30 Health & Fitness Innovators Changing The Game This Year

These men and women are transforming the way you train, eat, recover and feel – whether you know it or not. If you want a clue to the future of fitness, start here

True influencers are not just those who dominate our social-media feeds, and their impact cannot be measured in likes alone. Few of the pioneers on this list are familiar faces; you might not even know their names. But these men and women are reshaping the world of wellness and making a tangible difference to your daily life. If you want a clue to the future of fitness, the annual Men's Health Fit List is the right place to start.

Google alumnus Shellard started training platform Fiit just as digital innovation was beginning to disrupt the industry. Launched to break down barriers to exercise and propelled by the at-home fitness boom, the app's been downloaded 1.9m times, with 10.6m workouts completed, setting the standard for fitness apps to follow. Shellard believes the future of fitness is hybrid. To that end, he's been busy bolstering Fiit's content to include in-gym training and connected cardio machine workouts. Creating a 360 ecosystem is the ultimate goal.

Experience of living with mental illness catalysed Gray to create Jaaq (Just Ask A Question), a one-of-a-kind AI platform encouraging others to seek help before they hit crisis point. During its first 24 hours, 50,000 people visited the site for advice, and Jaaq now covers more than 50 topics via figureheads such as Alastair Campbell and David Harewood, plus world-leading experts. A partnership with PureGym aims to revolutionise how people view the relationship between fitness and mental health.

After observing the indivisible link between recovery and injury prevention, Katz spent two years developing a device that would deliver the same treatment as icing in a more streamlined and sustainable way. Some serious courtside hustle followed before percussive massage gun Hyperice found its way to Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. Now a mainstream fixture, the OG recovery brand continues to showcase innovation, shifting towards a mind-body approach to empower everyday athletes.

Synonymous with the rise of next-gen wearables, Oura has convinced more than one million people to ‘put a ring on it’. The sleep-tracking device has graced many hands, from Prince Harry's to Odell Beckham Jr's, and forged partnerships with brands including Therabody and Strava. Tasked with steering growth, Hale sees Oura's strength in sleep as the springboard to optimising every aspect of our health, from activity to recovery. The one non-negotiable? It's got to look as good as it feels.

There's a reason CrossFit seems to be everywhere these days. Working with brands and athletes from the functional fitness categories has allowed communications agency Fittest PR to carve out a clever niche – and bring elite-level training to the regular gym-goer. The approach means the sport and its most prolific players, such as Zack George and Mat Fraser, now garner the mainstream attention and professional credibility they deserve – from front covers to lucrative deals.

Global functional fitness sensation Hyrox is going from strength to strength – and quickly. Read our full interview with co-founder and event scene visionary Toetzke.

From checking people's form on a treadmill at a running shop aged 16 to co-founding cult brand and retail powerhouse WIT, Kitching's career has gone the distance. He's now the GM of Nobull in Europe, the dominant shoe and apparel brand in the CrossFit space. Rather than try to convince shoppers that its kit would make them faster or stronger, it built a fast and loyal following through hype, midnight drops, athlete endorsements and, well, just looking cool. Because dressing the part is half the fun.

Owusu conceived Jaxjox as a way to reimagine the weight-training experience for the home. Grabbing attention in 2019 with the release of its KettlebellConnect, a smart kettlebell with adjustable weight, the brand's user base skyrocketed when fitness kit became the new currency amid lockdowns. With the launch of its InteractiveStudio – a super-smart, full-body workout machine – Jaxjox is continuing to do some heavy lifting in the home-workout sector, and raising the bar for competitors.

Having garnered attention with their Covid-reporting app – a pivot in direction when coronavirus hit – Spector and Wolf have reverted to providing personalised nutrition advice to the masses. With a pandemic-made audience of four million already in their crosshairs, the duo are leveraging machine learning and data to rethink people's relationship with food. The Zoe app – a ‘pocket nutritionist’ delivering diet recommendations based on user input – doubles as the world's largest nutritional research project, proving there's no snake oil here, just science.

Steered by Corcos, Levels is prominent as a pioneer in metabolic health. The wearable tracker, monitoring your blood glucose in real time, intelligently closes the loop between what people eat and how they feel to cater to a growing appetite for do-it-yourself healthcare. Corcos believes that Levels can mirror the mainstream success of activity trackers to empower people to live better through data. Judging by the device's 100,000-strong waiting list, his vision may be realised.

As one of Eight Sleep's visionaries, helping you perform better in bed is what gets Franceschetti going. The start-up's smart mattress, which tracks health data to help users hone their sleep environment, is enabling a fatigued population to attain one of life's most elusive goals – the perfect eight hours. (You’ll find our review here.) Already a favourite with elite athletes and investors, becoming a mass-market product is the brand's next ambition. But this challenge won't be keeping Franceschetti up at night.

Ormerod joined fitness behemoth Les Mills in 2019 at a pivotal moment. Ensuring the industry titan remains not just relevant but fit for the future has meant both elevating live experiences and moving into the metaverse to meet people wherever they exist. A recent groundbreaking fitness festival attended by 5,000 people, plus innovation within virtual reality via a new Bodycombat app, prove the brand can still reach new audiences and break down barriers to exercise.

Driven by a belief that ‘education is agency’, Katz and Dhir started Seed to make science-led wellness more accessible. Taking a no-BS approach to gut health, the brand creates clinically studied products that have injected precision and efficacy into a newly trendy topic. The two continue to push boundaries in microbiome science, leading its application across dermatology, nutrition and more. Next up is leveraging probiotics to transform mental health outcomes.

Former bodybuilder Vincent has more than 790K YouTube subscribers and 933K Instagram followers – but he hasn't always been massive. Read the full interview for his tips on blending form and function.

A career in cross-media innovations manifested Milk's lightbulb moment. Realising he could leverage immersive entertainment to solve a personal problem – his dislike of working out in gyms – he set about filling a gap in the market. By gamifying at-home sweat sessions, VR fitness concept Supernatural (recently acquired by Zuckerberg's Meta) is converting even the most exercise-averse into fitness fanatics. The app's expertly choreographed workouts, backed by awe-inspiring locations and a heavy-hitting soundtrack, are establishing fitness as a bona fide form of entertainment.

Bustin – one half of OG fitness YouTubers The Lean Machines – is in the vanguard of the influencer-turned-expert movement. Having recently pivoted to ultramarathon running, his content has mirrored the shift. By providing credible advice for runners of all levels, punctuated by skits showcasing the realities of physically and mentally preparing for such challenges, he's aiming to switch up the narrative of that little voice of doubt in your head. If you’re going the distance, Bustin's with you for the long haul.

Fraser's and O’Keefe's influence on the world of CrossFit is hard to overestimate – and it's certainly paying off. Fraser is the undisputed GOAT of the sport and O’Keefe organises some of its leading events. Now channelling their aptitude for functional fitness into Fraser's remote-training programme, HWPO, they’re democratising access to expertise and coaching usually reserved for the pros.

The brainchild of former special forces operator Stazicker, ThruDark is a coat of armour for the toughest of workouts. The brand's high-performance gear, including multifunctional training shorts, snow jackets and weighted vests, helps to push boundaries and break records. With Stazicker himself regularly donning the military-grade garments to complete extreme expeditions – the latest to summit Ama Dablam in the Himalayas – his apparel might assist in getting the job done, but he's the inspiration you’ll need to get going.

Britton's no stranger to fighting battles. The trailblazer behind Battle Cancer (a series of fundraising fitness events supporting those affected by the disease) has overcome abuse, beaten homelessness and taken on competitive powerlifting. (Find his full story here.) Now, he's stepping into the ring to leverage fitness as a force for social change, and he's raising millions. By connecting the dots between people, challenges and fundraising, Britton's helping to widen access to fitness and cater wellness to those who aren't deemed ‘well’.

Cassidy's remote coaching platform Fitr is unlocking new opportunities for trainers. By managing all the back-end aspects of running an online training service, it helps fitness pros to deliver services at scale. Read the full interview to find out how he levelled the playing field for everyday coaches.

Scarlett Wrench is the Senior Editor at Men's Health UK.

With more than 12 years’ experience as a health and lifestyle editor, Scarlett has a keen interest in new science, emerging trends, mental well-being, and food and nutrition. For Men's Health, she has carried out extensive research into areas such as wellness in the workplace, male body image, the paradoxes of modern masculinity, and mental health among school-age boys.

Her words have also appeared in Women's Health, Runner's World and The Sunday Times.

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