Sweat Equity: Inside the New Economy of Mind and Body

by Jason Kelly

Go inside the trend that spawned a multi-billion dollar industry for the top five percent Sweat Equity goes inside the multibillion dollar trend toward endurance sports and fitness to discover who's driving it, who's paying for it, and who's profiting. Bloomberg's Jason Kelly, author of The New Tycoons, profiles the participants, entrepreneurs, and investors at the center of this movement, exploring this phenomenon in which a surge of people—led by the most affluent—are becoming increasingly obsessed with looking and feeling better. Through in-depth looks inside companies and events from New York Road Runners to Tough Mudder and Ironman, Kelly profiles the companies and people aiming to meet the demands of these consumers, and the traits and strategies that made them so successful.

In a modern world filled with anxiety, pressure, and competition, people are spending more time and money than ever before to soothe their minds and tone their bodies, sometimes pushing themselves to the most extreme limits. Even as obesity rates hit an all-time high, the most financially successful among us are collectively spending billions each year on apparel, gear, and entry fees. Sweat Equity charts the rise of the movement, through the eyes of competitors and the companies that serve them. Through conversations with businesspeople, many driven by their own fitness obsessions, and first-hand accounts of the sports themselves, Kelly delves into how the movement is taking shape.

Understand the social science, physics, and economics of our desire to pursue activities like endurance sports and yoga Get to know the endurance business's target demographics Learn how distance running—once a fringe hobby—became a multibillion dollar enterprise fueled by private equity Understand how different generations pursue fitness and how fast-growing companies sell to them The opportunity to run, swim, and crawl in the mud is resonating with more and more of us, as sports once considered extreme become mainstream. As Baby Boomers seek to stay fit and Millennials search for meaning in a hyperconnected world, the demand for the race bib is outstripping supply, even as the cost to participate escalates. Sweat Equity, through the stories of men and women inside the most influential races and companies, goes to the heart of the movement where mind, body, and big money collide.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Sports, Self Help

217 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 2, 2015

About the author

There is more than one author with this name

Jason Kelly is a writer covering the global private equity industry for
Bloomberg News in New York and the author of "The New Tycoons: Inside the
Trillion Dollar Private Equity Industry That Owns Everything." He's a frequent
contributor to Bloomberg Television and Bloomberg Businessweek. During his
tenure at Bloomberg, he's written about issues ranging from the aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina to economic development during the war in Afghanistan. Prior
to joining Bloomberg in 2002, he was the editor in chief of digitalsouth
magazine, a publication focused on technology and finance in the Southeast and
Texas. He earned a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University.

Reviews

[Kumar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comprehensive review of the modern fitness industry and its recent explosive growth fueled by private equity investments. Fantastic example of identification and capitalization of a mega trend towards mind and body fitness among millennials by the private equity industry.

The author was effective in looking at the same issue through a variety of lenses - personal experience, journalistic narrative and story of the protagonist entrepreneur. Although, as a result often the storytelling was somewhat disjoint.

[Jackie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe it's unfair of me to judge this book in 2022, six years after it was published. Even back then it probably would have been on the boring side to read through. I was hoping for more analysis of the wider implications, what it means that money is getting into all of these fitness trends and how the classes, gear, and finisher medals are becoming status symbols among the rich, worming into the workplace, etc. But the focus of this book is, unsurprisingly, very much like a Bloomberg article: a long string of recounting trendy fitness companies' founding, growth, sales, acquisitions, investors, and softball interviews with the wealthy founders. There's a lot about millennials, but only a particular class of them: wealthy ones who work high-powered jobs and have the money and time for all the expensive fitness trends they like. The author is a fitness junkie himself, so at times it read like an advertorial for these classes, events, and gear.

I guess I need to just keep listening to Maintenance Phase podcast instead, for a more critical view of these companies. There were a lot of worrying things that went unquestioned: the exercise bulimia/orthorexic tendencies of boutique class instructors (written off as just being geared toward "Type A" customers), the fatphobia and ableism of all these trends creeping into the workplace and blurring healthy work/life boundaries, the cultural appropriation going with the rise of yoga and subtle misogyny of needing yoga branded specifically for macho men, the sneering from the hypercompetitive CEOs and founders towards the casual exercisers who couldn't possibly take it seriously if they go eat pancakes after their hard workout, the talk of color runs without a single mention of Holi. The special CEO package for the Ironman is especially weird now that we've been talking about the extreme economic inequality in the US for a while now.

Granted, it was interesting to read about trends that were just on the rise in 2014-2016, and see what's become of them now. Lululemon is still going strong, though I have no idea about the problematic founder's subsequent ventures. Hoka shoes are still around, though I see a lot less about zero-drop sneakers. Warrior Dash doesn't exist anymore, but Tough Mudder still does, and I know some friends who enjoy Barry's Bootcamp. I don't hear a lot about Soul Cycle anymore, but Peloton obviously got a huge boost from the pandemic. I think he also missed rock climbing and circus arts, which were starting to really take off around 2015 too. But I remember the minimalist shoe craze, the rise of distance running events, etc. so it was still interesting to read about some of it. At least there will be good fodder here for book club.

[Joanna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't get me wrong, for anyone interested There are useful statistics and information on recent trends. But as a fitness professional and someone who cares about mental health? Opening a book with a person with an unhealthy fitness obsession and toting it as the glamorized ideal was atrocious.
Then again, that's the state of fitness and health industries (notice how these are separate..) these days. To the brand with the most cut-throat, intensive, no-pain-no-gain we give the most attention and attribute top success! SICK of it.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting. I didn’t know how many billions this industry generates.

[Steph · Rating 3 out of 5]

I work in private equity and am massively intrigued by the business of fitness, making the focus of this book highly pertinent to my interests. Given that, I really wanted to like this book. It is a truly exhaustive catalogue of the business of wellness with some interesting anecdotes and characterizations strewn throughout. The beginning of the book, focused on macro trends and the boutique fitness boom, was interesting enough to be engaging. Kelly does a nice job of rendering corporate/finance concepts accessible to all, and a decent job of identifying interesting individuals and crafting narratives around them. Unfortunately the book began to fall apart for me 60% of the way through, and went off the rails completely around page 180 (the second to last chapter, on wearables) when the writing began to take a meandering tone, like the author was trying to meet a deadline and/or page quota in a hurry and was writing words to fill up space. I do believe Jason Kelly is a good journalist, but Sweat Equity just is not reflective of his journalistic chops.

[Katie Grandprey · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half was extremely interesting, the second half was primarily about endurance sports - namely running. Released in 2016, the fitness industry has changed and evolved so much. A follow up to this looking at the impact of new media would be great! And to include more range/diversity of sports outside of running and endurance based events. (Given, this was written in the peak era of “Color Runs” and Spartan events.)

[Liz Stiverson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This read like a very long Bloomberg article, which I don't think makes for a good book experience. Also seemed structured to deliver a series of "Huh, that's interesting" moments rather than a cohesive picture of the inertia or implications around health and fitness in the economy.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was excited to pick up this book given the relevancy of the subject matter and the recent changes in the industry. However I'm sorry to say I found it a rather tiresome read. Kelly rambles around different areas by way of profiles of key individuals. Unfortunately the loose thematic division between chapters allows for a lot of overlaps and meeting the same individuals and hearing the same anecdotes across different chapters left me feeling as though I'd read the same chapter ten times rather than a full book. I enjoyed getting a refresher on recent sporting trends but was disappointed not to discover any new analysis or criticism other than the generic 'exercise seems to be getting quite popular.'

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was basically the equivalent of Us Weekly for me - tabloids for fitness junkies. Cool to learn the inner workings and back stories of the most popular fitness brands. Terribly structured book (author often jumped from one topic to another with no rhyme or reason) but otherwise an interesting and informative read.

[Trung Nguyen Dang · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of nice stories, lots of history of various races but sorely lack of insights of the economics of this new fitness industry or what makes certain brand/companies tick. It does not make me feel smarter if I want to understand/analyse or invest in any of these companies in the industry.
Jason Kelly is a writer covering the global private equity industry.

[Teddy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing was pretty awful, but if you can get past that to the message it was interesting. Definitely got better toward the end.

[William Khouzam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting take on the business of fitness, industry trends, and social influence on exercise behaviors.

[Xin Gao · Rating 2 out of 5]

It feels like the same news article repeated 15 times....

[Ross H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Redeemed itself a bit in the backhalf

[Kristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that marries the meteoric rise of fitness into today's world and the booming economy behind it. As someone who has tried, heard, or was inspired to research more about nearly all the consumer-facing companies Kelly discusses, I found this story to be a short, concise read about the evolution of working out. It drags a little, talking about marathons and running for a chapter too long for my liking (but this is my fault- because I hate running, though I am looking up half marathon options to starting training for), but when running is the cheapest, most universal form of exercise, I suppose it deserves it's due diligence in the book.

[Steve Matthews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Looking for some inspiration for your fitness routine? Or some emerging investment ideas? My friend Jason Kelly, who I worked with in Atlanta and now is Bloomberg's bureau chief in New York, has just written a highly entertaining book called Sweat Equity which covers a pretty amazing amount going on among businesses that provide fitness services -- from gyms, to competitions, to technology... You should check it out.

[teohjitkhiam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read book for those keen in the economics of fitness industry as it covers quite the swathe of the fitness industry; from gyms differentiating themselves by moving off to the opposite ends of the typical spectrum of the market, either as differentiated boutique or no-frills mass market gyms, and to the burgeoning wearable sports technology that enables consumers to flaunt their achievement in social media. #Goodreads

[Laura Skladzinski · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book - it was fascinating to see how each of the different players in the fitness industry started, grew, and evolved. The breadth also got me really thinking about what a big business fitness is - no one just throws on a pair of old sneakers and runs "for free" anymore!

Full review on my blog: https://t.co/JGuzi8hhgk

[Sheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. As a passionate cyclist and someone who is interested in fitness and wellness, in general, I found Jason Kelly's thorough examination of the business that fitness has become both fascinating and enlightening. I learned a lot about many of the newer fitness ventures that exist and appreciated the opportunity to explore them from the business perspective.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a runner with a long time interest in fitness, I was very interested in this book. I was not disappointed at all. Even though my background in business is weak (psychology for a career and then some!) I was able to make sense out of the myriad of facts and figures. Kelly writes clearly and with purpose. Can't ask for more!

[Mike Mclachlan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not interesting.

[Kathryn West · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting look at the business of fitness and its fads, trends and what makes a lasting impact and why.

[Arianne Angers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great business book. Especially for people who are into fitness and workout trends.