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Active Overwatch 037

Miami rebranding for fitness, OpenAI launches longevity model, Meta smart glasses for athletes, and more...

Published on

January 31, 2025

by

Jake Heyen

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

Miami is rebranding from partying to fitness. As officials are attempting to rebrand the month of march, which is known for Spring Break partying, to a fitness & wellness month. By hosting fitness events all month instead, including Wodapalooza in 2026.

  • On one hand I think this is a cool initiative. Fitness & wellness events are growing at a rapid pace and people are itching for these in person experiences that are health oriented. But on the other hand I also think positioning this as a “city rebrand”, away from partying, is a stretch. Both personas can live out at the same time, in my opinion. No need to take the Miami out of Miami.

OpenAI launches a longevity model. Together with Retro Biosciences, they created an AI model for cellular reprogramming. It is capable of turning regular cells into younger stem cells for anti-aging. With a reported 50x greater efficiency than humans.

  • Now, I’m not gonna sit here and act like I know the science and technology behind this. I don’t. But AI geared towards health sciences is probably the most exciting application to me. It’s hard to wrap your head around it, but imagine a world where you can reverse your cell aging or decrease the amount of time your body needs to sleep or even expand your brain’s mental capacity. All of this feels possible with AI.

Hormbles Chormbles unveils power candy. Created by the founder of RxBar, Jared Smith. This new candy is a chocolate bar with no sugar, 10 grams of protein, and only 100 calories.

  • Protein food is all the rage and going to be a huge trend throughout 2025. There is protein pasta, protein chips, protein candy, and now protein chocolate with Hormbles Chormbles. Personally, I love the trend. I like to snack and have a sweet tooth, so if I’m able to swap out foods that previously had zero nutritional value with foods that have some protein and are lower in calories, then count me in.

Hilton Hotels announces partnership with Calm. Where select rooms will offer wellness content from the wellbeing app Calm. Aiming to address increasing consumer preferences for wellness. This also follows Hilton’s recent expansion to in-room fitness in a partnership with Peloton.

  • I’ve mentioned this before, but I think another big trend in 2025 is going to be hotels focusing more on wellness. Giving you a luxury, health club like experience while traveling. One of the worst parts about traveling is that it throws you off your routine. Hotel gyms are notoriously bad and the lobby food is usually meh. Hotels are realizing this and making changes.

Meta working on smart glasses for athletes, together with Oakley. Glasses with the camera more towards the center of the frame that would appeal to cyclists and other outdoor athletes.

  • Now THIS is an application of VR that I’m intrigued by. Sure, being able to feel like I’m sitting court side at an NBA game from my couch is cool. But I don’t want my life to turn into a simulation because of technology. Instead, I want it to enhance my real-world living experiences like this.

ICYMI On Social

  • AI powered dumbbells that could change weightlifting forever.
  • Portable gym pods are gaining traction in Europe.
  • The most expensive gym in the U.S. at $10,000 per month.
  • “This week in fitness” video featuring FDA announcements, Endorphins Running app, and new Promix products.
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