High-end fitness chain Equinox is launching one of the most expensive gym memberships in the world: a $40,000-a-year program aimed at improving overall health and longevity.
Equinox is partnering with lab testing startup Function Health to launch “Optimize by Equinox,” a personalized health program that includes everything from personal training and nutrition plans to sleep training and massage therapy. The program, announced Monday, is part of the rapidly growing market for longevity and wellness, where the fields of medicine, biotechnology, fitness and nutrition are merging in the quest to slow the effects of aging.
“It's really a paradigm shift in how we can live with vitality and avoid suffering,” said Jonathan Swerdlin, co-founder of Function Health. “It's about what's above the surface, your abs and glutes, which you can see in the mirror, which are great. But it's also about what's below the surface and what you can't see in the mirror. And that's revolutionary.”
The Optimize program begins with a battery of tests. Function Health will test members for 100 biomarkers, from heart, liver and kidney health, to metabolic and immune systems, to cancer markers and nutrients. Equinox will then run its own battery of fitness tests, including VO2 max, strength, and range of motion. The tests are repeated twice a year.
An Equinox “concierge” gathers all the tests and data and helps the member design a personalized plan to improve their overall health and fitness. Each member will have a core team that includes a fitness trainer, nutrition coach and sleep coach, as well as a massage therapist.
Optimize membership includes three 60-minute training sessions per week with a top-notch trainer. It also includes two half-hour sessions per month with a nutrition coach, two half-hour sessions per month with a sleep coach, and one massage therapy session per month. In total, the program amounts to 16 hours of coaching and training per month, according to Equinox.
“It's the same as Formula One or an athlete, where they give you a team of top experts in all these different verticals, to design a program based on all the data that we collect,” said Julia Klim, vice president of strategic partnerships and development. of business at Equinox.
The move will mark a major test of Equinox's continued efforts to expand beyond fitness into the broader health and wellness business, which has become a booming market among the wealthy.
The company recently closed a new $1.8 billion financing round that refinanced $1.2 billion in existing debt. He said its performance last month represented the second-best April in the company's history.
Equinox plans to open new clubs in Philadelphia and the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles later this year, bringing the total locations in the pipeline to 27. The company currently operates 107 locations worldwide, according to its website.
Klim said Equinox has always focused on “the four pillars” of longevity: movement, regeneration, nutrition and community.
“I sometimes joke that we've always been in the longevity business and the science is catching up,” he said.
The new program will cost $3,000 a month for a minimum of six months. The fee does not include Equinox gym membership, bringing the total to around $40,000 or more per year.
“It's a highly luxurious, human-first service that combines data and a coaching program,” Klim said.
The Optimize program will initially be available starting in late May in New York City and Highland Park, Texas, and will eventually expand to other states, according to Equinox. Members will be able to train at Equinox's elite “E Clubs,” which are more like private gyms with higher membership fees.
Swerdlin said Function Health's mission is to help people live “100 healthy years.” The company's own program costs $499 for testing 100 biomarkers. However, demand is so strong that it has a waiting list of more than 200,000 people. He said Function wanted to partner with Equinox “because they are the leader in the category.” He said Function's data is most useful when it can be applied, which is where Equinox comes in, with its personalized health and fitness programs.
“Living a healthy 100 years doesn't happen inside a doctor's office,” Swerdlin said. “It happens in your daily decisions. And it also happens with the way you exercise, and Equinox really helps close the loop on that.”
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