The New Wellness Clubs Marrying Fitness With Self-Care

Members-only wellness clubs that marry high-end fitness with social self-care are emerging to appeal to an upscale clientele. 

Long considered elitist and anti-progressive, private members’ clubs are going through a revolution in the wellness sector, fostered by the rise of the boutique fitness market and demand for more community-based experiences. High-end boutique studios are now the fastest-growing sector of the US gym market, accounting for 35% of the $32 billion industry and 63% of people attending boutique studios do so for the community aspect whilst 47% of people attend because of the atmosphere.

Where you work out and who you work out with have become totems of your ‘wellth.’ This sky-high interest in luxury self-care has resulted in the openings of all-encompassing destination campuses, where wellness is bolstered by services dedicated to bespoke training solutions, recovery, relaxation and social self-care.

Elitist Education
For instance, Remedy Place – a 10,000-square-foot private wellness club in LA, features everything you need ‘to achieve a state of balance,’ according to the website. Through seven elements of holistic health which include hot, cold, oxygen, nutrients, movement, mind and compression, the company believes this concoction of principles will help foster optimal homeostasis, accelerated by treatment-experiences such as ice baths, infrared saunas, cryotherapy and hyperbaric chamber oxygen therapy. 

Created by Dr Jonathan Leary, a leader in the holistic wellness space, he believes that through education, “the healthcare model can shift from being reactive to proactive – encouraging consumers to take their health into their own hands.” 

Whilst its monthly memberships are set at a premium, starting at $495, the club’s long-term goal is to grow Remedy Place into a position to be able to provide larger free education programs to help people become more independent in their health and self-care, reveals Dr. Leary. 

Read More: Social Wellness Club ‘Remedy Place’ Aims To Empower Health-Conscious Consumers

Representing the convergence of the once distinctly separate worlds of health and wellness, Remedy Place is one of a number of new concepts responding to the rise in demand from consumers looking for a clear path to tangible health results — a shift which is creating an opportunity for brands to encourage a more proactive approach. And as the pivot away from the traditional doctor-patient relationship evolves, wellness brands will find themselves increasingly becoming an integral part of the conversation.

Pro-formance Training
Offering athlete-level training, LA-based Monarch Athletic Club provides members with a custom physician-led plan focused on fitness optimisation, recovery, nutrition and rest. With equipment and amenities that were once only available to professionals, the club seeks to track each individual’s progress with bespoke workout regimens, which are assessed every three months. 

In addition, members have the opportunity to benefit from additional ‘a-la-carte services’ services such as metabolic panel testing, IV therapy + injections and aesthetics treatments, along with a concierge doctor that can be booked same-day.

“Instead of replicating the conventional gym model, we felt there was an opportunity to break away and offer a next-gen overall body wellness plan for the mind, body, and spirit,” said CEO Dr. Ryan Greene. 

In the UK, BXR London is planning to open its second members-only boxing gym at Battersea Power Station by 2021. With an emphasis on professional training, which is no surprise with boxing champion Anthony Joshua a backer, the club provides all sports science and sports medical services, such as physiotherapy and sports massage, to help its visitors reach peak performance.

In an era where consumers continue to look for new ways to optimise their fitness routines, exclusive wellness clubs like these are introducing previously inaccessible athlete-level technologies to help them reach their physical limits. 

Intelligent Leisure
Akin to social clubs like Soho House, both freelancers and those used to working alone are seeking third spaces that are not only collaborative but enhance their health.

In the freelance sector, the number of US citizens experiencing feelings of loneliness is on the rise according to Cigna’s 2020 Loneliness Index. Three in five adults (61%) report feeling lonely, which marks a seven percentage-point increase on 2018 and reflects a growing mental health crisis in the country. 

In a bid to tackle this, High Court, a luxury members’ club due to open this year, has been described by co-founders and sisters Colleen and Hailey Brooks as, ‘the third personal space, after home and office’. The venue will stand as a 20,000-square-feet sanctuary offering limitless yoga classes, cold-pressed juices and lectures on topics such as crystal healing. Referred to as ‘intelligent leisure’ by the sisters, the space is designed to be a place to wind down and socialise without compromising health.

In a similar vein, Ghost, an invite-only gym in Brooklyn seeks to fuse fitness and leisure in its 6,000 square foot lounge. Members can either choose to utilise the array of high-tech training facilities or simply kick back and take advantage of their social and cultural experiences, such as network evenings with DJs and alcohol-free cocktails.

With a mission to deliver, ‘physiologically optimised programming and innovative training solutions for our private clients,’ Ghost does just that with its biometric and musculoskeletal tests, proprietary software that will be able to generate fitness programming tailored to each member. 

The Takeaways

1. Community is central to these wellness clubs. As loneliness rises, people are looking for brands to actively understand their personal experience and help alleviate the problem.
2. All-encompassing wellness destinations help to optimise every aspect of consumers’ lives. In a time-poor society, brands that create hybrid spaces conveniently champion work, rest and play.
3. Luxury wellness clubs offering personalised wellness services are appealing to top executives and entrepreneurs’ that need to be in optimal condition, both mentally and physically.
4. As social creatures, people are increasingly looking for wellness spaces that allow them to train en masse, alongside those with similar wellbeing goals or who are devoted to particular wellness brands.
5. ‘Wellth’ is the new luxury status symbol. Brands should rethink their luxury offering in line with the Transformation Economy to deliver experiences focused on personal development and self-improvement.