Future of Fitness

James Hurlock went from professional rugby to founding Fitura Brands, the multi-concept franchise platform behind Padel SWT, Core Precinct, and ContrasTheory. He explains why he's betting on three categories at once — and why he's deliberately taking the slow, expensive route to franchising. James Hurlock is the Founder and CEO of Fitura Brands, a Utah-based wellness holding company that launched in 2026 at a $20 million pre-money valuation. Before founding Fitura, Hurlock served as founding CEO of FS8, Chief Partnerships Officer at F45 Training, and Chief Brand Officer at The Picklr, where he helped grow the indoor pickleball franchise to roughly 70 locations across the US and abroad. In this conversation, he breaks down Fitura's three concepts — Padel SWT (big-box indoor padel), Core Precinct (hybrid reformer Pilates), and ContrasTheory (guided contrast recovery) — and shares why Fitura spent 12 months building infrastructure before selling a single franchise. James Hurlock, Founder and CEO of Fitura Brands, previously held leadership roles at F45 Training, FS8, and The Picklr, and played professional rugby for Northampton Saints Academy and London Saracens before captaining England Schoolboys. Get Eric's weekly industry newsletter: https://futureoffitness.co Watch full episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@futureofofitnesspod

Jon Canarick has spent 25 years investing in gyms, and he's still trying to explain why doctors won't write a prescription for exercise. As Managing Partner at North Castle Partners, he helped build Equinox, turned around Curves, and backed Barry's long before boutique fitness was a category. Canarick walks through what actually changed in fitness private equity since he joined North Castle in 2001, from the corporate franchise wave that built 24 Hour Fitness and LA Fitness to Planet Fitness's pricing model, which he credits with pulling more Americans into gym memberships than anything else in the last quarter century. He details the failed attempt to combine Curves with Jenny Craig and a Cleveland Clinic nutrition program, a bet he calls a real failure despite the medical credibility behind it. Canarick also breaks down why GLP-1 drugs are reshaping the industry at the premium end through brands like Monarch and Miora, and why an LEK study showing 30% of big box gym members also pay for boutique fitness complicates the usual story about a shrinking middle class of gyms. Jon Canarick is Managing Partner at North Castle Partners, a private equity firm focused exclusively on healthy, active, and sustainable living businesses, where he has sat on the boards of Equinox, Curves, Barry's, Therabody, and SLT. Website: https://northcastlepartners.com | LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jon-canarick-4340362 Get Eric's weekly industry newsletter: https://futureoffitness.co Watch full episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@futureofofitnesspod OUR SPONSORS: 🔗 Perfect Gym: https://www.perfectgym.com/en 🔗 EGYM: https://egym.com/

Garmin Health's Andy Beckman joins hosts Eric Malzone, Juliet Starrett, and Alex Alimanestianu for the quarterly roundtable, talking wearables and the Training Peaks acquisition before the group digs into a full quarter of fitness industry earnings. Andy Beckman explains what Garmin Health actually does, from employee wellness and insurance underwriting to military fatigue tracking and the pilot study that flagged COVID cases 48 hours before symptoms appeared. Juliet Starrett and Alex Alimanestianu then break down the numbers: Garmin posted a record quarter with revenue up 11% to $2 billion and its fitness segment growing 25% to $757 million, Lifetime grew revenue 13.7% to $866 million while deliberately shrinking its membership base toward higher-paying clients, and Peloton logged its first full year of net profitability even as subscriptions fell 9%. Xponential Fitness comes up as the quarter's cautionary tale, with a new leadership team and a debt-to-EBITDA ratio the hosts call unsustainable. The episode closes on Procter & Gamble's acquisition of supplement brand Thorn, New York City's new click-to-cancel law, and a widely shared article questioning the accuracy of Blue Zones longevity data. Andy Beckman leads Garmin Health, the division that connects Garmin's wearables to partners in corporate wellness, insurance, clinical research, and remote patient monitoring, after joining the company in 2008. Website: https://www.garmin.com/en-US/health/ | LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/beckmanandy Get Eric's weekly industry newsletter: https://futureoffitness.co Watch full episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@futureofofitnesspod OUR SPONSORS: 🔗 Perfect Gym: https://www.perfectgym.com/en 🔗 EGYM: https://egym.com/

Your gut lining rebuilds itself every five days — faster than any other tissue in your body — and that turnover rate is either your best defense or your biggest vulnerability, depending on what you're doing to it. In the final episode of this series with stem cell scientist and STEMREGEN founder Christian Drapeau, Eric Malzone digs into why the intestinal lining is "the most fragile and vulnerable part of your body," how estrogen withdrawal at menopause quietly wrecks gut repair, and why Christian believes the real story of aging isn't inflammation or free radicals — it's a failure of the body's own repair system. They also get into a jaw-dropping 1940s case study on gut bacteria and psychosis, the specific bacteria linked to autoimmune disease and diabetes, and why Christian thinks "stem cells bring cure" is the hardest sentence in modern medicine. Key Takeaways 🔄 Your gut lining fully renews every 5 days — versus 30 days for skin 📏 Unfolded, your intestinal lining covers roughly the surface area of a tennis court, packed into ~10-13 feet of tube 🧫 That lining is one cell thick — the only barrier between your bloodstream and everything in your gut 🌸 Estrogen withdrawal at menopause reduces stem cell proliferation and strips away its anti-inflammatory protection, weakening gut repair 🦠 The "estrobolome" — a distinct, estrogen-linked gut microbiome that shifts dramatically after menopause 🧠 A 1940s-50s study fed institutionalized psychosis/seizure patients ~700 billion microorganisms/day via fermented yogurt — many normalized within two weeks 💊 Christian's core thesis: failure of endogenous repair, not inflammation or free radicals alone, is the fundamental cause of aging and disease 🩺 25 years of research shows that simply increasing circulating stem cells can produce results Christian calls "phenomenal" — including an ongoing Parkinson's study CONNECT WITH CHRISTIAN DRAPEAU TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@stemcellchristian Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stemcellchristian/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/STEMREGENOfficial/

Paul Lunter didn't start out trying to build a wellness empire — he was in construction, watched someone in pain step in and out of the shower for relief, and built a machine instead. Thirty-seven years later, that machine (HydroMassage) has grown into WellnessSpace Brands: five product lines, 400 million sessions delivered, and installations in 50+ countries at Planet Fitness, Life Time, Gold's Gym, and beyond. Lunter walks Eric Malzone through the company's medical-market origins, the R&D behind machines like the PolarWave Dry Plunge and the company's newest RedZone sauna which uses no wood, and why he thinks recovery is a permanent industry shift rather than another fitness fad. Key Takeaways 🛠️ Paul Lunter built the first HydroMassage machine in 1989 after watching someone step in and out of the shower for pain relief multiple times a day — before recovery was even a category 🏥 The brand started as "Aquamed" selling into chiropractors, physical therapy, and pain management clinics — Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic are both longtime customers 📊 WellnessSpace Brands has delivered over 400 million sessions across 50+ countries and sold roughly 30,000 machines in the last eight years ❄️ Lunter built the first dry cold plunge prototype in 1992 — decades before cold plunging became mainstream 💰 When a Snap Fitness location raised membership dues by $10 after adding Wellness Space products, it lost only 2 members while 210 signed up for the add-on — a case study in pricing power 🏋️ Some Life Time locations run their equipment roughly 5,000 hours a year, out of a possible 8,000 — near-constant usage 🧖 The company's newest sauna uses no wood (to avoid bacteria and odor), circulates air for even heat, and layers in red light therapy at 630 and 850 nanometer wavelengths 💼 WellnessSpace Brands was self-funded until 2006, brought in private equity (Ilarion Partners), and has partnered with North Castle Partners since 2016 — now hiring aggressively after growing headcount by 60 this year

Jeff Byers, CEO of Momentous, returns to Future of Fitness for his third appearance to unpack how the brand grew revenue over 1,000% in three years while landing partnerships with all 32 NFL teams and 10+ Department of Defense contracts. Byers breaks down why Momentous walked away from a $500,000-profit product line over a science and brand-integrity call — literally scrapping $400,000 in inventory rather than sell it through — how the company is approaching its first-ever retail launch with Vitamin Shop, and why a $500,000 commitment to women's health research with Dr. Stacey Sims fits into a bigger 20-year brand strategy. From Arnold Schwarzenegger's endorsement to what AI search optimization means for consumer trust, this conversation is a masterclass in building a supplement brand built to outlast any single quarter. Key Takeaways 📈 Momentous has grown revenue over 1,000% in the past three years and just landed its third consecutive Inc. 5000 appearance 🏈 The brand works with all 32 NFL teams and holds 10+ active Department of Defense contracts 💰 In 2024, Momentous discontinued FedOja — a $500,000 profit (not revenue) product — after deciding the science no longer supported it, scrapping $400,000 of existing inventory rather than sell through it 🏋️ The company began in 2018 as a DOD-funded biotech venture (Amp Human) before pivoting into consumer supplements when COVID hit 🎯 Momentous's roster of authoritative partners includes Arnold Schwarzenegger, Andrew Huberman, Tim Ferriss, Rich Roll, and Dr. Stacey Sims 🛒 Momentous launched its first-ever retail partnership this year with Vitamin Shop, using a "velocity over doors" strategy instead of chasing broad distribution 🧬 Momentous has committed $500,000 to women's health research alongside Dr. Stacey Sims 🤖 Byers explains why Momentous is intentionally avoiding a branded consumer AI chatbot — betting instead on showing up authentically inside tools like Claude and ChatGPT Our Sponsor: https://www.perfectgym.com/

Why do women lose bone density so fast after menopause — and what actually reverses it? Neurophysiologist and stem cell researcher Christian Drapeau (founder of STEMREGEN®) breaks down the biology behind bone and muscle aging, why strength training is the single most powerful lever for reversing the damage, and what most people get wrong about protein and collagen intake. Key Takeaways: 🦴 Losing estrogen causes a "double hit" on bone: skeletal stem cells stop becoming bone-building osteoblasts while bone-degrading osteoclasts ramp up 🧈 Bone marrow can convert to fat tissue — some measurements put this as high as 15%, a major hidden driver of post-menopause bone loss 💪 Muscle growth is a stem cell process: satellite cells fuse into existing muscle fibers after training-induced micro-trauma to build new tissue 🏋️ Just 6–8 weeks of immobility measurably increases marrow fat in women — but resuming activity reverses it ✊ Grip strength is one of the single best predictors of long-term health and longevity 🧬 The body has "master" bone marrow stem cells (hematopoietic/mesenchymal) that migrate to different tissues and become bone, muscle, liver, or skin cells 🥩 Collagen peptides supply amino acids most diets are missing — critical for repairing connective tissue, not just "beauty" 🎯 Protein target discussed: roughly 1 gram per pound of body weight to support repair CONNECT WITH CHRISTIAN DRAPEAU TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@stemcellchristian Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stemcellchristian/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/STEMREGENOfficial/

JJ Creegan has helped build three of the biggest names in fitness — Planet Fitness, UFIT, and Orange Theory — and now works as a fractional COO/CEO helping emerging brands scale. In this episode, he and Eric dig into the K-shaped fitness economy, why the industry is "data rich but knowledge poor," and the exact visit-frequency formula that predicts member retention. They also cover the state of boutique fitness, the Pilates consolidation wave coming, and why the walls between fitness, medicine, and wellness are finally coming down. Key Takeaways: 📊 Only 25% of the U.S. population holds a fitness membership — 75% of adults aren't engaging in fitness at all 💰 JJ's retention rule from his time at UFIT: getting a member to 10 visits in their first 60 days increased year-long retention odds by 50% 🚫 "You can't ever save a cancellation. You can only prevent it." 🔥 "Loyalty is fake. It does not exist in today's world. It's about relevancy." 🧗 If JJ had a blank check, he'd open a rock-climbing gym that integrates recovery and wellness — not a traditional gym 🏋️ Jet Set Pilates just signed its 400th license agreement and is set to open 150+ units this year 🩸 JJ's personal fight to get proactive bloodwork (testosterone) despite pushback from his own doctor 😴 The single biggest health upgrade in his last 5 years: being in bed before 9:30 PM for 7–7.5 hours of sleep OUR SPONSORS: 🔗 Perfect Gym: https://www.perfectgym.com/en 🔗 EGYM: https://egym.com/ Connect with JJ Creegan: 🌐 JJCreegan.com 📸 Instagram 💼 LinkedIn

Online coaching is a $28.9B industry racing toward $120B by 2031 — but 71% of people who start an online fitness program quit within 90 days. In this episode, Eric sits down with Cody McBroom, founder of Tailored Coaching Method, who's built a 7-figure, ad-free coaching business over the past nine years without ever accepting a pay-in-full client. Cody breaks down the "identity-based coaching" model that took his team's client retention from 3-4 months to 14 months, why AI is reshaping how people find (and vet) a coach, and his genuinely nuanced take on GLP-1 drugs and the fitness industry's future. Key Takeaways: 💰 Cody built Tailored Coaching Method into a 7-figure/year business with zero paid ads and a strict no-pay-in-full policy 🧠 Identity-based coaching (built around self-control, self-discipline, self-belief, self-respect) took his coaches' average client retention from 3-4 months to 14 months 💍 The surprising reason divorce rates rise when only one partner in a couple loses significant weight 🤖 ChatGPT Health logged 230 million health-related inquiries per week the month it launched — and Cody gets new client applications weekly sourced straight from AI search 🔍 60-65% of Google searches are now "no-click" — Cody explains how coaches can get cited inside AI summaries via AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) 💊 Cody's real position on GLP-1s/semaglutide: medically useful for extreme cases, but no substitute for the identity work required for lasting change 🥊 His mentor's blunt advice before going online: "train people for five years straight, and then you'll have the right to do that" 📈 Why he believes AI will "weed out" bad coaches rather than replace good ones Connect with Cody McBroom: Website: tailoredcoachingmethod.com Instagram: @tailoredcoach (also searchable as Cody McBroom) Podcast: Choose Hard OUR SPONSOR: 🔗 Perfect Gym: https://www.perfectgym.com/en

Global expansion, jiu-jitsu black belts, and Dana White's secret philanthropy — Adam Sedlack, CEO of UFC GYM, is back on The Future of Fitness after a five-year hiatus, and the growth story is staggering. From surviving pandemic-era bankruptcies to opening a new location every single week across 46+ countries, Sedlack breaks down the pricing overhaul that fueled 25% member growth and record profit margins, why "the consumer always has the answer," and how UFC GYM built a scalable system for teaching high-skill disciplines like BJJ and Muay Thai across 180+ locations without sacrificing quality. He also opens up about the Mark Mastrov coaching tree that shaped his career, what Dana White is really like behind the cameras, UFC GYM's cautious-but-committed AI strategy, and his bold five-year vision to hit 50+ countries by 2030. Whether you're a gym operator, franchise investor, or just fascinated by the business of fitness, this episode is packed with hard-won lessons on pricing psychology, scaling culture, and riding the wave of combat sports going mainstream. Key Takeaways: 🥋 UFC GYM opened 180+ locations across 46 countries in 2025 — debuting in Pakistan, Ecuador, France, and Morocco — averaging one new gym per week 💰 A 2023 pricing overhaul (entry-level access priced to local market rates, add-ons for BJJ, recovery, med spas) drove 25% member growth and all-time-high profit margins 🧠 "The consumer always has the answer" — Sedlack ditched ego-driven pricing once data showed people join gyms for two reasons: location and price 🥊 UFC GYM built an internal university, certifications, and modality-specific head coaches to keep quality consistent across 180+ locations teaching jiu-jitsu, boxing, and MMA 🎬 Dana White's off-camera generosity — supporting law enforcement, military, and staff through COVID — gets a rare behind-the-scenes spotlight 🌳 The "Mark Mastrov coaching tree" connects UFC GYM, Crunch, and dozens of fitness leaders — and Sedlack shares the janitor-and-wet-floors story that shaped his leadership style 🤖 UFC GYM's AI approach: empower the team to experiment now, stay patient on enterprise-wide integration, and learn from best practices as they emerge 🌍 The 2030 vision: 50+ countries, 3-5 new gym openings per week, and positioning UFC GYM as a destination for stress, sleep, and nutrition — not just fitness Connect with Adam Sedlack: 📸 Instagram: @CEOUFCGYM 💼 LinkedIn: Adam Sedlack OUR SPONSORS: 🔗 Perfect Gym: https://www.perfectgym.com/en 🔗 EGYM: https://egym.com/

Christian Drapeau, neurophysiologist and stem cell researcher, joins Future of Fitness to explore the body's natural repair processes and how they change as we age. Christian breaks down the balance between breakdown and renewal, how that balance shifts over time, and why a single underlying process connects so many different systems in the body. He also explains why bone health has more to do with collagen and flexibility than most people realize, and how estrogen and menopause relate to the body's repair mechanisms. This conversation is for general educational and informational purposes only and is not medical advice. ABOUT CHRISTIAN DRAPEAU Christian Drapeau is a neurophysiologist, stem cell researcher, and the Founder and Chief Science Officer of STEMREGEN. His work focuses on the role of circulating stem cells in the body and the factors that may influence their activity. He first proposed that stem cells function as part of the body's endogenous repair system in a 2002 paper and is the author of Cracking the Stem Cell Code. CONNECT WITH CHRISTIAN DRAPEAU TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@stemcellchristian Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stemcellchristian/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/STEMREGENOfficial/

Brian Keane has built a fitness empire that most coaches only dream about — four bestselling books, over 580 podcast episodes, a top 0.5% global podcast, and more than a thousand coaches trained through his mentorship programs. But before any of that, he was a primary school teacher who realized twenty minutes into his first day that he'd climbed the wrong ladder entirely. In this conversation, Brian breaks down exactly how fitness entrepreneurs, gym owners, and online coaches can stay relevant — and even thrive — as tools like ChatGPT and Claude start answering the same questions clients used to pay for. He walks through his SCALE framework for building an unshakeable personal brand, why chasing universal likability is killing more coaching businesses than AI ever will, and the wild story of how a plane ride home from an ayahuasca retreat turned into a 16-hour writing session that became his most recent book. Key Takeaways: 🪜 Why Brian walked away from a stable teaching career the moment he realized "the ladder was against the wrong wall" 🤖 The exact reason you can't out-compete ChatGPT or Claude on results — and what to sell instead 🎯 Brian's SCALE framework (Storytelling, Core Offer, Amplify, Leverage, Evolve) for building a business AI can't copy 🥃 Why being "someone's shot of whiskey" beats trying to be everyone's cup of tea in coaching and branding 📈 The real reason his Fitness Business Podcast pre-qualifies clients before they ever book a call 🔥 The Facebook post he almost didn't share — and why it became the most-quoted line in his bestselling book 🌿 How a 3-night ayahuasca retreat led to writing an entire book in a single 16-hour flow state 🤝 Why "authentic connection" — not AI — is what actually keeps Brian up at night in this industry 💡 The one question his mum asked him that changed the entire trajectory of his career 🔗 Our Sponsor: https://egym.com/int Connect with Brian Keane: 🌐 Website: https://briankeanefitness.com/ 🔗 All Links: https://briankeanefitness.com/quick-links/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brian_keane_fitness/ 🎬 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/briankeanefitness 📱 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@briankeanefitness

Healthcare in America is stuck in a "sick care" model—we wait until people are already ill, then scramble to treat them. Dr. Gloria Winters, VP of Health Innovation at the YMCA of the USA, has spent the last year building something different: a community health operating system that pulls together your wearables, your medical records, and AI-driven insights into one place, so you actually know what to do with your health data instead of just staring at numbers. In this episode, she breaks down her "house" framework for the $5.6 trillion healthcare industry, why falls cost the country more than almost anything else, how she's working directly with HHS and the MAHA movement on preventive health policy, and why personal agency—not just data—is the missing piece in helping people actually change their behavior. If you've ever felt like your Apple Watch tells you everything except what you should actually do next, this conversation is for you. Key Takeaways: 🏠 Healthcare is like a house — tech/data is the foundation, sick care takes up most of the "living space," and payers/regulators are the roof 💰 Falls are the #1 healthcare cost in the U.S. — more expensive than most people realize 📱 230 million people ask ChatGPT health questions every week — but personal AI health tracking is still fragmented and unverified 🔗 Interoperability is the real bottleneck — your wearables, scale, and medical records don't talk to each other, even though you use all of them 🎯 Personalization is the missing layer — knowing your heart rate hit 165 means nothing if no one tells you what to do next 🏛️ Dr. Winters is working directly with HHS, CMS, and the MAHA team on shifting national policy toward "upstream" preventive care 👁️ Human connection still matters — eye contact and relationship-centered care activate real neuroscience behind behavior change 🩺 The YMCA has quietly built medical clinics inside its facilities — including a Parkinson's exercise program that led medical providers to hire Parkinson's specialists 🌱 Her advice to gym owners: don't chase every trend — do an environmental scan of your community's actual health needs and pick one to solve OUR SPONSORS: 🔗 Perfect Gym: https://www.perfectgym.com/en 🔗 EGYM: https://egym.com/int

Something changed after 40. Recovery takes longer, energy dips, and the effort that used to work stopped working. You were told it's just aging. Neurophysiologist Christian Drapeau makes the case that it's something else entirely: the decline of your body's own repair system. In this first episode of The Science of Vitality After 40, a four-part series with Christian Drapeau, host Eric Malzone explores the system almost no one talks about. Christian wrote the first paper proposing that our stem cells function as the body's repair system back in 2001, and here he explains what that system is, why it declines so early (by your early 30s you circulate a fraction of what you had at birth), and why the shift lands hardest on women in their 40s. In this episode: What the repair system is, and why it works like a second immune system Why medicine treats the body's ability to heal as a "black hole" The steep, early decline in circulating stem cells and what drives it Why estrogen loss creates a "double whammy" for women at midlife Why weight-bearing exercise keeps emerging as the one clear lever What your circulating stem cell count may predict about how you age Christian Drapeau is a neurophysiologist, a pioneer of stem cell mobilization, Founder and Chief Science Officer at STEMREGEN, and author of the bestselling Cracking the Stem Cell Code. CONNECT WITH CHRISTIAN DRAPEAU Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ stemcellchristian/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ stemcellchristian Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ STEMREGENOfficial/ Explore the science of the repair system: https://www.stemregen.co/ blogs/articles/stem-cells-101- discover-what-stem-cells- actually-do-and-why- understanding-them-changes- everything-about-your-health? utm_source=youtube&utm_medium= video&utm_campaign=vitality_ after_40&utm_content=ep1

Alberto Perlman has been trying to get on this podcast for years — turns out all it took was bumping shoulders at an industry event. As co-founder of Zumba, he's built the world's largest branded fitness program: over 15 million weekly participants, 200,000+ locations, and a presence in 185+ countries, all while surviving 25 years of hype cycles, fads, a pandemic, and everything in between. In this episode, Eric Malzone sits down with Alberto to trace the entire Zumba story from the beginning — a packed gym class in Aventura, Florida with a literal padlocked door, a co-founder who couldn't speak a word of English pitching investors, VHS tapes selling in the millions, and a brand that's somehow ended up teaching classes in the jungles of Thailand and mandated in schools across India. They get into brand protection at global scale, why Zumba refuses to chase the algorithm on social media, and Alberto's honest, still-evolving read on where AI fits into the next chapter of the fitness industry. Key Takeaways: 🔒 The wild true story of how Zumba started — including a padlocked gym door and a line out the building 30 minutes before class 🗣️ How Beto (Zumba's creator) pitched investors without speaking English — and the 60-day scramble to teach him one phrase 📼 How Zumba's business model evolved from VHS tapes and infomercials to an instructor-membership model that still drives the company today ⚖️ The realities of protecting a global brand — including having to legally challenge a dictionary in Denmark over trademark rights 📱 How Zumba grew one of the biggest social media followings in the fitness industry without chasing the algorithm 🌍 The surprising places Zumba has ended up — jungle classes in Chiang Mai, a sign in Bhutan, mandated school programs in India, drug rehab initiatives in the Philippines, and PTSD support for police officers in Colombia 🤖 Alberto's candid, unresolved take on AI's role in the future of fitness and where human connection still wins 💪 Why Alberto believes fitness deserves more recognition as the "number one intervention" for public health 🤝 A call for more collaboration and advocacy among leaders across the fitness industry Whether you're building a fitness brand, running a gym, or just curious how a local dance class became a global phenomenon, this conversation is packed with lessons on scaling a brand the right way — through community, not shortcuts. OUR SPONSORS: 🔗 Perfect Gym: https://www.perfectgym.com/en 🔗 EGYM: https://egym.com/int

Before he built one of the biggest names in youth sports training, Will Bartholomew was a walk-on at the University of Tennessee trying to survive fall camp with a quarterback named Peyton Manning. In this episode, the D1 Training founder sits down with Eric Malzone to trace the whole arc — training athletes in an open field back in 2002, opening a patio-carpet-and-turf gym with racks he screwed together himself, and slowly turning that into a franchise system now closing in on 220 locations nationwide. Will gets honest about the messy middle: no point-of-sale system at location two, why D1 doesn't open on Sundays, selling off 27 real estate properties and a physical therapy business to go all-in on the gym he actually loved, and the advice from his father that changed everything — "never scale anything until you've scaled it yourself." He also digs into what makes a great youth strength coach today, how D1 uses radical transparency and scorecards to keep coaches bought in, why he thinks the $115 billion youth sports market is still in its first inning, and the balance every sports parent is chasing between competing hard and keeping the game fun. Whether you're a gym owner thinking about franchising, a coach trying to build a real career in strength and conditioning, or a parent navigating the youth sports world, this conversation is packed with hard-earned lessons from someone who's lived every side of it. 🎯 Key Takeaways 🏈 Will's path ran through a state wrestling title, a full ride to Tennessee, a national championship alongside Peyton Manning, and an NFL knee injury that redirected him straight into the weight room business 🌱 D1 Training started in 2002 in an open field before opening its first real location in spring 2003 — patio carpet, hand-built racks, and burned CDs for music 📈 32 corporate locations opened between 2003 and 2015, fueled partly by real estate deals and a young Peyton Manning as an early, hands-on business partner 🧭 A mentor's blunt question — "what are you actually the best at?" — pushed Will to sell off his real estate holdings and his physical therapy company to focus entirely on D1 🤝 D1 didn't start franchising until 2017-2018, after spending a full year rebuilding the business model around real footprint size, staffing, and consumer behavior 📊 Radical transparency drives coach retention — weekly scorecards, EOS-style meetings, and 90-day reviews so coaches always know exactly where they stand 💰 The addressable market for youth sports and strength training now sits around $115 billion, and Will believes the industry is still in its "first quarter" 📱 D1 is investing heavily in tech, including its own app, athlete testing verification, and partnerships with recruiting platforms like On3 and Rivals ⚖️ On competitive youth sports, Will's take is simple: keep it fun, because burnout comes fast when winning becomes the only point 🎙️ Will also hosts "The Turf," a show spotlighting coaches and athletes who've shaped the training world, from John Gruden to Tim Tebow 🚀 The mission driving everything: put inspiring, motivating strength coaching in every community in the country — not just another gym franchise OUR SPONSORS: 🔗 Perfect Gym: https://www.perfectgym.com/en 🔗 EGYM: https://egym.com/

Can you actually train yourself to age like an athlete instead of just "aging well"? In this episode, Eric Malzone sits down with strength coach and Just Fly Sports founder Joel Smith — eight years coaching at UC Berkeley, five Olympians, nine medals, a world record, and four national track titles under his belt — to unpack what real athletic longevity looks like beyond the buzzwords flooding the fitness industry. They dig into why "meaningful movement" beats generic training programs, how play, seasonality, and community pickup games might matter more than your macros, and why coaches and gym owners need to help clients rediscover the athlete that's already inside them. If you've ever felt like your training has gotten stale, boring, or disconnected from actual joy, this conversation is the reset you didn't know you needed. Key Takeaways 🏃 Redefining "athlete" — why unofficial pickup soccer at the park might be more athletic than any structured gym program 🌱 Meaningful movement > mindless reps — how skill, culture, sunlight, and friendship shape movement that actually sticks 🧠 Inner vs. outer training — the difference between grinding through weights and the fluid, reactive nature of true athleticism 🎾 The power of "soften" — a mindset shift for breaking through frustration and unlocking better movement quality 🗣️ Coaching through nostalgia — how asking clients "what sport did you play as a kid?" unlocks confidence and motivation 🍂 Training in seasons — borrowing from Chinese medicine and elite coaches to cycle bodybuilding, powerlifting, Olympic lifting, and sprinting throughout the year 🤼 Bring back play — tug of war, pool noodle games, and field days as legitimate tools for building athleticism at any age 👨‍👩‍👧 Longevity is human, not algorithmic — why AI can't replace the art of coaching someone toward their own physical richness 🎯 Individual expression matters — helping clients find the specific movement patterns where they shine, instead of one-size-fits-all programming OUR SPONSORS: 🔗 Perfect Gym: https://www.perfectgym.com/en

Eric Malzone sits down with Eric Bormel, Managing Director at Solomon Partners, for a deep dive into mergers and acquisitions in the fitness and wellness industry — breaking down exactly what it takes for a fitness brand, gym, or health tech company to get acquired, what drives valuation beyond revenue, and how founders can pick the right buyer instead of just the highest bidder. Using the recent Rouvy-to-Zwift acquisition as a real-world case study, Bormel pulls back the curtain on the M&A process from first meeting to closing the deal, explains why connected fitness companies like Peloton are finally stabilizing after the post-pandemic crash, and shares why consumer subscription brands like Strava and Zwift — along with wearables like Whoop and Oura — are currently the hottest categories for investors in the fitness tech space. The conversation also tackles AI's growing role in personalized health, wearables, and gym operations, plus the widening gap between CEO confidence and consumer sentiment in today's economy. Whether you're a gym owner, fitness entrepreneur, or just curious about fitness industry trends and investment activity, this episode is a crash course in fitness M&A, business valuation, and where smart money is heading next in health and wellness. Episode Takeaways: 💰 M&A 101 — the difference between intrinsic value (cash flow) and extrinsic value (revenue/EBITDA multiples) when valuing a fitness business 🤝 Picking the Right Buyer — why trust matters more than the highest offer, and how to find a buyer aligned with your goals 📈 Inside the Ruby-Zwift Deal — a real case study breaking down how a major fitness tech acquisition actually comes together ⏳ The M&A Timeline — why a typical deal takes 6 months (and sometimes years of relationship-building beforehand) 🚴 Connected Fitness Comeback — how Peloton and the connected fitness category clawed back to profitability after the post-COVID crash ⌚ Wearables on the Rise — why Whoop and Oura are pulling in serious capital and customers in the health tech space 🏋️ What Buyers Want Now — why consumer subscription brands with strong data and loyal users are winning over enterprise SaaS 🤖 AI in Fitness and Wellness — how AI is reshaping personalization, wearables, virtual care, and the member experience (without replacing the workout itself) 📊 CEO Confidence vs. Consumer Sentiment — the surprising economic disconnect happening right now and what it means for fitness businesses 🚀 Founder Advice — how to know when your business is actually ready to sell, and what really drives a successful exit OUR SPONSORS: 🔗 Perfect Gym: https://www.perfectgym.com/en 🔗 EGYM: https://egym.com/int

In this episode of Future of Fitness, host Eric Malzone sits down with Dr. Tania Elliott—board-certified physician, three-time Chief Medical Officer, and a leading voice in healthcare innovation—to break down the collision course between the fitness industry and the future of preventative health. Dr. Elliott doesn't hold back: she calls out the fitness world for being too intense or too dainty, challenges the gatekeeping role of primary care, and paints a vivid picture of what the health club of the future should really look like. From the over-reliance on protocols and biohacking to the untapped power of community, nutrition, and strength training for women, this conversation is a bold, no-BS look at how fitness can evolve from a destination into a way of life. If you're ready to rethink everything you know about health, wellness, and the role of gyms in healthcare, this one's for you. 📌 Key Takeaways: 🏋️‍♀️ Fitness as the Top of the Healthcare Funnel – Gyms and wellness communities are the ideal entry point for prevention, engagement, and longevity—not traditional primary care. 🩺 Primary Care is Broken – It's a gatekeeping loss leader. The future is direct-to-consumer labs, telehealth, and real-time biomarker feedback without the waiting room. 🧠 Doctors as Advocates, Not Gatekeepers – Health information is no longer locked behind MD degrees. Physicians need to meet patients where they are and embrace patient-led research. 🔬 Stop Over-Protocolizing Everything – Not every trend needs a study. Use common sense, evolutionary context, and ancient practices like Ayurveda to guide wellness decisions. 🍽️ Food is Fuel—But Not Just Protein Powder – Whole foods, seasonal eating, and regenerative farming matter more than supplements. The fitness industry should teach cooking, not just sell shakes. 💪 Women's Strength Training is Non-Negotiable – Women need hardcore strength work too—not just Pilates and pink dumbbells. Programs must account for female biomechanics and hormonal cycles. 🏠 Health Should Be a Way of Life, Not a Destination – From "fart walks" after meals to lawn mowing parties, movement should blend into everyday life with community and joy at the center. 📱 Social Media is the New Health Classroom – With 60M+ monthly views, Dr. Elliott proves that bite-sized, educational content is the most scalable way to drive real behavior change. 🤖 AI is Democratizing Health Information – 230M weekly ChatGPT health queries show people are hungry for answers. The opportunity: use AI responsibly, not as a replacement, but as a starting point. 🚀 Be Bold About the Future – The fitness industry should stop apologizing for not being "healthcare" and instead design the care model of tomorrow—with community, labs, referrals, and real connection points.

In this quarterly industry roundtable, Eric Malzone, Juliet Starrett, and Alex Alimanestianu dive deep into the fitness sector's biggest earnings reports and emerging trends. Lifetime Fitness continues its premium brand strategy with impressive revenue growth while strategically shedding lower-tier memberships, but Planet Fitness faces headwinds with declining membership growth and a paused price increase. The team dissects Xponential's mounting troubles as the company burns through cash amid a New York AG settlement, while Garmin's fitness segment absolutely crushes it with 42% revenue growth. CrossFit's future looks brighter with Bruce Edwards returning as CEO—an affiliate owner who actually understands the community. The conversation heats up around retatrutide's bariatric-level weight loss outcomes and what GLP-1s mean for the fitness industry's identity, plus Peter Attia's meta-analysis proving two weekly resistance training sessions deliver 77% of maximal gains. From Peloton's Pilates pivot to Aescape's robotic massage collapse, this episode covers the strategic shifts, financial realities, and cultural transformations reshaping fitness in 2026. 🎯 Key Takeaways: 📈 Lifetime Fitness – Premium strategy working: revenue up 12%, average revenue per member at $930. Shedding low-tier medical memberships while raising prices, but can they keep growing without membership expansion? 🔻 Planet Fitness – Rough quarter: membership growth down 30% YoY, full‑year guidance cut. January marketing missed the mark, and their $5 black card price hike got paused. Competition heating up in the South. 🔥 Xponential – Dumpster fire status: same‑store sales negative two quarters straight, $523M debt vs. $21.5M cash. New York AG settlement for misleading franchisees. Strategic review likely means selling Club Pilates. 📊 Garmin – Absolute powerhouse: fitness segment up 42% revenue, 103% operating income. Natural Cycles integration for female athletes. A GPS company dominating wearables with $4.3B cash on hand—IPO market take note. 🚴 Peloton – First revenue growth since 2024 ($663M, up 1%). Free cash flow positive at $151M. Acquired $8K Pilates reformer company Scope, but membership declines persist. Cost‑cutting worked—now can they grow? 🏋️ CrossFit – Bruce Edwards returns as CEO (former affiliate owner, COO 2013‑2019, Planet Fitness franchise operator). Sale to Berkshire Partners is off. Games strategy and HyROX relationship are key early questions. 💊 Retatrutide – The new weight loss king: 70‑pound average loss (30% body weight) in trials. Fitness industry must pivot from "weight loss" to "health and strength" positioning. GLP‑1s are here to stay. 💪 Peter Attia Meta‑Analysis – Two resistance sessions/week delivers 77% of max strength gains. Behavioral barriers > programmatic barriers. Simple, consistent training beats perfect programming every time. 🤖 Aescape – Robotic massage startup with $157M raised goes insolvent. First‑mover disadvantage. Product was good, execution was costly. AI wellness is coming but distribution matters. 📱 Strava + AI – Claude integration and AI workout summaries are early days but coming fast. Personalized recommendations and trend analytics will reshape how we engage with fitness data.