POV 14 - The 2024 trends that aren't being talked about

1. LACTATE - THE NEXT PERFORMANCE METRIC

Recognized by elite athletes as a marker of fitness, lactate completes the podium of metabolic performance limiters - along with glucose and oxygen utilization.

• 2024 is set to revolutionize the world of lactate training and its dreaded & invasive testing, as it will be the inaugural year for consumer-grade, non-invasive sweat lactate sensors.
• The benefits of real-time lactate tracking are multiple: 
  • Eliminates the element of guesswork in setting training zones,
  • Objectivizes the art of quantifying exercise intensity & training readiness, and
  • the intensity at which lactate accumulates is the ultimate indicator of fitness and performance.
• Sweat lactate sensors are the next logical step in the heart rate sensor, power meter and CGM continuum and are likely to be adopted by athletes and exercisers of all ranks.

2. SMART HYDRATION

Gone are the days when athletes relied solely on urine color or body weight to validate their hydration strategy.

In 2024, the hydration sector will shift significantly. 

• Real-time hydration & sweat electrolyte sensors will reshape how athlete’s hydrate and will emerge as the latest chapter in personalized performance monitoring and nutrition.
• With emerging smart toilets and the current tendency to non-alcoholic beverages, hydration sensors are setting the stage for a breakthrough in personalized and functional hydration.
• Expect major wearable brands to start integrating sweat sensor into their devices and hydration brands to seize the opportunity and release all the more innovative and customizable re.hydration options.

3. SOUNDS and HEARABLES

Ears are both the gateway to health & wellness and a prime location for unbiased vitals tracking.

• Audible sounds and, more importantly so, non-audible frequencies can elicit beneficial effects on the Human mind & body as they can stimulate muscle activity & contraction, induce deep neuromuscular relaxation and accelerate recovery & regeneration.
• There is still lots to uncover about the intricate relationships between cellular and external vibrations, but sound-based therapies will gain momentum in 2024.
• Smart hearables - or earbuds tracking heart rate & its derivatives, body temperature, blood pressure and other vitals on the ear lobes - will gain noticeable shares of the vast headphones and wellness tech markets.

4. Being UNDER-MUSCLED takes  over.weight

Mass adoption of GLP-1 agonists is uncovering a host of conditions that are shaping fitness and wellness tech in 2024.

• Increased cardio-metabolic health awareness acts as a tailwind for CGMs, blood pressure monitors, and HRV-based wearables, namely.
• The landscape of weight-related medical conditions is shifting, such that being under-muscled is an increasingly recognized and prevalent health concern. Strength and muscle building beyond aesthetics and for all demographics is gaining popularity.
• Demand for anabolic nutritional supplements - like protein isolate and creatine - will increase.
• Gut health solutions to mitigate the reported undesirable intestinal symptoms are expanding. 
• GLP-induced improvement of sleep apnea and awareness for quality sleep will trickle down to sleep tech devices and SaaS.

In 2024, successful fitness and wellness solutions will adapt their offering to align with holistic weight-loss care plans.

5. CARDIORESPIRATORY FITNESS GAINS MOMENTUM 

2024 is the year VO2max turns a 100 years old.

• Coincidentally, 2024 is the year VO2max - and more generally cardiorespiratory fitness - will be gaining prominence as a reliable predictor of not only athletic performance but more importantly of overall health and longevity.
• Strategies to optimize oxygen uptake and mitigate VO2max’s inevitable age-related drift will gain traction. 
• Popularized by health and wellness vloggers and successful Norwegian athletes, Zone II training - in which exercisers spend a majority of their active times within aerobic, low-exertion zones - will outweigh high-intensity activities. 
• Boosting vascular and cellular oxygen uptake capabilities effortlessly using hyperbaric oxygen therapy or altitude simulating hypoxic tents & breathing apparatus will become integral to serious athletes, longevity seekers and wellness boutiques arsenal. 

6. ENTER SELF-CARE

In 2024, wellness will reach new heights in terms of sophistication with modalities and treatments traditionally reserved for primary healthcare entering the space.

• We foresee nutrient & peptide IV drips and stem cells & platelet therapies to gradually gain acceptance and complete recovery, regeneration and longevity offerings.
• Expect self-3D imaging and screening services to blossom throughout the fitness & wellness landscape.
• As more medical devices and therapies enter the consumer space, caution is advised to avoid excessive self-medication and to seek clinically proven products and treatments.

7. LONGEVITY FOR ALL AGES

In 2024, most individuals will shift their perspective of aging as a disease requiring a cure to seeing it as a natural and ideally gradual decline of physiological functions.

• Longevity will gain momentum and resonate with younger generations; understanding the advantage from getting a head start in preventing premature aging. 
• Challenges like Peter Attia’s Centenarian decathlon - in which 10 personal fitness & wellness standards need to be selected for the upcoming decade of life and tested regularly - will become common and part of annual personal health checkups.
• Therapies catering to the pillars of longevity will no longer be reserved to fortunate wellness seekers or biohackers and become integral to burgeoning longevity clinics and mass consumer brands.

8. OLYMPICS AS TESTING GROUNDS

The upcoming 2024 Paris Olympic and UEFA European Championship are highly anticipated international events bound to spur instant nationalism. 

• These events will serve as technological showcase for cutting edge recovery & regeneration therapies that will become must haves in every nations’ arsenal. 
• Expect connected athletes showcasing their growing array of smart wearables & biosensors - at least up to where  and when approved by their sports governing bodies. 
• We expect the IOC to continue testing emerging disciplines such as surfing, breakdance - albeit with short-lived selection, and flag football - already resonating positively.

Other trends WORTH FOLLOWING in 2024

API MARKETPLACE

A growing number of startups will turn to third-party SDK or API to lower their R&D costs and barriers to enter the highly competitive sports and wellness tech markets. In turn, a growing number of FaaS will follow suit and offer their services to complementary verticals, thus opening new B2B revenue stream. 

WEARABLE GROWTH FLATTENS - TIME TO CONSOLIDATE

We do not see any new disruptive wearable devices in 2024. Rather, in a market overflowing with wearables, companies will look beyond product by consolidating and integrating complementary features, improving the relevance of insights and mitigate user data and tracking fatigue.

MOVEMENT HEALTH

Chronic (musculoskeletal) pain occupies the top step of the podium of debilitating conditions and is expected to generate a trillion-dollar movement health industry.

We see 2024 as a breakthrough year for computer vision-assisted movement assessment, which will become increasingly integrated to remote coaching platforms and accessible to health therapist.

ATHLETES BECOME (off) SEASONED INVESTORS

The wave of current and former athletes becoming investors and PE partners is not to subside as the athletes’ NIL, team and league values are reaching record highs and becoming safe havens.

Athletes will increasingly use their capital, network and first-hand experience to support the growth of the sports and wellness tech products they benefit from.

WOMEN’S SPORTS and HEALTH

The number of women sport leagues and fans will grow in 2024 as do women-specific self-care. Tracking fertility, monitoring female hormones, detecting infections or diseases, and alleviating menstrual pains with smart devices or consumer female-health products will become everyday practice.  

More to come in 2024