Why it matters:
- Consumers have become accustomed to virtual gatherings during the past few years.
- Virtually led classes conducted on-site allow fitness centers to expand their range of offerings, from martial arts to barre classes, while creating more opportunities for members to socialize.
- Membership in fitness facilities has been growing rapidly, especially among younger consumers.
Fitness club operators, including the Rochester Athletic Club, Brick Bodies, and Hotworx are offering on-site, virtually led exercise classes via video — from martial arts to barre workouts — allowing them to expand their range of offerings while providing members with more opportunities to interact and build community.
Consumers in the last few years have become more comfortable participating in remote activities, including not only Zoom meetings but also remote-led fitness classes such as aerobics, cycling, and yoga. While many consumers did these activities from their homes during the pandemic, they have since returned to on-site group sessions and have brought their comfort with remote-led training with them.
Research shows that consumers are more enthusiastic than ever about fitness and health. Membership in U.S. fitness facilities totaled a record 72.9 million in 2023, according to the 2024 U.S. Health & Fitness Consumer Report. That represented an increase of almost 6%, year over year, according to Geoff McQueen, Managing Partner at L.E.K. Consulting, which wrote the report.
The membership growth, combined with increases in monthly dues of about 9% to 10%, signaled a positive outlook for the industry, he said in a YouTube video citing highlights from the report.
"You can really see the strong value proposition that health and wellness services offer consumers," he said. "That bodes well for the future of the industry and points to a really healthy operating environment."
One of the key demographic segments fueling fitness center growth is the under-35 age set, McQueen said: In 2018, the group accounted for about 45% of the membership base at U.S. fitness centers. That figure has since increased to nearly 50%, he said.
"It's emblematic of the trends we see in the overall market [in terms of] the importance of health and wellness," he said.
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One of the key demographic segments fueling fitness center growth is the under-35 age set, McQueen said: In 2018, the group accounted for about 45% of the membership base at U.S. fitness centers. That figure has since increased to nearly 50%, he said.
Rochester Athletic Club leverages flexibility of on-demand video training sessions — in person
The Rochester Athletic Club — known as the RAC in the Rochester, Minnesota, area — is a massive facility with more than 150 on-staff fitness instructors, and it ensures that it meets all of its members’ demands by supplementing its live classes with remote-led sessions from Fitness On Demand, a provider of on-demand recorded sessions that encompass a wide range of workouts. A key element of the success of these on-demand classes is their ability to build a spirit of community among members, said Steve Boring, Fitness Director at the RAC, in an interview with CO—.
"You have these little batches of community that are able to build themselves," he said.
Small groups of members tend to form organically, capitalizing on the ability to take classes together at times when their preferred classes may be unavailable, for example, he explained.
The on-demand training sessions are available to members whenever the gym is open and one of the designated rooms is available, he said. Fitness clubs that offer remote-based video training sessions in their facilities can either schedule them in traditional time slots, just like traditional, in-person classes, or they can let members choose from the remote training options themselves.
"We've tried it both ways, and for the population here in Rochester, we found that coming in and scheduling their own content was what our members wanted," Boring said.
A key benefit of the remote, video-based training is the breadth of classes that it allows the RAC to offer on-site. Some live instructors might not be available to lead classes at certain times, for example, or the club might not have enough instructors who have been trained to lead certain classes.
"It definitely does allow clubs to offer as close to unlimited content as possible," said Boring.
At the RAC, more than 250 virtual programs are available, including yoga, barbell and weight training, Pilates, kickboxing, high-intensity interval training (HIIT), cycling, several dance-based exercise formats, and others.
Studio cycling is among the most popular remote-led classes at the RAC, Boring said, citing the ability for members to spin while enjoying a video of scenery from around the world.
"When it's 17 degrees below zero with 3.5 feet of snow outside, it's kind of nice to be able to ride your bike in the Sahara Desert, or someplace like that," said Boring.
Brick Bodies: Optimizing the popularity of virtual classes for socializing IRL, as 'community is a huge part of our brand'
At Brick Bodies, a three-unit fitness center in the Baltimore area, the company offers on-site video training classes from Les Mills, a leading fitness brand that offers an extensive assortment of workouts.
The centers were founded by Lynne Brick and her husband Victor, who have been well-known in the group fitness sector for years.
"Having someone at the top who champions group training has been a huge help for our brand," said Sara Keller, a Group Exercise Director at Brick Bodies, in a case study published by Les Mills.
She said the feeling of community that group classes offer is a significant attraction for Brick Bodies customers. Group training accounts for up to 32% of check-ins across all three Brick Bodies facilities, she said.
"We continue to invest in it because we know that's what builds our community, and community is a huge part of our brand," said Keller.
Many members attend classes as much for the social aspect as for the training, she said, noting that many classmates socialize together outside of the group class as well.
Brick Bodies uses Les Mills Virtual to fill less popular time slots, such as during midday. The centers offer some classes that are pre-programmed and designates other blocks of time when members can select whatever virtual class they prefer.
"Virtual really works for people who like to visit when the studio is quiet," Keller said. "It's definitely been a valuable alternative for our members."
In order to optimize member interest in its virtual cycling classes, Brick Bodies has enhanced the experience for participants by creating a tiered studio space where cyclists can see over each other with an unobstructed view of the large video screen at the front of the room. The fitness centers are also partnering with Spivi, a performance monitor that allows members to track their exertion live on-screen using Bluetooth.
Brick Bodies has also introduced a series of challenges to encourage participation, such as distance challenges in the fall, when participation tends to decline, and another challenge that encouraged members to attend evening classes. Attendees who achieve certain goals in the challenges receive prizes, such as specially designed T-shirts and shout-outs on social media.
Hotworx fitness studios: A rotating schedule of classes around the clock 'has worked very well for us'
Remote training is at the heart of the offerings of Hotworx, which franchises a chain of fitness studios centered around workouts conducted in saunas and led by prerecorded video instructors.
The studios, each of which includes multiple saunas, feature a rotating schedule of 12 different types of classes, available around the clock. Each sauna provides workouts for three members at a time, who choose either a 15-minute HIIT session or one of several 30-minute isometric workouts, including hot Pilates, hot yoga, hot barre, hot core, hot cycle, hot blast, and others.
Stephen P. Smith, Founder and CEO, said he considered offering remote classes in an on-demand format but instead decided to go with a set schedule of prerecorded video sessions, which are produced by Hotworx itself in its headquarter studio in New Orleans that members access via the Hotworx mobile app.
"It's worked very well for us," he said in an interview with CO—.
Because the virtual training is such a key aspect of the concept, Hotworx takes the recruiting of the instructors and the production of the videos very seriously, Smith said. The company conducts a contest each year in which fitness instructors compete to star in the videos.
From an initial field that can include more than 100 applicants, Hotworx narrows the competition down to 40 semifinalists, as voted by the public in an online competition, then down to 15 finalists from which a handful are chosen to star in the next round of videos. The competition also includes a fundraising element that generates thousands of dollars for charity, said Smith.
He said the fact that Hotworx maintains control over the production of the videos ensures that members receive a high-quality training session.
Although Smith was trepidatious about offering training classes via video at first, Hotworx members have responded enthusiastically, he said.
"We're able to edit these workouts to make them perfect," he said. "They know they are going to get a well-choreographed workout delivered by a world-class instructor every single time. It doesn't matter if you're in New York City or if you're in Seminole, Texas, you can use a great workout no matter where you are, and they love the virtual workouts."
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