This week, we break down new fitness-focused announcements from Apple’s recent showcase, as well as an interesting survey showing how Americans really feel about GLP-1 weight-loss drugs
Apple keeps pushing into the fitness and wellness industry, and it’s hard to say just where the tech giant will stop.
This week, Apple put fitness at the forefront of its annual September showcase: the new AirPods Pro 3 headphones house a built-in heart-rate sensor that tracks calories burned and integrates directly with the Apple Fitness app.
Apple also launched the Apple Watch Ultra 3, which integrates Workout Buddy, a new tool that uses artificial intelligence to deliver personalized audio insights during workouts. For now, the advice offered by Workout Buddy is more motivational than prescriptive, but it doesn’t take too much imagination to see where Apple could take the coaching feature.
On the wellness front, Apple Watches now offer a sleep score readout for recovery insights, rivaling wearable makers like Oura and Whoop.
The new initiatives build on Apple’s other fitness and wellness-focused moves in recent years, including inking a groundbreaking partnership with Anytime Fitness. Reports also say Apple is planning an AI-powered health coach that could offer advice across fitness, nutrition, mental health and more.
Apple has the resources and technology to go as far as it wants to in the fitness and wellness realm — the tech giant’s interest in the industry is likely good news for gym and studio operators, but it could signal increased competition for digital content providers and connected fitness companies.
Americans Aren’t Fully Sold on GLP-1s Yet
Consumers are conflicted about GLP-1s. A new survey from telehealth platform Levity found that while Americans generally recognize the impressive benefits these drugs offer for weight loss, they’re also concerned about long-term effects.
Specifically, many consumers still see GLP-1s as an unsustainable shortcut. Per Levity, 73% of those surveyed said GLP-1s are a shortcut to weight loss, with 60% believing the drugs bypass habit-building practices like diet and exercise, and 52% viewing them as a temporary fix.
Millennials were most likely to view weight-loss drugs as a shortcut, with Gen X more likely to reject that view.
For gyms and studios grappling with a GLP-1 opportunity that’s been valued at $6.8 billion, the ability to create programming that welcomes GLP-1 users and puts them on a path to long-term health could be a lucrative unlock.
