Volume 76 | Beyond Wearables

📰 The Pulse

Biolyz x Borussia Dortmund Bring Biomarker Testing to the Pitch

Austrian deep-tech startup Biolyz has signed a three-year partnership with Borussia Dortmund, rolling out high-frequency saliva biomarker testing across the club’s performance and medical operations.

Unlike GPS and wearables that track external load, Biolyz measures what’s happening internally — capturing 100+ biomarkers tied to stress, recovery, inflammation, and readiness using mass spectrometry and AI. Several Bundesliga teams have already adopted the platform, with a Premier League rollout now underway.

The Playbook Take — This is where elite performance is heading: internal physiology guiding decisions before injuries or drop-offs show up on the field. (More)

Power Plate & the Rise of Vibration Training

The Northwestern Wildcats men’s basketball team is using Power Plate’s vibration therapy across practice and competition prep. Vibration training is known to enhance muscle activation, improve circulation, and accelerate neuromuscular readiness — all with minimal joint stress.

The Playbook Take — Vibration is no longer a fringe modality. Power Plate continues to lead as teams look for efficient, low-impact ways to prime athletes. (More)

HYROX Launches Fitness Cruise, Expands Into Experiences

HYROX is officially entering the wellness tourism space with the HYROX Cruise, an adults-only fitness voyage running October 21–25, 2026. Departing from Palma de Mallorca aboard Mein Schiff 4, the cruise blends training sessions, recovery, community, and a custom HYROX race format.

Camps and resort experiences are listed as “coming soon.”

The Playbook Take — HYROX isn’t just a race anymore — it’s becoming a lifestyle platform. It’s even eyeing the Olympics as it forms Science Council. (More)

Gymshark Opens Flagship NYC Store

Gymshark just opened its first U.S. flagship on Bond Street in Lower Manhattan — a 13,000-sq-ft, three-floor space and its largest retail investment outside the U.K.

After years of pop-ups and community activations, this move signals Gymshark’s commitment to physical retail as the U.S. becomes its top growth market.

The Playbook Take — Digital-first brands are realizing the future is hybrid: online reach + real-world community. (More)

🧬 The Shop

Alveos | Alveos One

The first wearable that truly listens to your breath.
Alveos One is a lightweight, privacy-first wearable that uses acoustic respiratory monitoring to analyze breathing patterns in real time. By focusing on breath — one of the most direct signals of nervous system state — Alveos delivers insights into stress, recovery, focus, and autonomic balance without wires, masks, or microphones recording speech.

If you care about performance from the inside out, this is next-generation physiology tracking.

Korrect | Korrect Edge

Focused energy without the caffeine debt.
Korrect Edge is a precision cognitive performance blend designed to support motivation, attention, and sustained mental drive — without jittery stimulation or crashes. Built around paraxanthine (the clean metabolite of caffeine), plus clinically backed attention and processing-speed compounds, Edge delivers what the brand calls “fluid mental energy.”

Ideal for deep work, long days, and execution under pressure.

Wild Roman | Men’s Skincare

Sahil Bloom’s 100% natural answer to modern skincare.
Wild Roman is a new men’s skincare brand built on a simple rule: don’t put anything on your skin you wouldn’t put in your body. Using grass-fed tallow, cold-pressed oils, and wild botanicals — and zero synthetic chemicals — the line strips skincare back to ancestral basics.

A clean, restraint-first approach in a category full of overengineering.

Loonen | Glass-Bottled Mineral Water

Pure by design. Transparent by default.
Loonen is rethinking bottled water with spring-sourced, glass-bottled water that’s filtered to remove microplastics, PFAS, and contaminants — then mineral-balanced for hydration and taste. Every bottle includes QR-code access to third-party test results.

For athletes and longevity-minded consumers, hydration doesn’t get more foundational than this.

SwimClub | Male Fertility Supplement

Clinically dosed sperm performance support.
SwimClub is the first male fertility supplement formulated around clinically effective doses — targeting sperm count, motility, morphology, and DNA integrity. Built by the Squared Circles venture studio, the brand brings medical rigor and cultural relevance to a long-overlooked category.

Designed to work over a full spermatogenesis cycle (~90 days), not overnight hype.

PUMA | Deviate NITRO Elite HYROX

The first shoe built specifically for HYROX racing.
Launching February 2026, PUMA’s Deviate NITRO Elite HYROX is engineered for the sport’s unique demands — repeated run-to-workout transitions under race conditions. Featuring a carbon fiber plate, high-traction outsole, and HYROX-tuned cushioning, this drop signals HYROX’s arrival as a standalone sport.

Purpose-built, not repurposed.

Momentous | Whey Protein – Limited Edition Pure Cinnamon

A seasonal twist on a performance staple.
Momentous adds a Pure Cinnamon flavor to its grass-fed whey lineup — maintaining NSF Certified for Sport® standards while delivering a warm, familiar profile for daily recovery and muscle support.

Clean inputs. Trusted sourcing. No surprises.

Norda | 055 (Teased)

A more aggressive future for technical trail.
Norda previewed the 055 at TRE — a bigger, tougher evolution of the 005, designed for highly technical terrain. Built with durability and protection top of mind, the 055 is expected to launch in June 2026.

Early signal of where premium trail footwear is heading.

Gymshark | Tactical Collection

Performance-ready pieces you can wear anywhere.
Gymshark’s Tactical Collection blends durability, mobility, and clean design into hybrid fits made for training, travel, and daily wear. Built to move, without looking like gym-only gear.

A continuation of Gymshark’s push into premium versatility.

🔥🧖‍♂️ Recovery, Anywhere

Dwyane Wade. Terrell Owens. Max Holloway.
Elite athletes don’t guess on recovery — they invest in it.

Meet SAUNABOX, the most accessible way to bring real heat therapy home.

For years, sauna recovery meant crowded gyms, questionable cleanliness, or memberships costing thousands. SaunaBox changes that with two simple, powerful systems built for real life.

SMARTSTEAM PRO uses steam to heat up to 140°F in just 20 minutes with near 100% humidity — delivering a deep, sweat-driven recovery. It’s microplastics-free, BPA-free, and sets up in minutes in apartments, garages, or spare rooms.

PULSE PRO uses infrared heat up to 160°F, designed to penetrate deeper into muscle and tissue — plus medical-grade red light therapy for added recovery benefits.

All fabrics are PFAS-free, so your sauna sessions stay clean and safe.

Trusted by NFL, MLB, and UFC athletes, SaunaBox brings elite heat therapy to your home — on your schedule, in your space.

This is recovery, anywhere.

👉 Check them out here.

🎙️ On The Podcast

This week on The Playbook, we go deep with Jacob Peters, co-founder of Superpower — the prevention-first health startup using 100+ biomarkers, AI, and concierge care to help people stay out of the hospital and in their highest-performing state.

After months in a Cedars-Sinai hospital bed with Crohn’s and a “drugs or surgery” menu of options, Jacob realized just how misaligned the system is. That experience led him to build Superpower: a membership that pulls in your records, runs a full-body lab panel, and gives you an AI-driven plan plus 24/7 access to a care team — all at a price point modeled more like Amazon Prime than a six-figure concierge clinic.

Backed by a $30M Series A from Forerunner and investors like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Steve Aoki, and Vanessa Hudgens, Superpower is now on pace toward 100,000 members as it scales a new kind of proactive healthcare.

In the episode, we cover:

• How Jacob’s Crohn’s battle and burnout as a repeat founder reshaped his view of medicine

• Why deep testing (100+ biomarkers across 21 categories) is the new baseline for serious performers

• The culture and cadence behind Superpower’s “14 days of Shipmas” and world’s healthiest office

• Jacob’s flow stack: rebounder warm-ups, collagen jello, antivirals, red-light beds, and a no-nonsense sleep routine

If you care about performance, recovery, and longevity — and you’re tired of waiting until something breaks — this episode will give you a very different way to think about your health playbook.

📰 Full breakdown here. 

💰 The Boardroom

Nude Miami | The Erewhon of the East Coast

Opening in Brickell in early 2026, Nude Miami is bringing Erewhon energy to the East Coast. The 4,720-sq-ft flagship will feature organic groceries, Miami’s first organic hot bar, a cafe, and a strict standard: no GMOs, no seed oils, no artificial additives.

The hot bar — built around grass-fed steak, wild-caught salmon, and pasture-raised chicken — is designed to be a true weekly destination, not a novelty shop.

The Playbook Take — Clean food culture is going mainstream — and Miami has been ready with the holistic takeover with The Wellness Oasis, The Well, and Coffee&Chill setting the field. (More)

Shokz Becomes Official Headphones Sponsor of Spartan

Open-ear audio brand Shokz has been named the official headphones partner of Spartan Race, signaling a deeper push into functional fitness and endurance sports. Known for bone-conduction technology that allows athletes to stay aware of their surroundings, Shokz fits naturally into Spartan’s high-intensity, obstacle-driven race environment.

The Playbook Take — As endurance and hybrid racing continue to grow, audio brands that prioritize safety and situational awareness — not just sound — are winning category relevance. (More)

Allbirds Co-Founder Raises $7M for Women’s Health Supplement Brand Biologica

A co-founder of Allbirds has raised $7 million to launch Biologica, a new women’s health supplement company focused on clean formulations and hormone-aware wellness. The raise reflects continued investor confidence in targeted, science-backed solutions within the women’s health category.

The Playbook Take — Women’s health remains one of the most underbuilt and over-demanded sectors in wellness. Founders with brand credibility and clean-product DNA are well-positioned to scale fast. (More)

Wizards’ Corey Kispert Launching Coffee Brand “The Bitter Truth”

Washington Wizards forward Corey Kispert is set to launch his own coffee company, The Bitter Truth Coffee, in the coming weeks. Unlike typical athlete-led brands, Kispert has spent years researching sourcing, bean quality, and roasting — inspired by his Instagram series “The Grind,” where he spotlighted local coffee shops while traveling.

Kispert says the brand is about more than a name on a bag: it’s built around quality beans from top farms and messaging tied to discipline, mindset, and daily habits. Quotes, mottos, and personal philosophies will appear directly on the packaging.

The Playbook Take — Athlete brands win when they’re rooted in real obsession. Kispert’s hands-on approach and authenticity give this one real staying power beyond fandom. (More)

Anthony Geisler, Tony Robbins, and Gary Breka to lead sequel brands fifth concept -the ultimate longevity center.

Part of Sequel Brands, the newly created Ultimate Longevity Center will offer services including biomarker testing, metabolic profiling and other personalized protocols In a wellness-focused world racing toward an $8 trillion longevity economy, a trio of heavyweights just stepped into the ring with a new franchise concept.

Anthony Geisler, the founder and former CEO of Xponential Fitness and now the founder of Sequel Brands, has teamed up with longevity expert Gary Brecka and Tony Robbins’ Lifeforce platform to launch the Ultimate Longevity Center.

The move, the team says, will give members easier access to leading longevity protocols that have long been limited to those with specialized resources or medical networks. (More)

Overtime

🏁 HYROX forms a membership council and eyes Olympic inclusion (More)

🏃‍♂️ World’s Toughest Mile announces official launch and 2026 tour (More)

🏔️ ARC’TERYX sets a new standard in retail design with China flagship (More)

🏈 Fear of God signs a multi-year partnership with the NFL (More)

🤖 Meta acquires AI-pendant startup Limitless (More)

🚶‍♂️ Miami unveils plans for a more walkable downtown (More)

😴 Cheribundi Sleep Gummies hit Sprouts nationwide (More)