September 15, 2026 - Trends

Fitness Operators Adapt to the Pilates Boom

Making room.
Women practicing Pilates on a reformer

Pilates is a powerhouse.

Peaking. US participation hit 13.8M last year, up ~40% since ’20, per SFIA. With 4.4% of Americans taking a class and men making up 30% of attendees, Pilates has become a cultural movement.

Going big. Per CBRE, Pilates studios will account for half of new boutique openings, with Club Pilates and STRONG Pilates plotting 350 sites combined. Making room, big-box operators including EōS, Crunch, and Life Time have added reformers, with the latter planning 60 in-house studios by EOY.

Moving in. Notching a 65% class fill rate and ~50% of first-timers returning, Pilates is a profit center. Trading up, Playlist reports 40%+ of yoga studios have added Pilates, up 20% over two years.

Stacking up. With 40% of participants also using free weights, operators are mixing modalities. [solidcore] debuted a heated strength format, while Club Pilates and JETSET Pilates doubled down on resistance programming.

Looking ahead: From boutiques to big-boxes and rival modalities, Pilates is becoming a core layer of the fitness ecosystem, forcing the industry to build around it.

Ryan Deer
Ryan Deer
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