The genius is aware of all. It is aware of my top, my weight, my hydration, my cardio stamina — even, regrettably, my physique’s visceral fats proportion. I’m standing on a bioelectrical impedance gadget — which seems lots like a scale however with steel handles and steel foot pads — and it’s sending low-grade, painless electrical indicators via my palms and toes to measure my muscle, fats and water. The chances of every are then fed into an AI program.
Welcome to Fred Health, which touts itself as L.A.’s “first full-scale AI-powered gym.” You is likely to be questioning: What does that even imply? Principally that AI-powered software program, known as Genius, is built-in into each piece of cardio and energy gear on the gymnasium. All through your exercise, it features as an ever-present however imperceptible pressure, sparking beneath the floor, like a digital mycelium community with an agenda: that can assist you attain your coaching objective (whether or not that’s weight reduction, energy constructing or firming) in essentially the most environment friendly manner attainable.
The Santa Monica facility opened in mid-February in an 11,500-square-foot former Patagonia retailer on 4th Avenue. Fred Health CEO Andre Enzensberger says the gymnasium has about 400 members, who pay $150 a month to be bossed round by an algorithm.
Inside Fred Fitnessm an AI gymnasium in Santa Monica.
(Chiara Alexa / For The Occasions)
At first look, Fred Health seems like nothing greater than a high-end gymnasium in a tony neighborhood. It’s ethereal and shiny, with hovering ceilings, uncovered wooden rafters and leafy hanging crops. On a current Wednesday afternoon, it was sparsely populated, with only a few dozen members understanding on brand-new, still-gleaming treadmills, bikes and elliptical machines. The energy machines use electrical motors to create resistance as an alternative of bodily weights, so there’s no clanking. It’s comparatively quiet however for the whirring of cardio gear and a mix of lo-fi and digital pop music on the sound system. Not precisely “The Matrix.”
However the train machines at Fred Health are tailor-made to you. They know members’ names and physique evaluation information, and so they’ve configured customized exercise applications personalized to their objectives and health talents. They’re additionally gamified, which means their screens show a “Pac-Man”-like online game that members “play” by transferring the burden throughout reps and units. Seize the handles of a seated rowing machine, for instance, and pull the burden quicker or slower to maneuver your on-screen avatar — a ball — up or down inside a maze and “eat” cash as you go. Aggressive? The gymnasium retains observe of your scores, when you select to take part, and shows the knowledge on an app and a wall-mounted monitor to encourage a way of neighborhood.
Fred Health an AI gymnasium in Santa Monica.
(Chiara Alexa / For The Occasions)
“I love it because it’s fun and totally automated,” says Keverton Marinho, a 32-year-old new member. “I just play — I don’t have to think about anything.”
The gamification could also be enjoyable, nevertheless it’s purposeful too, Enzensberger says.
“It helps members train at the correct speed,” he says. “It regulates time under tension, meaning how fast you push or how slow you release the weight. So your workout is more effective.”
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There’s no becoming a member of charge at Fred Health and the month-to-month membership consists of entry to licensed private trainers — although not limitless classes — who seek the advice of with members about their AI-generated coaching applications. Trainers additionally wander the gymnasium flooring, answering questions and providing corrections after they discover somebody’s type is off. That human component is crucial, Enzensberger says.
“AI is so big right now, but we’re very proud of the human aspect of our gym — the team — and how we complement the AI precision,” he stated.
Earlier than becoming a member of, potential members bear a free full-body evaluation from Genius to get a health baseline. A “body composition analyzer” breaks down fats and lean muscle mass limb by limb and offers stats about foundational muscle energy, base metabolic charge and hydration ranges, amongst different metrics. That info is then interpreted by the AI. Many gyms provide health assessments if you join private coaching, and luxurious well being golf equipment, akin to Equinox and Santa Monica’s Love Life, do in-depth well being and health testing for brand new members; however most common gymnasium memberships don’t embody health assessments.
After the physique composition evaluation, which measures your metabolism, a human coach leads the member-to-be via completely different train circuits on machines that measure their energy, cardio and suppleness. There’s additionally a sequence of on-screen questions associated to exercise objectives, train expertise and preferences.
Genius then assigns the member a “biological age” — completely different out of your chronological age in years. It’s like an total health rating, says Fred Health common supervisor Miguel Alvino.
Fred Health an AI gymnasium in Santa Monica.
(Chiara Alexa / For The Occasions)
“It’s a metric we use to give people an idea of where their strength and areas of improvement are compared to their calendar age,” Alvino explains.
From that time on, if you log onto an train machine together with your wristband, it calls up your customized coaching program. The machine then bodily adjusts to your top and limb size, elevating or decreasing its seat and altering the place of its handles in line with your physique. The AI can also be adaptive, using machine studying. So it can evolve with you as you get fitter.
“The machines continue to learn about your capabilities,” Enzensberger says. “And that data is collected and fed into the AI to constantly generate a better training program for you.”
Fred Health is the mind little one of Andre Enzensberger’s brother, Alfred, who’s the president and founding father of Munich-based Intelligent Match, a health franchise with greater than 500 places all through Europe. Alfred Enzensberger partnered with Philipp Roesch-Schlanderer, CEO of EGYM, a worldwide health know-how firm additionally primarily based in Munich, in 2023 to create a full AI gymnasium. EGYM wrote Genius, which was deployed in August 2024. They introduced in Andre Enzensberger as CEO.
Fred Health an AI gymnasium in Santa Monica.
(Chiara Alexa / For The Occasions)
There are different gyms with good or AI-powered gear in Southern California, akin to L.A.’s EōS Health (with gear from EGYM) and Good Match Methodology in Orange County. However at Fred Health, “Every piece of machinery is tied into the network,” Andre Enzensberger says. “We’re utilizing what the AI system can do on a much larger, fuller scale.”
Los Angeles was the perfect metropolis through which to launch the enterprise, given its historical past as a hub for health and tech tradition, he says. “We wanted to embrace the open-mindedness of the people of Los Angeles. Fred Fitness is groundbreaking and requires people who want to experience training in a new way.”
I loved Genius’ steerage throughout my exercise. The treadmill set itself to a decrease velocity than I usually run at, although at a better incline, as a result of Genius knew my train objective was energy constructing, not weight reduction. And I liked the gamification component of the weight-lifting machines, even going as far as to chortle out loud mid-rep — although I wonder if the sport would get previous over time. However ultimately, what retains me coming again to a gymnasium is the promise of a sauna or steam after my exercise. And Fred Health, sadly, doesn’t present these facilities, which was disappointing.
However progress is on the horizon. A second Fred Health is now underway in downtown Culver Metropolis — it’s planning to open in early 2026 — and the corporate hopes to open 4 extra services inside three to 5 years. The places into account are downtown L.A., West Hollywood and Glendale.
“This is just a modern gym that’s fun to use — and people love it because it takes the guesswork out,” Enzensberger says. “Everything is fully guided.”
