Premium fitness still a social badge
Reporting from Atlanta shows young urban professionals are still spending on luxury fitness memberships as a form of identity and social life, rather than purely for exercise. The story frames premium fitness spending as selective and culturally driven, with implications for how membership propositions are marketed. (ajc.com)
In Atlanta, some young professionals are treating luxury gyms less like exercise rooms and more like where they spend their social lives. (ajc.com) The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on April 16 that Milan Johnson marked her 31st birthday by renting a Pilates studio in West Midtown for about a dozen friends, then going out for juice and lunch. Reagan Donnelly, 24, told the paper she now spends about $250 a month on Club Studio and OrangeTheory memberships. (ajc.com) The appeal is not just treadmills and weights. Life Time’s Buckhead club pitches a rooftop pool deck, spa credits, kids’ programs and more than 100 weekly classes, while Equinox sells “award-winning spaces,” spa services, eucalyptus-towel steam rooms and personal training. (lifetime.life) (equinox.com) Atlanta’s premium clubs are also selling a full-day hangout. FORTH Club in the Old Fourth Ward markets fitness, recovery, dining, culture and “real connection” in one membership, with a 20,000-square-foot gym, rooftop pool, sauna and cold plunge. (forthatlanta.com) That pitch lines up with national spending data. Bank of America Institute said younger consumers are shifting “from barstools to barbells,” with stronger spending growth on fitness activities for Generation Z and millennials than for bars. (institute.bankofamerica.com) McKinsey said in its 2025 wellness survey that Generation Z and millennials make up 36% of the United States adult population but drive more than 41% of annual wellness spending; Americans overall spend more than $500 billion a year on wellness. (mckinsey.com) Studios are building memberships around that identity play. Solidcore advertises early access to class schedules, studio events, retail discounts and free friend passes, turning a workout subscription into a social package. (solidcore.co) The Atlanta story also showed the spending is selective, not unlimited. Donnelly told the Journal-Constitution she drives past plenty of cheaper gyms to reach the one that feels “energizing, clean, welcoming,” which is a reminder that premium fitness brands are competing on atmosphere and belonging as much as equipment. (ajc.com) For clubs and studios, the membership sale is increasingly about access to a scene. In Atlanta, the expensive gym remains a status marker, a scheduling anchor and, for some members, the place that replaced the bar. (ajc.com)
