Two years after her first Neko Health scan, Adrienne is about to go back for a second, and before she does she sits down with Dr Sam Rodgers, Neko’s Medical Quality Lead, to find out what the numbers actually tell you.

Dr Sam explains why a health check is designed to feel more like a hotel than a GP surgery, and why he expected 30-something optimisers when the Marylebone clinic opened, but saw everyone from 18 to 88 in the first fortnight. He shares what Neko sees when members come back: in some cases their hearts are ageing about nine months for every year that passes, and around a quarter of smokers have quit by their second scan. They also cover why “do 10,000 steps” is lazy advice, and whether your family history really decides your future.

Then there’s ferritin, the blood marker all over social media right now. Dr Sam explains what it is, why so many young women are running low, and reveals that it’s now being added to the Neko scan, just in time for Adrienne’s return visit.

They finish on the optimisation backlash and the people ditching their wearables, and what Dr Sam would say to anyone who feels fine and doesn’t see the point of knowing their numbers.

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First up, can you actually be allergic to cleaning? The team dig into a Times piece by a writer who found herself coughing and wheezing every time she wiped down her kitchen, and the science behind why. It turns out many everyday sprays release irritants and volatile compounds that can bother our lungs, and the “natural” or “eco” labels don’t always mean much. So what does this mean for homes? Fewer products, less spraying and the windows open - but what about Adrienne’s candles? The cleaning product brand Oli shouts out is Seep.

Next up, the news that global fitness racing series HYROX partnered with World Triathlon (TRI) to establish governance of the sport of Hybrid Racing as it pursues Olympic inclusion.

Becoming a recognised discipline sanctioned and governed by World Triathlon, HYROX will jointly develop a sprint (Fast) and endurance (Ultra) format to complement its signature race, designated as “Ultimate.” Read more at Fitt Insider.

And lastly, in trending, we look at the worrying side of AI, with the recent news that the death of a 31-year-old Seattle software engineer has raised serious questions about the risks of relying on artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots for medical decisions.

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Sammi sits down with Ben Alderton, founder of Solo60, the private, app-bookable training spaces now across London and expanding internationally. What started as a personal trainer's frustration with gym rents has grown into 27 locations, 3,000+ trainers on the platform, and a blueprint for the future of fitness.

Ben shares the unfiltered journey from burn outs, to the mistakes made in early tech builds, why real estate is harder than software, and the patience required to scale a physical business. Together Ben and Sammi dig into PT retention in an industry where 80% leave within two years, gym intimidation as an untapped market, and how landlord partnerships are reshaping expansion. Plus they discuss international franchising, making premium fitness more accessible, and where personalisation, GLP-1s, and biomarkers are taking the industry next.

And Modern Wellness listeners can use code MWP20 for 20% off Solo60 bookings.

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Mirror mirror on the wall, who’s the fittest of them all?

We start with the news that the initial backers of Soho House and Monica Vinader are backing an AI company. In a story that sounds like something out of a modern day fairytale, MAGIC AI, the London business behind the award-winning MAGIC AI Mirror, has closed an $11 million Series B round to launch in the United States, and capitalise on the surging $35 billion AI fitness market.

The MAGIC AI Mirror was named one of TIME Magazine’s Best Inventions of 2024 and was a recipient of the King’s Award for Enterprise in the Innovation category in 2026 joining Dyson, Rolls Royce and ARM – with King Charles himself giving the AI company his Royal Seal of Approval this year. Read more at Fitt Insider.

Up next, research from Yale University has shown that book readers experienced a 20% lower risk of dying over the 12-year follow-up period compared to non-book readers.

The study showed that reading up to 3.5 hours per week (about 30 minutes a day) reduced mortality risk by 17%, and reading more than 3.5 hours per week reduced mortality risk by 23%. They’re pretty incredible stats, but what’s driving these benefits?

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It's time for another special episode with Adrienne, Oli, and Sammi will be opening up the DMs and answering your questions!

Send in your questions to @modernwellnesspodcast or email questions@modernwellnesspodcast.com.

Today we have two great questions from the listeners. Up first, we’re looking at trends, and understanding how businesses should approach new frontiers and ideas.

And secondly, women are given all sorts of information about aging - whether they’ve asked for it or not - so what part of the algorithm should we be paying attention to?

Don't forget to rate/review and subscribe or follow!

You can follow Adrienne @adrienne_ldn, Sammi @sammiadhami, and Oli @_olipatrick

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We’re back with another week of headlines and the latest in the wellness industry. We start with the news that the death of a 28-year-old lab technician, Darya Shipilova, at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute in Siberia has sparked international concern over a potential pneumonic plague exposure. The facts of the story remain unclear, but as flu season is approaching - should we be taking better precautions? And more generally, there's a wider conversation about our exposure to news, and how that can affect our daily lives.

Next up, we dive in to Lightberg Magazine’s article Your Next Wearable Might Read Your Brain. This is the news that after years of tracking our steps, our sleep, and our heart rate, wellness technology is moving into cognitive health. Consumer wearable devices can now measure brain activity through everyday form factors like behind-the-ear pucks, headbands, earbuds, and headphones. There’s various ways they work, EEG (Electroencephalogram) is one example, which reads fast electrical rhythms from the brain using tiny sensors woven into fabric or plastic pads. fNIRS (Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy) tracks blood oxygen levels in the frontal cortex to measure mental effort. The devices aren’t necessarily sexy or cool yet, but this feels like the next frontier in wellness, wearables, and brain health.

And lastly, are you a Doom Spender? In trending we look at the rise of the act of spending money on short-term, instant enjoyment, rather than saving it, to cope with economic stress and worries, and general pessimism about the future. It’s a worrying trend, but can certainly be understood - the question is who does the best out of it? And subsequently, does the wellness industry benefit from it?

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Today we're joined by Eamon Lloyd, VP of Partnerships at Wellhub, to unpack the findings from Wellhub's Fitness Business Growth Report 2026.

We explore the shift from the traditional gym-goer to the holistic wellness consumer, how operators like Third Space, David Lloyd, and 1Rebel are evolving their propositions without losing their brand identity, and the growing role of AI in the fitness industry; from marketing content to deeper business analytics and churn reduction.

We also discuss how Wellhub bridges the gap between employers and gym operators, making corporate wellness accessible to studios of all sizes — with more than 90% of the users Wellhub sends to their partners being incremental to that facility.

Finally, Eamon shares his three trends to watch heading into 2027: AI adoption, flexible membership pricing, and the rising importance of corporate wellbeing as a business strategy.

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