Club Solutions Magazine

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219

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Aug 2026

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Podcast by Club Solutions Magazine

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September 21, 202611 min

Health Club Operators Hold the Key to Exercise as Medicine, New Research Shows

A landmark review from one of the field's leading researchers reframes structured exercise as a clinical tool for preventing chronic disease and puts health club operators at the center of the solution. This episode, hosts Luke Carlson and Rachel Chonko break down the review published in Cell Metabolism by longevity and exercise physiology researcher Dr. Bente Klarlund Pedersen. They walk through five takeaways operators can apply directly to programming and member communication. This Episode Covers: - Why the paper reframes exercise as medicine rather than general lifestyle advice, citing Pedersen's assertion that structured exercise should be prescribed for non-communicable disease. - Whey weight loss is a poor proxy for exercise's health benefits and the seven physiological mechanisms through which exercise protects against disease. - Why supervised exercise consistently outperforms unsupervised exercise in clinical outcomes, even when adherence is equal. - Why the paper's finding extend across a broad range of chronic conditions including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, colon cancer, COPD and cognitive decline. - Why the researchers call for physical activity to be made enjoyable, convenient and social and what that means coming from a scientist rather than an industry voice. 📚 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/

September 14, 20267 min

Why Supervised Training Beats "Go Workout"

New research shows the gap between giving members a program and coaching them through it is bigger and more profitable than most operators realize. This episode of The Research Debrief examines a 10 week study comparing three approaches to exercise delivery. The findings offer a data-backed case for what supervision is actually worth — both in member retention and in results. This Episode Covers: - The study design: a self-guided group (program only), an app-guided group (program plus digital coaching) and a supervised group (in-person personal or small group training). - Adherence results after 10 weeks: 52% for self-guided, 81% for app-guided and 88% for supervised. - Performance outcomes: all three groups improved fitness, but the supervised group saw statistically significant greater gains in lean muscle mass, strength and fat loss. - Why the supervised group's advantage isn't just about showing up — it's about getting measurably more out of each workout. 📚 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/

September 7, 20269 min

Does Poor Sleep Really Wreck a Workout? What the Latest Research Says

A new review breaks down what we actually know — and don't know — about sleep's role in building muscle. This episode examines a paper published in the Strength and Conditioning Journal that reviews the mechanistic and observational evidence linking sleep to muscle hypertrophy. For operators, it's a timely reminder that member-facing messaging around sleep and recovery may be more black-and-white than the science actually supports. This Episode Covers: - Direct evidence connecting habitual sleep duration to resistance training — induced muscle growth remains limited, despite widespread industry assumptions. - Mechanistic research does support a link between inadequate sleep and impaired training adaptation, even without robust randomized controlled trials. - There's an important distinction between a single night of poor sleep and chronic sleep deprivation — the latter is where evidence for negative impact is strongest. - Sleep needs vary significantly by individual, undercutting one-size-fits all recommendations like "get eight hours." - The evidence supports pulling back from optimization-focused messaging, which research and member sentiment both suggest may be doing more harm than good. 📚 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/

August 31, 202611 min

Don't Confuse the Icing with the Cake: The Latest Science on Recovery Tech vs. Fundamentals

A new narrative review challenges the fitness industry's growing obsession with recovery tech and puts sleep, nutrition and training back at the center. This Episode Covers: - The "cake vs. icing" framework: sleep, nutrition and appropriate are the fundamentals, recovery devices are the icing. - Why simply not exercising — true rest — is one of the most effective recovery modalities, despite being commercially unappealing. - The research-backed hierarchy of recovery strategies: foam rolling, compression garments, cryotherapy, hydrotherapy and active recovery show relatively strong evidence, while sauna, recovery boots and massage guns show weaker or mixed evidence. - The disconnect between what's popular and what's proven. - The often overlooked role of psychosocial recovery — social, environmental and emotional stressors — in an athlete's overall recovery. 📚 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/

August 24, 202613 min

GLP-1s Are Changing the Business of Weight Loss — Here's Where Health Clubs Fit In

A new research paper reframes weight loss for the GLP-1 era and it puts supervised resistance training at the center of the conversation. This 52-page paper, published in the journal Pharmaceuticals, is focused on optimizing weight loss in the GLP-1 era and is primarily written for physicians. Hosts Luke Carlson and Rachel Chonko break down what it means for club operators working with a growing population of GLP-1 users. This Episode Covers: - New research introduces "high-quality weight loss" — why the scale is no longer the metric that matters. - Muscle preservation becomes the industry's next big job as more members turn to GLP-1 medications. - Why GLP-1s, resistance training, and nutrition need to work together, not separately. - The case for supervised resistance training as clubs' biggest commercial opportunity in the GLP-1 era. 📚 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/

August 19, 202630 min

Balancing Innovation, Culture and Growth with Crunch Fitness CEO Chequan Lewis

What can eight years running restaurant franchise operations teach a fitness brand about growth? Chequan Lewis, the CEO of Crunch Fitness, says the lessons translate more directly than most operators would expect and they come down to the small, repeatable moments that happen on the gym floor everyday. As Crunch pushes past 550 clubs and prepares to plant its flag internationally, Lewis argues the brand's next chapter depends on getting those granular details right, club-by-club, check-in by check-in. Lewis joined Club Solutions Magazine editor and podcast host Taylor Gabhart to discuss his transition from Yum Brands to fitness, Crunch's franchisee partnership model and the "three Es" — experience, execution and evolution — that guide the brand's approach to innovation. The conversation offers operators a clear framework for balancing growth ambitions with the day-to-day consistency that keeps members and franchisees invested for the long haul. Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://clubsolutionsmagazine.com/newsletter/ Visit our website: https://clubsolutionsmagazine.com Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClubSolutions Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clubsolutionsmag/ Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/club-solutions-magazine Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clubsolutionsmag

August 17, 20268 min

New NSCA Position Statement Says Female Athletes Don't Need a Different Training Prescription

The science says the fundamentals if strength and conditioning don't change based on gender and that has real implications for how operators program and market to women. In this episode, hosts Luke Carlson and Rachel Chonko break down the National Strength and Conditioning Association's newly published position statement on strength and conditioning of female athletes. The paper challenges a wave of social-media-driven claims about how women "should" train and offers operators a clearer, evidence-based framework for programming. This Episode Covers: - Why syncing workouts to the menstrual cycle isn't backed by current research - Individual differences matter more for programming than male vs. female category - Women start with less upper body strength on average — here's what that means for training focus - Why simplifying training for women (not overcomplicating it) may be the key to boosting participation 📚 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/

July 27, 20269 min

Closing the Gap Between Wearable Data and Member Coaching

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 Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://clubsolutionsmagazine.com/newsletter/ Visit our website: https://clubsolutionsmagazine.com Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClubSolutions Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clubsolutionsmag/ Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/club-solutions-magazine Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clubsolutionsmag

July 22, 202621 min

Todd Scartozzi on Building Value Into Every Retro Fitness Membership

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. Subscribe to our Newsletter: https://clubsolutionsmagazine.com/new... Visit our website: https://clubsolutionsmagazine.com Follow us on Facebook: / clubsolutions Follow us on Instagram: / clubsolutionsmag Connect with us on LinkedIn: / club-solutions-magazine Follow us on TikTok: / clubsolutionsmag

July 20, 20268 min

The Simple Coaching Cue That Could Boost Member Strength Gains

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. 🎧 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/