Big‑box gyms adding reformers
Several large commercial gyms are expanding into reformer Pilates by adding reformer equipment to their class offerings, creating fresh competition for boutique studios. The social posts highlight this trend as a strategic threat to specialist Pilates brands that rely on differentiated coaching and ambience. (x.com)
Big commercial gyms are putting Pilates reformers on their floors, bringing a boutique workout into chains that sell broad memberships. (news.lifetime.life) Life Time said on February 18, 2026 that its new CTR reformer class had become “the most waitlisted class in company history,” and said it has invested in Pilates for more than 20 years. In November 2025, the company said CTR had opened in 10 clubs, with 18 more locations scheduled by the end of 2025. (news.lifetime.life) (prnewswire.com) 24 Hour Fitness launched a Reformer24 pilot in Southern California on November 17, 2025, starting at Anaheim Hills and adding Balboa and Costa Mesa in December. The company said boutique reformer classes can cost more than $40 for a one-hour session and pitched its format as a lower-cost alternative using existing gym space and video-led sessions. (24hourfitness.com) Crunch’s top franchisee said in December 2025 that a new 40,000-square-foot club in McKinney, Texas, would include a 1,300-square-foot reformer studio with more than 10 machines when it opens in 2026. CR Fitness called it the first dedicated reformer Pilates studio inside a high-value, low-price gym in the United States. (prnewswire.com) A reformer is the sliding bed-and-spring machine used in many Pilates studios, and it is usually the piece of equipment that makes boutique classes expensive to build and staff. Balanced Body, one of the biggest equipment suppliers, says it has sold group reformer programs to clubs, studios, universities, recreation centers and resorts since 2001. (pilates.com) The demand spike is recent and measurable. Club Solutions, citing the Sports & Fitness Industry Association’s latest report, said Pilates participation in the United States rose from 9.2 million people in 2019 to 12.9 million, a 40% increase over five years. (clubsolutionsmagazine.com) That growth has supported a large boutique business built around reformers. Xponential Fitness says Club Pilates is the largest Pilates brand in the United States, and Club Pilates said on February 2, 2026 that it was rolling out its first new national class format in seven years. (investor.xponential.com) (businesswire.com) Industry operators say the new gym build-outs do not erase the boutique model so much as change the comparison shoppers can make. Club Solutions wrote in February 2026 that reformer Pilates is expanding across both multipurpose clubs and boutiques, with clubs chasing demand and boutiques competing on execution, coaching and experience. (clubsolutionsmagazine.com) The next test is whether reformers become a standard gym amenity instead of a specialist upsell. Life Time, 24 Hour Fitness and Crunch are all betting that members who once had to leave the gym for Pilates will stay inside the same membership. (news.lifetime.life) (24hourfitness.com) (prnewswire.com)
