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HIT THE GYM,<br />
GENTLY<br />
Exos, a firm known for training elite athletes, is using<br />
sophisticated tech (and lower-impact exercise) to help<br />
desk jockeys stay healthy. By Phil Wahba<br />
IMAGINE YOU’RE AT WORK, reaching to<br />
TECH<br />
grab a stack of papers, when your<br />
shoulder suddenly seizes up in pain. Do you<br />
(a) pop an Advil while debating whether to<br />
visit your doctor? Or (b) go see your oice’s<br />
on-site “wellness provider,” where you stand<br />
in a sensor-equipped machine that evaluates<br />
your movements, assesses the asymmetries<br />
and instabilities that could be causing the<br />
discomfort, and generates a regimen of quick,<br />
simple exercises to alleviate the pain?<br />
Exos is betting you’ll prefer (b) and that<br />
your boss will too. The self-described “human<br />
performance” company got its start nearly<br />
two decades ago coaching elite athletes. Now,<br />
AT-WORK<br />
WORKOUT<br />
Exos manages<br />
in-office fitness<br />
centers and<br />
cafeterias for a<br />
range of<br />
<strong>Fortune</strong> 100<br />
companies.<br />
as a tight labor market prods companies to<br />
invest in health-related employee perks, Exos<br />
is expanding its footprint among white-collar<br />
types—and relying on sophisticated technology<br />
to broaden its reach in the $7 billion corporate<br />
wellness market, where the firm says it<br />
serves some 1.2 million workers.<br />
Exos doesn’t aim at training only C-suite<br />
MAMILs (middle-aged men in latex) who<br />
want to kill it at an Ironman. It’s explicitly<br />
appealing to the rank and file, including those<br />
it euphemistically calls “non-movers.” The<br />
pain-analysis technology, known as 3D Movement<br />
Quotient (3DMQ), is a new feature (it<br />
debuted in May) and a key part of the campaign,<br />
because pain is a leading cause of lost<br />
productivity for athletes and couch potatoes<br />
alike. Another new Exos ofering: a speedy<br />
cardio assessment that relies on VO2 max, a<br />
measure of oxygen consumption, to help create<br />
individually tailored exercise programs.<br />
“This isn’t fitness, it isn’t wellness, it isn’t<br />
just disease prevention—it really is about<br />
an integrated mindset,” says president and<br />
founder Mark Verstegen.<br />
Exos is hitting its stride just as corporate<br />
wellness makes a comeback. Enthusiasm for<br />
such programs cooled after eforts to prove<br />
www.t.me/velarch_official<br />
FROM LEFT: JOE GALL— COURTESY OF EXOS; COURTESY OF EXOS<br />
30<br />
FORTUNE.COM // JULY.1.18
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