Healthcare is being rebuilt for specific people, conditions, and outcomes. While fitness is strengthening community.
Fitness Rebuilds Social Infrastructure
The latest American Time Use Survey found only 30% of adults socialize daily, down 8% over the past decade. Instead, more leisure time is spent watching TV, scrolling social media, or playing video games.
- Traditional gathering places like bars and movie theaters are disappearing as home ownership, friend groups, and social outings decline.
- Meanwhile, the number of gyms and studios has grown roughly 60% over the past 15 years, with 100M Americans visiting annually and 57% joining for connection.
- Beyond the gym, bathhouses, run clubs, and other wellness third places are giving people new ways to connect around shared goals and healthy habits.
As traditional social infrastructure disappears, fitness is filling the gap with meaningful connection.
Medtronic Expands Into Medical Wearables
Medtronic announced an exclusive US distribution agreement with Corsano Health, bringing its FDA-cleared, multi-parameter wearable to hospitals and hospital-at-home programs.
- The wrist-worn device continuously monitors heart rate, respiratory rate, blood oxygen, skin temperature, and activity, giving clinicians real-time patient data beyond traditional bedside monitors.
- Entering hospitals, continuous monitoring will help providers follow patients before surgery, during recovery, and after they return home.
Moving from consumer wellness into clinical workflows, the next wave of wearables will become part of the healthcare system itself.
GLP-1 Use Reaches a New High.
A new Gallup survey found 11% of US adults are currently taking a GLP-1 for weight loss, nearly quadruple the rate from 2024.
- Awareness has climbed to 91%, while obesity has declined from its 2022 peak to 36.4%.
- Brand-name drugs still account for most prescriptions, but compounded GLP-1s continue gaining share as patients look for more affordable options.
GLP-1s are no longer a niche therapy. As adoption broadens, providers, fitness operators, and consumer health companies are evolving their offerings to serve a rapidly growing patient population.
