Competitive Fitness, Gym-as-Clinic, Smartphone Diagnostics
Fitt Insider
February 27, 2026: Your daily rundown of health and wellness news, in under 5 minutes. Today's top stories: YOU(th) Health Tech raises $4.5M to expand smartphone-based health screening platform detecting 50+ digital biomarkers in under two minutes UFC Gym partners with NexGen MD Scientific to launch in-gym longevity clinics offering GLP-1s, peptides, and hormone replacement therapy XENOM raises $15M seed funding to launch "Decathlon of Fitness" with 10 standardized events, debuting at Dallas Cowboys facility in June More from Fitt: Fitt Insider breaks down the convergence of fitness,...
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AI Chatbots vs Human Doctors and Trainers
Fitt Insider
February 26, 2026: Your daily rundown of health and wellness news, in under 5 minutes. Today's top stories: Gallup survey finds 73% of Americans turn to doctors first for health advice, with just 16% using AI tools and social media Alcohol industry erases $830B in market value since 2021 as GLP-1 drugs and structural demand shift drive U.S. drinking rates to lowest since 1939 Two-thirds of exercisers have tried AI fitness platforms, but only 10% would choose AI-only coaching as platforms shift to hybrid models More from Fitt: Fitt Insider breaks down the convergence of fitness,...
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Oura’s AI Push, Kim Kardashian’s Energy Bet, Budget Gyms Upgrade
Fitt Insider
February 25, 2026: Your daily rundown of health and wellness news, in under 5 minutes. Today's top stories: Kim Kardashian joins UPDATE as co-founder ahead of relaunch and Walmart rollout, positioning jitter-free energy drink in $16B category Oura launches first custom AI coaching model for women's health, integrating biometric data with clinical research across menstruation to menopause Budget gyms including Planet Fitness, Crunch, and Snap Fitness upgrade amenities with boutique classes, contrast therapy, and smart strength equipment Fitt announces strategic partnership with AIIR,...
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Equinox’s Longevity Membership, Meta’s Smartwatch, Grail’s Cancer Screening
Fitt Insider
February 23, 2026: Your daily rundown of health and wellness news, in under 5 minutes. Today's top stories: Meta plans smartwatch launch later this year with health tracking and AI features, potentially integrating with Ray-Ban glasses ecosystem Grail's $949 Galleri blood test fails to show statistically significant reduction in late-stage cancer diagnoses in major U.K. trial, stock falls sharply Equinox's $40K/year Optimize membership hits 1,000+ person waitlist, including biomarker testing, training, and health concierge More from Fitt: Fitt Insider breaks down the convergence of...
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327. Sam O'Keefe, Co-Founder & CEO of Flex
Fitt Insider
Today, I'm joined by Sam O'Keefe, co-founder & CEO of Flex. Enabling use of HSA and FSA funds at checkout, Flex unlocks tax-advantaged spending on preventative health products — from fitness and recovery to supplements and wearables. In this episode, we discuss making “pay with HSA/FSA” as common as PayPal. We also cover: Confusion around HSAs & FSAs Value props for merchants and consumers Integrating with Equinox’s membership flow Subscribe to the podcast → Subscribe to our newsletter → Follow us on...
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Hims buys Eucalyptus, Ergatta joins Interactive Strength, D1 Training tests the waters
Fitt Insider
February 20, 2026: Your daily rundown of health and wellness news, in under 5 minutes. Today's top stories: Ergatta joins Interactive Strength portfolio alongside Wattbike, CLMBR, and FORME, continuing independent operations under CEO Tom Aulet D1 Training hires Harris Williams to explore sale, operating 170+ locations serving 100K+ scholastic athletes in $154B youth sports market Hims & Hers acquires Australian telehealth platform Eucalyptus for $1.15B, expanding globally with brands serving 775K patients across Australia, UK, and Japan I’m heading to LA this week for the...
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Peptides, Performance Retail, and Fitness Wearables
Fitt Insider
February 19, 2026: Your daily rundown of health and wellness news, in under 5 minutes. Today's top stories: Andrew Huberman calls retatrutide a potential trillion-dollar drug, showing 30% weight loss in Phase III trials with muscle preservation Lululemon launches Studio Yet. in LA, a three-week pop-up blending workouts with retail as stores become training extensions Garmin reports record Q4 revenue of $2.12B up 17%, with fitness segment climbing 42% driven by wearables demand Joe Vennare is heading to LA this week for the Connected Health & Fitness Summit to host a fireside chat...
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Screentime surges, Sugar slumps, CBD gets regulated
Fitt Insider
February 18, 2026: Your daily rundown of health and wellness news, in under 5 minutes. Today's top stories: Americans now spend 6.3 hours daily on phones, up from 5.5 hours in early 2023, with older users driving surge Raw sugar futures fall to five-year low as GLP-1 drugs accelerate decline in sweet consumption while whey prices hit record highs Federal law caps THC in hemp products near zero in November, potentially eliminating much of $8-13B CBD market I'm heading to LA this week for the Connected Health & Fitness Summit to host a fireside chat with Fritz Lanman, CEO of Playlist...
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Strength wearables, Continuous hormone tracking, and At-home diagnostics
Fitt Insider
February 17, 2026: Your daily rundown of health and wellness news, in under 5 minutes. Today's top stories: YC-backed Fort opens pre-orders for strength-specific wearable that auto-detects exercises, reps, sets, and fatigue without manual logging Stanford-born Clair develops wrist-worn device using 10 biosensors and AI to estimate real-time hormone levels including estrogen and progesterone, shipping in November Matrix Bio claims to have built five-minute, $5 multi-marker hormone test requiring no lab or blood draw, pending clinical regulatory validation I’m heading to LA this week...
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326. Sam Browne, Co-founder & CEO of Let's Do This
Fitt Insider
Today, I'm joined by Sam Browne, CEO and co-founder of Let's Do This. A platform for mass-participation sports events, Let's Do This partners with marathons, triathlons, and cycling events to help people discover life-changing athletic experiences. In this episode, we discuss building tech to get people together offline. We also cover: The company’s mission to create shared experiences Current problems with the experience economy Expanding to 18 international markets Subscribe to the podcast → Subscribe to our newsletter → Follow...
info_outlineToday, I'm joined by Dr. Muthu Alagappan, founder & CEO of Counsel Health.
Counsel Health is an AI-native virtual care platform combining medical AI with human doctors to provide accessible, high-quality guidance at a fraction of traditional costs.
In this episode, we discuss building the new front door to care.
We also cover:
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AI-native primary care via messaging
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AI vs. human roles in clinical decisions
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Redefining cost and access for personalized medicine
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Counsel Health’s Website: https://www.counselhealth.com/
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The Fitt Insider Podcast is brought to you by EGYM. Visit EGYM.com to learn more about its smart fitness ecosystem for fitness and health facilities.
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Investments: https://capital.fitt.co/
Chapters:
(00:00) Introduction
(01:09) Muthu's background
(01:40) What is Counsel Health
(03:08) Patient interaction and care modules
(04:27) From AI to human doctors
(05:38) The clinician side
(06:45) The clinician cockpit
(07:47) The AI healthcare landscape
(09:16) Medical information vs. medical care
(10:38) Re-aggregating fragmented primary care
(12:00) The 10x doctor
(13:45) AI autonomy
(15:00) Will AI replace doctors entirely?
(16:45) Cognitive aspects of primary care
(18:59) Recent AI healthcare product releases
(20:30) Integration challenges
(22:00) Clinical use cases
(23:15) Patient adherence challenges
(25:45) Series A fundraising
(27:15) Scarcity and value in the AI healthcare era
(28:15) Business model challenges
(30:15) Improving quality, lowering cost, and improving access
(31:00) Prevention vs. primary care
(33:00) Wearables and lab data
(34:00) Full-stack convergence vs. singular focus
(35:45) What's next
(36:58) Conclusion