My Humble Opinion from the HFA Show: It’s Time We Stop Building Bigger and Start Building Smarter

This year's show was one of the best I've seen in decades, and my hat's off to the entire team at HFA who pulled this off. It was great! AND...

After a few days on the floor of the 2025 HFA (formerly IHRSA) Show in Las Vegas, connecting with tech vendors and operators alike, I walked away with mixed emotions: optimism for where the industry could go, but concern about where it still is.

There was undeniable energy at the show. The booths were big, the ambitions bigger, and the ideas came fast. But scratch beneath the surface, and a clear pattern emerged.

Everyone’s Fighting Over the Same 20%

Most operators are still pouring millions into access-based models, building bigger 3.0-style clubs, buying more equipment, adding more classes. Meanwhile, new member acquisition has flatlined in many major markets. Traditional in-house personal training models are struggling. Engagement is stagnant. Retention is, in most cases, disappointing.

And yet, we keep seeing the same outdated methods repackaged as innovation. Everyone is fighting over the same 20% of the population - the already engaged, already active - instead of asking: how do we expand the pie? How do we get the other 80% to care?

The Hammer Game Said Everything

One of the easiest signals to pick up at the show wasn’t from a booth - it was from the crowd gathered around a carnival-style hammer game. You know the one: grab a big mallet, swing hard, and see how high you can score.

Every day. Long lines. Smiles. Cheers. People kept coming back.

In a convention center filled with AI, smart mirrors, dashboards, and polished pitches—that was the experience people kept choosing.

Why? Because it was:

• Instantly understandable
• Physically engaging
• Feedback-driven
• Competitive
• Fun

It wasn’t about complexity. It was about connection. It delivered what most of the industry still doesn’t understand: people don’t want more features. They want more moments.

“At HFA 2025, I saw some of the most advanced fitness tech in the world… but the longest lines were at a carnival hammer game. Why? Because it delivered what most of the industry still doesn’t understand: people don’t want more tools, they want more moments.”

That should tell us something. If our audience at HFA is craving this kind of real-time, physical interaction, our members are too.

Engagement Is the New Currency

We need to say it plainly: amenities don’t retain members. Tech stacks don’t activate people. Access alone doesn’t move the needle anymore.

It's worth repeating...Engagement is the new currency.

If your members aren’t participating - physically, emotionally, socially - then they’re already halfway out the door.

What Most Tech Gets Wrong

After visiting most tech vendors at the show, a trend became obvious. Many platforms were built by people who had an idea and hired tech folks to build it, some with industry experience, others without. The results? Impressive on the surface, but lacking depth. (Again, this is just my observation.)

Most solutions were locked behind proprietary systems. Equipment manufacturers pushing operator solutions that only work with their own hardware. Software platforms that require total buy-in to their ecosystem.

So I wonder, "Where is the agnosticism? Where is the freedom?"

Operators are being offered shiny tools, but only if they play by someone else’s rules.

That’s not partnership. That’s lock-in.

And Now to Why Gymlete Is Different...Because It Has to Be

Gymlete isn’t a tech company trying to understand the fitness industry. We are the industry.

We’re veterans who’ve lived the day-to-day operator grind, who know the struggle to engage members, retain staff, and create meaningful experiences. We built Gymlete because the tools we needed didn’t exist.

We’re agnostic by design. We don’t hold anyone hostage. We build tools that connect to what you already have, regardless of brand or system. Because innovation shouldn’t require isolation.

More importantly, we build for engagement first. From immersive performance-based experiences to real-time class enhancements to content that drives participation, we build to create more moments, not just more metrics.

Final Word: The Industry Doesn’t Just Need Disruption.

It Needs Evolution

We’re at a crossroads. The market is growing, but the model is aging. It doesn’t need another round of the same playbook.

It needs a revolution. It needs someone to start an evolution.

That’s where Gymlete is.

So what’s next?

You’ll start to see it soon, from immersive fitness gaming that turns every workout into an experience, to digital tools that actually drive participation and connection, to a new kind of member journey built on data, freedom, and emotion...not friction.

That includes the evolution of personal training itself - through our partnership with 5-Star Training, we’re bringing a reimagined digital coaching model that finally bridges the gap between tech and trainer, between scale and personalization.

Gymlete is already building the future the industry’s been waiting for.

Not someday. Right now.

And that’s my humble opinion from the HFA Show.