Episode
342. Dane McCarthy, Founder of Club Athletic
- Podcast
- Fitt Insider
- Published
- Jun 8, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2200
- Processing state
not_requested
Actions
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Summary
Today, I'm joined by Dane McCarthy, founder of Club Athletic. Club Athletic (fka The Athletic Clubs) is a team-based fitness concept centered on "training squads" — small, consistent groups that train together under a dedicated coach. In this episode, we discuss building community and accountability through small-group training. We also cover: The company's recent rebrand Expanding beyond NYC to Chicago Dane's vision to reach 2K squads by 2030 Subscribe to the podcast → insider.fitt.co/podcast Subscribe to our newsletter → insider.fitt.co/subscribe Follow us on LinkedIn → linkedin.com/company/fittinsider Website: www.clubathletic.co Contact: [email protected] Hiring: Coaches wanted https://apply.workable.com/the-athletic-clubs/?lng=en - The Fitt Insider Podcast is brought to you by EGYM. Visit EGYM.com to learn more about its smart fitness ecosystem for fitness and health facilities. Fitt Talent: https://talent.fitt.co/ Consulting: https://consulting.fitt.co/ Investments: https://capital.fitt.co/ Chapters: (00:00) Introduction (01:54) Current state rebranding (03:08) Squad model (04:26) Training squads differentiation (06:06) Community infrastructure (08:09) Dunbar's law (10:01) Community building at scale (12:04) Modality details (14:29) Results and consistency (18:20) Gen Z training trends (21:04) Chicago expansion (24:01) Rebrand positioning (26:37) New locations timeline (29:36) Density strategy (31:46) 2K squads by 2030 (33:26) Where to find (35:55) Conclusion