• The 2021 Les Mills Global Fitness Report suggests in-person workouts are enjoying a “live revival” around the globe – class occupancy is at 120% of pre-COVID levels where post restrictions & “omnichannel fitness” prevail.
• Apple has revealed a number of upgrades to its Fitness+ platform. Among the additions is a new Group Workouts feature – subscribers can exercise alongside friends via FaceTime/group message.
• Pure Gym works out on IPO to fund global expansion. 506 gyms were now open in the UK, Denmark and Switzerland, with relatively few restrictions on members. Revenues were almost back to pre-pandemic levels.
• Fitness wearable Whoop has closed a $200M Series F funding. Now valued at $3.6B. Congrats to Will Ahmed, Founder & CEO at WHOOP™
• iFIT Health & Fitness Files for IPO. According to iFIT’s S-1, the company was bolstered by the pandemic, seeing record sales and membership growth. Last year, revenue was $851.7M, climbing up in fiscal 2021, reaching $1.7B.

• Petra Capital acted as Exclusive Manager to a $11.7 million placement for Viva Leisure. Despite ongoing COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions, the group have expanded locations by 45% and seen gym memberships increase by 34%.
• Fitstop Melbourne locations have retained 80% of active members online with “Fitstop at Home” and a sustainable average of 4 sessions completed per week by members during August lockdown.
• Very exciting news from Fitstop – Fitstop signs Wallabies star, Dane Haylett-Petty, as newest WA Franchise Business Owner.
• Fitstop also launched their 51st location with Fitstop Everton Park, owners Simon Nah and Lauren’s 2nd location; 1 year after opening their first. Congrats!
• REVL Training – Studio #7 is on the road to opening up for its community! Group fitness, targeted high-performance training with support of PT.
• Leading women’s fitness group Fernwood Fitness has launched a new wellness concept, Fernwood Fusion. A small space focusing on boutique wellness – Pilates, yoga, barre and meditation. Congrats Diana and team!
• EFM health clubs – a franchise which operates almost 50 clubs across 5 states – mark 30 years of operations this month!
• Zadi Training – Of the 18 new franchise sites sold, they have 3 x new sites scheduled to open Jan/Feb 2022
• Technogym Australia Experience Centre is opening in Rushcutters Bay, Sydney – More than 800 sqm with four different areas representing Technogym solutions and an education room
• Anticipating a significant increase in growth of gymnastics, BK’s Gymnastics is expanding into Queensland with the opening of a centre in outer south-western Brisbane on 25th September.
• In support of its growing sports technology sector, the Victorian Government is investing $4 million towards the establishment of an Australian Sports Innovation Centre for Excellence in Cremorne.

New Studios in Singapore:

• Tribal Fitness launches in SG! Tribal Fitness is a well-being Community & Philosophy. Practicing everything from fitness, health & mindfulness.
• Ark Move opened in Upper Serangoon (fitness + mental health + tech + positive psychology)
  CRU announced the opening of their newest and massive studio in Orchard! Crucycle, Cruyoga, CruHIIT, Spacious showers (13 showers), Outdoor refreshment patio (pet friendly!)
• The team Active Fitness is thrilled to announce that Sugar Boxing Orchard is now open. Join the biggest boxing studio in Singapore located in the heart of Orchard Road. Congrats Timothy and team!
• Doctor Anywhere has raised S$88M (US$65.7M) in series C fundraising, one of the largest private funding rounds ever raised by a health-tech company in Southeast Asia. This brings the total capital raised since our founding to more than S$140 million.
• Tribody Fitness has clinched a Singapore National Netball player as one of its newest Trainers – Cheyenne Howard – adding to the inspiring gym environment it offers to everybody.
• UFIT just launched their first large-scale corporate wellness event – 2000 corporate employees will be running around Marina Bay, all competing to be the fastest office in Singapore!
• UFIT also just launched a new membership business in UFIT Endurance, developed for the growing triathlon and endurance athlete market in Singapore. The team is headed up and coached by current and former intentional athletes
• Yoga Movement – Novena opening at the end of August brought their studio count to 7, including their online studio. They are looking to expand into new neighbourhoods to reach new communities and grow the YM FAM.
• ACE accredited “Train the Trainer” Course is SkillsFuture approved. They are looking for personal trainers or GX who are thinking of adding Muay Thai into their training programs. Congrats to Vinz Low and the Zesty Kick team for the above.
• Aquaspin is excited to announce that they celebrated their 9th birthday this month, across their offerings in Singapore, Dubai and Australia. They also recently signed a contract with a new location (to be launched in October).
• Developed by Singaporean start-up AiTreat, “EMMA”, a robot masseuse is designed to give deep tissue massage. Using sensors and 3D vision to measure muscle stiffness, EMMA (Expert Manipulation Massage Automation) identifies pressure points and delivers personalised massages.
• Myanmar – Tony Howett and his team is just about to launch a new company “Immersion Myanmar” with a huge focus on wellness, mental health, workout recovery and supporting local businesses to get back on track.
• Malaysia – Congratulations Sylvester and team Roamboxing for your first beat bumping boxing studio in Miri, Malaysia. Congrats also to Barbara Chancey Design Group for developing and helping to launch this studio.
• Huge congratulations to BASE Gym and Hustle Vietnam for winning best gyms in Thailand and Vietnam respectively at the Fitness Best Awards 2021 – well deserved!
• Miskawaan Health Group Introduces Thailand’s first beachside health clinic in Koh Samui, equipped with German medical technology and wellness activities. Healthcare doesn’t mean hospitals.
• Anantara (part of Minor group) expands its Luxury Portfolio with the Announcement of Anantara Ubud Bali Resort. It is scheduled to open in mid-2022 and it is the brand’s third resort in Bali.
• Cure.fit invested in Sugar.fit, a health-tech start-up focused on the management and reversal of diabetes. Endiya Partners and Tanglin Venture Partners joined the USD$10M funding round.
• Cult.fit launches 3 Cult Gym outlets in Bangalore. Gyms will feature an AI-trainer enabled smart workout planner and feature a premium modern and inclusive design.
• Cult.fit, after launching 200+ company owned Group X centres, onboarding 100+ gyms on its marketplace, has launched 3 of its own Premium Gyms and aims to franchise 100+ gyms by the end of the next year.
• Fittr, a community-based health and online fitness marketplace, has raised USD$11.5 million in a Series A funding, to facilitate the health & fitness platform’s international expansion, alongside raising awareness for physical, mental & emotional well-being.
• Six Senses opened a magnificent property in Rajasthan, India, a converted 14th century fort, Six Senses Fort Barwara will be a royal palace of wellbeing.

• The 14th National Games of China officially started with a gala performance and colourful lightshow cheered on by spectators in a packed stadium in Xi’an. The multi-sports event runs from 15th to 27th September with 20,000 athletes competing in 409 events in 35 sports.
• Riding on the National Games, the Xi’an municipal government is also accelerating the adoption of healthy lifestyle practices across the local community – outside the Xi’an Olympic Sports Centre, a 293 km network of greenways is built within just 1 year; connecting 103 ecological sites, 42 cultural and historical sites as well as 109 rest stops for local residents.
• China-based connected bike maker Freebeat landed a $20M strategic investment – to boost manufacturing and production of its at home connected exercise bikes.
• A significant milestone for Hilton in APAC – launch of their luxury brand, LXR Hotels & Resorts, with the opening of ROKU KYOTO, LXR Hotels & Resorts in Japan.
• WinScan app in China had a pre-registration launch of a joint offering with Advanced Human Imaging (AHI) which saw over 140,000 people register for the app.
• Anytime Fitness MongKok – Great work to the Hong Kong team with another opening of your new club.

• Myzone partners with Spartan race and also proud to announce its partnership with World Gym as the brand official wearable technology provider.
• After a 10-year partnership, Myzone proud to be official wearable technology platform for Snap Fitness ANZ who are launching Move Your Mood for Good, for Mental Health Month.
• Great ‘pay-what-you-want’ initiative by our friends at Wexer, helping charity whilst building digital capability and jump-starting revenue generation for studios. The delivery of world-class content to members wherever they are, while you decide how much you want to pay for the first three months. Whatever you choose to pay, they’ll donate all of it to UNICEF’s COVID-19 appeal!
• Therabody now has a large presence in the NFL – Therabody recovery products in NFL training rooms and recovery programs.
• Les Mills’ popular portfolio of workouts will be made available on the Fitbit Premium platform. In total, Fitbit users will be able to access 25 Les Mills workouts, varying in intensity and equipment requirements.
• FITREC welcomes Les Mills Asia Pacific to the Friends of FITREC community. As part of this new connection, FITREC will be providing greater promotion of Les Mills Learning opportunities as well as sharing news, updates and insights from the Les Mills team.
• Following the acquisition of Core, Hyperice Launches Five New Products, including Industry-First Portable Contrast Therapy Device.
• Advanced Human Imaging (AHI) has finalised the application for their NASDAQ listing and signed a new partnership with Singapore based BizBaz.
• EGYM has completed a US$41m Series E financing round led by Mayfair Equity Partners, a leading tech and consumer growth investor.

• Core Health & Fitness and StairMaster came together for a 9/11 StairMaster Climb, aiming to Remember, Respect & Honor the 343 firefighters who made the ultimate sacrifice on September 11, 2001. Local firefighters took on the 110 stories of the World Trade Center on the StairMaster 10G in memory of the firefighters on the 20th anniversary. All donations raised went to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation in support of the families of the fallen.