Carl Daikeler - Beachbody to BODi: Content is King, Simplicity is Queen

Hey friends, welcome to the Future of Fitness, a top-rated fitness and wellness industry podcast for over five years and running. I'm your host, Eric Malzone, and I have the honor of talking to entrepreneurs, innovators, and cutting-edge technology experts within the extremely fast-paced industries of fitness, wellness, and health sciences. If you like the show, we'd love it if you took three minutes of your day to leave us a nice supporter review wherever you consume your podcast. If you're interested in staying up to date with the future of fitness, go to future of fitness.co to subscribe and get weekly summaries dropped into your inbox. Now onto the show. One theme keeps coming up: the right technology can make or break your business. That's why I'm thrilled to introduce our new presenting sponsor, Perfect Gym. Perfect Gym isn't just another gym management system. They are part of the Sport Alliance Group, Europe's leading fitness software company that has officially entered the US market. Now, I've seen this movie before, but here's the difference. They've opened up a U.S. headquarters in Boston because they understand that the American market deserves dedicated, localized support. After digging into the platform, one benefit especially stood out. They are simplifying the nightmare that keeps business owners up at night migrations. These guys were able to migrate one mega client with more than 250 locations in six different countries in just 20 days between two payment runs, no disrupting operations, no member loss, one seamless operation that simply works. Now, if you have ever switched platforms, you know how terrifying that process can be and how truly impressive that feat is. At a high level, here's their secret sauce. They give the power back to the operator. Instead of forcing you into their closed ecosystem, their Perfect Gym Marketplace connects with over 120 integration partners. So want to use your own app, your preferred payment processor, class pass for booking? No problem. Whether you're running a single studio or managing a multi-location enterprise, Perfect Gym was built from the ground up for multi-club operations. They've invested a ton into this platform, and now they're bringing that European engineering excellence to America. The migration experts have arrived. Check out perfectgym.com where enterprise level sophistication meets operator freedom. Today's episode of the Future of Fitness is brought to you by Flex, the only HSA FSA payments infrastructure built specifically for leading fitness and wellness brands. I have been so impressed with the Flex team and their vision to transform how people pay for fitness. They built a platform that makes HSA and FSA spending seamless, unlocking a new revenue stream for brands and giving consumers easier access to products and services that keep them healthy. Here's why Fitz matters. Flex helps fitness brands increase average order value by up to 50% and boost checkout conversion by 30%. That is not just incremental growth, that is transformational revenue powered by consumer dollars that are already set aside for health and wellness. What excites me the most is that Flex is changing the game for the entire industry. They're bridging the gap between healthcare and fitness by making it simple for consumers to spend their pre-tax dollars on the products and services that help them feel and perform their best. Flex works with fitness leaders like iFit, Johnson Fitness, Tempo, and Aloe Moves. Honestly, this is a no-brainer, and I rarely say that. If you want to see how Flex can drive growth for your fitness brand, visit with Flex.com. That is with Flex.com. Now onto the show. All right, we are live. Carl Deichler, welcome to the future of fitness, my friend. How are you?

Thank you, Eric. It's great to be here in the future.

Yeah.

Oh man, this is there's so much to talk about. I was looking over your profile and your history, checking out your social media. I've heard your name before in the past, and you know, you're at the helm of uh what I would term as an iconic brand going through, you know, transitions, just like a lot of brands are um with the marketplace and the technologies and consumer demands and things like that. And uh, you know, I'm gonna let you give a little bit of your background into here, but I'm I'm really keen on some of the topics that we've identified as a, you know, uh what body is doing now. So Beach Body Company and the whole concluding, I'll let you talk about all the pieces that go into it now and the transitions you guys are making. Uh, I would really like to get into kind of the the history of uh fitness content. You know, we we were talking about a little bit and um where that maybe you see the future of that going, like what's the next version of that and um what the industry may be missing. And I I think the topics that we had isolated about that are stuff I've talked about numerous times on this podcast. So to have someone with your experience kind of reinforce that um and give your own twist on it, I think is really valuable. So before we get into all that, Carl, um if you don't mind, just give us a little bit of your background. I know you've been in this industry for a while, and then we'll we'll take it from there.

Okay. Well, uh yeah, we started the company back in 1998. We raised the capital for it and um and sold our first VHS video for great abs guaranteed and slim uh thin thighs guaranteed in um April of 1999. So it's been, you know, it's coming on 20, 26, 27 years. And um really the thesis has always been to provide people with easy-to-follow, step-by-step fitness solutions that particularly would help them if they're busy or if they're frustrated with the inconvenience of um going to a gym or the expense of hiring a personal trainer. So it's virtual training. Um, and uh it really the company hit its stride. We named it Beach Body, I think in 2000. And our first major program. So we had the little video, Great Abs Guaranteed, Thin Thighs Guaranteed. I had created something called Eight Minute Abs with another company before that, and that was really where the light bulb went off. I was like, oh, um people need easy to follow solutions um at home. So um so the first idea was this idea called Power 90, which uh I had a friend, this guy, Tony Horton, who had trained me before he went off to appear in a movie and uh gave me some some stuff to follow, and I did it for 90 days and got in really good shape just following these 20, 25-minute workouts that we I outlined on a piece of paper. When he came back from shooting that movie, he he was like, Wow, you're in good shape. What'd you do? And I was like, I just did what you told me, and uh, so let's let's make videos about it. And that, you know, the the company really took off 2000, 2001. And um, I think that the the the big breakthrough for us though, like it was doing well, like it was it was sold mostly on uh infomercials, late night TV and early mornings on weekends, and uh and what we were doing was really showing the work, right? So in those days of infomercials, you had Thighmasters, and you know, there was always this crop of contraptions that would get marketed on TV at the every January, right? And everybody was smiling, nobody was sweating, and it all looked so easy. And and I was in the infomercial industry and I was just like, well, I would never buy any of that stuff because it doesn't look legitimate. I don't trust that I'm gonna get results. So I need to see somebody working, and I'd be like, oh, that seems to make sense. So we created this power 90 program and uh and you know, sold a bunch of them, and then we had people starting to say, What's what do I do now? I got in great shape with that, but I'm ready to move on. And so I pitched to Tony this idea for power 90 extreme. And uh it was funny because at first he said, Um, no, I don't want to do that. I'm gonna do something that helps millions more people. That's gonna be too hard. And even everybody in the industry said you can't sell something that hard. And the premise was like BoFlex was a really big thing. It was a billion-dollar company selling this piece of equipment with these rods for like $1,500 on an infomercial. And I was like, well, if they can sell that, repackage gravity basically. Um, what people still need though is the step-by-step program. So gravity's free. Let's just give them the steps. So instead of buying a $1,500 BoFlex, we were selling them basically $120 worth of VHS tapes, then obviously DVDs. And and we, you know, Power 90 Extreme was too clunky. And I just said, all right, let's call it P90X. Everybody in the company said, no, terrible idea. And uh uh that's a stupid name. And uh I said, well, it makes sense to us, it'll make sense to the database. So 2005, we launched the infomercial for P90X, and um, I had these amazing results. We called it the last hurrah because I was just turning 40. My partner was just turning 40, and we were like, we've always wanted to have these extreme results, right? And so um, so we both got these incredible, like we got ripped cover of Men's Health magazine, sort of ripped, right? And I remember showing that my pictures to my mom, and she's like, Oh, that's really neat. Whose body did you put your face on? I'm like, no, mom, that's that's really me. And uh, but the interesting part of that story is it didn't work at first, like 2005, 2006, it was not selling. It was like we were selling it to the database of the Power 90 people, Tony Horton fans, but in terms of the infomercial, we really didn't find the formula until 2007, and then it just took off 2007 and 2008 and became omnipresent. Like you couldn't get away from the P90X infomercial. And that's really where I would say the concept of legitimizing in-home fitness as a uh alternative or complement to a gym membership got real as content, right? And so the the the what we've been doing for the last 20 years is variations on theme, and that is creating step-by-step programs that we test and make sure that they work, give people, you know, the a range of from beginner to expert. And uh, and then when we transition to digital, we basically created this platform, a library of over 140 programs that we've created over these two and a half decades. And the the job of that content is to simplify the process for people. And um, that's so so we're less about the modality, less about the technical side, and really just want to walk people through step by step, whether it's five minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30, 45 an hour, beginner to advanced, we want to get them results where they're at on a specific timeline. And that's been a pretty good ride for these last 26 years.

Yeah, amazing. I mean, there's uh you must have a lot of great stories, man. I can only imagine. Like during those days. I mean, I I could ask you for an hour about eight minute abs, right? And how how uh you know, that was just from from my you know, my younger days and youth, that was that was just burned into me. And it was like, you know, like uh it was scenes and movies, as you know, like things like that. It was our pop culture, right? It made it into pop culture. It was it was really um it was a really special.

And that I'll tell you, man, that is a that is a wild thing when it happens, you know. Yeah. Um I was working for a marketing company. I'd I uh co-founded a different marketing company, and my partner said, Hey, we need a because I was a direct marketing guy, and he and he said, We need a product, we need a fitness product, a very reliable category uh for direct marketing. And I was like, Well, I got this idea for short little workouts, and and I it's this idea called eight-minute abs. And we had also create eight million legs, eight-minute buns, eight minute arms, eight-minute stretch. And uh, and he's like, All right, let's give it a shot. And so, you know, I think we sold something like two million copies of that video. Uh I mean, it was just four of us in a little office in the basement of this guy's house. And uh, so we sold like two million copies of it for 20 bucks a pop. And um, and you know, people were joking about it on late night TV, and um, and it really hit the zeitgeist. And I remember I was sitting in a movie theater, and so you know, instantly gonna watch something about Mary, and then all of a sudden they start making a joke about eight-minute abs. And wouldn't it have been a better idea if it was seven-minute abs? And uh, and like so imagine this little idea that I had in the shower one day. All of a sudden, like I literally got dizzy. I'm like, this can't be happening. My little name, you know? And the same thing happened later with P90X. Um, I was at a fundraiser for the uh re-election campaign for President Obama, and happened to be in right in the perfect position to meet him as him and he in his detail came out of, you know, came through the doors into the big ballroom. And uh and so I got to meet him, and the guy who got us into this thing said, This is Carl Degler and John Congdon, they co-founded uh Beach Body, you might know them for P90X. And literally, if the president of the free world says P90X, my wife does P90X, and all these Secret Service agents are doing doing P90X, and I can't keep up with them. Good for you guys. And then he, you know, walks, goes, blows by us, and I look at John and I said, Did the president just say he knew about our little product that we created in this tiny office in Santa Monica? You know, these are wild, like what? How did that happen? So, you know, and and that thing just transcended that just transcended anything that I could have expected for this business. Like my stretch goal for this business was maybe we could do a hundred million dollars a year. And at its peak, we did like 1.4 billion dollars in a year. Like, isn't that crazy? And uh yeah, and that that was at the peak, like when infomercials, DVDs, digital, and supplements all were at the sort of center at this hub of we had everything dialed in. Now, then technology enters and um YouTube and all these interfering business model changes uh happen, and it has become a major dislocation, so it's not that anymore, but uh but it's still formidable. And you know, to the extent that you know, in February we're gonna launch the first reboot of P90X in about 12 years, probably called P90X Generation Next with a new trainer. And uh what's crazy, Eric, is we announced this thing just a week ago um or or showed people some teasers, and traffic to the website exploded like up like 95, 96 percent in a day. Just like that is what that P90X brand did in the zeitgeist, and it's just it's a wild thing. I I can remember what remember I said from 2005 to 2007, P90X wasn't working. I had people quitting at the business, and and you know, they were going, there's this thing that they could complain about your boss and everything, and they would go and they would be like, Carl Dijkler doesn't know what he's doing, keeps pursuing this P90X thing, it's stupid, it's never gonna work. And uh, and then sure enough, that became our first billion-dollar brand. So you just never know, but it's been a wild ride, that's for sure. And I think we still got some fun innovations ahead of us to reach more people, but but the the content revolution of fitness, I think really started with the launch of, you know, you know, maybe it was like Richard Simmons sweating to the oldies and Ty Bo. Like these were big innovations, and we just sort of observed that and and tried to make it scalable for the rest of the population.

Yeah, that's and that's a beautiful segue. Those, like I said, I could ask you about stories for for days, but you know, we we had the the TV era, right? Jack Elaine, who I I personally think was actually kind of the the beginning of what we would call the fitness industry. I mean, that's debatable, but um you know it was all on television, right? Yeah. Um then we moved to the VHS revolution, which you guys are part of. So, you know, we're talking about Jane Fonda, Billy Blanks, Richard Simmons, um, early Beach Body, right? And then we had the DVD, kind of like the golden area of of content, I think. And yeah, that's where P90X really went off. Sean T from Insanity, um, what else? Uh hip hop abs. There was a ton of them, right? And it just exploded. And then um even Julian Mike's.

I would say the the big explosion was 21-day fix by Autumn Calibries, which was the first one to really create a very simple approach to tracking your macros, proteins, fats, and so on. And um, and that 21-day fix program again was one that everybody said, you know, nobody's gonna get results in 21 days. And we had people losing 10 to 15 pounds in 21 days, like and that thing absolutely exploded. And that's what I think drove the company over a billion dollars and um and made it truly scalable. But you're right, Jillian Michaels, that whole biggest loser. Um, that that brought a whole new uh level of motivation, if not scrutiny, to the industry. It's been really it's been really interesting to be a part of that.

And the uh who else there was you know, Zumba kind of launched in that time, and then we get to the streaming on demand transition, right, which I know you guys had to work through. I'm curious if you have any insights on that. And then we got into like the the connected fitness explosion, which we have, you know, basically in present day and um whatever's coming next. So I guess the the question is after these evolutions that you guys have been going through for the last 27 years, and now you're you're probably constantly recreating uh the wheel within your business. So what what's your thought process going into where we're at now? Like what are you guys focusing on as far as emerging technologies, kind of getting a little bit ahead of the curve, or um, you know, what yeah, what what do you see coming for the next five years? And how are you guys working your strategies and and transitions into that?

Yeah. You know, I'm really working in the next five weeks, you know, it's it's very difficult to know where it's gonna go. I think the thing that's most frustrating is after doing this for 27 years, I would have expected that I could have reached, you know, 20 million people by now. And you know, maybe maybe 20 million people have transacted with Beach Body or now Body, B O D I, um, when we renamed the company so so that it would be more meaningful from a health and wellness perspective rather than just vanity, right? Um, but I would have I would have thought that with everything that I've learned that I could have uh had something that with 20 million subscribers, and I I still believe we can get there, but I think the the there's been a couple of things with which dislocated what was a very reliable business model. First off, you know, people sort of poke fun at the infomercial, right? The long form 30-minute show. Um, but really it was a breakthrough to be able to articulate how a a product solve the problem, particularly the time problem. Like, how is it possible to get results in 10 or 20 minutes that have eluded you uh at the gym, right? And so we could make that case, we could talk to people about what the what the science is and showproof and then provide a compelling offer. But once you know, you had Netflix and all these digital entertainment services, which meant the end of the infomercial because nobody's channel surfing anymore. So there you lost that compelling capability to tell a whole story. So now everything's got to be articulated in little Instagram squares, which is very difficult. And it's then it's very difficult to t to to. Compel somebody with a with the real work they need to do. So it's easy to snake oil is always easy to sell in short form. You know, uh overpromise, very easy to sell in this short form media. But the loss of the infomercial has been devastating to I think the entire legitimate in-home fitness business. Um and uh I think that also digital content, particularly coming out of the pandemic, um the perceived value of digital content dropped incredibly low because everybody could produce content. It was on YouTube, it's on Instagram, all the trainers and everybody. Um and so the perception is oh, well, I can just get this for free now. What's missing from that perception is production value and um and the sophistication to be able to lead you step by step and keep you motivated. So what happens is people will say, well, I'm not gonna pay for this subscription. Uh, I'm just gonna go to YouTube and put it together. But what happens invariably, just like when people join a gym, you know, they quit within, I think the statistic is like 19 days, they stop going. Um, they'll keep paying for the gym membership, but they stop going. So, and that's because you know, that first week they get sore, or what happens is, you know, their cortisol, um, they'll have a cortisol reaction to this intensity and soreness as the body's repairing from this new behavior. And it feels through water retention, it kind of feels like you're gaining weight because you're retaining water. So that first week to 14 days of just doing YouTube or following little moves or you know, jogging, and you're like, well, this isn't working. This is going the wrong direction because you have no proof and you have no group of accountability to reassure you. These are when you talk about the next five years or the next five hours, our job as a company is to help people understand that if something is has been tested, which we do, I'm sitting outside of on the other side of this wall, is a whole studio and testing platform where we put something through the rigors, and at least 50 people have gone through a program, whether it's 21 days or 90 days, so that we know if we're gonna put it on the market, it's gonna work. And then when somebody comes in and says, okay, I'd like to do that new P90X generation next, or we have a program launching um at the end of November called Dig In, Shaunti's new lifting and low impact and sanity program. We we are putting a community together that's probably gonna be 10,000 to 20,000 people doing that program starting December 1st. And they're gonna have that support system of where everybody's gonna be sore on day two and day three. So they're not gonna feel like they're the outlier. They're gonna be like, oh, you're sore too? Yes, I'm sore. I can barely even get, you know, walk up the steps right now. And that accountability group, combined with the proof of testing programs, and uh, and we always bring the nutrition component in, that is sort of the the, those are the pillars that reassure people. And and it's my job as the CEO of the company, it's our job as a company to sort of rearrange those pillars in a way that makes fitness and lifestyle change accessible to more people. And so that's not only true for the next five weeks, that's true for the next five years. And here's what I think it's not. So I think this is your next question. It is not technological sophistication, it's not AI uh telling me that I'm doing my curls wrong. Um, it's it's a community and entertaining content that gets me to show up tomorrow. And that's all that matters. If I show up tomorrow, awesome. And then do I show up the next day? Awesome. And then do I show up the next day? You know what I'm saying? Like it's very simple, but it but the industry tends to make it complicated. And our job, my job, is to fight that complexity and keep it simple. That's that's what I pride myself on because otherwise I personally won't do it either. Like I got no time for complexity. So that's that's what I think the future is about if if we're going to help tens of millions of people.

Yeah, and you know, I know I know you you live and breathe it. I I was checking out your Instagram before this, which I encourage people to go check out. Uh it's not hard to find, but um, you know, this this is the lifestyle you live, man. You do your workouts, you're consistent, you're very open and vulnerable about the challenges you know that most people face with time.

I hate it, man. Like I hate it. But but like I do those videos. Every time I work out, I set up a camera and I as soon as I'm done the workout, I'll edit it in Cap Cut and put up 14 seconds or something. And as I'm doing the workout, I'm literally processing why I'm doing it. And that gives me sort of a theme that I can say to somebody who's like me, who's doesn't love it, doesn't pop out of bed and go, wee, I'm about to get an endorphin rush. I've never felt that rush in my life. It's just agony, but I know that that 20 minutes, 30 minutes of agony is gonna pay off every single hour of today and the next day. And at 62 years old, I'm literally in the best shape of my life overall. And uh, and that's because I show up, I do those videos, and I know that it's my job to show people that you can do it, whether it's 10 minutes or 20 minutes. So, but yeah, that Instagram thing has been really interesting because I've been doing it for about, I don't know, a year consistently, and uh it helps keep me on the rails because otherwise I'd have no problem blowing it off.

Yeah, it's your built-in accountability. And you know, I I know technology isn't necessarily the answer. It's definitely in the mix, though, because people are consuming the it's the the interface and the delivery of the message and the content and the coaching and the training, right, which is changing so rapidly. I mean, you went from, you know, obviously like TV apps are probably a thing, but obviously there's the tonals and the peltons which we've talked about, which have the content built in. But how are you guys looking at like, you know, um how the consumer is interacting with the content and how are you changing your strategies and and tactics for that?

Um, I I think that we're always trying to make the product feel more friendly. That's and the by the product I mean the platform itself. So you want the platform to acknowledge the customer and not beat them over the head if they miss a day, uh, to offer them options if the program that they chose maybe is a little challenging. Um, you know, I've I've worked with the AI of competitors that that tries to be sort of what they call agentic, right? An agent that's but it says the same thing to me every day. You know, missed your workout today? No problem. Let's get back on it tomorrow. I'm like, so I just tune that thing out. So the so the other side of it is like we created a community that's called the body experience. And that has been an absolute breakthrough for us because it's it's not something that we it's you know, sub out to Reddit or Facebook, like it's a uh community within the app that people are all doing the same program. Like I mentioned, we're gonna have thousands of people doing dig in starting December 1st. And we we want real human beings to buddy up so that they are all participating on the same tempo. And then when somebody doesn't show up, like you go, hey man, I Eric, I thought you were gonna work out with me today. Like I thought you were gonna show up. I checked the box, why aren't you? And he was like, Oh, I got too busy. I had to do this podcast with this guy, and and uh and so I'll say, All right, well, are you gonna get it done by the end of the day? No, not a good day. All right, are you gonna do it tomorrow? You know what I'm saying? It's almost like the AA model, like a sponsor. And uh I think that's way more powerful than AI could ever be. AI can play a role um uh to to within the product, but ultimately I think it's people and congregating people in a way that they don't feel judged and that they that they're what we call health esteem, they're they're showing up is the victory. And I'm not talking about participation trophies, but we all know how damn hard it is to get out of bed at 6 a.m. or 5 a.m. And then you don't you just don't feel like putting lacing up and pushing play and going through pain. Um, so the people who do show up, they have a high health esteem, and they deserve to be applauded for that and recognized. And that's that's what we try to incorporate into the app.

Yeah. Awesome. Awesome. Um the the creator economy has changed things too. You know, everybody, and it's not just what you guys do, it's it's gym owners, right? Like personal trainers um, you know, now do some training and then they have to feed the beast on their social media so they can make their social media following. Maybe they sell a couple online programs or whatever. It's it's just it's just different, right? It's and um, so when you guys look at like have you made any um intentional changes to to the business or how you guys go about working with creators because they can have, you know, not just your platform, but they could have their own platforms, multiple from YouTube to Instagram.

Um maybe a little bit. I can't really say that we have found a correlation between influencers or creators and influence. Um, and I think part of that is because they sell so much that you just don't know what's legit and what's not. So really, where the like we have an affiliate program, and the affiliate program is super productive because these are real subscribers who use this every day, and their audience on social media sees they're using it every day, and they're regular people. Like, I got a there's a friend of mine, Judy, who uh I I put a message out to the community. I was like, I'm gonna work out with one person for what I call it spring into fitness or something like that, spring something. And uh, and so I was like, she'll and I'll support each other for 30 days. And so we're texting each other every day. And then, but and but she had like she had like 50 pounds to lose. Like she was in her mid 200s, like she was trying to get down to 200 pounds. And I watched her on social media as a as an influencer, but she's got like 600 followers on her Instagram, and but but but everybody just believes it, right? It's not just some creator shilling the latest purse or shoes or or creatine. Um she's legit doing it. And so people are like, well, if it's working for Judy, I should plug into that. It's a the price is right, I can do it at my house. And that's where I think this scales and democratizes. And I don't think that it's the person with the most followers wins. I think it's the person who's the most authentic wins, particularly in fitness.

Well, there was uh I had a recent interview with um uh Adam Schaefer from uh Mind Pump. And they've always been very good. You know, it's it's one of the biggest podcasts our industry has to offer for consumer-wise, like consumers tune in to get you know the latest. And we talked very intentionally about all the snake oil, the the lack of authenticity, right? People, consumers are getting fatigue from, especially in the wellness category, I think, you know, from the product from the CPG side of things, like they're just getting fatigue. There's too much, right? Yeah, um, and supplements have always been around, they've always been you know questionable in certain ways, and you know, there's research has been lacking and and things like that. So um, I guess the question I'm getting to is that you guys are now seeing a very uh I'm noticing a very distinct uh shift from uh fitness, right? Fat loss, uh aesthetics to health and longevity, which everybody who's savvy in the industry is is recognizing is a way better business model, right? It's better to have someone for training for the rest of their life versus 90 days for a specific goal, right? That's what we want. Um so how are you guys going about that? Like what does that transition um meant to you and and how are you applying it?

Yeah, I'm I'm glad you asked that because while I agree, I I don't think it's necessarily a business model. I think the zeitgeist has society is uh acknowledging that vanity, your weight, your waistline, your muscles, you those that can all be rationalized, like ah, you know what, I'll work out, I'll skip today. You know, that that that that can be pro that the priority of vanity can change based on your mood. There is not a day in your life that you don't want to be well. And anything that you can do to avoid being sick is compelling. Um, and people have very often they'll have a wake-up call and they'll realize their blood pressure, their uh blood glucose, you know, prediabetic, like these things are real. And those are a real wake-up call. And people start to realize that hey, just 10 minutes a day could have a real impact on turning those things around. So, so what had been aesthetic at one point, requiring 45 minutes to 60 minutes, now there's science that says, hey, 10 minutes or 20 minutes a day, 70 minutes to 150 minutes a week, can completely change your likelihood of early mortality or pre-diabetes and can lower your blood pressure by 10 to 15 points, like crazy statistics proven out by real good research. So um, where the snake oil is can be compelling, the the proof behind it is just not there. Like, uh, and it's the same thing with, you know, we're we've all been through COVID. And does the vaccine work? Does the vaccine not work? Like, all the science has now come into question. But you know what the one absolute most reliable trillion-dollar drug in the world is? That is daily activity, solves the problems. And that's bankable, and that's what people can rely on. And I think that's where we're seeing the shift from vanity to wellness because that trillion dollar drug of 10 to 20 minutes a day is solves so many problems and helps people stay well, well into their 60s, 70s, and 80s.

And I'll throw another one in there, uh a solid night's sleep. Yeah, it doesn't cost a thing. And uh it'll change your life, right? Um with the time we have left, uh, I want to uh discuss uh what our industry may be missing. And I I'm gonna preface this and you know my words, not yours, but I think you'll agree. Uh you know, I I I go to a lot of industry events, and you walk around an industry event, and for the most part, we're like, wow, everyone looks pretty good, right? Like people from different companies and you know, people in the fitness and wellness industry, we're doing all right. We all got our wearables, right? We're all watching our nutrition, we all have our special workouts. You know, some people are probably playing with peptides, some people are doing some HRT. Like it's just everyone looks pretty good. Um, red light therapies and cold plunges and all that, right? But we're kind of there's a separation going between what we know in our own personal realities to like what is the rest of the population going through. And um, so the fear is are we losing touch? Is that gap widening between like what we do and what we deliver and who we are and what the common person is experiencing? And then how do we get back on track?

I think that's for sure. Hey man, I got no wearables. Like uh, you know, I'll check my blood pressure uh regularly and um make sure I show up for a workout and watch my form so that I don't get injured. But um I think that the industry and technology can make things so complicated. Like this red light, like what am I just what am I hacking here? So I think what the industry is sort of missing in the pursuit of commerce and and sales and breakthroughs and headlines is being that that hack that gives you two to three percent edge of maybe additional efficiency, but unless you've got the 96, 97, 98 percent required for true longevity and health span, and that's fitness, nutrition, and rest slash recovery, right? If you're not checking those boxes, I don't care what lights you put on your face or little what shots and all these things. Now look, the GLP ones can help people, but if if people aren't doing the workout, they're gonna have a real problem with bone density and muscle loss. Like if you're not that that's the 98% of wellness right there, and that's daily activity, watching what you eat, watching your processed sugar, appropriate hydration, and rest and recovery. Like if you're not checking those boxes, all this other shit just doesn't matter. Like it's it's icing on a terrible cake. And uh, like it's just, you know, so that and that's my beef with the whole thing. And that's what I resist. Now, look, the whole industry could go running right by me because there's a very uh, you know, the the appetite for spending among maybe 20 to 30 million adults in the US around these biohacks and what's the latest thing, that appetite is quite attractive to investment and to putting more cans of different types of sodas on the shelf and different, you know, how many different miracles can you put into a gummy? Um, but from my perspective, I just got to try to find a way to help more people fit fitness into their lives and to know that they're getting benefit from it when they show up for that 10 minutes. That's my job. And uh until they kick me out of here, that's gonna be the premise of what body is about is keep it simple, get people results, see how short we can possibly make it and how inexpensive we can possibly make it so that they don't have to impale themselves and their checkbook on their commitment to healthy lifestyle change. Whether it's connected bike or a thing they can climb on the wall or whatever device. Um I just want to try to make it so that, man, for 10 bucks a month, you can get somewhere and uh you can really make progress. Now, look, if you graduate and you work your way up the food chain to these more sophisticated things, cool. You found your passion, but that's not gonna help the 185 million people who are overweight or obese find a gateway. That's what we are. We're the gateway into the lifestyle that will hopefully completely change their quality of life.

Yeah, yeah, well said. And, you know, I I realize and when I sit here and say these things that like I have my wearables, you know, I play with peptides, I've known all kinds of stuff. I'm you know a mini biohacker, and um, but I I at least try to be aware that this isn't normal, right? This isn't um, you know, I I've been lucky enough to to have done athletics most of my life and had an early love of of this type of stuff. And um you know, I I say this often, and I realize I've done it in the past, is that sometimes, many times, we overcomplicate fitness to uh uh firm up the necessity of our industry, right? If that makes sense. Like we make it mysterious and like you have to have the the exact right programming and you have to do the right exercises at the right time, and you have to, you know, eat this specific macro percentage, like all these things, like we almost overcomplicate it so that we have an industry at times. And I know that's hard for people to hear, you know, maybe who listen to this, because you know that's kind of how we make a living for most of us. So um simplifying it, I think you're right, making it more accessible to get to that other, you know, we've been talking about the other 80% for decades. decades right of of our population that doesn't exercise regularly. So yeah, there there's very much I don't think that message can be overstated.

Yeah, it's not sexy. Um you know uh it's the the breakthroughs get the headlines. Um but and they might fascinate a cohort of people but you know there's no shortage of breakthroughs that are basically roadkill that uh that they were breakthroughs everybody got fascinated by I mean look you know Fitbit is a really fascinating story to me. Remember Fitbit like when it first came out and everybody started to count their steps and they were competing with each other and it was brilliant. Like all of a sudden people started to get active and they're competing and they're finding hacks but it was like all of a sudden there was this whole thing. And then Apple comes out with the smartwatch and Fitbit has an existential crisis and they lose that identity of the fun of what Fitbit was about and they have to compete with Apple on how many apps they can put on your wrist and uh and the company just slid sideways because they lost that magic of of what it meant. And uh and that's what I try to keep in mind. Like what is our magic? And I think our magic at body is creating content that people can follow that is going to be as simple as possible. Look we're never going to be the company that advocates putting a reformer in your living room or a $10,000 Pilates Cadillac or whatever these things are called. But we see that people love combining Pilates with strength training. So we create a thing that you put on your wall or can attach to a door costs about a hundred bucks called Pilates track. It was innovated by Autumn Calibries and people can do the same thing that you would do on a reformer in a studio for 50 bucks for a class and you can do it right in your living room or in your spare room or in the basement and that makes it accessible to more people. That's where I want to innovate so that more people have access to this and then they can graduate to that next level but you know I'm just not I like I I think it's I just wonder if the fitness industry will ever you know jump the shark right where it just goes too far. Like having my bed tell me if I slept well or not I think is and I'm probably pissing some people off but I just think it's the dumbest thing to sit in a in a basically a bowl of EMF while that and and and technology when I want my central nervous system to calm the F down just so that I can get a readout in the morning about whether I slept I'll tell you when I wake up I'll tell you if I slept well or not because I'm gonna feel it. I don't need my phone to tell me. So I just think that I just think it goes in in the pursuit of commerce and again people got to make a living but I think we're focusing on the wrong thing and missing the big TAM and that is how do we make this simple and cheaper for people so that's what body's going to do.

Awesome awesome well I respect your time Carl so I just have one final question which I ask everybody is as an industry what what can we help you with? What do you need help with? And does that mean like you know are you are you looking to get more talent? Um I don't know like whatever it is and then that question is how would you like them to to get in touch?

Well um you know Instagram I'm right there at Carl Dijkler and and uh people can get me there and and I read the comments and everything um but uh I would think that I I think that what we can do there are people apps companies that have large databases where they might be they might be offering people a supplement of some kind or they might be offering people you know a wearable of some kind we're the company that can help people get the most out of that with content at a very compelling price point. So I'm always looking for partnerships where we can offer our content into somebody else's channel to help their database that can be complementary to the objective right so somebody has nutrition planning we can go in there and complement it with fitness somebody has a supplement we can go and complement it with overall lifestyle change and uh that's what I'd like to do more of as a company. Fantastic fantastic well Carl thank you so much for this it's been a real pleasure um like I said I could have asked you questions and pulled more stories out of you for probably hours hours right hey man anytime I got nothing to do no I'm just kidding it's it was fun to be here and yeah I love to tell the stories there's there's certainly some wild ones that uh that it's been a it's been a wild ride. I hope it's I hope we're not done with the wildness of it. Uh some of the stuff that we're coming out with over the course of the next six months I think are going to blow people's minds. But um but ultimately you know the thing that I really get off on is I get these messages of people who have transformations that they never thought were possible. And it's not just before and after but uh or photos it's um relationships and relationships with themselves and uh finding a level of self-esteem that they never thought they could have, you know, um body dysmorphia is a real thing. And um we try to help people with their mindsets the thing that we call the body power mindset project to help people find a way like to stay consistent. And when I see that that is having an effect on somebody who has never been able to stay consistent for more than three weeks um that's the most uh positive reinforcing uh feedback loop that I could ever have and it's it's a it's a real it's a real honor and a privilege to be able to do it and I appreciate coming on your podcast and get to talk about it.

Well it's been my pleasure we'll leave it at that ladies and gentlemen Carl Beichler. Thanks Eric hey wait don't leave yet this is your host Eric Malzone and I hope you enjoyed this episode of Future of Minuce. If you did I'm gonna ask you to do three simple things it takes under five minutes and it goes such a long way we really appreciate it. Number one, please subscribe to our show wherever you listen to it iTunes Spotify Castbox whatever it may be number two please leave us a favorable review. Number three share put it on social media talk about it to your friends send it in a text message whatever it may be please share this episode because we put a lot of work into it and we want to make sure that as many people are getting value out of it as possible. Lastly if you'd like to learn more get in touch with me simply go to the futurofitness dot co. You can subscribe to our newsletter there or you can simply get in touch with me as I love to hear from our listeners. So thank you so much. This is Eric Malzone and this is the Future of Fitness have a great day