Live from the ATN Innovation Summit: Day Two
We’re on the ground at the 2025 ATN Innovation Summit, streaming live insights, product unveilings and conversations with the boldest minds shaping the future of fitness, wellness and technology
Welcome to day two of Athletech News’ live coverage of the 2025 ATN Innovation Summit, where the biggest thinkers, disruptors and decision-makers in fitness, wellness and technology are in one location to help shape what’s next. From AI-fueled advancements and connected fitness breakthroughs to new business models and the future of consumer engagement, this is where innovation meets impact.
Our Athletech News editorial team is updating this live feed in real time, bringing you key takeaways from panels, product launches, founder insights, investor perspectives and everything in between.
Scroll down for the latest—and check back often. We’re just getting started. Writers: Josh Liberatore (JL), Collin Helwig (CH), Elizabeth Ostertag (EO) and Courtney Rehfeldt (CR).
NEW 1:15 PM | EO: M&A in the HALO Sector: Deals, Diligence & the Dirty Details
Pete Moore, managing partner, Integrity Square, led a discussion on M&A strategy, stressing the importance of calculating multiples and addbacks correctly while recognizing the unique risks and capital expenditures in today’s health club landscape. He noted investor sentiment is at an all-time high, especially for operators with geographic diversity.
Mark Federico, the CEO of Crunch Fitness franchisee Fitness Holdings North America, said that the group aims to grow from 50 to 100–150 locations, but emphasized thoughtful expansion: “The ability to take a competitor out goes into the equation, but also we say there are certain things we need to rebrand, amenities, etc. If rebranding costs more, we weigh the costs and downsides versus the benefits.” Both he and Pete underscored the need to focus early on lease negotiations and assignment clauses, noting that delays can kill deals.
Terry Blachek, CEO, Austin Fitness Group, reflected on Crunch’s early growth compared to Orangetheory, sharing how limited capital pushed him into joint ventures where he slowly increased his equity stake.
“Until we got a private equity deal, I was on the line for $20 million of new locations.” He urged founders to “nail it before you scale it,” advising that process and model come before aggressive expansion. Federico added that new owners often push for a second club before the first is profitable. “Take on what you can handle,” he cautioned.
Blachek closed with a negotiation tip: “Don’t be so committed to what you want that you are not willing to take something better … The person who controls the relationship is the one who has less interest in it.”
12:26 PM | CR: “Thirty-five percent of Americans say they want to be on it [GLP-1s],” said Jeff Zwiefel, longtime former COO and president of Life Time, who now runs the Miora program. He added that the total addressable market is massive, there’s a strong tailwind for the industry, and members are three times more likely to exercise once on the medications. “It’s a megatrend — it’s here to stay,” Zwiefel added.
Dr. B founder and CEO Cyrus Massoumi stressed the importance of a foundational approach, saying consumers should change their diet and begin a fitness regimen for at least six months before starting GLP-1s. “We only actually prescribe [GLP-1s] to people who commit to working out,” he said, explaining that it helps prevent long-term dependency on the medication.
Mitchell Keyes, VP of operations for Anytime Fitness, emphasized the importance of tracking progress: “You can’t change what you don’t measure.” Beyond the numbers, he sees a shift in the role of trainers: “As you educate the consumer, you empower the consumer — and as they become more empowered, they just care a little bit more. And that’s where you really transpire from being a trainer to a coach.”
There’s also a growing opportunity for monetization. Edward Zouroudis, CEO of Evolt, pointed out that fitness operators can capitalize on GLP-1 interest by offering supplements, nutrition products, meal planning, and registered dietitian support. “There are many opportunities,” he said.
12:10 PM | CH Colin Lawlor, Founder & CEO of Sleep.ai; George Hanson, Chief Digital Officer at Mattress Firm; and Tim Roberts, Vice President of Science and Innovation at Therabody all agree: it’s time to wake up to sleep.
“Sleep is the great connector,” said Roberts. “Whether you can’t solve pain problems with your health, whether you’re an athlete looking to improve performance and recovery, or you’re trying to improve your skin.”
“As soon as you start to recognize the opportunity that sleep has in your unique business or service, it’s the first step to doing more, seeking the right partners, and finding the right opportunities,” said Hanson. “Sleep sits adjacent to every product and every experience—because we are humans.”
All three highlighted wearables as a key element in the sleep revolution, thanks to their ability to collect accurate, personalized data.
“We’re at this incredible opportunity where we have more data than ever, more personalized insights, and then AI on top of this,” said Roberts. “We have this opportunity to contextualize the product of sleep to your product, to your business. It’s really the perfect storm.”
The next frontier? Bringing all that data together in a meaningful, organized way—because sleep impacts everything.
“The reality is, how they sleep is how they engage with you and your service,” said Lawlor.
Fit Tech Playbook: Insights From Master Operators
11:53AM | CR: Across the board, the panelists from the “Fit Tech Playbook: Insights From Master Operators all agreed that key priorities include centralized data and leveraging AI to drive deeper insights.
11:18 AM | CR: Fireside Chat: Pelotons Nick Caldwell on the Future of Connected Fitness
Peloton’s Nick Caldwell on AI, community and the future of fitness: “I think there’s never been a better time to apply technology to meet our customer needs,” said Peloton Chief Product Officer Nick Caldwell, who brings an outsider’s perspective after a year and a half with the company. He emphasized focusing on software over hardware and noted, “Peloton Instructors are a ‘superpower’ to the brand: ‘They will not be replaced by AI.’”
Caldwell also shared, “We have to go beyond offering just what we see on the leaderboard, high fives and hashtags — that’s a great starting point. But our members crave more and we see that through communities being created on external platforms, like Facebook, Twitter, where hundreds of thousands of our members are trying to find ways to come together, share fitness tips and support each other.”
He highlighted the success of micro stores—smaller retail footprints where consumers can try Peloton products—and said the company plans to open more. On user behavior, Caldwell noted, “We’re seeing a very significant amount of home use,” especially in strength training. Wrapping up, he affirmed, “Peloton is here to stay,” and praised CEO Peter Stern, adding, “Peter Stern has done a phenomenal job.”
11:00 AM | CH Wellness Tourism Grows—But There’s Room to Expand
Susie Ellis, Chairman and CEO of the Global Wellness Institute; Carol Stratford, Managing Director of Consulting at Arch Amenities Group; Lou Zameryka, Co-Founder and CCO of Alively; Natalie Compton, Travel Reporter for The Washington Post; and Kelly Groehler discussed the rise of wellness tourism, expressing both excitement over its momentum and caution about its future.
“Some years ago, every traveler was like, ‘I’m laying loose and all bets are off,’” said Compton. “Now they’ll say, ‘I want to feel good when I travel… I want this to be restorative.’”
She added a note of caution: “I think a lot of people are going to get worn out on the concept of wellness and travel if they get duped.”
Zameryka emphasized that wellness-minded consumers are more intentional today: “People are thinking about, ‘Does this hotel intentionally set me up for a good night’s sleep? Are there nutrition options?’ I think the industry understands there’s a broadening here… As people stop buying more and more stuff and focus on keeping themselves well, we almost envision the flywheel—where the experience economy is powered by the travel industry and people wanting to experience more.”
Ellis and Groehler also noted a key stat: the global wellness economy reached $6.3 billion in 2023, and the momentum continues.
10:22 AM |JL: Fritz Lanman, the CEO of Playlist (Mindbody, ClassPass and Booker), wants to see the fitness and wellness industry lean fully into the era of AI and machine learning – and get over any fears that artificial intelligence will make humans obsolete.
“I think it’s important for this industry to hear … that we’re not going to be replaced by AI,” Lanman said.
“It’s really amazing, but it’s not going to fully replace humans,” he continued. “What it is going to do is empower and democratize the ability to do really deep and incredible analytics, really great personalized marketing and things like that to help businesses … grow and be more effective. So I see us heading toward an age of human augmentation, not substitution.”
Lanman said gym and studio operators must get with the times and look at ways to leverage artificial intelligence into their daily operations, if they haven’t done so already.
“It’s incumbent on operators to use these tools,” he said. “If you’re not using ChatGPT already, you’re behind the game.”
Lanman also addressed some of the common complaints studio owners have expressed with ClassPass. He argued the class-booking platform should be used to fill excess capacity, not as the primary way studio owners fill their class spots.
“I think the two biggest misconceptions would be, one: (ClassPass) can’t save a business that’s not going to work on its own, and two: you shouldn’t use it primarily for lead generation, you should use it for excess capacity and innovation.”
9:57 AM | JL: What’s Next in Longevity & Healthspan Science
Dr. Frank Lipman, an author, functional medicine pioneer and founder of the Eleven Elven Wellness Center in New York, admits that a lot of the science around healthy aging “isn’t there” yet, but it’s advancing rapidly.
“Microbiome science is not particularly accurate,” he said. “These microbiome tests, they’re all bulls*** … But the microbiome is probably really, really important for most of us to stay healthy.”
Dr. Lipman is encouraged that women’s health is becoming a bigger focus in mainstream medicine, but he says a lot of work still needs to be done to overcome stigmas.
“As physicians, we don’t take women as seriously as men,” he said. “If men can’t get erections, there’s a drug, but if women have pain during sex, they’re just getting older.”
He also says younger men – in their 40s and below – should be wary about taking testosterone replacement therapy (TRT), especially if they want to have kids.
“If you’re giving hormones to young men … very common side effects are (shrinking) testicles, and that can cause infertility,” Dr. Lipman noted. “So I think it’s irresponsible to give testosterone to young guys who still want to have kids.”
Some quick hits from Dr. Lipman:
“The next 10-20 years of my life are going to be about how do we get this message (longevity medicine) out in a responsible way.”
“I’m obsessed with ketones. … I think ketones are one of the next big things.”
“I love peptides…I think anyone over 50 should probably be on hormones.”
9:36 AM | EO: Liz Plosser started the day by asking about the landscape of the fitness community and what consumers are demanding.
Fitness on Demand’s Andy Peat: Mobility, stretching, strength training. Rise of pilates reformer live classes.
Lou Lentine from Echelon stated, “The same thing that’s working at the gym is working online.” Consumers want to have whatever they want at home and at the gym.
Sean Turner, CEO of Les Mills, said, “Strength increases mind/body connection.” He also noted the increase of popularity of pre- and post-workout recovery.
Liz asks how they are thinking about brick-and-mortar.
Sean said that on the operator side, everyone used to be afraid of digital. But now, “most people in the room need both.” It allows for greater flexibility and convenience.
Liz noted that the fitness industry is so saturated, so there is a low barrier to entry. So what makes content valuable?
Andy from Fitness on Demand noted that on demand previously was just a screen on the wall for convenience, but now the value proposition has to be personal. Now, people uses digital to check their form and in a more comprehensive way.
9:32 AM | JL: Anthony Geisler took the stage to kick off Day Two of the ATN Innovation Summit 2025, sharing his vision for Sequel Brands, a new fitness franchisor that officially launched last month.
“We started building this company, Sequel, about a year ago to culminate everything (we’ve) done in fitness,” Geisler said. “But this time, we want to do something bigger. We want to do something more innovative, and we want to actually go lead the industry.”
Sequel has four boutique fitness brands in its portfolio today, and it’s planning to announce a fifth soon.
We said, ‘We’re stopping at five.’ I don’t know if we’ll stop at five,” Geisler said, hinting at bigger expansion plans for Sequel.
For Geisler, Sequel is also part of a broader cultural and political mission to make movement a bigger part of American life.
Geisler shared that he’s working with U.S. government officials to create a “fitness commission” that aligns with the “Make America Healthy Again Movement,” or as Geisler calls it, the “Make America Move Again” initiative. The Sequel Brands founder urged audience members to put their political beliefs aside and embrace his mission.
“Five years ago, literally, our entire industry was illegal,” Geisler said, pointing to the “prohibition of fitness” as gyms and studios were locked down during COVID.
“This isn’t a one year plan or a two-year plan,” he said. “This is a (long-term) plan to continue to push fitness into the White House, into the mainstream.”
Correction: An earlier version of this article misattributed a quote to Crunch Fitness’ Marc Santa Maria, who didn’t speak at the ATN Innovation Summit.