All Things Fitness and Wellness

This Week in Fitness: Noom & Weight Watchers Redefine GLP-1 Strategy as Clubs Compete on Experience

• Krissy Vann

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This week on This Week in Fitness, host Krissy Vann covers the key business stories shaping the fitness and wellness industry as 2025 comes to a close, including:

-Noom expanding further into preventive health with microdose GLP-1s, behavioral coaching, and biomarker testing

-Weight Watchers launching a redesigned platform that integrates GLP-1 prescribing, nutrition, coaching, fitness content, and community

-ABC Fitness Wellness Watch Q4 2025, with new data on joins, cancellations, engagement, community, payments, and AI adoption across 40 million members

-Oura’s 2025 Year in Review, highlighting global trends in sleep, movement, stress, and cardiovascular health

-The Edge Fitness Clubs announcing a $25 million reinvestment in equipment, amenities, and branding

-Life Time West Boca, the company’s first adults-only boutique club in Florida, introducing CTR and a recovery-forward design

Stay fit, stay informed, and keep your fitness business in shape.

00:00- Intro
00:15- Oura’s 2025 Year in Review
01:21- ABC Fitness Wellness Watch Q4 2025
02:31- Noom expanding with microdose GLP-1s
03:12- Weight Watchers launching a redesigned platform
03:52- Edge Fitness Clubs announcing a $25 million reinvestment
04:26- Life Time West Boca

#gym #gymowners #fitnessbusiness

welcome to This Week in fitness where we crunch the latest fitness business headlines all in under 5 minutes I'm your host Chrissy Van and here's what's making news we'll start with what the numbers tell us about how people actually showed up this year Ora has released its 2025 year in review drawing from deidentified data across millions of members worldwide sleep quality remained one of the clearest differentiators by region New Zealand and Australia recorded the highest average sleep scores at around 80 followed closely by several European countries Ireland LED daily movement with members averaging nearly 9,000 steps per day stress levels varied widely The United States recorded the highest average stressed minutes per day

at just over 1:

20 while several countries often associated with high quality of life including Canada the Netherlands and Norway also ranked among the most stressed across most metrics women outperformed men averaging more sleep higher activity scores and a younger cardiovascular age men however logged fewer stressed minutes per day the data reinforces how closely sleep movement stress and cardiovascular health remain linked and how wearables are becoming long term behavior tracking tools not just fitness accessories that behavior gap shows up even more clearly inside gyms and studios ABC Fitness's Wellness Watch Q4 2025 which analyzed activity from more than 40 million members across 30,000 gyms and studios paints a picture of a market under retention pressure James recorded roughly 7.2 million new joins in 2025 about 1% year over year growth alongside approximately 600 million check ins also up about 1% at the same time cancellations rose 8% signaling that churn not acquisition became the defining challenge of the year studios followed a different pattern new joins declined by about 3% but check ins increased and cancellations fell suggesting a stronger member commitment once someone has joined Pilates stood out as a clear example joins dropped more than 6% but check ins rose over 4% and cancellations fell nearly 9% community emerged as one of the strongest retention drivers nearly half of Gen Z members cited community as the primary reason they stayed and 73% of consumers overall agreed that being part of a fitness community helps keep them motivated that shift in behavior is also reshaping how health platforms are approaching care Noom is moving further into preventative health with the launch of Noom Med with Proactive Health the new program pairs microdoses of G L P1 medication with behavioral coaching and at home biomarker testing rather than focusing solely on weight loss noom is targeting early metabolic risk factors linked to chronic disease the program emphasizes habit formation education and tracking markers like blood sugar and cholesterol to support earlier intervention nuance says the phased rollout will continue through 2026 reflecting growing demand for longevity focused data driven care models Weight Watchers has unveiled a redesigned platform that fully integrates GLP1 prescribing personalized nutrition coaching fitness content and community into one coordinated experience at the center is Weight Watchers Med Plus which pairs access to board certified physicians with behavioral support through its GLP1 Success program the updated app introduces a weight health score AI powered body composition tracking and expanded strength focus programming notably Weight Watchers is also offering its GLP1 support program to individuals who receive prescriptions elsewhere positioning itself as a long term infrastructure for medication users not just a prescription provider and another hvlp operator is doubling down on that strategy The Edge Fitness Clubs announced a 25 million dollar investment to upgrade equipment amenities and branding across its portfolio the reinvestment includes new strength equipment expanded recovery offerings like Edge Lift and infrared and refreshed club design standards the edge now serves more than 350,000 members across 43 locations in nine states and the upgrades reflect growing competition among hvlp brands to deliver boutique style experiences at accessible price points at the premium end of the market the same themes are playing out lifetime opened Lifetime West Boca on December 19th its sixth Florida location and its first adults only boutique club in the state the 37,000 square foot club introduces a smaller more design forward format focused on training recovery and community the location is also the first in Florida to offer CTR Lifetime's reformer based athletic training program recovery amenities including cold plunge sauna steam and life spa services are central to the experience reinforcing how premium operators are prioritizing longevity joint health and sustainable performance as operators head into 2026 the data suggests the next phase of competition will be one less by who signs the most members and more by who keeps them showing up that's it for This Week in fitness by ATF W I'm your host Chrissy Van and remember stay fit stay informed and keep your fitness business in shape

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Krissy Vann

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