Nerio Alessandri founds Technogym and designs his first machine in his garage at the age of 22. In 1993 he introduces the concept of Wellness for the first time in history, sparking the change from an industry driven by self-indulgence towards physical exercise as a source of health both for the body and the mind. In 2000 for the first time, Technogym is chosen as the Official Supplier for athletic training at the Olympics. In 2001 Nerio Alessandri was nominated “Knight of Industry” (Cavaliere del lavoro) by the President of the Italian Republic Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, which made him the youngest-ever holder of this title in Italian history. In 2018 he releases “Biocircuit “, a technology that marks a new step in connecting Wellness to “Antiaging”. Biociruit delivers a complete strength and cardio workout in 30 minutes or less available for people of any age but especially for the elderlies. It helps losing weight (important for the management of diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, heart conditions, etc) and building strength (to avoid the silent killer called sarcopenia, that is the loss of muscle tissue as we age) to guarantee healthy aging to the population world wide. Nerio Alessandri is not only a world-renowned entrepreneur and award-winning inventor, but also an author. He published and was featured in several books, such as “Wellness. Welcome to a better life”, “Blue ocean strategy”, “Soft economy”, “Wellness-the history and culture of healthy living”, A successful life begins with Wellness”.
- 40 millions people use Technogym everyday in 100 countries
- 15 millions of people are connected to “MyWellness Cloud”, which is a Technogym online platform for health and fitness operators
- Technogym is installed in 12.000 companies, 80.000 centers, 11.000 hotels, 4000 universities and 3000 hospitals world wide.
What is your motto?
“Stay healthy, it’s worth it”. We all know health is the true treasure of life. Health is wealth. Good health is important for everyone. For example, for a business, having healthy employees has a drastic effect on the businesses performance; a healthier population reduces governments’ health care spending; for each individual person, a state of optimal well-being maximizes the individual’s potential in all aspect of their lives, such as work, family and social life. Good health is fundamental to live a good quality of life. I founded “The Wellness Foundation”, a non-profit organisation to assist schools, universities, institutes, research centres and any public or private entities that are committed to improving people’s quality of life. The organisation is primarily involved in promoting wellness by educating people about disease prevention and the importance of healthy activity. In 2002, through The Wellness Foundation, I’ve also founded “The Wellness Valley”, an initiative that aims to make a region of Italy, called Romagna, into the first and leading district in the world for Wellness expertise and quality of life. Already, in few years, we have experienced significant improvements of type 2 Diabetes and of the Body Mass Index among our population.
What are three words to describe yourself?
Visionary, Passionate, Persistent.
–Visionary: I founded Technogym when I was 22, combining my passion for technology and sports, and built my first machine in my garage. In 1993 I invented the term “Wellness”, for the first time in history, founded on the ancient Roman maximum of “mens sana in corpore sano” (a healthy mind in a healthy body), when everybody in the industry was only talking about “Fitness”. Over the years, Wellness has radically changed the industry by transforming it from a niche targeting only sport enthusiasts (Fitness) to a sector able to engage the whole population. Wellness is a holistic lifestyle that involves regular physical exercise, healthy nutrition and a positive mental approach. Fitness means “looking good” while Wellness means “feeling good”. Investing in a healthy lifestyle is imperative for all stakeholders to secure future sustainable development.
–Passionate: my job is my passion. Every day for me is like my first day in my garage, when I started my company; I still feel that excitement and I embrace humility. I stay hungry. I never take anything for granted, and I still treat every new opportunity like the most important one.
–Persistent: I never give up and I never take no for an answer. Obstacles come and they will continue to come every day. But when you keep on working to get better, you slowly start to turn those obstacles and “No” responses into a “Maybe” and then finally to a “Yes.” Living a balanced life has helped me a lot in navigating these challenges.
What is the best part about your job?
To continuously create new produts because “if it works, it’s obsolete”; to strive for innovation. I’m passionate about beauty and harmony, therefore I want my products to be “pieces of art” and “a real experience” for my customers. Technogym is able to deliver irresistible and unique experiences to different types of people and during various stages of life: men, women, young people, athletes, elderly, etc; in addition, the Technogym strategy is to assist its customers in different settings through its programs “Wellness on the Go”, “Mywellness Cloud” and the “Digital Platform”. So not only wellness on the weekend or at the gym, but 24 hours per day, seven days a week. Wellness at home, wellness at work, wellness in your free time, wellness outdoors and wellness indoors; wellness every day, everywhere all the time. Technogym has also recently introduced to its users the best fitness trainers classes on smart bikes, rowers or treadmills. Technogym is what I call “Personalized Wellness”.
What is the hardest thing you’ve ever done – your greatest challenge?
My greatest challenge, in these last 35 years, has been and it still is, to create a cultural model, “The Technogym Culture”: it is an approach, a style, a way, a technology, innovation, competence, ethic, honesty, transparency, sense of resposibility, etc. Wellness expenditures are now more than half as large as total global health expenditures. The wellness economy is growing nearly twice as fast as global economic growth.
How do you define success?
Success doesn’t exist because “if it works and it is successful, it’s obsolete”. When something is successful, it is already old; it means that, over time, it can only get worse. When you become successful, you have to be ready to question yourself and to immediately relaunch yourself. In addition, success is a bad advisor, therefore it is better to stay away from it.
What are you working on now that you are excited about?
I’m excited about the opportunity that I have everyday to help people move. The human being is born to move. Poor lifestyle choices contribute to age-related diseases. A lack of physical activity is one of the leading causes of preventable death worldwide. People have the power to change many of the variables that influence how long they live, and how active and vital they feel in their later years. My challenge is to continue creating the best conditions in society enabling the entire population to enjoy good health and, therefore, a good quality of life.
What are you grateful for?
I’m grateful to everything and to everyone in my life. I consider myself extremely lucky, I dedicated my entire existence to innovation. In particular, I’m grateful to live my life with a “continuous improvement mindset”, that means that I’m never satisfied with the status quo, I always seek improvement. I apply this mindest not only to my business but also to personal life, my family and my social life. For me it’s like being an athlete: I’ve attended 7 Olympic games and I’ve met the most famous champions in the world, such as Nadal, Federer, Schumacher, etc. I will be also attending the 2020 Olympic games in Tokyo. What all these champions have in common is that they are never truly satisfied: they feel pride when they achieve their goals but never get complacent; as soon as one goal is complete, they move straight on to the next one.
What is your bad day backup plan?
I like to start by questioning myself to understand if I did something wrong. After that, I always keep a positive attitude by remaining focused on solutions and strengths. In addition, I look for the lesson.: challenging situations can often teach us what we have left to learn. In fact, the biggest challenge in life is learning. As time goes by, the more I realize how much I don’t know. Every day we have the opportunity to learn something new. We have to be willing to constantly learn if we want to experience any kind of growth. Then take massive action. Because knowledge, without action, is useless.
What gives you goose bump?
All the people whose lives were changed by my work: chronically ill people who were able to recover completely with the help of Technogym; a world champion who thanks me for putting him in the best conditions to win his gold metal; people suffering from all different types of addiction, who found in sport a great ally in fighting their addiction. I’m proud of the social value that Technogym retain world wide: it’s impacting not only the sport industry but also our society, people’s health and lives. Technogym wellness solutions consist in a holistic approach to healthy living, important not only for the individual, but also to communities, governments and economies at large.
What woman has inspired you the most and why?
My wife.
PERSONAL HEALTHY LONGEVITY PROGRAM
- EXERCISE: 4 times a week, Kinesis, to train strength, coordination, balance and flexibility. Treadmill, for cardiovascular exercise.
- MENTAL EXERCISE: through my physical exercise, which boosts my brain and mind too.
- DAILY SUPPLEMENTS: omega 3, vitamin C, Enervit products.
- DIETARY PROTOCOL: mediterranean diet.
- SLEEP: 7 hours.
- RELAXATION AND STRESS RELIEF: spending time outdoor sorrounded by nature and in the countryside.
- BEST HABIT TO CULTIVATE: I have two. Cultivate relationships and never stop learning.
- PERSONAL SECRET: “if it works, it’s obsolete”, that means I strive for continuous improvement in every aspect of my life!
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