Stop Chasing Easy Buttons: The Future of Fitness (and Business) Is Smaller, Harder, and More Real

We live in a world obsessed with easy buttons. Everywhere I look, people are chasing shortcuts: Ozempic for weight loss, TRT for muscle gain, AI to write your workouts, track your macros, and even spit out a “perfect” meal plan by the end of the day.

On the surface, it all seems magical. Just push a button and your problem disappears. But we all know that easy buttons rarely pay off in the long run. There’s always a cost—whether it’s your health, your fulfillment, or your wallet.

As someone who’s spent over a decade in the trenches of the fitness world (and business in general), I’ve seen firsthand how these easy buttons tempt people. I’ve also seen how chasing them destroys meaningful progress.

The harsh truth? Easy buttons are killing the big-box fitness industry—and that might be exactly what you and I need.

The Death of Big Fitness (And Big Everything)

The traditional fitness business model is dying.
You know the one I’m talking about: huge followings, mass appeal programs, 10,000 customers all paying $50/month, big Facebook ads campaigns, high churn, and cookie-cutter results.

That game was already fading. With easy buttons everywhere, it’s about to accelerate. The masses don’t want the truth—that to truly change, you have to do hard things. They want to hit a button, get a dopamine rush, and move on.

So here’s what I see happening: the future isn’t big. It’s small, it’s tight, and it’s built around real effort. It’s about finding those rare people who don’t want easy buttons. Who actually value putting in the work. And building a business around them.

What “Easy Buttons” Teach Us About Niching Down

Most people think “niching down” means specializing in kettlebells, or powerlifting, or fasting. That’s not it. The niche isn’t a tool or tactic. The real niche is effort. It’s finding the humans who want to earn it, not shortcut it.

That’s where the future is. Not tens of thousands of followers who scroll by your posts—15 or 20 clients who actually value the hard stuff, who pay you well to guide them, and who stay for years.

I have a friend who edits videos. Just four or five clients pay him around $20K/month combined. No huge team. No chasing viral followers. Just doing the work, for a handful of people who value it. That’s it.

This is exactly where the fitness and coaching world is heading too. A smaller community. A smaller email list. A higher level of trust and engagement. And ironically, more revenue and more satisfaction.

My 3 Simple Rules for Thriving in the Age of Easy Buttons

So how do you build something that survives in this easy-button world? I’ve boiled it down to three things that I’m doubling down on right now:

1. Niche down to effort.
   Not equipment, not macros, not clever hacks. The actual human action required. That’s your new niche.

2. Get an email list—but keep it small and real.
   I’ve grown big lists before. The open rates tank. People forget you. I’d rather have 200 people opening every single email and replying than 20,000 who don’t care.

3. Keep that list engaged.
   Write them. Help them. Solve problems for them. Stay personal. The more you help, the more you earn their trust. That’s the entire “marketing funnel” in 2025.

Easy Buttons Are for the Masses—Not for You

Easy buttons aren’t going away. If anything, AI and biohacks will only make them more tempting. The masses will chase them, get burned, and then look for the next shortcut.

But if you position yourself as the guide for those who know the truth—that the only way to change is to do the work—then you’ll build something lasting. A small, meaningful business. A brand people actually trust. A life where you get paid to do work you believe in, with people you actually like.

Stop chasing easy buttons. Start finding the people who hate them too. And then serve the hell out of them.

Try harder.

⏱ Show Notes & Timestamps

• 0:30 – Why the fitness industry is screwed by easy buttons like Ozempic, TRT, and AI

• 2:05 – The inevitable death of the mass-market fitness business (and why that’s good for you)

• 3:30 – The real niche today isn’t kettlebells or CrossFit—it’s effort

• 5:15 – A story of a friend making $20K/month with just a handful of clients

• 6:45 – The rise of small, highly profitable micro-communities and micro-businesses

• 8:10 – My 3 rules: niche down to effort, keep your list small, keep it engaged

• 10:00 – Why big followings and big email lists aren’t the goal anymore

• 11:30 – How to build a future-proof brand in a world obsessed with easy buttons

• 13:00 – Final thoughts: the people who reject shortcuts are your people