When I was a kid, my family couldn’t afford the time or money that made sports and fitness feel “normal” or become a structured habit. No clubs. No travel teams. No parent who could leave work early for practice. Movement happened when it was free, close, and convenient. When it wasn’t, it didn’t. Fortunately, I also grew up before social media. A time when the street lights coming on was the cue for kids to scatter home.

Today feels different. We’re entering an era where technology will compound wealth faster and faster. If we don’t build systems focused on increasing accessibility, then fitness will become another premium good instead of a public advantage.

We’ve given kids unlimited digital stimulation and then act surprised when attention, mood, and motivation suffer. The U.S. Surgeon General notes that adolescents who spend more than 3 hours a day on social media face double the risk of depression and anxiety symptoms. At the same time, the path to “normal” participation has become more expensive. In 2024, the average U.S. sports family spent $1,016 on a child’s primary sport. That’s up 46% since 2019.

Even with exploding access to fitness content, wearables, and “awareness,” the population-level outcome hasn’t budged. The University of Kansas Medical Center’s summary of the 2024 U.S. Report Card shows youth physical activity stayed at a D-. That’s the same grade as 2022 and means only ~20–28% of 6–17-year-olds are meeting the recommended 60 minutes of daily activity. The adult numbers aren’t much prettier. The CDC estimates 25.3% of U.S. adults are physically inactive outside of work. This is because there is a difference between access and accessibility. Access is what exists; accessibility is what people can realistically use.

Now overlay the next problem, AI. If productivity rises sharply and automation accelerates, what happens to the labor market? The IMF estimates almost 40% of global employment is exposed to AI and warns the benefits may concentrate without intentional policy and design. Do good jobs become fewer, harder to earn, and more unevenly rewarded? If wealth consolidates further, does health follow the same trajectory as education and housing to become a premium feature?

When I imagine 30 years into the future with those backdrops and no clear pathway of accessibility for the masses of physically inactive people, it’s not a pretty picture. So I challenged myself to imagine a better future. The answer I keep coming back to is one where health compounds. Where it becomes a foundation of both personal and societal wealth. A future that will require new incentive systems.

Which brings me to tokenization. Tokenization is simply converting something into a verifiable digital claim that can be allocated, priced, and governed. We already do this with points, credits, and entitlements. The longer-term question is what happens when we apply that to health and fitness data?
I believe we can create a system where verified prevention and adherence can be shared, financed, and rewarded in a way that expands accessibility with access.

What that system looks like is well beyond the scope of this article but I think these four principles are a good place to start:

1. Consent & control: opt-in, opt-out, purpose-limited use.
2. Dignity & progress: reward improvement and consistency, not perfection or outcomes only.
3. Belonging & support: strengthen community and coaching, not isolated “scorekeeping.”
4. Rights-based guardrails: privacy by design, transparency, appealability, and fairness across circumstance.

No matter how I play it out, it seems clear we’re heading into a multi-decade era where the rules of work, wealth, and wellbeing will be rewritten. If we can use tokenization to improve the exchange of financial assets in the age of AI & robots, then we can use that same tech to improve accessibility to health and fitness. The difference is that the outcome is so much more than profit. It’s the kind of society our kids and grandkids will inherit.

About Alantheus Thompson:

Alantheus Thompson is a Marine Corps veteran and co-founder of Groe Solutions, a technology company helping gyms improve operations and member experience by tracking space and equipment use across the member journey. After 10 years in the Marines—where he built a reputation for turning around underperforming teams through accountability and systems—he transitioned into entrepreneurship and completed advanced training in business and operations (including an MBA). Today, he focuses on applying data, behavioral insight, and principled leadership to make fitness more measurable, accessible, and impactful.