Framework

Cold plunge and sauna CPG meetup for the win. Thanks Jonny Price Megan Feeman Read Ezell & Trinity Wiles for making this happen. And to come to cool events and meet other founders join Nashvilles CPG networking group. (Shoot me a DM and I’ll connect you)

As I just turned 46, this article really hit home for me. My own health journey began at 40 when I started feeling the effects of aging: low energy, a dip in my sex drive, struggling to keep up with my kids, and realizing that hangovers now last days instead of hours. It was a wake-up call. I knew I needed to make changes if I wanted to be a present and active father and hopefully meet my great-grandchildren someday. But I quickly learned that optimizing my health wasn't something my doctor was equipped to help with. So, I took matters into my own hands and ended up building Keyspan. Our mission is to empower others to take control of their health and prevent chronic illness. As we gear up for the fall season, I’m offering anyone in the U.S. between 40-60 with an August or September birthday a free blood biomarker analysis, precision supplements, and a personalized health plan. DM me if you’re ready to start your own journey towards a healthier, longer life. Check out the article that inspired this reflection: https://lnkd.in/dqV8KrYU #health #wellness #aging #longevity #Keyspan

Last summer, thanks to Elizabeth H. Werly, Psy D, I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Patrick Owsiak (at a kids bday party, where else). Despite being a Packers fan, we hit it off and learned that we were mutually fascinated by the use of hot and cold for human performance -- in Patrick's case within the Army and in mine with Framework. I also had the need for someone far more schooled in scientific research to help me wade through the laundry list of claims bandied about re: the health benefits of sauna and cold plunge. With that, Patrick's role as Medical Advisor to Framework took off and, 60(!) research papers and hundreds of Google Docs comments later, the Science section of Framework's website was born. So, what a pleasure to get to reflect a year later on how cold plunge has taken off with the military, Patrick's hacks for sauna, my thoughts on 'stacking' benefits for efficiency and what we learned from all those research papers. We unfortunately live in different cities now, so this is a Zoom interview and we are both laypeople with laypeople recording equipment, but if you can wade through our boring backgrounds and middling video quality haha, there's a ton of great info. Thanks Patrick, for everything! ??♂? ? ???? Interview link: https://lnkd.in/gCD8TEFU

Sauna is gaining clinical co-sign. ???? A 2021 study looked at the biological impact of sauna, and found that the wellness routine appears to extend healthspan. By mimicking the same physiological and protective responses as exercise, repeated sauna use optimizes stress response — protecting against cardiovascular and neurodegenerative disease. Researchers say sauna-ing can also preserve muscle mass and fight sarcopenia. Science is stacking in favor of the Finnish tradition, with other studies showing: ? Saunaing ~3x/week lowers all-cause mortality risk by 40% and CVD death risk by 27%. ? Sauna lowers blood pressure and cholesterol—while enhancing cardio fitness and recovery—when paired with exercise. ? A single session can improve reaction time, psychological stress, and mood. Heat therapy is being explored as a path to combat depression, dementia, arthritis, and even cancer. Surging with wellness consumers, the global sauna market is expected to top $195B?by 2029. [Study: Patrick RP, Johnson TL. Sauna use as a lifestyle practice to extend healthspan. Exp Gerontol. 2021.]

It was the health benefits of sauna (and cold plunge) that started me down the path of starting Framework. So, it was a true pleasure to dig into the ??♂? ? science with Dr. Amy Price Neff. You can watch here: https://lnkd.in/gjWbTqbU PS. This was my first time as an interviewer ?? so just listen to Amy and ignore me.

Why am I raising a community round for Framework on Wefunder? Let me explain through the lens of our mantra: Sweat, Shiver, and Socialize. Sweat (aka the health benefits): As I detailed in my Framework launch post, I founded Framework as I was turning 40, inspired by research showing regular sauna use can reduce risks of cardiovascular disease, stroke, hypertension, and Alzheimer’s by 25-50%. If any one of these benefits was in pill form it would be as talked about as Ozempic and sauna delivers 4 of them. And cold plunges? They can boost dopamine levels more than chocolate, sex, or even cocaine. Our website has all the supporting research. Shiver (aka building routine and resilience): Ok, now for the hard part. Who loves jumping into the shower when your hot water is off or the pool isn’t heated or it’s winter time at the lake? Not many. So I’ll use cold water as the example but this is broadly true for hot as well. We don’t like to be uncomfortable. Our bodies can handle it — we have 50,000 years of human history and 50 years of HVAC history — but we don’t like it.?However, when we repeatedly do things that we don’t like to do in one area, we build the focus and resiliency to execute better in many aspects of our lives.?In many ways, this is the best way to think about Framework, as a place to build healthy routines and practice doing hard things. Socialize (aka joining and benefitting from a community): But it's not all grind! This is where the socialize comes in. Many of the physical and mental health benefits I listed were studied in Finland, where saunas are a group experience. It would be shocking if all those health benefits didn’t have a social health vector to them. It’s rare to be able to combine something healthy and something social. It’s also simply fun to meet new people, to have a change of scenery for date night, or a business meeting/event. These are all reasons we see individuals and groups coming to Framework. This is the proverbial third place that we hear so much about, and Framework presents a space for this that leads with social & fun but sneaks health in on you. The ask: Our Wefunder round aims to expand our Nashville community. We offer investors a one-year membership worth more than their investment, plus a 1.5x return over the next few years. Join us, invest $1-$2k, and become a part of Framework’s growth. Visit www.wefunder.com/framework to learn more. Thank you!

The first public offering of a new business is more of a starting point than a finished product. It just allows you to open your doors and put something into the world, but the real work, learning and feedback cycles begin from there. So it has been with Framework. From the beginning I knew many different types of workouts and movement paired perfectly with hot and cold exposure, and the size our Launch Location studio lent itself to pairing many different styles of these workouts. From that, our?latest offering, Framework Fitness, was born: https://lnkd.in/gWHvwCTw. These new guided classes combine mobility, power, flexibility, breathwork and more with our signature sauna and cold plunge sessions, providing a broad health and fitness experience. All at the same price or membership credit, and bookable as usual. As we prepare to move into our Flagship location, we’ll be testing new class types and expanding our schedule to include more Framework Fitness offerings. Testing new offerings, like Framework Fitness, is crucial for any business looking to fully understand their offering and define the boundaries of what customers do and do not way. I first saw this in action during my time at Uber. One example was our 2012 introduction of Taxis onto the Uber system (nostalgic blog header here: https://lnkd.in/g7BRnRNv???)?in Chicago. Prior to that (this was before UberX) Uber was exclusively black cars and a high end service. However, taxi app competition was heating up and we wanted to learn ourselves if that was a market segment that (a) had consumer demand and (b) could be delivered with reliability and quality. We did not want to learn that lesson by watching a competitor be successful with it. It was better for us to fail ourselves than hope someone else did. Ultimately the test proved (a) to be true and (b) to be false and we discontinued the product. This test -- Uber's first low-cost offering anywhere in the world -- served as a critical decision making input to Uber's introduction of UberX the following year, which is of course now it's global flagship offering. The lesson of course is to never think of your business as a finished product, even if you find early success. Everything is dynamic -- consumer knowledge, tastes and preferences, competition, technology. At Framework, we’re committed to exploring new ways to enhance our members’ health and wellness journeys, and we’re excited to see how Framework Fitness will contribute to this goal. Join us in this journey and try a Framework Fitness class today. And, for instructors/trainers, if you have a cool class idea you’d like to offer at Framework, we’d love to hear from you!

…another #notsponsored post, this time about Athletic Brewing Co. By making a n/a beer that is 90%+ as good as full octane, they’ve catalyzed a category that helped me reduce my alcohol consumption by >50% over the last 18 months. It’s an easy substitute for ‘grab a drink’ or ‘beer during the game’ or ‘wind down after work’ type use cases that otherwise add up to your drink count across the week. I still think n/a wine and n/a spirits have a loooong way to go so I save my booze for those when I really want it, but I’ve found the key to lasting health changes for me has been to not focus on 100% perfect but sustainable changes that fit into life. N/A beer (the newgen, not crap like O’Douls) is a great way to start dialing back alcohol if that’s important to you. I’m grateful to Athletic for this product and pleased to support their ‘Ask for Athletic’ promotion tomorrow, 5/16 - https://lnkd.in/dyRqaTMd. In 40 states around the US they will reimburse your purchase so if you’re out and about tomorrow give it a go. Unfortunately, Tennessee is one of the 10, so Framework is just going to give them away to anyone who comes for a ?? ?? session tomorrow. Ask for Athletic. ??