Issue No. 280: Groundswell
A proactive care plan for health, longevity, and performance.
The hydration hype has reached new heights.
Elixir of Life
Tapping unquenched consumer demand, replenishing electrolytes is lucrative.
- The global sports drink market is set to reach $59B by 2032.
- The performance hydration supplement category grew 52% last year, per SPINS.
Salty. More than H2O, sports drinks and powders supply sodium (salt), potassium, chloride, calcium, magnesium, and other electrolytes.
A proven performance enhancer, these drinks can prevent/reverse dehydration, boost cognitive function, and combat premature aging — all while maintaining natural energy and skin health.
But, outside of athletics, it’s not clear who should be sipping more salt.
Thirsty. Many brands claim 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated, but that stat is from a small 1998 survey. In reality, experts believe it’s far less.
Meanwhile, US adults already consume too much salt (primarily from UPFs), and half have high blood pressure. As a result, nutritionists warn daily electrolytes aren’t necessary absent intense exercise or strenuous labor.
Holy Water
Hydration drinks should be situational, but companies hope to make them nonnegotiable.
Feeling it. Unlike a multivitamin, most can feel the difference between being hydrated or not.
For intuitive health-seekers, sipping electrolytes becomes a habitual box to check — and forgoing that nutritional insurance is a missed opportunity.
Retooling sports drinks as supplements, brands are fighting for a spot in everyday routines.
Sporty. Gatorade, BODYARMOUR, and Powerade dominate arenas, but upstarts are pushing better-for-you formulas.
Cutting sugar, Logan Paul’s PRIME topped $1B in ‘23 sales, while NFLer Russell Wilson’s Local Weather and NBAer Kyle Kuzma’s BARCODE promise all-natural refueling for “everyday athletes.”
Daily. Beloved as a hangover cure, Liquid I.V. was first to achieve mass appeal, recently expanding to the UK. Preaching preventative hydration, Nuun was acquired by Nestlé in 2021.
Following the playbook, newcomers Cure and Hydrant shift focus from sports to general wellness, while LMNT cornered the high-performance market.
Vibey. Leveraging brand power, Liquid Death entered the mix with irony-laden electrolyte packs.
Leaning into lifestyle, Cadence, Big Day, and OEM are making hydrating high-brow. Finding their niche, waterdrop sells itself as the sustainable choice, while Cirkul is the go-to for fun flavors.
In the know. A complementary trend, sweat-trackers take the guesswork out of rehydrating. Nix and FLOWBIO target athletes, while WearOptimo and Epicore—creator of Gatorade’s patch—prioritize worker safety.
Another approach, Withings offers an in-toilet urine lab, and Apple plans to measure perspiration.
Tapped out. Lost in the hype, plain old H2O is a natural choice for optimal hydration. But as consumers put their health under a microscope, quality is a factor.
Half of US tap water has PFAs, and the EPA allows for high chlorine levels, raising cancer risk. Worse, bottled water contains microplastics — and many Big Bev brands sell filtered city water at a markup.
Looking ahead: For elite performance or everyday self-care, hydration beverages that satisfy consumer needs, while dispelling their fears, will fetch a premium.
🎙 On the Podcast
Tiny Health Founder and CEO Cheryl Sew Hoy discusses family-focused gut health.
Designed for moms and infants, Tiny Health’s comprehensive microbiome tests aim to improve immune systems and prevent chronic disease. In growth mode, it secured $8.5M last month.
We also cover: the importance of infant gut health, how our homes affect the microbiome, and plans for pet microbiome tests.
Listen to today’s episode here.
🧪 Equinox adds lab tests for members
The luxury gym chain partnered with diagnostics platform Function Health to deliver personalized performance plans based on biological data.
One of one. Tapping Function to unlock health data for members and trainers, Equinox is going beyond wearables to customize and quantify fitness programming.
Thinking proactively, Equinox also teamed with Oura and appointed a health advisory board, including Function co-founder Dr. Mark Hyman.
Gym-as-clinic. As we detailed in Issue No. 269, gyms are becoming equal parts treat and train.
Pursuing Rx fitness, Technogym unveiled AI-powered wellness kiosk Checkup, competing with EGYM’s healthspan-tracking platform BioAge.
Co-locating the clinic, Life Time launched longevity concept MIORA, offering blood panels, wellness therapies, and GLP-1 medication.
Punchline: As Equinox eyes movement as medicine, more gyms will break out the white coats, pushing the fitness industry to prioritize health outcomes over amenities.
Presented by Lifeforce
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The goal? Optimize the aging process — improving energy levels, body composition, and overall health for a long, fulfilling life.
Level up: Measure your baseline to get started.
🆕 The Ranch readies NY outpost
The high-end wellness retreat is set to open in New York’s Hudson Valley this month, expanding beyond its Malibu, California home base.
Elite retreat. Designed to cultivate mental, physical, and spiritual transformation, guests can partake in daily nature hikes, massages, meditation, and nutrition coaching. But, a five-day stay will cost upwards of $7K.
Check in. Enabling escape, wellness tourism and real estate are the industry’s two fastest- growing sectors.
Combining luxury with slow living, Hyatt-owned resort Miraval now counts three locations, and Thailand’s RAKxa Integrative Wellness Spa arrived in Aspen this past winter.
Relieving stress for business travelers, health-focused hotel concept SIRO opened in Dubai, and Equinox Hotels is headed to Saudi Arabia.
Move in. Diversifying, operators are rounding out destination stays with forever homes and memberships.
- NYC-based lifestyle club The WELL broke ground on Miami wellness condos in March.
- Resort operator Canyon Ranch raised $150M and opened its first lifestyle club last year.
- Global hotel brand Six Senses is building an eco-conscious resort and residential community in South Carolina.
Takeaway: Chronically stressed, people will pay to detox from daily life. Curating environments, operators are removing the noise of the modern world — promising inner peace for a price.
📰 News & Notes
- HYROX enhances gym partnerships.
- Planet Fitness names Colleen Keating CEO.
- Xponential, Litesport bring Rumble boxing to VR.
- Relational wellness studio Peoplehood enters B2B.
- Edge Theory Labs introduces cold water immersion app.
- Kaiser Permanente establishes food-as-medicine center.
- adidas drops NFT sneakers on STEPN’s move-to-earn app.
- Seed Health launches AI-powered microbiome mapping platform.
- Peloton drops free app tier for new users, citing poor conversion rates.
- InsideTracker debuts genetic scores for healthspan. [Re-read: DTC DNA]
- alphabeats opens US preorders for music-driven mental conditioning app.
- Plunge adds new products, including modular chiller and inflatable cold tubs.
- Life Time completes PENN1 club in NYC with pickleball courts, strength spaces.
- Tap into our network. Find a new role on Fitt Jobs. // Hire top candidates with Fitt Talent Partners.
💰 Money Moves
- Metabolic health platform Levels raised over $2.5M in crowdfunding.
More from Fitt Insider: Glucose Tracking For All - Pinch, provider of in-home medspa treatments, closed a $3.5M seed round.
- Fitness franchisor Extraordinary Brands acquired group training concept Eat the Frog Fitness.
- Hybrid behavioral health company Two Chairs raised $72M in a Series C round led by Amplo.
- Youth sports umbrella company Unrivaled Sports acquired NJ-based baseball complex Diamond Nation and youth sporting event operator YTH Sports.
- Adventure van manufacturer Storyteller Overland acquired camping trailer company TAXA Outdoors.
- Virtual eating disorder care company Equip raised $35M from undisclosed investors.
- Genetically engineered probiotics company unlocked labs secured an undisclosed investment from Seaside Ventures.
- DotCom Therapy, a pediatric mental health startup for schools, raised an undisclosed amount in a Series C round and rebranded as Huddle Up.
- Pickleball 901, operator of Pickleball Pop-Ups, raised an undisclosed amount for expansion.
- Freespira, maker of an FDA-cleared digital therapeutic for panic attacks, added $22.6M in new funding.
- Integrative medicine clinic Nava Health received an undisclosed investment from Decathlon Capital Partners.
- Women’s mental health startup LunaJoy Health raised $4.2M from investors including Y Combinator and FoundersX Fund.
Today’s newsletter was brought to you by Anthony Vennare, Joe Vennare, Ryan Deer, and Jasmina Breen.