Millennials are quitting gyms to spend big on boutique fitness classes

Steve O’Brien (front, right) and other class members working out at the boxing fitness class at Prevail Boxing in Los Angeles. Boutique fitness studios have become the only growth segment in an otherwise stagnant US gym industry. Photo: TNS.

Carla Zuniga is punching a heavy bag as if she were preparing for a title fight, although she’s a 35-year-old hairstylist doing her regular fitness workout. Zuniga isn’t sweating at some low-fee, big-box fitness chain though. Prevail Boxing is an almost 140sq m studio in Los Angeles, California that charges US$250 (RM1,000) for 10 classes.

“I think people in my generation are more willing to invest in what challenges them and makes them healthy,” says Zuniga, who grew bored with cheaper, traditional gyms. “It’s expensive to be healthy, but it’s more expensive to be sick.”