Active Overwatch 024

Here’s your weekly roundup of news, trends, and stories in the health & fitness space. A list of what’s happening, new innovations, interesting finds, and more.

Weekly roundup

Whoop adds step counting metric. The feature will be in a beta for a few months while it calibrates properly and users will have the ability to show/hide the step counting metric from their dashboard.

• After refusing to add this metric for over a decade, Whoop has finally given in due to the overwhelming evidence that high daily steps lowers chronic diseases. First, I like that this is optional and can be hidden, somewhat holding on to the original lore. Second, steps is a main metric for the general population so this opens Whoop up to a bigger target market.

Rhone becomes an official partner of the NBA. As they become the official dress shirt of the NBA and also adds Kevin Love as an official ambassador.

• I’ve noticed Rhone leaning more and more into nicer dress wear. Especially at the recent Jack Taylor Fall Wellness Showcase, dress wear was on full display. I like this direction for them because it’s a nice differentiator in a crowded lifestyle clothing space.

FTC adopts “click-to-cancel” rule. The federal trade commission finalized this rule, which will require businesses to make cancelling a subscription just as easy as signing up.

• What does this have to do with health & fitness? Well, this will make cancelling your gym, or other memberships, much easier now - I’m talking about you Planet Fitness. Companies that sell recurring fee products are no longer allowed to make difficult cancellation processes. If you signed up online, you have to be able to cancel online too.

Amp launches pre-sales for their AI fitness device. A strength training hardware device you attach to the wall. It’s slim and minimal for your home space and the AI automatically adjusts the weight based on your workout and resistance needed.

• This product feels like a mini Tonal. The main differences being it’s slimmer, has just a single cable arm, does not have a big screen in the middle, and the aesthetic is more of a home decor vibe. I’m not really that big on the AI component of it, but I think the slim, home appeal is an intriguing differentiator.

Tom Holland’s Bero launches. A premium non-alcoholic beer that features 3 different brews. It’s inspired by Tom Holland’s personal journey with sobriety.

• Normally these celebrity CPG products feel a bit fake. A way for them to make a quick buck and leverage their audience. But this launch of Bero by Tom Holland is different because he is sober himself and this product actually means something to him, there’s a story behind it. Go watch this quick video of him talking about his sobriety and I guarantee you’ll be rooting for this brand like I am.

Nike Strength inks exclusive deal with Precor. This is an exclusive partnership with Dimension 6 Fitness to distribute Nike Strength products to fitness facilities across North America.

• Last week I talked about how I feel like Nike Strength is just a brand image play for their in-person studios to have sleek Nike branded equipment because I have yet to see this equipment anywhere else. Well, this week I’m eating my words. It appears Nike is making a push to get into commercial gyms with this partnership and I owe them an apology.