After a near-fatal accident rewired his priorities, ex-Disney digital-publishing chief Andrew Sugerman is now fusing Hollywood-grade storytelling with iron-and-steel manufacturing to make Chris Hemsworth’s once-star-exclusive wellness system—Centr—available everywhere from Walmart to the Hyrox world-championship floor. By vertically integrating the content studio with 20-year equipment maker Inspire Fitness, Sugerman preserves Hemsworth’s authentic “taste and voice,” sending prototypes to the actor’s Australian home for 5 a.m. stress-tests and translating fresh longevity science into push-notification-size cues, so shoppers picking up a $149 adjustable dumbbell set get the same science-backed coaching as elites. The strategy hinges on a two-tier brand architecture—premium Inspire for specialty retailers, mass-market Centr for big-box chains—while AI auto-generates regional voice-overs and reshuffles workouts in real time, and upcoming mixed-reality overlays turn living-room reps into social, data-rich experiences. The payoff is a democratized fitness continuum: beginners start with Walmart gear, train year-round through inclusive Hyrox programming, and scale toward elite competition without ever switching ecosystems, proving that superhero-level guidance can sit on every shelf and adapt to every life stage.
From Marvel to Mixed Reality: Andrew’s Journey to Centr
From overseeing Marvel’s billion-follower empire to rebuilding his broken body after a near-fatal crash, Andrew Sugerman learned how Disney’s storytelling magic could transform into mixed-reality workouts that turn fitness from a screen-bound chore into an immersive, character-driven experience you’ll actually want to show up for.
Running 1.1B-follower Disney publishing empire and early AR/VR experiments
Andrew Sugerman spent twelve years at The Walt Disney Company overseeing a sprawling digital and physical publishing empire that reached 1. 1 billion Facebook followers alone. His portfolio spanned everything from Marvel Comics to mobile apps, giving him an intimate understanding of how to translate beloved characters into products people use every day.
"I was overseeing all of the digital and physical publishing across the organization," he explains, noting the breadth stretched from magazines to emerging AR/VR experiments. Those early forays into augmented and virtual reality would later prove invaluable when reimagining how fitness content could transcend screens and enter lived spaces. The scale of Disney’s ecosystem taught Sugerman how to shepherd global brands from concept to shelf while preserving their core essence.
He managed sprawling creative teams, negotiated complex licensing deals, and learned when to push technological boundaries without alienating audiences. This experience primed him for the delicate balance required to merge celebrity-driven content with physical products—a challenge most fitness companies fumble through superficial partnerships. His exposure to Disney’s early VR prototypes also gave him a front-row seat to both the promise and limitations of immersive experiences, insights he’d later apply to mixed-reality workouts.
Surviving a near-fatal pedestrian accident and the year-long recovery that reframed health
In 2021, a routine walk turned life-altering when Sugerman was struck by a car, coming "about six inches away from exiting the planet. " The collision left him with broken ribs, a punctured lung, and a shattered sense of invincibility. He spent the next year piecing his body and mind back together, experiencing firsthand how quickly health can evaporate and how grueling the road back can be.
"It really sent me for a spin, both physically and mentally," he recalls of the recovery that forced him to relearn basic movements and confront the fragility of wellbeing. The ordeal reframed his relationship with fitness from performance-driven goals to survival and resilience. He understood that health isn’t a given, and access to quality guidance can mean the difference between recovery and regression.
This perspective shift became the emotional engine behind Centr’s mission to democratize elite-level resources. "Coming out of that experience, this opportunity with Centr appeared," he notes, describing the convergence of personal pain with professional purpose. The accident didn’t just change his body—it rewired his entire approach to what meaningful fitness content should deliver.
Meeting Chris Hemsworth and the serendipity of merging media, sport, and wellness
When private-equity firm High Point acquired both Centr and equipment-maker Inspire Fitness in 2022, they needed a leader who could fuse Hollywood storytelling with industrial manufacturing. Sugerman’s blend of Disney-honed brand management, tech curiosity, and newfound health advocacy made him the unlikely but perfect candidate. The role also reunited him with a familiar world—he’d previously worked with LeBron James and Maverick Carter on their SpringHill media ventures, understanding how to build businesses around athlete authenticity rather than mere endorsement.
Meeting Chris Hemsworth sealed the direction. Rather than a distant celebrity investor, Hemsworth emerged as a deeply engaged founder who saw Centr as an extension of his own wellness exploration. "He asked, ‘Why is this limited to me?
Why can’t this be available to everyone? ’" Sugerman recounts, capturing the actor’s frustration that elite-level expertise remained trapped behind celebrity gates. Their shared belief that premium health guidance should scale to everyday people—whether shopping at Walmart or training for Hyrox—turned what could have been a licensing deal into a unified mission.
Merging Content and Cast-Iron: Why Centr Bought a 20-Year Equipment Maker
By acquiring a 20-year equipment maker and fusing it with Chris Hemsworth’s content studio, Centr is vertically integrating fitness to lock in quality, margin, and Hemsworth’s authentic voice—from Costco shelf to in-app workout—without licensing dilution.
High Point Private Equity’s 2022 deal combining Centr’s content studio with Inspire Fitness hardware
High Point Private Equity acquired both Centr and Inspire Fitness in spring 2022, betting that a content studio born from Chris Hemsworth’s training regimen and a 20-year strength-equipment manufacturer would be worth more together than apart. "These two combined could really unlock a ton of value as an integrated company," says Andrew Sugerman, who joined as CEO that September after hearing the pitch.
The courtship was short but decisive: by summer 2022 Sugerman saw Inspire’s engineering depth and retail footprint married to Centr’s Hollywood-grade production engine and holistic programming. "It was pretty apparent—on the Centr side their content-creation capabilities are extremely strong; on the Inspire side this is a company that’s established itself as a leader in strength equipment," he notes.
The deal closed with a mandate to fuse two distinct cultures—digital creatives and steel-and-weld engineers—into one vertically integrated fitness company before the end of 2023.
Avoiding white-label dilution: keeping Chris’s trust from shelf to app through vertical integration
Sugerman rejected the standard celebrity playbook of licensing a name onto third-party goods, arguing that every handshake deal dilutes the trust Chris Hemsworth has built with audiences. "We want to find ways to not dilute wherever possible," he explains, noting that co-branding quickly spawns "alternate objectives and goals" when multiple companies control the supply chain.
By owning manufacturing, Centr controls quality, margin and—crucially—the narrative that carries from a Walmart shelf to the in-app workout. Vertical integration also lets the team preserve what Sugerman calls Chris’s "taste and voice which is very unique"—a blend of serious training science and self-deprecating Aussie humor.
Prototypes ship to Hemsworth’s Australian home for first-use feedback months before retail launch, ensuring the final product reflects his standards rather than a contract manufacturer’s cost-down compromises.
Balancing Costco heritage with Walmart scale while preserving specialty retail lines
Inspire’s legacy lives inside Costco warehouses—bulk, high-value, membership-driven—while Centr’s future depends on Walmart’s aisle-spanning reach. Sugerman’s solution: a two-tier brand architecture that keeps the premium Inspire badge for specialty fitness retailers and places the mass-market Centr logo in every big-box store Americans already frequent.
"We’ll be addressing different customers’ needs as we see fit," he says, citing upcoming launches at Target, Best Buy and Sam’s Club within weeks. The strategy preserves relationships with specialty dealers who built Inspire’s reputation among hardcore lifters while introducing a value-engineered line that nods to Walmart’s price-sensitive shopper.
"Interesting spectrum from Walmart right to Hyrox," Sugerman observes, describing a continuum that starts with a $149 adjustable dumbbell set and scales to World-Championship race gear—proof that one company can serve both first-time exercisers and elite athletes without cheapening either brand.
Democratizing the 1 % Workout: Walmart, Hyrox and the Accessibility Playbook
Centr is turning Walmart into your gateway to the 1 % workout and Hyrox into the new CrossFit that anyone can compete in—no trust fund or muscle-up required.
Launching a premium-yet-affordable line in every big-box store Americans already visit
Centr's retail expansion strategy centers on meeting consumers where they already shop, launching a premium line across major retailers starting with Walmart. According to Sugerman, this approach democratizes fitness by making high-quality equipment accessible to everyone, not just the 1% who can afford specialty fitness products.
The partnership represents a significant shift from the pandemic-era scarcity when basic equipment like dumbbells and kettlebells were nearly impossible to find. The strategy extends beyond simple availability to trust-building through Chris Hemsworth's authentic involvement.
As Sugerman explains, seeing Chris's name on equipment at Walmart carries through to the digital experience, creating a level of trust that co-branding partnerships typically dilute. This vertical integration ensures that from the moment someone picks up a product in-store to their first workout at home, the experience remains consistently high-quality and authentic to the Centr philosophy.
Hyrox as the 2023 answer to CrossFit: global races minus intimidating gymnastics
Centr's partnership with Hyrox represents a strategic bet on what Sugerman calls the "2023 version of CrossFit" - a global competition circuit that removes the intimidating elements that often exclude newcomers. After experiencing the energy at a Hyrox event in Anaheim, Sugerman recognized the same community-building potential that made CrossFit successful, but with more accessible movements that don't require years of technical skill development.
The format allows people to train year-round for events happening worldwide, creating a sustainable fitness community that bridges digital and physical experiences. The appeal lies in Hyrox's democratized approach to functional fitness competition.
Unlike CrossFit's complex gymnastics movements and Olympic lifts, Hyrox focuses on straightforward exercises that anyone can perform, making competition accessible while still challenging serious athletes. This partnership allows Centr to create digital training programs that prepare people for these events, whether they plan to compete or simply use the training structure to stay motivated and connected to a larger community.
Creating a continuum from first-time user to elite athlete competing at World Championships
The retail and partnership strategy creates what Sugerman describes as "an interesting spectrum from Walmart right to Hyrox" where users can enter at any level and progress as far as they choose. This continuum approach recognizes that fitness journeys aren't linear and allows people to start with basic equipment from big-box stores and eventually progress to world championship competition if they desire.
The key insight is providing tools for healthier living without prescribing a specific path or outcome. This accessibility-first approach addresses a fundamental gap in the fitness industry where options typically cater to either complete beginners or elite athletes, with little support for the vast middle ground.
By offering equipment and content that scales with user progression, Centr positions itself as the bridge between casual fitness and serious training. Whether someone wants to maintain basic health or push toward elite competition, the same brand ecosystem supports their evolution without judgment about their starting point or ultimate goals.
Humanizing the Superhero: Chris Hemsworth’s Role Beyond Endorsement
By letting Chris Hemsworth break dumbbells at 5 a.m., curse mid-set, and veto products from his Byron Bay porch, Centr turns a Marvel god into the trustworthy workout buddy who proves even superheroes sweat, age, and shop at Walmart.
Using Limitless vulnerability to position Chris as “human, not just action hero”
Chris Hemsworth’s global persona as an action hero could have easily turned Centr into an elitist brand, but the team flips that script by leaning into his vulnerability. “For those folks that watched Limitless, you really got a sense that he’s as human as anyone watching—he’s as human as any consumer shopping in Walmart,” says Andrew Sugerman, CEO of Centr. The docuseries became proof that even a screen idol battles stress, aging, and self-doubt, giving the brand permission to speak to everyday people instead of only the super-fit.
That relatability is baked into every campaign. Marketing briefs urge editors to keep Chris authentic—sweat on his shirt, laughter mid-rep, occasional curse after a heavy set—because the goal is motivation, not unattainable perfection. Sugerman emphasizes that positioning Chris as “really human on one hand and a superhero on the other” widens the entry ramp: newcomers see approachability, while hard-chargers still see the physique they can chase.
The result is a trust transfer from Hollywood glamour to living-room training sessions.
Shipping prototypes to Australia for first-use feedback and voice-capture sessions
Endorsement deals usually end with a signature; Hemsworth’s involvement begins with a prototype landing on his Australian doorstep. “Products are sent to his home where he gets to use them before anyone else,” Sugerman notes, describing a feedback loop that shapes load capacities, grip textures, and even packaging. If Chris breaks an adjustable dumbbell pin during a 5 a.
m. session, engineering gets photos and a voice memo before breakfast in California. That same rigor extends to content.
Film crews fly to Byron Bay to capture his unfiltered commentary while he tests new programming—heart-rate spikes, perceived exertion, favorite playlists—so the final cut keeps the cadence fans recognize. Sugerman calls this “capturing his creative perspective and taste,” ensuring every workout sounds like advice from a trusted teammate, not a brand script. It’s an expensive QA process, but one the company views as non-negotiable for credibility on a Walmart shelf.
Translating longevity research (Huberman, etc.) into digestible everyday programming
Hemsworth doesn’t just front workouts; he digests the latest longevity science so members don’t have to. “He’s sort of thrown himself into the middle of a lot of the latest research—thinking from a longevity standpoint, a lot of the research that Huberman’s been doing,” Sugerman explains. Chris pushes the team to turn complex findings on cold exposure, zone-2 cardio, and glucose control into simple cues: add a 30-second cold shower after your Thursday session, keep conversation pace at 140 bpm, swap white rice for quinoa post-workout.
The mandate is clarity without dilution. If a concept can’t be explained in a push-notification or one-line voice-over, it’s sent back to the coaches for simplification. Sugerman frames Chris as “an always-on coach that brings the latest research and makes it digestible for the everyday person,” bridging the gap between academic podcasts and the dad scanning shelves for an adjustable dumbbell.
The payoff is programming that feels cutting-edge yet doable—exactly the balance that turns curiosity into consistent habit.
AI, MR, and the 4th M: Where Content Goes Next
By treating motivation as a programmable, AI-driven layer that adapts workouts to life’s chaos—auto-translating cues, remixing videos, and reshuffling plans based on real-time data—Centr turns scalable tech into coaching that feels personally handwritten for every user.
Adding “Motivation” as the connective tissue between Movement, Meals, and Mind
Centr’s content engine was built on three pillars—Movement, Meals, Mind—but Sugerman quickly realized the system was missing a spark. “There’s a fourth M that connects them all and it’s motivation,” he explains. “If you don’t have the right motivation waking up in the morning, deciding you’re going to go do any of the M almost is irrelevant.
” The team now treats motivation as a programmable layer that ebbs and flows with real life—job loss, new babies, stalled progress—instead of a static slogan. This shift shows up in product decisions. The Hyrox partnership, for example, is framed less as elite race prep and more as a motivational on-ramp: users don’t have to compete, they only need to imagine they might.
“The likelihood of success and habit-forming increases dramatically when they know there’s a group that’s there to lift them up,” Sugerman notes. Community becomes the invisible spotter that keeps the fourth M alive when the other three feel heavy.
Leveraging AI for rapid creation and hyper-localized personalization without ballooning budgets
Five years ago Centr would have needed a sprawling production slate to shoot alternate-language workouts; today AI collapses that timeline. “The technology tools that exist today are so dramatically different that in some ways I’m happy we didn’t spend more money on content five years ago,” Sugerman laughs. The team now auto-generates form-cue voice-overs in multiple accents, swaps background music by region, and re-crops video for vertical retail kiosks—all without flying coaches back to set.
Budget savings are reinvested in deeper personalization. Machine-learning models watch completion rates, skip patterns, and heart-rate uploads to reshuffle weekly plans—heavier posterior-chain blocks for desk workers, shorter mobility flows for parents on chaotic mornings. “We’re finding ways to use technology to adapt it to your specific needs, goals, point in life,” he emphasizes.
The result is scalable coaching that still feels handwritten. Sugerman sees the next frontier as dynamic video itself: AI that re-edits rep tempo, lighting, and camera angle in real time to match logged performance data. “You’ll see a lot more of that in the next 12 months,” he promises, hinting at a future where no two members ever watch the same workout twice.
Actively prototyping mixed-reality workouts that let users see real dumbbells inside the headset
VR boxing left Sugerman winded but isolated; passthrough mixed reality fixes that loneliness. “Being able to see your real hands holding dumbbells or straps or slam balls opens up way more opportunity to think about experiences that could be amazing in the home or in the gym,” he argues. Centr’s product lab is already stress-testing headsets that overlay rep counters and micro-coaching arrows onto physical Inspire benches, keeping users anchored in the room instead of a virtual void. Hardware road-maps are watched as closely as content calendars.
“As that hardware evolves and gets smaller, thinner, lighter, it’s only going to make fitness as a category go up exponentially,” Sugerman predicts. His timeline is intentionally vague—“we’re actively in it” is all he’ll confirm—but internal demos show a 13-to-30-year-old cohort that treats mixed reality as identity, not accessory. The short-term win isn’t full immersion; it’s glanceable data. Think heart-rate zones floating above a kettlebell swing or a ghost projection of last week’s split time on a rower.
Sugerman’s rule: if the tech doesn’t enhance the rep in progress, it stays in the lab. The moment it passes that test, it ships.
Andrew Sugerman's 12-year Disney brand-building experience and life-altering accident shaped Centr's mission to democratize elite fitness.
Centr vertically integrated by acquiring 20-year equipment maker Inspire to control quality, margins, and narrative from factory to app.
The brand serves both Walmart shoppers and Hyrox athletes through a two-tier product line without diluting Chris Hemsworth's credibility.
Chris Hemsworth personally tests prototypes at home, ensuring products meet his standards and reflect authentic vulnerability rather than unattainable perfection.
Centr uses AI to auto-generate multilingual content, personalize workouts, and will soon dynamically re-edit videos based on real-time performance data.
Mixed-reality headsets overlay rep counters and coaching onto real equipment, keeping users present in their physical space while enhancing workouts.
The company treats motivation as a programmable fourth pillar alongside movement, meals, and mind, adapting content to life events like job loss or new babies.