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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.

Recent Headlines

Plunge launches a community funding round. Allowing customers and fans to invest and own a piece of the brand. With incentives including a private Wim Hof breathwork session, a private plunge party for 300 guests, and a 30% off lifetime discount.

• I thought this was a really cool move by Plunge. From the beginning they’ve been extremely focused on their community. From gifting tours with big names like Andrew Huberman, Rich Roll, and Yes Theory. To their presence at popular social events like Stagecoach, Diplo’s Run Club, and Art Basel. They just do community the right way. And this is a cool full circle move to give this opportunity to their community. If you’re interested in investing, you can do so here.

Creatine gummy brand, Ovrload, caught up in controversy. After James Smith did third party testing and found their gummies have just 0.5% of the claimed creatine dosage.

• First off, everyone should go watch the full video by James Smith linked above. He does an excellent job explaining everything and his findings. Now on to my thoughts. I’m not gonna sit here and rip on Ovrload.  I don’t know the full details and I’m not involved. They made an announcement that they are investigating their manufacturer and are actively look for a new supply chain partner. For everyone’s sake, I hope this was just malpractice by the manufacturer. But regardless of the outcome, this is a great reminder to really research the products you are taking. And that goes for any brand.

Bryan Johnson announces his plan to build a Don’t Die religion. Explaining everything about the ideology in a long tweet thread, and how it will save the human race and usher in an existence more spectacular than we can imagine.

• I went down the Bryan Johnson rabbit hole last week after watching the Don’t Die documentary on Netflix. And boy is he a polarizing figure. People either love him or hate him. And look, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but let me tell you what I personally think. The two big negatives on him from the documentary were 1) That he provides no real scientific value because what he’s doing isn’t a controlled scientific study with many samples and 2) That he is just a grifter trying to build a big audience and sell snake oil products to them. To the first negative, who cares if it doesn’t qualify as a scientific study. He is literally using his own body as a personal science experiment. The findings are far better than nothing. And to the second negative, if you think his products are snake oil then go test them yourself and find out. And people are entitled to sell things and build businesses, is he just supposed to do everything for free? I think what Bryan Johnson’s doing is great, block out the haters Bryan.

FluidLogic introduces the world’s first intelligent hydration pack. A wearable pack providing personalized hydration for endurance sports athletes. It uses an algorithm based on the athlete’s biometrics and exertion data to give haptic reminders when they should drink more water.

• I wanted to highlight this because it is a cool example of the many different verticals and use cases within every industry. Hydration is a hot topic these days. From the many electrolyte brands, to the tech brands developing wearable hydration patches. There are cool products being built in the space. And it never crossed my mind how motorsport athletes stay hydrated and how that can be optimized. But it makes sense, and just reminds me how vast the world of health & fitness is if you step back and look around.

Bathe unveils plans for a social bathhouse in Austin. In a phased opening that will start Spring of 2025, and include an exclusive social club and outdoor bathhouse. With phase two rolling out early 2026, and will include an indoor public bathhouse featuring a full suite of wellness experiences.

• Bathhouses and wellness clubs stay hot. 2024 was the year this space really got put on the map with places like Othership and Remedy Place, and the momentum continues early into 2025. My prediction for the next phase is that it will go more mainstream due to the varying levels of experiences. What I mean by that is some of these places are aimed at being more traditional, with cold plunges and saunas that consumers can go use on their own time and comfort level. While other places are aimed at being more experiential with instructors taking you through meditations, chants, and breathwork. So depending on what each persons speed is, they have a place that fits them.

ICYMI On Social

• Plunge is turning customers into owners of the company.
• Life Time is becoming a full suite wellness brand.
• Coke’s new prebiotic soda sparks commentary.
• Wildest brand activations from Expo West.
• “This week in fitness” video featuring Expo West, Sweetgreen fries, and Cadence fuel bars.