Welcome to the latest episode of L.I.F.T.S – your bite-sized dose of the Latest Industry Fitness Trends and Stories.

Hosts Matthew Januszek, Co-Founder of Escape Fitness and Mo Iqbal, Founder & CEO of SweatWorks attended Connected Health & Fitness Summit 2025 event in Los Angeles.

Thank you to our sponsor, Flex (withflex.com) of these LIFTS episodes. Flex is the holistic solution for accepting HSA/FSA. They work with their partners to navigate the regulatory and compliance landscape.

In part 1 of this podcast episode, Matthew and Mo interviewed:

• Eric Bormel, Director, Consumer Healthtech at Solomon Partners.
• Gavin Jennings, CEO at C.H.E.K Institute.
• Lauren Pufpaf, President and Co-founder at Feed Media Group + Jeff Yasuda, Founder and CEO.
• Natalie Barnes, VP of Product Management & Product Design at Zumba.

In this episode, we dive into a wide range of topics, including:

• Shifts in the fitness tech industry, from inflated expectations to enlightenment.
• Challenges in the fitness industry (high failure rates, lack of personalization).
• Music's impact on wellness.
• Consumer preferences for music in fitness.
• Zumba's origin and evolution.
• Zumba's use of AI for data analysis and personalization.

To learn more about the Connected Health & Fitness Summit, click here:

https://connectedhealthandfitness.com

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0:00 Intro

1:48 Eric Bormel | Solomon Partners

14:07 Gavin Jennings | C.H.E.K Institute

28:19 Lauren Pufpaf & Jeff Yasuda | Feed fm

44:39 Natalie Barnes | Zumba