Inside the Longevity Boom: GLP-1s, Peptides, and the Future of Fitness Business

Longevity might be the industry’s favorite buzzword right now, but what does it actually mean for fitness operators?

This week’s ATFW Podcast is another Soundbite Session, recorded live at Beyond Activ in Dallas, where we unpack the real business implications of the longevity movement.

Joining the conversation are:
• Jeff Zwiefel, JZ Consulting | Former President & COO, Life Time
• Bob Thomas, Founder & CEO, NEXGEN Scientific
• Eric Durak, President & Founder, Medical Health and Fitness

Together, they share what’s next as fitness, medicine, and science converge  from the rise of GLP-1s and peptide therapies, to the role of cognitive health and AI-driven personalization in shaping the next generation of member experiences.
You’ll hear how operators can turn longevity from a talking point into a business strategy one built on outcomes, retention, and new revenue opportunities.
This is All Things Fitness & Wellness where industry leaders share insights that help you stay ahead of what’s next.

Transcript

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the peptides supplement that GLP1 helps you lose the weight it's a peptide but when you get to the stem cell side now we're really repairing the body and that's where longevity in three years you'll see we'll be there this is all things fitness and wellness hosted by Chrissy Van together we're uniting industry thought leaders and fitfluencers on the mission to inspire innovation and encourage people to live a life fit and well is longevity the next real growth channel for fitness operators or just another industry buzzword this week's ATF W podcast is another ATF W Sound Bite session recorded live at Beyond Active in Dallas featuring three leaders shaping how fitness medicine and performance are converging joining me as no stranger to the podcast Jeff Schweifler of JZ Consulting and former president and CEO at lifetime Bob Thomas founder and CEO of Next Gen Scientific and Eric Durack president and founder of Medical Health and fitness on the episode you'll learn how evidence based tools like peptides G L P ones and stem cell therapy are shaping new revenue opportunities why the line between fitness and healthcare continues to disappear and what leaders should consider as capital and innovation continue to drive this next wave of wellness before we get to it be sure to hit like and subscribe we have new podcast episodes weekly featuring industry thought leaders and influencers I'm your host Chrissy Van and this is ATF W because of your experience in the longevity space when it comes to operators in general where do you feel they have misconceptions or missing the Mark over what longevity is I think longevity is now evolved from what we were formerly referring to as prevention and preventative medicine and preventative health was really so dominant but I think now it's evolved in shaped in new and better ways in more meaningful and real impactful ways where we recognize now that we wanna try to meet the customer where they're at on their journey and help find and achieve the kind of outcomes that they desire whether that be sleeping better weight gain you know how they're getting brain fog and their brain clarity or how they're preventing some of these four horsemen of of chronic disease like heart disease cancer you know diabetes or uh cognitive decline and so I think now it's this new awakening because you know wellness Chrissy I believe is this galvanizing understanding of redefining you know where we're gonna be in in health in our the most galvanizing thought in our lifetime so it's a really exciting time what has been the dominating demographic that's expressed interest and and really as a consumer demanding these services to be in existence yeah I think there is a reality is and and sort of the surprising fact is it's a broad range of age that are interested in this longevity category but I do think it the sweet spot has really been on one end of the female seg segment the pre menopausal and menopausal women because they've been ignored by the traditional healthcare system and um there's a just a phenomenal disruption going on on how to service that segment in a better way and uh help them you know deal with the tremendous issues that they're dealing with talked about the female segment when it comes to menopause perimenopause but males are also experiencing a big shift males are really a large segment of the longevity market because I think a there's a multiple factors that are contributing to it they're starting early and earlier in in their lives to experience declines in their hormones and their testosterone levels and so they're seeking for solutions so that they can maintain their energy they can maintain their cognitive health obviously recovery and obviously manage body fat uh and body composition so males at an earlier age 38 early 40s we're starting to see on a regular basis to try to ensure that we safely and effectively you know manage um their bioidentical hormones when it comes to the longevity category what dominated the conversation so heavily the last couple of years was GLP1 and there was the controversy of GLP1 and people in this industry kind of do we dabble is this a space we should play in and that's evolved rapidly but I'm curious what are the elements now that are those rumbling or seeds in longevity that we're not talking about as much that maybe at conferences in 2027 will be the new GLP1 conversation yeah I think first off as as we know GOP ones are starting to shed that taboo as a weight loss shot and transfer into metabolic health transformations with the long ranging benefits that we're now seeing in the core issues of chronic inflammation as we call it metaflammation um related to so many other diseases so I think we're gonna see that continue to evolve with GOP ones and the opportunities for it and hopefully as an industry we can be a key part of ensuring like I've said over and over again as a broken record that we're doing it with the wrap around components properly if properly nutrition and protein intake Mac micronutrients hydration and of course resistance training and lean body mass testing because that's um my one of my biggest concerns about this breakthrough mega trend is ensuring that we don't end up with a society of frail and dysfunctional uh population that can't get themselves off the toilet so I think of course microdosing will continue to grow I think in its popularity and its application I think the oral uh products will continue to be a breakthrough in 2027 and beyond and I think the titration and the off ramping will continue to be a big conversation because we know that we need to fix the fundamentals of an individual's metabolic dysfunction and this drug is an amazing product to be able to help do that networking has been abundant for you today what have been the successes that you're hearing from your colleagues or the pain points that have been quite common yeah it's wonderful to be at Beyond Active because this is the unification of the industry but what brings us together I think more importantly is our shared mission um we're all here because I think like me we're passionate about changing lives that's what brought me into this industry it's what kept me motivated in this industry it's what's gotten me so excited about this next journey of my uh career in the longevity space because we could only take customers so far in that journey in fitness and now we can extend and be their partner uh much longer extent so I think there's so many exciting dimensions within the show these couple days and I just think it's wonderful how now I feel there's more openness and collaboration that's happening across operators particularly that's sharing best practices and I think getting all ships to rise longevity Bob Thomas's world I'm curious so you're saying like some people can't quite define it so in your world what does it mean to you it's been a four decade journey because you know when I first started in the industry you know I was a sales guy or trainer first and sales and when somebody come in and ask you know come come and see me and we would you know I would be selling them a membership they said well I gotta go see my doctor right and then I I would never see him again and I asked my manager I said well what happened they you know I thought they were on board and everything like well you told them to go see their doctor and I go really I go oh yeah the doctors aren't on our team they're they're not endorsing working out at this point so ever since then I've been on a journey to get the medical field and the fitness field together and we I think we've done a really good job early on to build wellness programs and all but they they didn't have stickness I mean it was a it was very passive you know the companies really unless they paid for it which a lot of them never did um you know we we really weren't able to be effective but now that there's these products peptides GLP1 uh done the right way and built with the right system um I believe we're able to now pave the road of the word longevity and actually define it as we're going along the way and build that journey so as a client comes in or a member comes in now you have a comprehensive program where it says alright it's not a short deal doesn't mean you're not gonna have you on it from four and five and six months or two years or it's really just maybe a starter but then we have these other products that can actually give you outcome based and and the word outcome based is really what I focus on is evidence based and outcome based and with these peptide formulations that are out there that we like I said I don't mean to promote my company but we we manufacture them and and we and we provide it but it's an outcome based it's a stand alone or if you'd like to you know recovery you know we we have a a blend for that but but I think the paving of where we're going right now and to bring the and kinda put a bow on this is to actually we actually have now we're able to get the fitness in the medical field together and now have a lockstep to a journey that can actually give an outcome and but get by in from them as well the middle of the op ones when we started hearing it at the conferences it was kind of this high level rumbling then people were getting excited but also the controversy of like will this be a help or a hindrance is this the thing that's gonna get more people in our doors I'm curious because you're so in this advanced space of longevity what is the next kind of GLP1 not necessarily weight loss but the next thing in the longevity space that is in that rumbling phase that no one's really talking about at the forefront but let's fast forward three conference years from now that will be the forefront of conversation great question um yeah we went through GLP1 in the last 24 months right uh now we're into the peptides space and we'll have that for the net forever right but the question you're asking in the third part is stem cell stem cell therapy and that's what we're working on and we're partnering with a group now that we manufacture they manufacture stem cell treatments and and that'll be the next phase cause that's really where your personally your health will because you need that rebuilding stages I mean the peptides supplement that GLP1 helps you lose the weight it's a peptide but when you get to the stem cell side now we're really repairing the body and that's where longevity in three years you'll see you'll be there started this conversation off camera where you're like I'm here and it's the networking and I get to catch up with everybody so what else I mean now we're middle of the afternoon what's been dominating the conversations that you've been having may whether it's wins or perhaps some pain points that keep coming up amongst you and your colleagues you know I I would say there's a transition going on right now in the whole industry I think that there um you know we've gone through all these phases over decades right and the one thing that I I can tell you that because the medical things taking shape now and you know recovery rooms and all that and those you know those are great but but it's really now the medical side of it and how the engagement of the medical in integration and you know you got lifetime fitness do menorah you have a couple other groups out there I can't tell you who they are yet but there's some really big um um facilities being built one in Vegas right now and it's probably gonna be the craziest thing you ever heard cause they're gonna they're selling memberships for $100,000 a month I mean think about that but you get your own gym you got your 24 care 24 7 care and so I think the industry is gonna elevate when those type of players are coming in because Lifetime Fitness really dominates that luxury brand right now and then you got your HLPs but then there's that gap right so are there some groups out there that are gonna fill that middle gap I there are some brands out there that are small regional chains that I've you know that I've worked with um and then but there's some big you know corporations that are saying alright let's dominate this space let's you know fill it with the right products and and get the medical and the fitness and really do it right and there these are gonna be you know 200 million 300 million dollar facilities so yeah pretty crazy yeah it'll be interesting too'cause when I think about evolutions I wonder in like 10 20 years that actually might be the standard care and then who knows what advancements we have at that concierge medicine and that's what the business I'm in basically'cause it's you know you pay it's cash pay um I think that's where we have to go because the way the you know the way the healthcare system is set up with the you know uh with the high deductibles and you know families the the uh your premiums you're paying I think it's just gonna be obsolete and and it would be when families start looking at you know what's our best value and what's our bang for our buck it's the same thing as like you know Lifetime Fitness when they came into the market you know back when I got involved in in'98 you know they were a big box brand right but they were a luxury brand but they were charging we're only charging $34 a month and we you know we chipped away at that but now you're talking you know$300 a month for a single membership but but I but I believe that you know that next step I think it's gonna be like Equinox is doing a 40,000 dollar a month deal but this new group they're gonna charge 100,000 dollars a month that's going in a you're you're going into a whole different league there you know can't have you here in a conference place with the most famous buzzword of all of the year AI at this point we're done talking about the fact it's this new thing that gyms should adopt operators should adopt people what is hype what is not hype like where do you actually see the ROI at this stage in the game that people should be paying attention to yeah there's gonna be two things that's gonna happen with the healthcare as well so it's gonna go to universal healthcare or you're gonna go to AI healthcare so and we're in the cutting edge of that too as well we my company we're invested heavily in AI um are uh we're working on some really really neat stuff um to deliver as a membership based medical based longevity go back to longevity program that we're going to be rolling out that's all you know all the technologies there I in a scalable uh so that's gonna be probably the next phase of of really healthcare and and and the fitness side of it and the ones that aren't getting on board they're gonna be it's you're gonna be left behind so Eric when you hear longevity what is the focus what does it mean right now in the industry well you're right the definition of longevity could be lifespan health span anti aging there's all of these these words and phrases but I in looking cause I'm in the sweet spot right now I'm not 25 anymore but I'm not 90 and I believe that it is developing a series of lifestyle habits whether it's nutrition exercise cold plunging or whatever that they are that work for your body that allow you to heal yourselves to maximize your mitochondria to to affect your brain and your your psyche and your behavior every day when you get out of bed whereby you're in such a comfortable zone that you wanna continue those days into your 80s or 90s when most people are too sore they're too weak they're too fragile they're they're too metabolically inactive to actually have a productive and well rounded life there's been a lot of focus on GLP1 what that's doing for individuals and our industry as a whole but we were just having a conversation off camera about cognition and cognitive health tell me a little bit about what's exciting you in that space well I work with a company out of the out of Miami and it's called Doctor Lewis's Brain Health Formula and he's a 25 year uh metabolic and brain health researcher and he's created a formula many years ago that he believes helps with brain executive function cognition memory short term long term and uh he's actually measuring the uh telomeres uh in the chromosome and he's actually found in a in a very small group of people that the telomeres the telomeres are actually regrowing which is huge for this type of industry whereby you know cause it's always hard to measure fitness oh I feel great well what does that mean but if you can look at a really good metabolic profile and say well the mitochondria is producing more ATP the telomere is actually lengthening your your you know your forced vital capacity is increasing your vo max is actually increasing a little bit at 71 you've got all these measures that are almost proof positive that whatever this is doing as in totality is working pretty well in the fitness industry itself we've really seen a lot of interest currently from PE DC money like flooding in we're seeing a lot of consolidation from the operator side but obviously this word longevity is equally creating a lot of buzz where do you think we are heading in regards to the appetite for capital in this space two weeks ago Forbes had a very interesting article about the 3.1 trillion dollar uh longevity space but most of the companies who had received VC money in the last three or four years are actually either being sold or going out of business nobody wants to lose money on this cause longevity is here to stay in whatever form it takes I don't know if it's cold plunge I don't know if it's a vitamin supplement I'm working with a company that's using body wash to get nutrients into the body and they're gonna receive their first round of funding here in the next couple months as well so yeah there's a lot of things that are going on the Brain Health company in Ventura California is gonna be receiving money so we're chipping away we're chipping away and I just think that everyone wants to be healthy and active and have a great memory when they're 88 that's the main goal you've just listened to the All Things Fitness and wellness podcast hosted by Chrissy Van be sure to hit like and subscribe we have new podcast episodes weekly featuring industry insiders and influencers together we're on a mission for everyone to live a life fit and well