the pandemic. 

According to Ziv, Nike is placing a bigger emphasis on creating events and experiences around fitness and wellness. 

“We haven’t been as consistent as I wish we would have in our ground game, and that’s something we’re trying to get back into,” he said. 

In 2023, the sportswear giant launched Nike Studios, a chain of in-person boutique fitness gyms with locations in Los Angeles and Austin, Texas. 

Beyond that, Nike is placing a particular emphasis on run clubs, which have exploded in popularity with Gen Z-ers and Millennials since the pandemic. The brand just announced the launch of Swoosh TC, a nationwide network of distance running clubs with hubs in Utah, Oregon and Arizona. Swoosh TC came on the heels of Nike announcing its 2025 After Dark Tour, a global women’s race series featuring evening running events in major cities across the world.

“Run clubs are massive opportunities,” Ziv said. “They’re all over the place and a ton of fun.”

Gymshark is embracing in-person events, too. Last weekend, the brand held #LiftMiami, a two-day event that saw around 11,000 people descend on Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood to sample Gymshark gear, work out and meet famous fitness personalities including popular bodybuilder Chris Bumstead. 

Watson highlighted the importance of events like #LiftMiami in helping bring the Gymshark brand alive for consumers.

“That’s a massive event that costs us millions of dollars,” Watson said, but he believes it’s worth the cost in the long term. 

“For the marketeers out here, you need to look beyond just the return on investment and the short-term metrics of success,” he advised. “When people talk about community building, you’ve got to have skin in the game. You’ve got to build it over time.”

Bullish on the Future of Fitness Apparel

Both Ziv and Watson see a bright future ahead for activewear brands seeking to reach fitness and wellness enthusiasts. 

Last year, Nike partnered with recovery tech brand Hyperice to unveil the Nike x Hyperice boot, a high-top shoe that combines heat and air compression massage for athletes’ feet and ankles, along with the Nike x Hyperice vest, a chest sleeve that offers heating and cooling for warm-ups and cool-downs. The Nike x Hyperice products are expected to become available to consumers this year. 

“We’ve tried tech before and we’re not great at it ourselves, so let’s partner with the guys that know what they’re doing,” Ziv said of Nike’s philosophy in linking up with Hyperice.

Watson noted that while the Gymshark team was visiting a gym in Houston, Texas, recently, they noticed teenage powerlifters who were wearing what he described as “$1,500 Jordan off-white” sneakers to squat heavy weights. While Jordans aren’t the best squatting shoes in the world, Watson says the story speaks to the desire young people have to marry fitness and fashion. 

“There’s definitely a level of expression that’s being seen in the gym space,” he said.

Watson expects to see mainstream fashion brands attempt to enter the fitness and wellness space, pointing to Hermès, which launched a workout clothing line and pop-up gym experience in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood back in 2021.

“I think there’s going to be some really interesting cross-overs in the future as more and more brands from outside the industry start to come into the industry,” he predicts. 

Eager to hear more elite marketers discuss their strategies for the future of fitness and wellness? Register now for the ATN Innovation Summit 2025, a can’t-miss two-day event to be held on June 17th and 18th in New York City featuring the biggest names, brands, and ideas across fitness, health, and wellness.

The post How Nike, Gymshark Market to Fitness Consumers appeared first on Athletech News.

The MAX Challenge, a group fitness brand with 27 locations in New Jersey and a handful of studios in surrounding states, is rebranding as it eyes continued franchise growth, potentially nationwide. 

The Morganville, New Jersey-based brand has become known for its namesake “challenge,” a 10-week body transformation program that combines group workouts, nutrition coaching and motivational tools. 

The brand will now be known as MAX Fitness & Wellness Center, a move founder and CEO Bryan Klein says is in line with the industry’s shift toward holistic, long-term wellness. 

“The word ‘challenge’ is kind of limiting. Wellness is about your entire life; it’s not about 10 weeks,” Klein tells Athletech News, although he notes that for MAX members, the program “has always been about your entire life, not just about 10 weeks.” 

More Than Just a Fitness Business

Klein founded MAX back in 2011, inspired by his own journey of losing over 100 pounds after he gained weight coping with stressful life events including complications from his first son’s birth. 

“I noticed people walking in and out of gyms every single day looking the same; they didn’t look like they were making any progress,” he recalls. “I thought, “Somebody’s got to combine fitness, nutrition and motivation to help people make amazing changes in their lives.”

Through its signature 10-week challenge program, MAX combines weekly strength training and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts with personalized nutrition guidance and group-based motivation to help members lose weight, gain strength and build generally healthy habits. The challenge’s nutrition portion emphasizes clean eating and progressive dietary changes over time, while members perform exercises with equipment including dumbbells, kettlebells, machines and battle ropes, along with cardio.

The typical MAX member is between 35 and 55 years old, and most members are new to fitness or haven’t been following a consistent workout program at the time of joining. Classes run five times per week, typically Monday through Friday, with an optional sixth day on Saturday. Classes start as early as 5:00am for morning people. 

“At first people think it’s absolutely insane,” Klein says. “Two weeks in, they’re like, ‘I can’t believe it, I thought I would never be able to get up at four-something in the morning to get here by five Monday through Friday. Now, I can’t imagine not doing this every single day.’”

The brand started slow at first, enrolling just 32 members during its pre-sale process back in 2011. But Klein’s concept quickly caught fire as MAX members shed pounds, got stronger and saw their confidence increase by the week, thanks in no small part to the camaraderie of group exercise. 

“Six months in, we had over 500 people with no advertising,” Klein says. “For one reason: results. People were getting amazing results. Their friends were saying, ‘What are you doing?’ They would tell them, ‘The MAX.’ And people just started showing up like crazy.”

Since then, MAX has gradually expanded through franchising, establishing a large presence in New Jersey and then adding locations in Brooklyn and Staten Island in New York as well as Connecticut, Delaware, Pennsylvania and even Ohio. 

Rebranding for a New Era

As it looks toward its new chapter as MAX Fitness & Wellness Center, the brand will look and feel a bit different for members. Over the next 12 months, all MAX locations will be redesigned with a new visual identity, interior design and brand messaging.

“Our (new clubs are) going to be modern, sleek and inviting, but even more important than that, we’re going to be incorporating new equipment” and services, Klein says. 

New services include My Wellness Coach, a premium membership program that offers a more robust version of MAX’s traditional personalized coaching. For an add-on fee, My Wellness Coach members get access to one-on-one coaching and advice that “addresses everything related to wellness” including sleep, anxiety and tools for members on GLP-1 weight-loss drugs. 

While the rebrand is meant to bring MAX in line with the modern fitness and wellness industry trends, the 10-week challenge will remain a core part of the brand’s identity under its new name. 

“I think it’ll always exist, whether we call it a challenge or something else,” Klein says, noting that people often find it easier to commit to a 10-week program compared to a long-term fitness goal. 

“If I ask somebody to change for the rest of their life, they’re probably not going to do it. But if I ask them to try something for 10 weeks, that seems much more manageable,” he says. “We’re constantly breaking (the program) down into small pieces. By the end, people want to continue; they never want to go back to the way they were.”

Eyeing Expansion, New Franchisees

Armed with a new name and an evolved fitness philosophy, MAX is eyeing serious expansion. Recently, the brand signed new franchise partners in Staci and Jeff Force, a husband-and-wife duo that owns eight Checkers locations, to run MAX’s Old Bridge, New Jersey, location. 

Moving forward, Klein says MAX will target other multi-unit franchisees like the Forces who have experience running successful franchise businesses in other verticals and are now looking to make a difference in people’s lives through fitness. 

This year, MAX intends to add around 6 to 12 new franchise locations before embarking on what Klein calls a “hyper-growth strategy” in 2026 and beyond. If all goes according to plan, the brand could look to expand beyond just the Northeast and into other markets across the United States. 

Asked what separates MAX from competing gyms and studios in a highly competitive American fitness market, Klein circles back to his reason for creating the brand fourteen years ago. 

“It’s simple: you know how so many people set a New Year’s resolution to get in the best shape of their lives and they don’t do anything about it? Our job is to help people finally draw a line in the sand and do something about it by combining exciting fitness classes with nutrition coaching and motivation to help people make amazing changes in their lives,” he says. 

The post MAX, a Northeast Gym Staple, Rebrands, Eyes Nationwide Growth appeared first on Athletech News.

Every year, brands pour millions into Super Bowl ads to capture attention, drive consumer spending and spark conversation. While beer and chips still dominate, this year’s lineup reflected a subtle cultural shift—one that embraces wellness, smarter choices and demands we take female athletes seriously.

Here are five standout ads from Super Bowl LIX that pushed the wellness movement forward in several categories:

Liquid Death

Ready to “murder your thirst”? Liquid Death, the canned water and beverage company valued at $1.4 billion, has turned drinking water into a rebellious, eco-conscious act. With killer packaging that could make an innocent bystander do a double take, Liquid Death has tapped into Gen Z and millennials’ sustainability preferences with infinitely recyclable cans filled with water from American mountain ranges.

In its 30-second Super Bowl spot, Liquid Death showcased how its canned water is the perfect way to stay hydrated—playfully highlighting that it’s “Safe for Work” as a pilot, surgeon, judge, and police officer cracked open cans.

The brand’s lineup includes still and sparkling water, soda-flavored sparkling water with one-tenth the sugar of traditional sodas, low-sugar iced tea with agave and Death Dust—a line of hydration powder sticks.

Nike

Activewear and sports equipment leader Nike debuted a powerful new message during Super Bowl LIX: “So Win.” The ad celebrates women athletes while spotlighting the challenges they face, from being told how to act to dealing with constant criticism. The message? Tune out the noise and win anyway.

The 60-second spot features standout athletes, including Jordan Chiles, Caitlin Clark, Sha’Carri Richardson, A’ja Wilson and Sophia Wilson.

“At Nike, we make sure the athlete is at the center of everything we do, from product creation to storytelling,” Nike chief marketing officer Nicole Graham said. “We are at our best when we are representing the voice of the athlete, and their voice becomes our voice. This brand anthem, featuring elite Nike athletes, is a perfect example of how we can inspire everyone to win, whatever that means for them.”

Poppi

Poppi took a gentle aim at the soda and energy drink industry in a 1:00 Super Bowl ad, showing young consumers wrangling with the decision to drink a soda but are on the fence due to the sugar content.

They are then quickly encouraged to “get a Poppi,” a line of colorfully packaged gut-friendly prebiotic beverages that are low in sugar and come in eight flavors, including Classic Cola, Doc Pop and Lemon Lime.

Hims & Hers

Health and wellness telehealth platform Hims & Hers aired one of the more controversial ads during Super Bowl LIX—its first-ever “big game” spot—reminding viewers that 74% of Americans are overweight.

Standing out amid a lineup of ads for chips, beer, and candy, Hims & Hers tackled the obesity public health crisis and the ongoing challenges in accessing weight loss treatments, including medications, in its one-minute ad.

“There are medications that work, but they’re priced for profits, not patients. This system wasn’t built to help us. It was built to keep us sick and stuck. But not anymore.”

The ad then showcased Hims & Hers’ offerings, including affordable, U.S.-formulated weight loss medications and personalized treatment plans.

NFL Flag 50

In another nod to female athletes, NFL Flag 50 ran a two-minute ad promoting the push to make girls’ flag football a varsity sport in all 50 states. The ad opens at a high school in 1985, where varsity football players in letterman jackets strut down the hallway, bullying whoever is in their path.

“Girls don’t play football,” one of them, Chad, says to a female classmate wearing a jersey and holding a football.

“They do where I’m from,” she fires back before launching the ball at him. She is then seen trying out for the girls’ varsity football team, ultimately facing off against the guys—and winning.

The ad then closes with a statement to leave the past behind and move forward with making the sport available for girls nationwide.

The post 5 Super Bowl LIX Ads Representing the Wellness Shift appeared first on Athletech News.

Chuze Fitness, a high-value, low-price gym operator with locations in seven states, is gearing up to open a new club this year in Riverside, California, but first, the gym brand has kicked off a new ad campaign meant to be relatable and encouraging: “All Excuses Welcome.”

The campaign coincides with a free seven-day pass offer for prospective Chuze Fitness members.

“’All Excuses Welcome’ is about keeping it real,” Chuze Fitness chief revenue and marketing officer Cheryl Barnett tells Athletech News. “We encourage our members to unapologetically share their most outrageous or creative excuses, such as ‘It’s going to rain today’ or ‘I don’t want to see anyone I know.’ By shining a light on these relatable moments, we’re showing our community that no excuse is too convincing for us to tackle together.”

Barnett adds that the fitness operator’s messaging has always revolved around inclusiveness and prioritizing kindness— a theme that resonates with Gen Z fitness consumers—and aligns with its mission of hospitality for its members.

“Showing up to the gym is half the battle, so this 2025 campaign continues to highlight who we are as a brand and what we stand for,” she says. “We all have excuses, so you are not alone. Some days, the excuses win, and other days, we overcome them. Regardless, we are in it with you!”

Barnett advises that one of the keys to staying motivated throughout the year is starting small and setting attainable goals.

“Whether it’s choosing to move your body once a day or simply going on a walk, taking baby steps is key to staying consistent,” she says. “You can also mix classes into your routine. At select Chuze locations, you can participate in popular classes such as pilates, yoga, cycling and more. Variety not only keeps things interesting but also challenges different muscle groups. Going to the gym doesn’t always have to be about working out – it’s okay to schedule a gym session where you come in and treat your body to a massage, compression booths, sauna or even red light therapy.”

Taking a friend along can also be motivating, Barnett says, pointing out that Chuze Fitness offers a free, 7-day pass so members can bring a buddy along.

As for what’s ahead for Chuze Fitness, Barnett says the brand is excited to ramp up their club openings into new markets while also continuing to “show love” to their existing clubs in areas like El Paso and Florida.

“We are opening another eight clubs within the next eight months,” Barnett says. “Expanding in current markets as well as going into some new markets like Stockton and Fresno.”

Barnett also shared that Chuze Fitness is retrofitting its Lift Lab studios in many existing clubs. 

“Our Lift Lab is a key card access room that has squat racks, platforms, glute machines and other unique equipment you don’t typically see on the main gym floor,” she adds.

Depending on club location, Chuze Fitness offers a variety of amenities, from red light therapy, Hyperice compression boots, wellness pods, Cryo chairs, saunas, Hydromassage, body composition scanners, steam room, pickleball, turf fields, basketball courts, outdoor workout spaces and more.

The post Chuze Fitness Is Keeping It Real With New Campaign appeared first on Athletech News.

FightCamp is on a mission to make boxing accessible and fun for the masses. The at-home fitness brand is off to a strong start, raising millions in funding and receiving backing from fighting legends like Mike Tyson. 

Founded in 2014 by a team including CEO Khalil Zahar, FightCamp’s flagship product ($799) features a smart boxing bag that allows users to track their punches and kicks in real-time. The bag connects to TVs and smartphones, offering a library of coach-led, on-demand workouts that teach people the fundamentals of boxing and kickboxing.

In 2021, the at-home fitness brand raised $90 million in a funding round backed by venture capital firms and professional fighting icons like Tyson, Floyd Mayweather, Georges St-Pierre, and Francis Ngannou.

Since then, FightCamp has revamped its tech, expanded internationally and released new products and features, including the ability to track kickboxing moves and a two-player mode that allows users to compete with friends and family members. 

Zahar sat down with Athletech News to discuss his journey from mechanical engineer to entrepreneur, the future of connected fitness and why FightCamp is poised to help bring boxing into the mainstream. 

This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and length. 

Athletech News: Can you tell us about your background and how you got the idea to create an at-home boxing fitness brand?

Khalil Zahar: I moved to Toronto to complete a master’s in Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) at the University of Toronto. I ended up joining a boxing gym and I completely fell in love with everything about it, from the vibe to the coaches to how intense, engaging and effective the workout was. I found myself going to the gym four or five times a week, sparring a lot and getting in the best shape of my life, even though I had already had a strong athletic base as a breakdancer in Canada. I realized though, that boxers weren’t really measuring anything; even the most high-level boxers were just counting their punches with a clicker. 

I thought, “What if you could put a device on your wrist that did all of the tracking for you?” That idea resonated with the Canadian Olympic boxing coach, who agreed to lend me some funding for research and development. That led to the first version of the company, which was called Hykso. We started that in 2014, but the product was just for professional boxers. In 2018, we launched FightCamp for consumers. 

ATN: How did you evolve from Hykso, a product for professional boxers to FightCamp, a product for everyday fitness consumers? 

KZ: We wanted to think bigger. We’d converted a lot of professional athletes, but that was a very small market. We saw that boxing for fitness was trending and gym chains were popping up.  At the same time, at-home fitness also was becoming more and more popular. 

We knew to make a successful product, we had to make it interactive to help people stick with their workouts. So we took the tracking technology that we built for professional athletes and then we put it on top of engaging content and workout classes. That was the first version of FightCamp. 

ATN: FightCamp released a new and improved version of its flagship product a few months ago. What’s new with FightCamp gen-two?

KZ: The gen-two features completely redefined hardware, including a console. We still have trackers but instead of communicating directly to a phone, the console projects the full experience on-screen, which makes for a better user experience. 

We also added a couple of new features that are exclusively available on the console. The first one is partner workouts. We added more trackers so you can now work out together with a friend, partner or family member, and both people can see their profiles on-screen.

The second feature is kick tracking. We went from having two trackers on the wrist to four trackers – two on your wrist and two on your ankles. That allows users to do kickboxing as well as boxing movements. We have a lot of new things in the works as well.

ATN: Can professional boxers still use FightCamp or is the product mainly for amateurs?

KZ: Our typical customer demographic is 100% fitness-focused consumers, not professionals, although pros can still use us to keep up with their conditioning. 

For around 60% of people joining us, it’s their first time boxing or kickboxing. Our typical user is between 30 and 50 and is looking to do something other than traditional cardio or weightlifting options. They want an engaging workout and they’re intrigued by boxing, but they don’t know where to start. We have a lot of young parents among our customers. 

ATN: FightCamp’s $90 million funding round included names like Mike Tyson, Floyd Mayweather, Georges St-Pierre and Francis Ngannou. How important was it to get that type of buy-in from pro fighters? 

KZ: It really legitimized the effectiveness of our workout and our vision of keeping it authentic. One of the biggest criticisms of a lot of products in the boxing world is that they’re not authentic; you’re going to learn the gimmicks but not true boxing or kickboxing. We believe it’s our mission to bring true boxing culture and true boxing foundations to the masses, not just some bubble-gum, diluted version of it. A lot of our customers start with us, learn strong fundamentals and wind up joining a boxing gym. 

ATN: Many connected fitness brands have post-pandemic as people have returned to gyms. How do you assess the market for connected fitness in 2025 and the years ahead?

KZ: The pandemic made a lot of concepts viable while the pandemic was happening and then maybe not so much right after it ended, because you’re taking away the majority of gym-goers who were stuck without a gym. Some concepts that were already working before the pandemic, however, and I think they’ll continue to work. We started before the pandemic in 2018 and grew very healthy until 2020. And while Wall Street is mixed on Peloton right now, they have a very healthy user base. 

I think connected fitness will continue to do well because there’s a growing segment of people who don’t want to hit the gym anymore. At some point, it just doesn’t fit into people’s schedules to always go through the gym commute. 

ATN: Boxing as a form of fitness has become quite popular over the past few years, especially with women. What’s your vision for the future of FightCamp?

KZ: There’s no reason we can’t become as big as Peloton or even bigger. There are a couple of reasons why.  First, we think boxing is going to continue to be thought of as one of the best workouts you can do. Just look at the conditioning levels of fighters – these guys are literally going to war, and they’re extremely fit. At FightCamp, we’re making it engaging to learn and stick with boxing, which will make us a superior offering in the future. 

The second thing is that martial arts in general is a very worldwide phenomenon, as opposed to something like indoor cycling that’s a bit more Westernized. When you’re thinking about the market as the entire planet, we have a big potential for international expansion.

The post CEO Corner: FightCamp’s Khalil Zahar on the Boxing Fitness Boom appeared first on Athletech News.

We’ve all been to a gym, but have you ever stepped into one with a shiny gold two-story slide? Probably not. But on Mockingbird Lane in Dallas, Recess Fitness—the city’s largest independent gym—has broken the mold.

As the saying goes, everything is bigger in Texas—and that includes dreams and ambitions. Recess Fitness isn’t just winning on aesthetics and vibes; it’s also one of the few gyms that have ventured into the weight loss medication space. 

Athletech News spoke with Recess Fitness co-founders Taylor Metzger, a former real estate broker, and military veteran Evan Duncan about their wild ride, their new GLP-1 service, their plans for a second location and how they have reimagined the gym.

The Case Against The Status Quo

Sometimes, collaboration proves more powerful than competition. Once former business competitors, Metzger and Duncan met as independent trainers renting out space at a local gym.

Perhaps it was because each had built their own successful personal training brands, but they soon became friends and, just as quickly, realized they shared a much bigger vision for how a gym could look, feel and operate.

“When we got to hang out and get to know each other, it went from (in my mind) adversary to ally, real quick,” Metzger recalls. 

A dream team of sorts—both passionate about fitness and aesthetics, with a shared disenchantment for the status quo, including high-volume business models that rely on selling memberships just for people to stay home.

“We knew that there was an opportunity for something better,” Duncan says. “Gyms were so stale and stagnant, it seemed this 30-40 year deal of high volume, low-cost gyms, and everyone knew what to expect. It was sterile wall colors, the same fixed-motion equipment that had always been around. And fluorescent lighting…people would be in a fluorescent-lit office all day long and then come to the gym and the gym feels like a stinking office. It was horrible. To us, that was backward. We knew that there was a population out there that was serious about their gym experience, and they went regularly, but they were looking for something more. And then it was those that just never really made it in because they had such a negative experience with what was offered in the gym scene.”

Back to Basics

As the name suggests, Recess Fitness is a bit of an homage to simpler times. Hanging in its entryway are two wooden swings, there’s a famed slide to take a quick trip to the second floor and natural light is in abundance.

“What was the reason that adults started to put on weight? You go back to elementary school—you’re kids, you’re active. What’s that about? Well, it’s a higher activity level and that was the result from going to recess,” Metzger says. “I thought about how everyone can associate with that, and the feelings that you think of when you think of recess and being on the playground. Running around with friends, sweating and having a good time and that was something that, as adults, we all kind of forgot about. You get out of college and maybe you’re not playing sports anymore, you just go to work and you kind of have this moment where, ‘This is life, and now I just go to work and this is it.’ So Recess has been such a cool name to be able to call a gym, because it’s so synonymous with a happy time in your life or something you get to do.”

But make no mistake—despite its whimsical-sounding name, Recess Fitness runs a tight ship and is serious about fitness. The gym offers personal trainers, recovery tools and daily classes, like Boarding School (Pilates), Grounded (yoga), Detention (full-body conditioning) and more.

No detail has been overlooked in the member experience, and Metzger notes that while two other commercial gyms have taken a similar approach, Recess Fitness is defining its own direction.

“Gold’s [Gym] is one of them—I think Gold’s will be a big player for a long time, along with Life Time, because Life Time is a big family model. But we’re not either of those things,” Metzger says. “We have our market. We’re 18 and up and our clients, some of our best customers, really enjoy the fact that we have a $50 re-rack policy if you don’t put your weights up. They understand what we’re doing here. Those are some of the nuances of the large gyms that I think is another reason they aren’t making it, because they treat those gyms just like what they are. They’re large corporate gyms that don’t have a face attached to them—that or employees that don’t really care to be there.”

Recess Rx

At the heart of Recess Fitness’ “gym as a clinic” concept is Dr. Ian Justl Ellis, a board-certified physician and certified personal trainer.

He crossed paths with Metzger after reaching out to hire him for personal training services to lose weight and reclaim his health. Working 100+ hours a week as a medical resident had taken its toll on him.

“Before he started that day, he’s like, ‘I’m gonna be your best client’ and he was,” Metzger recalls.

In fact, Dr. Ellis was so dedicated to making a change that he underwent major renovations at his home and set his sights on a natural bodybuilding show. 

“Ian is so neurotic that he built a gym above his garage,” Metz says. “Now the garage wouldn’t support the weight of the gym that he wanted to put up there, so he had the whole roof torn off the garage, rafters put in, and he built an insanely nice gym.” 

With Metzger in the mix, Ian changed his life, reducing his body fat from roughly 34% to under ten and fulfilled his goal of being in a natural show.

“For him to get on stage, it was a huge accomplishment for him,” Metz says. 

But the story didn’t end there. 

“We started to find out how emotional his relationship was with food,” Metz says, adding that Ian wanted to continue his health journey but his struggle with food remained. It was then that he began exploring weight loss medications, which have had a positive impact on satiety and have been a helpful tool.

Dr. Ellis is now leading RecessRx, which offers weight loss medications as well as hormone replacement and peptide therapy. 

“It’s very rare that you get a doctor that has all of the medical background, that’s passionate about working out, that used to be a personal trainer, that has taken GLP-1s, and that now can be a prescriber,” Metzger points out. “It was like all these stars aligned to have the perfect physician and relationship in place to start this new program.”

Three-month commitment memberships are available for each, which includes weekly check-ins. The GLP-1 membership includes home delivery of weight loss medication, intensive nutrition and exercise counseling.

 “What’s really integral in the role between the physician, the gym and the trainer is that when they’re all under the same page of communication, they all know the program, and they can all advise that person on days to work out to help keep that muscle tissue, because that muscle tissue is what helps you burn fat — and that isn’t really conveyed in a way in other clinics,” Metzger says.

Metzger and Duncan’s connection to Dr. Ellis runs deep. It was December 2020 when Duncan and Metzger had just signed a ten-year lease — right as the pandemic began to unfold. 

“It was a wild time,” Duncan reflects. He had the idea to use Taylor’s backyard as a training space in the meantime, a rather unique spot that they dubbed Chicken Fit. 

“Taylor had built a chicken coop in his backyard, and it has, like, ten exotic chickens running around,” Duncan explains. The problem was that they didn’t have enough equipment. Seeing their potential, Ian quickly stepped in and donated a bunch of fitness equipment.

“What he did for us, donating all this equipment…I mean, it is incredible,” Metzger says. The concept paid off and was such a hit that once gyms began to reopen, none of their clients wanted to go back to the gym.

“It was such a great thing that we built in his backyard. We made it out of nothing,” Duncan recalls. “We had a circus tent and his carport.”

Looking Ahead

The addition of GLP-1 and other therapies has proven to attract new faces. Some of Recess Rx’s first customers weren’t current members, Metzger says.

The other offerings also provide a growth opportunity by continuing to attract new people and helping members try things safely and under medical supervision. 

“You come to the gym, there’s gonna be people that take performance enhancing drugs,” Metzger says. “It’s just what it is, and they’re getting them off the black market. So now we can help people safely take them and understand that probably what [they] were taking was fake. Let’s get your lab work done. Let’s be healthy about it, and take an amount that’s not going to kill you, that’s legal and that can be prescribed by a doctor.”

As Recess Fitness looks forward, both Duncan and Metzger are aiming to open a second location in Texas, with additional locations in their sights down the line.

“I feel so fortunate to be able to land here with Evan now, to be able to get all of our design ideas out and create this space, own a gym and see the results and the impact you make in people’s lives,” Metzger says. “It’s truly a dream.”

The post Recess Fitness On Reinventing Gym Model, Adding GLP-1s & HRT appeared first on Athletech News.

In the world of fitness and wellness, attention often goes to cutting-edge equipment and the latest fitness trends. But behind it all is the art of creating an environment that meets ever-evolving consumer expectations—especially as competition intensifies.

In 2025 and beyond, fitness and wellness are ubiquitous. No longer confined to brightly lit gyms or studios with moody lighting, they are the businesses that now anchor high-end residential buildings and play an essential role in corporate offices, on campuses, in community centers and more as consumers become health-focused.

LIVunLtd, a brand under The Amenity Collective, is at the forefront of the shift. Offering facility management, fitness equipment, programming and consulting, the New York-based brand helps build communities across mixed-use developments, residential condos in major U.S. cities, municipal recreation centers, college campuses and corporate fitness hubs.

And if recent history is any indication, one can expect to see a continued emphasis on fitness and wellness across all areas of real estate.

JetSet Pilates is among the brands taking a fresh approach to the first rule of real estate: location, location, location. The Miami-based Pilates franchise is preparing to open a two-story flagship studio in Coconut Grove, Florida, at the upscale Mr. C Residences, the sister company to international hospitality brand Cipriani. They’re not alone. North Carolina-based indoor cycling brand Revel and Solidcore were recently named the first retail tenants of The Novus, a new luxury residential tower in Durham, North Carolina. Meanwhile, Newrock Partners, the real estate developer behind a posh apartment project in Oakland Park, Florida, announced in 2023 that it would welcome three complementary brands to its project: women’s boutique retailer Monkee’s, Pure Barre and Pause Studio, citing its goal of promoting well-being and connectivity.

Athletech News spoke with LIVunLtd CEO Lisa Kendall about the brand’s vision during this intersection of real estate and wellness, her insights on shifting consumer preferences and the latest trends. Of course, fitness equipment still remains an important part of the equation.

Part of LIVunLtd’s approach, Kendall explains, involves partnering with state-of-the-art equipment providers that combine sleek design with advanced functionality, a strategy Kendall says ensures both an exceptional user experience and an elevated vibe.

“Whether it’s a calming yoga studio or a dynamic functional training zone, our goal is to create aesthetically pleasing and personalized spaces that inspire and support overall wellness,” she says. “We believe the best spaces blend form and function seamlessly and that the best equipment lends to great design.”

Eco-Forward

In keeping pulse with the latest consumer preferences, the brand is attuned to Gen Z and millennials’ commitment to environmental sustainability—an important consideration given the findings of Deloitte’s 2024 Global Gen Z and Millennial Survey. In Deloitte’s report, 64% of Gen Z consumers say they are willing to pay more for environmentally sustainable products, while 25% have reduced or ended relationships with businesses due to unsustainable practices. 

“We prioritize thoughtful layouts that optimize usability while creating visually appealing environments,” Kendall shares. “For example, we incorporate designer elements like feature walls, eco-friendly flooring and natural finishes to warm up the room, camouflage equipment when needed, and elevate the space without compromising its purpose.”

Aesthetic Appeal

Alongside sustainability and eco-friendly aspects, aesthetics still matter—as young (and/or discerning) fitness consumers gravitate toward Instagram-worthy spaces with monochrome palettes, minimalism and natural elements. And, as Kendall indicates, integrating both simultaneously is a win-win.

“With all of our designs, we bring elements of the outdoors inside by incorporating plants and greenery, bamboo shrouding and more,” she says. “We carefully select durable, long-lasting equipment and emphasize proper maintenance to extend its lifecycle, reducing waste. Beyond equipment, we focus on energy-efficient lighting, water conservation, and repurposing or recycling old machines—sometimes even donating them to communities in need. For us, sustainability isn’t just a trend; it’s a commitment to creating spaces that support both people and the planet.”

Specialized Spaces

As Kendall sees it, consumers also desire multi-purpose spaces — ones that extend beyond physical fitness and integrate mental and social wellness components.

“Recovery zones, group exercise classes and strength training areas are especially popular,” she explains. “We’re also designing more boutique-like experiences within larger facilities—creating specialized environments like high-end yoga studios or spin rooms that feel private and exclusive. A holistic offering that also includes mental resilience programs and nutrition consulting is increasingly in demand.”

As for her recommendations for fitness and wellness businesses looking to make their mark both functionally and aesthetically, Kendall advises going back to the basics.

“Start by understanding your community’s needs to find the right mix with your space,” she suggests, adding that it’s vital to balance traditional fitness spaces with areas dedicated to recovery, social engagement and mental well-being.

“Technology should play a key role throughout, enabling hybrid experiences that connect users onsite and remotely,” she offers. “Above all, design choices should create an inviting and dynamic environment, making every visit an engaging experience.”

What’s Ahead

In terms of the trends she expects to see in the coming year, Kendall predicts that the role of fitness spaces will continue to become much more holistic.

“We expect to see more integration of mental health resources, nutrition consultation, hybrid training options and social wellness initiatives,” she says. “Flexible designs that can adapt to changing trends will also be key as the industry continues to evolve.”

The post Building Wellness: The Trends Influencing Real Estate appeared first on Athletech News.

While the wellness industry is booming, projected to become a $9 trillion market by 2028, a large percentage of the global population is as stressed out and unhealthy as ever. 

Amid this wellness paradox, researchers, journalists and industry experts believe people are more eager than ever to unplug as they seek refuge from the mental health perils of modern tech.  

In its newly released Future of Wellness Trends 2025 report, Global Wellness Institute (GWI) researchers pointed to a recent Harris Poll finding that 77% of people aged 35 to 54 and 63% of those aged 18 to 34 said they wanted to return to a time before the internet and smartphones. 

Amid this backdrop, GWI research director Beth McGroarty predicts that this will be the year of the “great logging off,” or as she calls it, “analog wellness.” 

“The online world’s relentless manipulations, marketing, disinformation and division campaigns, causing general brain and culture rotting, have gone too far,” McGroarty wrote in the report. “‘Digital detox’ may be as old as the Internet, but 2025 will be the year more people get aggressive about logging off, and new tools and destinations will help them.”

Digital Detoxes Becomes Big Business

The concept of a digital detox isn’t new, but it’s starting to gain mainstream appeal. Entire brands are now being built around the concept of helping people un-plug.

The Offline Club hosts digital detox retreats in the Netherlands and France where people can enjoy phone-free getaways featuring nature walks, chef-prepared healthy meals and creative hobbies like reading, yoga and games. The brand also hosts experiences in London and Barcelona, and is said to be pursuing expansion into new markets. 

Othership, a popular social bathhouse experience with locations in Toronto and New York City, offers emotional wellness programming against a backdrop of hot and cold therapy using saunas and ice baths. While Othership doesn’t market itself as a digital-free concept per se, its classes are phone-free by nature, offering people a way to connect that isn’t rooted in technology.

Hobby clubs are also gaining traction as offline wellness hubs.  

Social Pottery, a pottery, painting and handbuilding club, now has five locations in the United Kingdom. Book clubs are also reinventing themselves as modern hangouts for Gen Z-ers and Millennials: Reading Rhythms, which calls itself a “reading party,” hosts large meet-ups in cool spots from New York City to California to Italy. 

“These new analog clubs and salons are rewriting nightlife, what self-care means and will increasingly give fitness studios and pricey social wellness clubs competition as grassroots third spaces,” McGroarty said this week during a GWI event.  

Saunas (Re)Emerge as In-Person Hubs

Sauna culture has been around for thousands of years, but the practice of getting a sweat on is becoming increasingly communal – and creative. 

According to Jane Kitchen of “Spa Business,” who contributed to the GWI report, 2025 will be marked by a continued evolution in the way we use saunas. 

“From urban saunas in New York City and Chicago, to rustic waterfront saunas in Oslo or Brighton, to saunas with immersive art installations in Tokyo, today’s saunas represent a reinvention of an age-old tradition – and an increasingly younger, hipper crowd is taking notice,” Kitchen wrote. 

There’s no shortage of innovation in the sauna industry.

Social bathhouse brands like Othership and Sauna House continue to expand in America and across the pond – WYLD Sauna in Liverpool brands itself as the U.K.’s first floating public sauna, offering communal sauna spaces for up to 30 people. 

For those seeking a more private, contrast therapy studios like SWTHZ are becoming popular. 

Kitchens also pointed to the rise of “sauna-tainment” around the globe. Two brands leading this charge include SALT, a sauna project in Oslo, Norway, that hosts events like concerts, drag shows and DJs, and Farris Bad in Norway, where you can listen to entire albums from bands like Pink Floyd and The Doors. 

Teens Seek Spaces to Unplug

Today’s teenagers might be more connected than ever, but they’re also starting to realize the importance of putting the phone down, at least for part of the day.  

“Teenagers today face mounting mental health challenges, shaped by societal crises, social media pressures and lifestyle changes,” wrote Kate O’Brien, a journalist and well-being author who contributed to the GWI report. “The wellness industry has a vital opportunity to support this generation and foster healthier, more balanced lives.”

Brands are starting to answer this call to action. CorePower Yoga, one of the world’s fitness brands by studio count, has sought to introduce teenagers to the physical and mental health-boosting benefits of yoga. CorePower has offered free summer passes for teens and recently partnered with Matthew and Camila Alves McConaughey’s just keep livin Foundation to make yoga more accessible to inner-city high school students.

U.K.-based Rewire, meanwhile, offers phone-free immersion retreats for teenage girls that include yoga, decision-making workshops and other forms of creative exploration. 

Family wellness is also starting to take off. The Place Retreats in Bali offers family-based off-the-grid health and wellness programming including sound healing sessions designed to help parents and their children un-plug so they can better connect with themselves and each other. 

“Beyond simply recommending less screen time, healthier eating, or more sleep, teens need tangible guidance and a sense of being heard,” O’Brien wrote. “Integrating neuroscience-based strategies – teaching young people to regulate dopamine, for instance – can help them navigate tech-driven environments.”

To view the Global Wellness Institute’s Future of Wellness Trends 2025 report in full, click here.

The post The Future of Wellness Is Offline, Experts Say appeared first on Athletech News.

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. 

The post CEO Corner: Truemed’s Justin Mares on HSA/FSA Funds in Fitness appeared first on Athletech News.