Dr. Heather McKee, PhD Behavioral Scientist, on Habit Formation and Fitness Motivation

Dr. Heather McKee, PhD behavioral scientist and motivation science advisor at MyZone, joins Eric Malzone to explain why motivation is the wrong thing to chase first and what actually gets members to stick around past January.Dr. McKee argues that action creates motivation, not the other way around, and that operators should design for a member's ordinary Tuesday rather than their idealized best day. She breaks down why six week challenges quietly fail most members, citing Eric's own experience retaining just 4 percent of a 50 person challenge cohort six months later, and introduces the concept of competence matching, or stage matching people to exercise based on their actual confidence level rather than their ambition. The conversation also covers how AI can extend a trainer's reach from a few hours a week into dozens of touchpoints without replacing the human relationship.Dr. Heather McKee is a PhD behavioral scientist, motivation science advisor at MyZone, and Europe-based habit formation specialist who has consulted for lululemon, Starbucks, Unilever, and HSBC. Website: https://www.drheathermckee.co.uk | LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/drheathermckeeGet Eric's weekly industry newsletter: https://futureoffitness.coWatch full episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@futureofofitnesspodOUR SPONSORS:🔗 Perfect Gym: https://www.perfectgym.com/en🔗 EGYM: https://egym.com/

 What if the next major shift in fitness and health isn't another wearable or blood panel, but knowing which of your organs is aging fastest, and whether the things you're doing to improve your health are actually working?Paul Coletta is Co-Founder and CEO of Vero Bioscience, a predictive health company commercializing Stanford research in proteomic organ aging.Before Vero, Paul spent decades building consumer businesses and brands across Disney, MTV, Hewlett-Packard, Jamba Juice and Urban Remedy. He isn't an MD or a PhD. Three years ago, he says he didn't even know what proteomics was.Then he became one of the first people to take what would become Vero's assay.The result showed that his kidney was aging significantly faster than his chronological age, even though the traditional markers he had been tracking, including creatinine and GFR, looked normal. Paul didn't believe the result, so he took it to his cardiologist. An ultrasound found a large renal cyst. It was benign, but the experience changed how he thought about what health data could tell us before traditional diagnostics flag a problem.That story became part of a much bigger question: Can we move from measuring health after something has gone wrong to seeing where the body may be heading, then intervene early enough to change the trajectory?Eric Malzone and Paul unpack the emerging science behind proteomics, the study of proteins and what they can reveal about the real-time function of the body. Paul explains why he thinks proteins offer a different layer of information than genetics, conventional bloodwork and whole-body biological age scores.Vero's Proteomic OrganAge™ analyzes roughly 11,000 proteins from a blood sample and maps those signals across 11 organ systems. The underlying research has been validated across more than 45,000 people, with longitudinal data extending over 17 years. Rather than reducing someone to a single biological-age number, the goal is to identify which parts of the body may be aging differently from the rest.As Paul puts it: "You're only as healthy as your oldest organ."But the measurement itself is only part of the conversation.Eric has talked for years about the industry's "now what" problem: consumers have more data than ever from wearables, bloodwork, sleep trackers and other diagnostics, but getting another score doesn't necessarily tell someone what to do next.Paul argues that the real opportunity is creating a closed-loop health system: measure what is happening, connect that insight to a targeted intervention, retest, and measure how the biology responds.This leads to a broader conversation about the longevity industry itself.As those categories continue to converge, the opportunity may be bigger than collecting more health data. It may be building systems that can turn that data into direction and give both consumers and clinicians a clearer picture of where to act next.CONNECT WITH PAUL + VEROLearn more about Vero Bioscience / join the waitlist →https://www.verobioscience.com/?utm_source=future_of_fitness&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=podcast_collective&utm_content=paul_colettaPaul Coletta on LinkedIn →https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulcoletta/Vero Bioscience on LinkedIn →https://www.linkedin.com/company/vero-bioscience-inc/home/ 

Jon Ward left the influencer playbook behind at Plunge to build something with no media, no selling, and an NDA at the door — and he's already turned away over a hundred applicants to protect it.Jon Ward, Founder and CEO of The Assembly, joins Eric to unpack why he's betting on trust over reach in an industry drowning in pitches. Jon breaks down how GLP-1s are splitting the gym-going population in half, why brands like Evolve went from zero to over $100 million in under a year, and why he thinks "health" needs to stop being treated as an industry and start being treated as culture. He also gets into how The Assembly vets its members, what its Chatham House rules actually protect, and why he sees fitness as the best-positioned industry to own the next decade of health.Jon Ward is the Founder and CEO of The Assembly, an invite-only network connecting founders, executives, and investors across health, wellness, and longevity, and previously worked in brand growth at cold-plunge company Plunge. Website: https://theassembly.health | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonward007Get Eric's weekly industry newsletter: https://futureoffitness.co Watch full episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@futureofofitnesspod

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-4340362Get Eric's weekly industry newsletter: https://futureoffitness.co Watch full episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@futureofofitnesspodOUR 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/