Club Solutions Magazine

A comprehensive meta-analysis published in Digital Medicine examines years of research on wearable accuracy across generations of the device. For fitness professionals, the findings offer a clear, evidence-based answer to a question members ask everyday: how much should I actually trust my watch?

This Episode Covers:

- A major new meta-analysis breaks down Apple Watch accuracy across generations of the device

- Heart rate and AFib detection prove highly reliable, often within one beat per minute of clinical devices

- Sleep and step count land in the "moderately accurate" range

- Calorie burn and VO2 max are the least reliable metrics — sometimes off by 100%

- What this means for how operators talk to members about their wearable data

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The high-value, low-price gym floor doesn't look — or feel — like it did a decade ago, and the operators who've caught on are the ones pulling ahead. Todd Scartozzi, the COO of Retro Fitness, joined the Club Solutions Magazine podcast to unpack how strength training, recovery amenities and a hospitality mindset are reshaping what members expect from an HVLP membership and why clubs that ignore the shift risk falling behind.

Scartozzi traces his path from two decades in hotel operations to running Retro Fitness' growth engine. He digs into Gen Z and Millenial members' pivot toward strength and specialized training, how recovery has moved from an add-on amenity to table stakes and why value perception — not price alone — now drives HVLP loyalty. For operators rethinking their floor plan or membership tiers, Scartozzi's playbook offers a concrete blueprint.

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A systematic review finds that lifting and lowering weights slowly outperforms self-paced training for both nervous system adaptation and strength gains.

The paper, published in the journal Healthcare, is by a team of Stanford researchers examining how lifting tempo affects the brain-to-muscle connection during resistance training. For operators coaching strength training, the findings offer a clear, low-cost coaching cue that could meaningfully improve member outcomes.

This Episode Covers:

- Tempo training uses a metronome to slow both the lifting and lowering phase of each rep

- Across 12 studies, tempo training improved nervous system adaptation where self-paced training showed no change

- The tempo-controlled group also saw significantly greater strength gains

- Researchers suggest even bigger benefits may exist for injured populations, pending future study

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

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New research reveals why lowering the weight — not just lifting it — may be the most valuable, most overlooked element of resistance training.

A new systematic review and meta-analysis published in Sports examines the comparative benefits of eccentric versus concentric training across healthy adults, older adults and clinical populations. For operators, the findings challenge a widespread blind spot in how strength training is coached and programmed on the gym floor.

This Episode Covers:

- Eccentric vs. concentric training: what the latest meta-analysis reveals

- Why lowering the weight may matter more than lifting it

- The link between power, rate of force development, and longevity

- How eccentric training benefits clinical populations, including COPD patients

- What this means for how trainers should be coaching strength work

📚 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 study finds that modest, concurrent improvements in sleep, exercise and nutrition can add years to lifespans — without a lifestyle overhaul.

In Episode 21 of The Research Debrief, hosts Rachel Chonko and Luke Carlson break down a newly published study in The Lancet examining how small, combined changes in sleep, physical activity and nutrition affect long-term health and lifespan.

This Episode Covers:

- New Lancet study tracks an eight-year population cohort to measure how sleep, activity, and nutrition impact lifespan and health span

- Small, combined changes — not major overhauls — produced the biggest results

- Just 5 more minutes of sleep, 2 more minutes of exercise, and 2 extra veggie servings per day added a year to lifespan

- A slightly bigger set of changes, including fish and whole grains, added four years

- Why thesee evidence-backed basics are missing from most clubs' longevity offerings

📚 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/

Fitness marketing's old seasonal playbook is breaking down and clubs that focus too much on January are leaving money on the table the other 11 months. That's the data-backed case from CEO Eric Goodstadt of UpSwell, the fitness marketing platform that works with more than 4,000 facilities nationwide, ranging from big-box gyms to boutique studios.

Goodstadt joined Club Solutions Magazine editor and podcast host Taylor Gabhart to unpack two trends reshaping how clubs market and retain members the flattening of seasonal demand and a strategic pivot from constant acquisition toward maximizing the value of existing members. The conversation covers whete to start when marketing to certain member segments, the rising cost of new members and why the first 180-days determines whether a membership lasts six months or four years.

Listen to the full conversation here.

Succession planning isn't a finish line — it's a process that starts years before any leader steps back. Scott Gillespie knows this better than most. A 40-year fitness industry veteran, Gillespie owns Saco Sports and Fitness, a multigenerational outcomes-based health club, and a F45 training studio in Maine, along with many other roles in the industry.

Gillespie joined Club Solutions Magazine editor and podcast host Taylor Gabhart to discuss how he prepared his team to lead Saco without him in the building. The conversation covers how crisis reveals character in future leaders, the gradual step-back strategy that eased both staff and members into the transition, and why documenting systems two decades ago made the handoff possible today.

Being overweight and being unfit are not the same thing. That's the central finding of a new meta-analysis published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine and it carries significant implications for how fitness operators communicate the value of exercise to members.

Hosts Rachel Chonko and Luke Carlson break down the findings of the meta-analysis examining how cardiorespiratory fitness — not body weight — predicts mortality risk. The research synthesized 716 individual studies over 20 meta-analyses, making it one of the most comprehensive looks at this question to date.

This Episode Covers:

- Why the fitness industry has historically conflated weight loss with fitness, and how that messaging has done members a disservice

- The "fit-fat paradigm" explained: why an overweight individual with strong cardiorespiratory fitness can carry the same mortality risk as a normal-weight fit person

- Why clubs investing in longevity programming should anchor those offerings in evidence-based aerobic exercise rather than less-studied modalities like cold plunge or infrared therapy

- How operators can reframe the member value proposition — shifting the conversation from how exercise changes your body to how it extends your life

📚 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/

As member acquisition costs continue to rise, one of the biggest growth opportunities for fitness businesses may already exist in your database. In this webinar, discover proven strategies to reconnect with former members and turn past cancellations into renewed relationships.

From personalized outreach campaigns and targeted offers to smart use of automation and member data, our panel of industry experts will break down what’s working right now to win back lapsed members. You’ll also learn how to create fresh experiences, events and programs that give former members a compelling reason to return even if they’ve been gone for years.

What You’ll Learn:

- Personalized outreach and offers that bring lapsed members back.

- Using data and automation to identify who’s most likely to return.

- Creating events and programs that feel fresh to people who haven’t been in for years.

The fitness industry has spent years talking about integrating with health care. David Flench, the president and CEO of the Medical Fitness Association, says the time for talking is over and operators who build the right structure now stand to fundamentally change the role fitness plays in the broader care system.

Flench joined Club Solutions Magazine editor and podcast host Taylor Gabhart to discuss what the medical fitness model actually looks like in practice, how operators can take their first meaningful steps toward clinical integration and why the biggest barriers are about trust.

Drawing on more than 25 years at the intersection of fitness, health care, and operations, Flench outlines how MFA's facility certifications give operators a credible framework to differentiate themselves, build relationships and serve populations that have traditionally felt out of place in a gym.