Pilates Business Podcast

The Boutique Fitness Boom: What 2025 Revealed — And How Studios Can Win in 2026

• Seran Glanfield • Season 25 • Episode 250

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In this powerful year-in-review episode of The Pilates Business Podcast, host Seran Glanfield breaks down the real story behind the boutique fitness boom of 2025—and what every Pilates, barre, and yoga studio owner must understand heading into 2026. 

With the global boutique fitness market climbing toward $60B, Seran uncovers the trends, data, and mindset shifts reshaping how consumers choose movement, community, and long-term wellness. 

From the rise of AI in studio operations, to the surge in Gen Z and millennial clients, to the industry-wide shift toward longevity and holistic well-being, this episode gives boutique fitness owners the clarity and direction they need to build stronger, more sustainable, and more profitable studios in the year ahead.


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SPEAKER_00:

If you've been feeling like the boutique fitness space is shifting under your feet, you are not wrong. 2025 was the year that this industry, I think, officially grew up. Growth didn't disappear, it matured. We saw steady, healthy expansion from mid to high single-digit numbers, and we continue to see a huge surge in demand for premium, community-first, wellness-driven experiences. Studios that really leaned into their software and their technology and really supported their clients and their community, they're the ones that captured the growth. And the data behind this year tells such a powerful story. The boutique fitness market is sitting in the high 30 billion globally and is on track to approach almost 60 billion by 2030, which means this is not a trend, you guys. This is officially an established sector that's still expanding. And what's fueling it? Well, that's exactly what we're gonna dive into in this episode. We're breaking down what 2025 really looked like the growth, the challenges, the turning points, and what all of this means for your studio as we move into 2026. Because the studios that truly understand all of these shifts early on, they're the ones that win. Well, hi there, I'm Sarah Glanfield. I'm a business and marketing strategist just for boutique fitness studio owners like you. If you're ready to be inspired and make a bigger impact, you're in the right place. All you need are a few key strategies, the right mindset, and some support along the way. Join me as I share the real life insights that will help you grow a sustainable and profitable studio. This is the Pilates Business Podcast. Welcome back to the Pilates Business Podcast. I'm Saran, and if we haven't met yet, I'm a business coach for Boutique Fitness Studio Owners and the founder of Spring 3 Studio Business Consulting. I've spent more than a decade helping Pilates and Bar and Yoga and other boutique fitness studios build businesses that are profitable, sustainable, and most importantly are aligned with the kind of life that you actually want to live. This is one of my favorite episodes of the year because it forces us to pause, to really pause, um, and take a look back to see what we just went through. Not just in your studio, but in the entire industry. Because 2025 was a year that revealed a massive shift in how people think about movement and wellness and their long-term health. And what we saw was that worldwide, no matter where you are in the world, boutique fitness continued its consistent, steady growth. Most analysts value the global boutique fitness studio market at about$35 to$50 billion today. So that excludes the big box gyms. This is what you guys are in right now. And the projections, wow, are incredible. They're projecting that the industry, boutique fitness industry, could reach$65 to$85 billion globally by 2030. So the mid-mid-2030, 2034. Um, so mid-early 2030s, uh, we're expecting the the size of the industry to almost double from where it's at today. And you guys, it expected to grow somewhere between seven to eight percent every single year. And I think that what that tells us is that this is an industry that is here to stay, that this is not a bubble, that this is a business and a model and an industry that is stable, that is healthy, and that you can continue to expect to continue to grow. And I think one of the most interesting things that we can talk about is not just these big numbers, right? Because that, I mean, that's they're kind of fun to hear, they're interesting to hear. But what is more interesting is the story about what is happening underneath all of this and what's driving this crazy growth. Because as a business owner, if you understand what's happening behind the scenes, what's driving this growth, then you are much better positioned to capture the continued expansion and growth of this business and this industry. And I think that the first thing I want to touch on is the thing that has probably reshaped so many businesses over the last, I'm gonna say three years or so, and that is AI. AI has reshaped the business of movement for sure. Um, and although we still need to show up in person and AI can't do it for us for us, um, from a business perspective, it has changed a lot. You're probably seeing it already in lots of different places in the software that you're using. Um, it's only going to continue to support your growth. And I think that those of you who have really embraced this technology and the way that it's grown and developed, um, not just in it in, well, I'd say mostly in terms of the way that it's integrated into your software, the studio management software, they're the ones who find themselves in a perhaps a position with a little bit more uh freedom for growth. And so automations, scheduling optimizations, um, content repurposing tools, um, customer service chatbots, uh growth forecasting, KPI tracking, and so on, those who've embraced technology and software um aren't necessarily teaching less, but they probably have more tools at their fingertips to make better decisions. And what we've seen then is that the AI in our industry isn't replacing human connection, honestly. It's actually probably freeing up more time for more connection, which is a good thing. The second thing that I think um we continue to see when it comes to growth is that um demographics have shifted and your future clients might not be who they used to be. So what we see is that Gen Z and millennials now make up the majority of boutique fitness consumers. They love this industry so much and they value the in-real life, face-to-face community uh more than a digital-only fitness. And so what we see is that this, these generations, these this demographic, they enjoy the online space and they enjoy the in-person connection. And what we see um with with this with this particular demographic is that they their their movement practice um and their wellness practices are a huge part of their identity and they want purpose and they want connection. And, you know, what we found is that Pilates gives them all of this, which is fantastic for you guys. And the third thing I've seen, I think that we've seen is a trend that we've continued to see, which is that wellness and longevity is the North Star. People are not chasing six-packs as much as they used to, they're chasing energy, longevity, strength, stability, mobility, connection, joy. They're seeing their fitness and their health on a broader scale than ever before. They're focused on all of these different elements and how they feed into and fuel the way that they feel in their bodies. So they're not seeing their movement practice, their Pilates as a workout style necessarily. They're seeing it as part of their everyday, their long-term healthcare, as it were, as well. And I think all of these elements together have really shaped how our studios have grown this year, how they've marketed, how they've retained their clients, what they're talking about, and what they're focused on. And I think these are gonna fall beef what we follow into 2026 as well. I think these are the same themes that are gonna matter tremendously as we head into the new year. Now, I do want to talk a little bit about 2025 and look back and really have a little, you know, review. I think it's always interesting to kind of look back and see how far we've come. And then I'm gonna talk a little bit about um some of the lessons. Um, and then we're gonna talk a little bit about what might be to come in 2026. So I think one of the things that happened um, or that we were seeing um, I think more and more actually is this idea um and it was a frustration I came across a few times in 2025 from studio owners who felt a little bit frustrated because their growth wasn't explosive. Their growth numbers weren't this glamorous number where they can, you know, they might have felt like they had seen elsewhere. And the reality is that when we feel, when we see others sharing these explosive growth numbers or, you know, feeling kind of glamorous in their, you know, in their world or whatever that might be, you might start to question your pricing, your business model, your leadership, and everything. And the reality is that honestly, the data tells us that 2025 was not about explosive growth necessarily. What it was about, actually, and what I saw more of was about stability, was about consistency, was about clarity from the consumer about what they wanted. They're more educated than ever before. And what we saw was more strategic expansion, right? Your clients know more of what they want than they ever have. They're more discerning, they're more values-driven, not value-driven, values-driven. Um, they're more educated about wellness. They are interested in it, they're more informed about what they need versus what others may need. There is a, they're recognizing that those things might be different. And so the studios that grew in 2025 weren't just necessarily doing more, more, more and hustle, hustle, hustle. They were aligned with those clients. So they had a much tighter brand, much clearer messaging. Um, they had much cleaner operations, smoother operations behind the scenes, and they had a really strong community as well. And so this is really the year that boutique fitness matured, I think. And I have to say, Pallates stepped right into its what I think rightful identity as that long-term wellness modality, which is, I think, here to stay. And I think some of the things that we learned in 2025, um, that I think we'll continue to will to continue to see is that lesson number one, AI is running a part of your business right now, probably quietly, behind the scenes. Maybe you don't even know it, but behind your software, whatever you're using, whenever you open up that screen, there is AI in there somewhere. And it's not replacing your instructors, right? And it's not perhaps creating generic classes or generic marketing messaging, but it should be supporting better forecasting, better retention efforts, smarter scheduling, automated follow-ups, right? And I think that if you are not yet using AI in a really strategic way in your business, then what I would say to you is that there is huge opportunity. Okay. And that in 2026, if you are not using AI in your business, you will fall behind because this was also the year that AI is not just a trend, right? Not just for the people who perhaps are tech savvy, but actually became a part of the day-to-day. And the studio owners that I work with inside of Thrive, we have tools inside of Thrive that are AI driven that help them to make smarter decisions about everything in their business and helps them to market more effectively. So many different tools actually that really support our studio owners. And we're seeing them use those tools with, I mean, huge success. And they're using other tools inside of their studio management software as well, that is also helping them, again, make better decisions for their business about where they should focus and what they should scrap. So this was the year that AI actually became, I think, real in a business, especially in small to medium-sized businesses like yours. The second uh shift, I think we saw in 2025, was that our clients moved into a world where they wanted not just workouts. Wellness surveys showed over and over again that the majority of consumers really want to invest, can continue to invest more in their health, not just in aesthetics, actually, but in the sort of mental and emotional well-being of health and wellness, right? People didn't just want to burn calories anymore. They want to use movement as the tool for longevity and happiness and connection with others. And I think that the just the beauty of Pilates, as you know, is that it is a practice that makes people feel good, that makes people function better, that makes people stay active longer. So it is perfect for what people are looking for today. And I know, like you know, Pilates can stay with someone for a very long time. And so I am feeling very good and very positive and very optimistic about how Pilates will continue to grow as an industry going forward. Which me one, and the reason why I say that is because what we see is that as people discover Pilates, more and more people discover Pilates, they fall in love with it. They fall with fall in love with the way that it helps them to move their bodies and the way that it makes them to feel. And they also fall in love with how accessible it is. And none of those things are changing, which means that those who discover Pilates today, I'm gonna bet that they'll still be doing Pilates many years from now, just like we do, right? Now, the other thing we've seen um compound, I think this year, oh, and and and you know, we've seen it saw a little bit in in prior years, but I think this is really the year that we saw this come into play, which is that the demographics of those folks who come to Boutique Fitness got younger, and that younger demographic also got more loyal. So they're maybe not your most loyal clients, but they got more loyal than they've ever been before. And so what we're seeing is that they are committing and they are beginning to commit more and more. And that's why Polar TCDOs with strong communities, with strong values, strong identities really did well because they were able to develop that connection with their clientele. And so retention then is not an accident or a possibility or a byproduct, there it is a byproduct of exactly what they designed it to be, which is a result of a sense of belonging. And I think that that next year we can expect to see that connected experience to become even more personalized. And so, with as we sort of combine these two elements of a younger demographic that is obviously increasingly and more tech savvy than you know, older generations, um, with these AI integrations into our business, that we will see that connected experience become using both these tools together, uh, or these things together will make the experience even more personalized, which I think is a huge opportunity for this industry. Now, one of the most important shifts of the entire year was this, and I think this sort of increased in focus on um longevity and recovery and optimizing your movement practice for function and mobility and stability and the things that help you feel better inside your body, right? And and I think that people aren't just working out to get toned as much anymore. There are still obviously some, yes, and people that is still, I think, an important element. But but a lot of people were joining movement practices and and trying new movement practices because they were seeking better mobility, they were seeking um less pain, perhaps better nervous system regulation. Um, they're thinking more about their mindset and using their movement practice as their sort of uh downtime, as their thinking time, as their sort of mental health check in, as it were. And I think that it that shift also changed how people spent in 2025. So people weren't just choosing where they worked out based on price anymore. They're choosing based on value, on what they get out of it from a value perspective and what they whether that matches all of the things that they're now looking for, that is not just simply checking the box of a workout. And I think that Pilates is centered right in the heart of that conversation. And I think that this is when Pilates actually became that lifelong modality, right? And and not a trend. And I think that that is something we will continue to see in 2026. So what else do I think will happen in 2026? Well, this is where it gets exciting. And I think we will see, as you, you know, if we think about those numbers earlier on, if the if the size of this industry will double globally over the next 10 years, then what is going to be the most critical for you as a studio owner is to differentiate yourself from others. And that comes through the quality of the experience that people have in your studio and your marketing campaigns and messaging. And I think the first thing that I will sort of predict is that we will continue, and I've touched on this already, so I kind of gave it away, but uh is the a personalized experience. That might look like perhaps customized programming for clients. Um, and perhaps that doesn't sit in your head anymore. Perhaps that's something that you're able to share with them. But also personalized experiences in terms of the way that you connect with your clients in the messaging and campaigns and emails and texts and all of the other ways that you connect with your clients these days. And how and what you're saying in all of those messages, right? What we know is that people are at different phases of their movement journey and are at different phases in life and different seasons in life. And so messaging is going to fall differently with people who are at different stages, which means that as we're able to leverage some of these amazing tools to perhaps reach people at the exact moment where that very specific message will actually trigger them into perhaps booking that next class or moving into that membership, then it will be highly far more uh effective and efficient than ever before. And so when your clients experience a very tailored um journey through your business and into your business, um, they will feel far more connected to you and far more excited about continuing. So your differentiation in 2026 will come from really understanding your clients as much as it comes from delivering an exceptional experience. Second prediction, oh, I think clients are going to become even more informed than they have already become. So maybe you're like me and you're seeing aura rings everywhere. Um, we're seeing data uh everywhere about how many hours we've slept and exactly how many hours of or minutes of of deep sleep or REM sleep we've had, how many steps we've taken, how many miles we've walked, or how many, you know, stairs we've climbed. Um, we're gonna see more and more of that as people strive to learn more about their bodies and themselves. Um, and we're gonna see this data become more sophisticated. So as the ability to access um, you know, blood panels and MRIs becomes just more and more accessible, I think clients are gonna use that data to guide their decisions on how intensely they want to move their bodies on their recovery, on their sleep, on their performance. And that's where, you know, if you're if you're aware of that as being a driving factor, then you can work that into the way that you interact with your clients as well. And I think that these wearables and this data is something that, you know, your clientele are going to be especially interested in because they're already interested in movement and wellness. And they are the exact people that um that market, the wearables market, is targeting as well. So I would expect your clients to continue to be informed about their health, their movement, their movement practices. And as you know, this highly personalized, right? Which sort of ties into my prior prediction. Okay, prediction number three kind of builds on the prior two a little bit, but I do think we're gonna continue to see um a shift where clients will take more ownership over their health long term. And I think we're seeing this already where, you know, there's a mindset shift of wow, I can really influence how strong I am gonna be in 10 years' time or how healthy I'm gonna be in 10 years' time if I do this today. And we're gonna see, I think, that shift of from people of that mindset of just, you know, I just need to do more, or I just need to do things more intensely to, you know, I want to invest in my longevity, which means that for you, I think you have an opportunity to be that source of information and inspiration for your clients. And we're seeing already that many studios are investing in recovery modalities as well, and that they are very popular. Um, and so as you're thinking about growth in 2026, you know, understanding your clients and what they're interested in, doing your research on what might align really nicely with uh what you are already doing in your business, and then looking for opportunities to really meet the demand for that, you know, full mind-body experience, um, perhaps more emphasis on recovery, breath work, mobility, um, or even into specific um topics like menopause or um breath work. And you know, I think that as you understand your clients more, the more I always say the more you're willing to understand your clients, the more opportunities that you will find for how you can help them get what they want. And I think that the studio owners and studios that really position themselves as long-term wellness partners, not just exercise providers, right? It's a big difference there. Those are the folks that will continue to rise to the top of the market. So let's recap. 2025, you guys, wow, I think it gave us such a boost, right? Um, and it and it sort of reinforced a lot of what we already knew to be true about um the Pilates method and movement already, but it really solidified so much because um we got clarity around how people enjoy this movement, how they want to feel, and where, you know, where Pilates really fits in the wellness landscape. And I think it also showed us, and what we've learned from the data as well, is that you know, the future isn't necessarily in more studios, bigger studios, franchise studios, flashier branding, et cetera. It's about smarter systems, it's about deeper connections, it's about intentional experiences and a strong identity that really, really speaks directly to the people in your community that you serve. And as you move into 2026, your clients are gonna seek more of that, more personalization, more partnerships, uh, more support and understanding their own bodies, more inspiration, more information. And so if you want to have a little bit of support and guidance in focusing on how you can build a business and a studio that grows with these trends, and perhaps a few others that I save for my Thrive members, and you want a studio that is profitable, sustainably profitable, that is efficient and ready for what's next. I would love to support you inside my coaching program, Thrive. You can learn more at springthree.com forward slash thrive. It's where savvy boutique studio owners just like you step into their role as leaders and build businesses designed for the long term, just like the clients that they serve. So here's to 2026. Did you love this episode and want more? Head to springfree.com and check out my free resources that will help you run a profitable and fulfilling studio business. And before you go, one last reminder. There is no one way to do what you do, only your way. So, whatever it is that you want to do, create, or offer, you've got this. Thanks again for joining me today and have a wonderful rest of your day.