F.B.I (Federal Bureau of Investigation) agents are involved in crime investigations and responsible for enforcing federal laws; this often puts them at risk of dangerous work. It’s no wonder they have rigorous eligibility criteria. For individuals to qualify for the 21-week intensive program at the F.B.I academy, they must pass The Physical Fitness Test (PFT), which consists of four events:

• 1 min of Sit-Ups, as many reps as possible

• 300-meter Sprints, timed

• Push-Ups, as many as possible untimed

• 1.5-mile run

We all have our own unique genetic blueprint, so doesn’t it make sense that we all have a unique nutrition blueprint as well? We know that diet and health are interrelated, but did you know that your genes can affect how your foods are being processed, which has a big impact on your health and possibly weight loss journey? The concept of nutritional genomics have been around for a while, but recently started to gain more attention from several companies offering personalized nutrition testing based on an individual’s DNA. The idea is that these tests could help you optimize your health so that you can have a “DNA-diet” specifically catered to you.

Food intolerance or sensitivity tests are becoming more available to the general population through recommendations from bloggers and naturopaths claiming that these tests can help with a wide variety of unresolved health issues. These IgG tests look at how much of this antibody is bound to each food and the respective removal of foods with high levels of IgG is said to improve symptoms. They are marketed by health and wellness influencers, as well as celebrities, who have sworn that their lives have been changed because of these tests. However, scientists and allergists say otherwise.

We sat down with Ashley Gomes, sports nutrition consultant who has worked with NBA, Pro Boxing, MLB, NFL, PGA and DOD athletes. We asked Ashley about the nutritional needs of professional athletes and what non-athletes can learn from that. We were also really curious about how high-level athletes track their food (and how we can further refine the process for Fitnescity customers), and how athletes use fitness testing data to optimize their nutrition. Here’s the full interview.

If you’re looking to fuel creativity, invest in employee happiness and strengthen your brand as an employer, your start-up needs to look beyond outdated wellness benefits that a lot of companies have traditionally relied on. If you were considering weekly (awkward) office yoga, this article is for you.

If you’re a start-up CEO, decision maker or just someone looking to improve the well-being of your colleagues, you’ve probably realized that a company with a high concentration of millennials will not engage talent with the same benefits that larger companies rely on.

Your employee population does not really need a traditional (and somewhat outdated) blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol, audio and vision screening.

I just came back from an event by ABANA. While I spend on average 2-3 hours every day talking about what we do at Fitnescity, I rarely get the opportunity to speak about the vision behind our work, and why we're so passionate about this vision. Here’s the quick summary.

96% of Millennials say great health and wellness benefits would be the most important factor when choosing between two companies with similar pay and responsibilities.

The problem with benefits today is that employees don’t really use them. A tech-enabled fitness challenge is a great way to quantify the experience, while adding a gamification aspect.

Here’s our recipe:

It’s wage-gap month at Fitnescity. Did you know? We’re female-founded and women-led (mostly). Ironically, close to 70% of our clients happen to be men. In honor of women’s month, we’re giving back 20% to every new female client.

Order your own blood tests. A simple blood drop can provide valuable insights into your body and help you understand how well you are managing your weight and overall wellness. Fitnescity is now offering blood testing for prevention and weight loss; the tests measure your key wellness indicators, and at the same time offer personalized guidance on how to use the results. This includes individualized meal plans, lifestyle and exercise guidance.

Measuring weight is easy. Measuring body fat not so much.... So David hopped into an egg-shaped device called the BOD POD to get a more precise measure of his body fat. 

I've recently begun to get really into metabolism; it's to the point where I find myself reading scholarly articles at leisure. I didn't just wake up one day and become interested in metabolism. It all started when Laila Zemrani, cofounder and CEO of Fitnescity, contacted me about getting a resting metabolic rate (RMR) test done.

Over eighty percent of some of the most common and costly health conditions, such as type II diabetes and heart disease, could be prevented through lifestyle changes.
Wellness data —generated in many formats and from various sources— hold enormous promise for creating more personalized and effective lifestyle interventions. Data from an individual’s health and wellness tracking devices, self-reported measurements, family history and personal genome sequences could be used to make individualized recommendations.

The Fitnescity Method. 1. Body Composition 2. Waist-to-Hip Ratio (WHR) and Visceral Fat. 3. BMI 4. Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) 5. Aerobic Capacity (VO2max) 6. Cholesterol 7. Glucose 8. Dietary Analysis 9. The Fitnescity Wellness Score.

Adjusting your nutrition intake to your fitness goals is crucial if you want to see results and avoid frustration. The key is to know what your goals are an from there, design a nutrition plan that takes into account the right breakdown of nutrients. Here is how you can do it.

As data-driven fitness company, we spend most of our time measuring other people’s fitness. This time, we decided to measure our own wellness, so we calculated our team’s average Wellness Score.

As a fitness enthusiast with a nutrition degree, I usually consider myself ‘healthy,’ feeling fit, confident, and mentally well. I choose nutrient, dense, local, seasonal and organic foods, go to the gym at least four times a week and train vigorously. I walk everywhere in New York City and I often try out different diet and fitness trends. However, recently, I’ve been feeling physically and mentally off track. I haven’t been sleeping and eating well. I’ve been tired and stressed all the time. I couldn’t find the motivation and the time to exercise.

So I happened to take the Fitnescity Wellness Score two days ago. Here’s what I learned.

The rise of wearables, food tracking apps, connected scales and smart apparel are all examples of a new culture of wellness (1) (2). For consumers, being healthy does not just mean ‘not sick’. It is becoming more of a daily pursuit, and self-collected data is a big part of it. 

The greatest challenge for fitness companies will be to organize this new stream of information so that they can adapt to this cultural and societal phenomenon.

Millennials are tomorrow’s workforce. In about three years, they will form 50% of the work population. Millennials are swiftly entering the workforce, while incorporating their Millennial values, technology habits and health needs.

96% of Millennials say great healthcare benefits would be the most important factor when choosing between two companies with similar pay and responsibilities.

Achieving optimal performance at work is hard. You may have a lot of responsibilities and you might not always be in control of your schedule. You wake up early, work until late night. You have to travel, attend business meetings, set up dinners with your clients… You must make everyone around you pleased and reassured.

Your priority is to perform at your best, but what if you could optimize your overall wellness to improve productivity and optimize work performance?