By Benjamin Raziel

Four years into the 2020s, the fitness industry has undergone two rapid transformations.

The COVID-19 pandemic dealt a heavy blow to big-box gyms filled with exercise machines, treadmills, free weights, and cardio stations. For nearly two years, these facilities were largely empty while at-home fitness alternatives, like the cycling giant Peloton, skyrocketed in popularity.

Now, the fitness world is shifting again. People are no longer interested in working out alone in their spare rooms or garages, longing instead for a sense of community and direction. But this desire for camaraderie and specificity hasn’t spurred a return to pre-pandemic exercise norms.

“Big-box gyms have re-opened, but many people no longer find them appealing,” said fitness entrepreneur Anthony Geisler. “People like the specialized, guided nature of at-home workout products like Peloton, but they want to conduct those workouts with other like-minded folks. They want to meld specificity with community.”

The fitness industry has rushed to embrace this new demand, Geisler explained. Elements of the pre-pandemic in-person fitness model have been infused with a focus on personalization that consumers have come to expect. People want to exercise together in specialized classes, but the emphasis on health demanded by the pandemic has led to smaller class sizes. From cycling to Pilates, workout programs that once accommodated 50 students per class have decreased to just 18 to 20.

“The future of fitness will be centered around curated experiences. People want to exercise together while still getting a personalized workout,” Geisler said.

Smaller class sizes aren’t just a response to wider health concerns. Fitness enthusiasts want to share their workouts with familiar faces while undertaking expert-guided sessions. Studies show that group exercise is more enjoyable than isolated exercise and promotes accountability and consistency.

Boutique gyms have flourished within this new paradigm. These facilities offer a curated alternative to traditional gyms while still creating a sense of community that was missing from the fitness world. They are also differentiating themselves by offering, in many cases, exclusively group classes, as well as incentives to consistently attend and engage with fellow participants.

“While we’ve entered a new period of innovation within the fitness industry in which brands are experimenting to make group exercise more meaningful and enjoyable than ever, one thing is clear: the boutique fitness experience is here to stay,” said Geisler.

In just ten years, fitness brands like Orangetheory and Barry’s Bootcamp, which offer specialized classes that blend different training structures, have helped communities across the country reach their fitness goals. These brands combine high-intensity interval training (HIIT) with strength and mobility training to offer subscribers a more acute and considered workout.

These brands have built communities of avid subscribers whose willingness to recruit new members has become an invaluable marketing tool.

“Our community is a huge driver for bringing in new customers,” said Barry’s Bootcamp CEO Joey Gonzalez in a recent Forbes article. “Our clients become brand evangelists and want to share their experience with their own networks. Even celebrities willingly share by word-of-mouth and on social media.”

The resurgence of group workouts may signal that consumers have grown tired of exercising in isolation or receiving their workout routines from a screen. Geisler said this mass rejection of at-home exercise presents the fitness industry with an opportunity to innovate on the old models that have long dominated the industry.

“We’ve all experienced the limits of technology in facilitating an online fitness community,” Geisler said. “While technology has led to some important innovation within the industry, consumers have made it clear that they want social fitness experiences that are tailored to them. It is up to the brands and entrepreneurs to facilitate these experiences in new, innovative ways.”