What’s happening to Boston’s gyms?

A few months back, yet another Boston Sports Clubs (or, rather, New York Sports Clubs Boston") closed its doors. Is this a sign of things to come for all mid-priced commercial gyms in Boston?

The announcement left many longtime members of the BSC Downtown Crossing location seeking alternatives... and there aren’t many options left (at least within the BSC/NYSC family of clubs). If you're one of the many affected, or are just curious whether this closure is a symptom of a shake-up in the broader Boston fitness landscape, read on.

Is this the beginning of the end of big-box gyms?

I don’t think so.

I worked for BSC for several years and at the time that I left, it seemed to me that there was a pretty clear divestment in the Boston market. The change that prompted my exit was a reshuffling of management without any prior communication to those who were going to be the most affected. In the past few years, in addition to that management shakeup, several Boston Sports Clubs locations have closed full-stop, and many others have closed and reopened as different fitness brands.

My suspicion is that the final few BSC clubs will no longer exist in the next few years, but I could be wrong.

I don’t think BSC Downtown crossing’s closure is indicative of the end of commercial gyms in Boston, but more so a reflection of the astronomical rent prices. But what that means, is though big box gyms may stills exist, the cost to run those gyms has increased. With that, the cost to consumer/member will need to increase because many businesses would rather chew off their left foot than take a slight smaller margin to keep customer loyalty.

What’s left of Boston’s commercial gym scene?

Though Boston Sports Clubs’ presence is shriveling, there are (for now) a few left—Copley, Government Center, Davis Square still remain.

Clubs like Equinox, Lifetime, YMCA, Healthworks/Republic Fitness, Planet Fitness, and Beacon Hill Athletic Club all continue to have a strong presence. Alternatively, many of the local university gyms offer community membership. Unfortunately, there seems to be a gap in the mid-range price-point for gyms, but they’re not impossible to find.

Each Boston/Cambridge neighborhood has a few independent gym options. VIM Fitness in Central Square and Retro Fitness in Porter are both a good value, though VIM definitely beats Retro for advanced lifters and folks seeking a huge variety of classes or a slightly more luxury feel (I’m going to call out my own bias in favor of VIM right here🙂). SoWa Health + Wellness in the South End is stunning and New Balance Fitness Club in Brighton has a lot of good equipment.

People are looking for other fitness solutions

Though there is a clear change in the commercial gym scene in Boston, two areas are coming to the fore as potential alternatives: private training studios and niche fitness studios

Private Training Studios

These are smaller gyms that usually have both one-on-one training and semi-private (aka small group) training. The trainers working out of these studios are likely to be independent contractors or professionals renting space within the studio.

If you’re looking for more experienced trainers, you’ll find them in the private studios. That is not to say commercial gyms don’t have excellent trainers, but most new trainers get their start in bigger gyms to gain experience, so there will be a bigger mix of skill and experience levels. The tradeoff her is that you’ll be paying more at a private studio than in a commercial gym.

Niche Fitness Studios

These will be your CrossFit, Pilates, yoga, barre, solidcore, boxing studios. Also included in this category are the places like Barry’s, Orange Theory, and F45. These studios are places that (usually) cover one specific realm of exercise and utilize a class or small group format.

Your ability to see progress in your fitness (whatever that looks like for you specifically), will be determined by which type of niche studio you utilize, frequency, and/or if you hop around between class/studio types. The trade-off of a nice studio could be slow progress if you have specific aesthetic or strength goals—again, depending on how you utilize these spaces and what your unique goals are.

What now?

If you’ve been impacted by gyms closing or prices rising, now would be a good time to shop around for a new gym-home. There are no rules against utilizing multiple gyms or mixing a Planet Fitness membership with seeing a private studio personal trainer once per week…. or going to one place for yoga three times per week and another place for boxing once per week.

Just be clear on what you want out of exercise and a fitness routine before you spend loads of money on memberships, passes, or sessions with a trainer!