Club Solutions Magazine

A recent systematic review and meta-analysis examines how free weight and machine-based strength training compare across three outcomes: maximal strength, muscle hypertrophy and jump performance — a common proxy for power — and the findings may hold weight for club equipment decisions.

Among the paper's central takeaways, no differences were detected between the two training modalities in a direct comparison, including among more advanced trainees. In this episode of Research Debrief, hosts Luke Carlson and Rachel Chonko break down the findings and what they mean for club operators, from planning strength equipment investments as demand grows to how clubs educate members and staff about progression.

📚 Access the show notes page for links to the research papers discussed on our website.

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The fitness industry never stands still and the software that runs it can't afford to either. Member expectations now reach into wellness, recovery and GLP-1 programs, AI is reshaping sales and service, and operators are adding, trimming and changing services as their businesses evolve. John Heppenstall, the senior sales executive at Jonas Fitness, says the operators best positioned for what comes next will build a flexible tech stack around their core needs rather than around whatever is newest.

Heppenstall joins Club Solutions editor and podcast host Taylor Gabhart to discuss the tech stack philosophy behind Jonas Fitness, the coming Compete Atlas platform and the company's plan to make both Compete and Compete Atlas HIPAA compliant by the end of the year. Heppenstall also covered the role of AI in software development and member service, the questions operators should ask vendors about protecting personal health information and why long-term relationships remain central to selecting and keeping a technology partner.

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Vacant big-box retail has become one of the fitness industry's biggest real estate opportunities and VASA Fitness is leaning into that for its growth strategy.

Chris Tarrant, the chief growth officer for VASA, joined Club Solutions Magazine editor and podcast host Taylor Gabhart to discuss VASA's adaptive reuse strategy, including how a Kmart redevelopment in Colorado Springs sparked surrounding investment, why fitness clubs outperform traditional retail tenants on dwell time and visit frequency and what developers should prioritize when negotiating new anchor-tenant details.

With VASA on pace to open roughly 35 clubs over the next two years, the conversation gives operators a real-world look at positioning fitness as an indispensable co-tenant in today's retail landscape. Tarrant's approach offers a clear framework for converting empty square footage into long-term member and landlord value.

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A landmark review from one of the field's leading researchers reframes structured exercise as a clinical tool for preventing chronic disease and puts health club operators at the center of the solution.

This episode, hosts Luke Carlson and Rachel Chonko break down the review published in Cell Metabolism by longevity and exercise physiology researcher Dr. Bente Klarlund Pedersen. They walk through five takeaways operators can apply directly to programming and member communication.

This Episode Covers:

- Why the paper reframes exercise as medicine rather than general lifestyle advice, citing Pedersen's assertion that structured exercise should be prescribed for non-communicable disease.

- Whey weight loss is a poor proxy for exercise's health benefits and the seven physiological mechanisms through which exercise protects against disease.

- Why supervised exercise consistently outperforms unsupervised exercise in clinical outcomes, even when adherence is equal.

- Why the paper's finding extend across a broad range of chronic conditions including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, colon cancer, COPD and cognitive decline.

- Why the researchers call for physical activity to be made enjoyable, convenient and social and what that means coming from a scientist rather than an industry voice.

📚 Access the show notes page for links to the research papers discussed on our website.

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or SoundCloud
📺 Watch on YouTube

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New research shows the gap between giving members a program and coaching them through it is bigger and more profitable than most operators realize.

This episode of The Research Debrief examines a 10 week study comparing three approaches to exercise delivery. The findings offer a data-backed case for what supervision is actually worth — both in member retention and in results.

This Episode Covers:

- The study design: a self-guided group (program only), an app-guided group (program plus digital coaching) and a supervised group (in-person personal or small group training).

- Adherence results after 10 weeks: 52% for self-guided, 81% for app-guided and 88% for supervised.

- Performance outcomes: all three groups improved fitness, but the supervised group saw statistically significant greater gains in lean muscle mass, strength and fat loss.

- Why the supervised group's advantage isn't just about showing up — it's about getting measurably more out of each workout.

📚 Access the show notes page for links to the research papers discussed on our website.

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or SoundCloud
📺 Watch on YouTube

👉 Stay ahead of fitness, leadership and research

Subscribe to the Club Solutions newsletter to receive industry insights, trends and research-driven strategies delivered straight to your inbox: clubsolutionsmagazine.com/newsletter/

A new review breaks down what we actually know — and don't know — about sleep's role in building muscle.

This episode examines a paper published in the Strength and Conditioning Journal that reviews the mechanistic and observational evidence linking sleep to muscle hypertrophy. For operators, it's a timely reminder that member-facing messaging around sleep and recovery may be more black-and-white than the science actually supports.

This Episode Covers:

- Direct evidence connecting habitual sleep duration to resistance training — induced muscle growth remains limited, despite widespread industry assumptions.

- Mechanistic research does support a link between inadequate sleep and impaired training adaptation, even without robust randomized controlled trials.

- There's an important distinction between a single night of poor sleep and chronic sleep deprivation — the latter is where evidence for negative impact is strongest.

- Sleep needs vary significantly by individual, undercutting one-size-fits all recommendations like "get eight hours."

- The evidence supports pulling back from optimization-focused messaging, which research and member sentiment both suggest may be doing more harm than good.

📚 Access the show notes page for links to the research papers discussed on our website.

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or SoundCloud
📺 Watch on YouTube

👉 Stay ahead of fitness, leadership and research

Subscribe to the Club Solutions newsletter to receive industry insights, trends and research-driven strategies delivered straight to your inbox: clubsolutionsmagazine.com/newsletter/

A new narrative review challenges the fitness industry's growing obsession with recovery tech and puts sleep, nutrition and training back at the center.

This Episode Covers:

- The "cake vs. icing" framework: sleep, nutrition and appropriate are the fundamentals, recovery devices are the icing.

- Why simply not exercising — true rest — is one of the most effective recovery modalities, despite being commercially unappealing.

- The research-backed hierarchy of recovery strategies: foam rolling, compression garments, cryotherapy, hydrotherapy and active recovery show relatively strong evidence, while sauna, recovery boots and massage guns show weaker or mixed evidence.

- The disconnect between what's popular and what's proven.

- The often overlooked role of psychosocial recovery — social, environmental and emotional stressors — in an athlete's overall recovery.

📚 Access the show notes page for links to the research papers discussed on our website.

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or SoundCloud📺 Watch on YouTube

👉 Stay ahead of fitness, leadership and research

Subscribe to the Club Solutions newsletter to receive industry insights, trends and research-driven strategies delivered straight to your inbox: clubsolutionsmagazine.com/newsletter/

A new research paper reframes weight loss for the GLP-1 era and it puts supervised resistance training at the center of the conversation.

This 52-page paper, published in the journal Pharmaceuticals, is focused on optimizing weight loss in the GLP-1 era and is primarily written for physicians. Hosts Luke Carlson and Rachel Chonko break down what it means for club operators working with a growing population of GLP-1 users.

This Episode Covers:

- New research introduces "high-quality weight loss" — why the scale is no longer the metric that matters.

- Muscle preservation becomes the industry's next big job as more members turn to GLP-1 medications.

- Why GLP-1s, resistance training, and nutrition need to work together, not separately.

- The case for supervised resistance training as clubs' biggest commercial opportunity in the GLP-1 era.

📚 Access the show notes page for links to the research papers discussed on our website.

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or SoundCloud
📺 Watch on YouTube

👉 Stay ahead of fitness, leadership and research

Subscribe to the Club Solutions newsletter to receive industry insights, trends and research-driven strategies delivered straight to your inbox: clubsolutionsmagazine.com/newsletter/

What can eight years running restaurant franchise operations teach a fitness brand about growth? Chequan Lewis, the CEO of Crunch Fitness, says the lessons translate more directly than most operators would expect and they come down to the small, repeatable moments that happen on the gym floor everyday. As Crunch pushes past 550 clubs and prepares to plant its flag internationally, Lewis argues the brand's next chapter depends on getting those granular details right, club-by-club, check-in by check-in.

Lewis joined Club Solutions Magazine editor and podcast host Taylor Gabhart to discuss his transition from Yum Brands to fitness, Crunch's franchisee partnership model and the "three Es" — experience, execution and evolution — that guide the brand's approach to innovation. The conversation offers operators a clear framework for balancing growth ambitions with the day-to-day consistency that keeps members and franchisees invested for the long haul.

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The science says the fundamentals if strength and conditioning don't change based on gender and that has real implications for how operators program and market to women.

In this episode, hosts Luke Carlson and Rachel Chonko break down the National Strength and Conditioning Association's newly published position statement on strength and conditioning of female athletes. The paper challenges a wave of social-media-driven claims about how women "should" train and offers operators a clearer, evidence-based framework for programming.

This Episode Covers:

- Why syncing workouts to the menstrual cycle isn't backed by current research

- Individual differences matter more for programming than male vs. female category

- Women start with less upper body strength on average — here's what that means for training focus

- Why simplifying training for women (not overcomplicating it) may be the key to boosting participation

📚 Access the show notes page for links to the research papers discussed on our website.

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or SoundCloud
📺 Watch on YouTube

👉 Stay ahead of fitness, leadership and research

Subscribe to the Club Solutions newsletter to receive industry insights, trends and research-driven strategies delivered straight to your inbox: clubsolutionsmagazine.com/newsletter/