Built by Men, Designed for Women? Fitness's Biggest Blind Spot

Is the fitness industry overlooking one of its biggest opportunities — women?

For decades, much of the fitness and wellness industry has been shaped by male-led businesses, product development and research. But as women's health, strength training, longevity and wearable technology gain momentum, is the industry doing enough to understand what women actually need?

In this episode of LIFTS – Latest Industry Fitness Trends & Stories, hosts Matthew Januszek and Mohammed Iqbal are joined by Suzaan Sauerman, a consumer behaviour and women's health advocate, to explore the gap between what women need and what the health and wellness industry currently delivers.

Suzaan argues that women's health doesn't just have a funding problem it has a commercial visibility problem. From products that fail to reach consumers to gym environments that overlook opportunities for education, support and personalised experiences, she challenges fitness operators and brands to rethink their approach.

The conversation also explores the growing role of wearable technology, including Oura, WHOOP, Apple Watch and continuous glucose monitors. Suzaan explains why she believes every woman should have a wearable, while questioning whether the industry is doing enough to turn the vast amount of health data being collected into meaningful, actionable guidance.

In this episode, we explore:

• Why women's health remains a significant untapped commercial opportunity.
• How male-led product development has influenced the fitness and wellness industry.
• Why gyms could do more to support women through strength training, recovery, menopause and hormone health.
• The importance of education, accessibility and consumer-focused communication.
• Why Suzaan believes wearable technology could help close gaps in women's health data.
• The limitations of readiness scores and the need for more personalised health insights.
• How greater female representation could influence the next generation of fitness products and services.

Are fitness businesses genuinely designing around women's needs, or simply adapting products and services that were never built with women in mind?

A thought-provoking conversation about the future of women's health, wearable technology and the commercial opportunities for fitness operators willing to rethink how they serve their members.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzaan/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suzaansauerman/

EGYM – Connected fitness technology and smart strength training solutions helping operators deliver personalised, data-driven exercise experiences. https://egym.com/

Fitness On Demand – Digital fitness and wellness solutions helping operators engage members and expand their services. https://www.fitnessondemand247.com/

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Interested in sponsoring LIFTS? Contact Wendy de Knoop at wendy@liftspodcast.com

Chapters

00:00 – Introduction: Is Fitness Getting Women's Health Wrong? 03:30 – Women's Health Has a Commercial Visibility Problem 09:48 – Why Gyms Need to Rethink How They Serve Women 16:21 – Women's Health, Education & the Gym Opportunity 23:41 – Should Every Woman Have a Wearable? 25:25 – Sponsor: EGYM 29:31 – Wearable Data: What's the "So What"?