Building a Fitness Business That Doesn't Need You with Scott Gillespie
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.
June 8, 20267 min
Fit, Not Thin: What the Research Says About Exercise and Longevity
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/
June 5, 202659 min
Thought Leaders: Winning Back the Ones Who Left
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.
May 27, 202628 min
David Flench on Fitness's Role in Health Care
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.
May 25, 20269 min
Does Taking a Break Matter? What New Research Says about Muscle Memory and Training Gaps
New research challenges the fitness industry assumption that consistency is the only path to results.
Episode 19 of The Research Debrief examines a paper in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science and Sports asking a question nearly every club member eventually asks: what happens to my progress if I stop training? The findings carry real implications for how operators and fitness professionals communicate with lapsed members.
This Episode Covers:
- What the study tested: Continuous training for 30 weeks vs. 10 weeks on, 10 off, 10 on — measuring changes in strength and muscle size.
- What happens during a break: Strength and muscle decline, but participants retained more than their pre-training baseline.
- The muscle memory effect: The returning group regained strength and muscle faster than the continuous group, driven by the persistence of myonuclei.
- The 30-week result: Both groups finished at the same levels of strength and muscle size.
- The message for operators: Re-engaging lapsed members works better with encouragement than guilt and the science supports it.
📚 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/
May 18, 202610 min
Why Passion Isn't Enough: The Case for Evidence-Based Fitness
Most fitness professionals believe they are giving members accurate, up-to-date guidance. The research says otherwise.
Episode 18 of The Research Debrief examines two papers that reveal a significant disconnect between what the science says about resistance training and what practitioners and exercisers actually believe — and makes the case for why an evidence-based approach is essential for the fitness industry's credibility and long-term impact.
This episode covers:
- Two peer-reviewed papers reveal that gym-goers and fitness professionals alike can only identify exercise myths versus facts 50% of the time — essentially a coin flip.
- What "evidence-based" actually means, and why it's different from being passionate, experienced, or well-credentialed.
- Why the fitness industry's reliance on enthusiasm over expertise is costing it credibility with consumers, healthcare providers, and policymakers.
📚 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/
May 13, 202632 min
The Next Era of Fitness with Mark Mastrov — sponsored by ROR
Few names carry as much weight in the fitness industry as Mark Mastrov. As the founder of 24 Hour Fitness — which has grown from a single club to now more than 400 locations — Mastrov went on to build Crunch Fitness and UFC Gym. Now, he's returned to where it all started.
In this episode of the Club Solutions Magazine podcast, sponsored by ROR, Mastrov joined host Taylor Gabhart to discuss what brought him back to 24 Hour Fitness, the three priorities driving his first year, where the industry is headed and what operators at every level should be paying attention to right now.
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May 11, 20267 min
Why 10 Minutes of Cardio May Be All Your Members Need
The number one barrier to exercise is time. And this research is just another piece of evidence showing how club may be able to solve that.
Episode 17 of The Research Debrief examines a paper published in Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism on Reduced Exertion High Intensity Interval Training (REHIT) — a protocol designed to deliver meaningful cardiovascular and metabolic adaptation in as little as 10 minutes per session.
This Episode Covers:
- What the "minimal effective dose" framework means when applied to aerobic exercise — and why the fitness industry has been slow to ask the question
- The REHIT protocol: two all-out 20-to-30-second sprints within a 10-minute session, two to three times per week, and the metabolic and cardiovascular adaptations the research shows it produces
- Why intensity — not duration — is the operative variable in this approach, and what "all-out effort" actually means in practice
- Which cardio modalities work best for this protocol and why the stationary bike is the most practical and accessible starting point for most members
- How clubs can apply this research to programming, member education, and conversations around the number one barrier to exercise: perceived lack of time
📚 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/
May 4, 20269 min
Cardio vs. Strength vs. Both: The Science on Concurrent Training
One of the most persistent debates in fitness — whether combining cardio and strength training undermines the results of each — just got a thorough scientific review.
Episode 16 of The Research Debrief breaks down a newly published meta-analysis examining the effects of concurrent training, defined in scientific literature as combining aerobic and resistance training, on body composition in middle-aged and older adults.
This Episode Covers:
- What concurrent training is, why researchers study it separately from cardio and strength alone, and the molecular science behind the so-called interference effect.
- Whether adding cardio to a strength program negatively impacts muscle size, strength, or power.
- Whether adding strength training to an endurance program compromises aerobic fitness gains .
- Why combining strength and cardio in the same session eliminates the post-workout calorie-burning effect that strength training alone produces, and what that means for how combination classes are marketed.
- How operators and fitness professionals can use this research to have more precise goal-setting conversations with members and correct common misconceptions that may be steering them toward the wrong programming.
📚 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/
April 28, 202610 min
Beyond The Booth: What Keiser Has Learned from Eight Years at the Club Solutions Leadership Retreat
Alastair Watson has been in rooms with thousands of people at industry trade shows. And after years of two-minute conversations and badge scans, he started asking a different question: what would it look like to actually get to know someone?
In this episode, Watson shares what eight years of attending the Club Solutions Leadership Retreat has taught him about the fitness industry, building real business relationships, and what happens when you slow down long enough to actually listen.
Spoiler: one breakfast conversation turned into a 300-bike order for Keiser. But more than the numbers, it's the quality of conversations — at the roundtables, over lunch, during team building — that keeps him coming back. If you've ever wondered whether the format of an event matters as much as the content, this one's worth a listen.
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