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Kim Gouch - Get Real: How Retro Fitness Plans to Claim #2 in HVLP
Release Date: 11/03/2025
Marco Benitez - Mining Gold from 300+ Wearables: How ROOK Unifies Scattered Data
Future of Fitness
Host Eric Malzone sits down with Marco Benitez, CEO and Co-founder of ROOK — and former TaeKwondo champion turned biomedical engineer — to get real about where the fitness and wellness industry stands in the age of AI and wearable data. Marco pulls from his background at Roche and Novartis to explain why clean, unified data is the foundation everything else is built on, and why most operators are sitting on gold they don't know how to mine. From pharma clinical trials using Oura rings to track narcolepsy patients, to longevity brands leveraging sleep data to drive upsells, to the looming...
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Anna Emanuel MD - Medicine 4.0: Next Health's Dr. Anna Emanuel on the Future of Preventative Care
Future of Fitness
In this episode of Future of Fitness, host Eric Malzone sits down with Dr. Anna Emmanuel—a double board-certified physician in family and integrative medicine—to unpack the evolution of modern healthcare, from reactive "sick care" to proactive, data-driven longevity medicine. Dr. Emmanuel introduces the Next Health framework of Medicine 4.0, a model that blends lifestyle, prevention, functional medicine, and advanced therapies like peptides, GLP-1s, and stem cells. She reveals why 80% of health outcomes are within our control, how to use GLP-1s responsibly without muscle loss,...
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Rick Mayo - No Pressure, Just Strategy: Why Alloy Took a PE Partner After 30 Years
Future of Fitness
After 30+ years of bootstrapping Alloy Franchise to over 135 locations, founder Rick Mayo finally decided to bring in a private equity partner—but not for the reasons you might think. In this candid conversation with Eric Malzone, Rick opens up about why he chose Capital Spring, how he avoided the "gunslinging" PE horror stories, and why pulling some chips off the table actually gave him more clarity, not less. He breaks down the deceptively simple model behind Alloy's 91% retention rate, explains why saying "no" to flashy trends (GLP-1s, saunas, meal delivery) has been the secret to...
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Doug Gremmen - From 600 to 1.8 Million Participants: Inside Hyrox's Rocket Ship Growth
Future of Fitness
Eric Malzone sits down live with Doug Gremmen, Chief Growth Officer at HYROX, at the Connected Health and Fitness Summit in Beverly Hills. They dive into how HYROX went from just 600 finishers back in 2018 to a projected 1.8 million in 2026 — basically a rocket ship in the fitness world. Doug shares how they built the brand from the ground up by knocking on gym doors, the massive role community and user-generated content played, and why the super consistent race format makes it so easy to scale everywhere from LA to China and beyond. They talk gym affiliates (now at 14,000 worldwide), what...
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Karl Sanft - COVID, Bankruptcy, and Back: The 24 Hour Fitness Turnaround
Future of Fitness
In this conversation, 24 Hour Fitness CEO Karl Sanft opens up about steering the iconic brand through a once‑in‑a‑generation pandemic, bankruptcy, and a full operational turnaround—only to welcome back founder Mark Mastrov as executive chair. Karl shares why shifting from an “access” to a “usage” model during COVID became a defining moment, how private equity sharpened his leadership edge, and why doubling down on the middle‑market (great strength floors at a $30–$50 price point) is the winning strategy. He also reveals their three‑phase capital plan: remodel 50 clubs a...
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Jim LaValle - Peptides, GLP-1s, and the Product Problem: What Longevity Brands Are Missing
Future of Fitness
In this episode, Eric Malzone hangs out with Jim LaValle—a legend in metabolic health who’s been deep in this world for over 40 years—for a real conversation about GLP-1s, peptides, and what it actually takes to build a healthier, longer life. Jim gets honest about why these drugs can be a game-changer but also why so many people use them wrong, the sketchy side of the “research only” peptide market, and which peptides he’s actually excited about for gut health, hormones, and fixing your sleep. They also talk about why the fitness industry hasn’t quite cracked the longevity code...
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Sarah Luna - Pilates 3.0: How Pilates Addiction Plans to Scale to 1,000 Units by 2030
Future of Fitness
In this episode of The Future of Fitness, host Eric Malzone sits down with Sarah Luna, CEO of Pilates Addiction, to explore the brand’s rapid rise and what she calls “Pilates 3.0.” With a background as a professional dancer, certified Pilates instructor, and franchise owner, Sarah brings a unique blend of hands-on experience and business acumen to the forefront. She breaks down how Pilates Addiction combines the best of traditional studio Pilates and modern high-intensity reformer workouts into a 50-minute, full-body experience designed for maximum efficiency. From the patented gold...
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Juliet Starrett & Alex Alimanestianu - Quarterly Reports: $7.5 Billion Merger, a Surprise IPO, and Executive Shuffles
Future of Fitness
In this episode, Eric Malzone, Juliet Starrett, and Alex find themselves at the intersection of a shifting fitness economy, dissecting a massive Q1 2026 that has left the industry bifurcated between high-end luxury and high-volume value . The team breaks down the "K-shaped" recovery where premium powerhouses like Lifetime are flex-pricing their way to record margins while mid-market players and franchise models like Xponential Fitness face mounting regulatory and internal pressure . From the blockbuster $7.5 billion Mindbody-EGYM merger to Strava’s surprise IPO filing, this deep dive...
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John Ford - EGYM's Bet: The Untrained Market Is Where the Real Health Impact Is
Future of Fitness
In this episode, we sit down with John Ford, Chief Product Officer at eGym, to explore the massive shift currently happening at the intersection of fitness and healthcare. From his early days founding Virtual Active and licensing cinematic workout content to industry giants like Peloton, to his current role leading product strategy at a global fitness unicorn, John offers a masterclass in behavioral science and hardware integration. We dive deep into the launch of Genius AI, discussing how it removes the "intimidation barrier" for gym beginners and provides the objective data—like...
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Mike Ranfone & Dr. Marko Lujic - The Gym of the Future Will Change the Future of Healthcare: RTS's Integration Model
Future of Fitness
What happens when a lifelong friendship meets a shared frustration with broken systems? Mike Ranfone and Dr. Marko Lujic did something most people only talk about — they actually built the gym-medical hybrid model that the health and fitness industry has been circling around for years. In this episode, Dr. Lujic opens up about the moment he realized he wasn't practicing healthcare — he was practicing sick care — and how that wake-up call led him and Mike to launch RTS Health in Hampton, Connecticut. Together, they walk us through their full client experience: from DEXA scans and...
info_outlineIn this episode, Kim Gouch, Chief Brand and Marketing Officer at Retro Fitness, dives into her journey and the dynamic evolution of the fitness industry. She discusses how Retro Fitness is redefining the HVLP market through community-driven experiences, authentic branding, and meaningful consumer connections. Kim highlights the brand’s Get Real campaign, which celebrates individuality and emotional connection in fitness, and shares how community engagement and simplicity in consumer experience shape their approach to growth and retention.
She also explores the difference between branding and marketing, emphasizing that true success comes from building a brand for the future — one that resonates with younger generations through authenticity, technology integration, and inclusivity. With a focus on data-driven insights and collaborative innovation, Kim outlines Retro Fitness’s strategy for explosive yet sustainable growth, ensuring the brand continues to inspire connection, wellness, and belonging in every community it serves.
LINKS:
https://www.sportalliance.com/en/perfect-gym/
https://www.withflex.com/
https://egym.com/int