High-end fitness chain Equinox is launching a super pricey gym membership, coming in at $40,000 a year, to help people improve their prevailing health and live longer.
They’re teaming up with Function Health, a lab-test startup, to introduce “Optimize by Equinox,” a personalized health program. This program covers everything from personal training and nutrition plans to sleep coaching and massage therapy.
It’s part of a growing market focused on longevity and wellness, where medicine, biotech, fitness, and nutrition are all coming together to slow down aging.
Jonathan Swerdlin, co-founder of Function Health, sees this program as a big shift in how we think about staying healthy. It’s not just about looking good on the outside but also about what’s happening inside our bodies that we can’t see.
So, what does the program include? Well, it starts with a bunch of tests. Function Health checks for 100 different things like heart, liver, and kidney health, as well as metabolic and immune systems. Equinox adds fitness tests like VO2 max and strength checks. They do all these tests twice a year.
Then, Equinox puts all this data together and helps each member create a plan tailored to their health and fitness goals. Each member gets a team including a fitness trainer, nutrition coach, sleep coach, and massage therapist.
The Optimize membership gives you three one-hour training sessions per week with a top-level trainer, along with two half-hour sessions each month with a nutrition coach and sleep coach, plus one monthly massage therapy session. That’s about 16 hours of coaching and training every month.
Julia Klim, from Equinox, compares it to how Formula One racers or athletes have a team of experts to design their training programs based on data.
This move shows Equinox’s aim to go beyond just fitness and into the broader health and wellness field, which is booming among wealthy people.
The program costs $3,000 per month for at least six months, and that doesn’t include a regular Equinox gym membership, bringing the total to over $40,000 a year.
But Klim sees it as a luxury service focused on people’s well-being, using data and coaching to help them live healthier lives.
The Optimize program starts at the end of May in New York City and Highland Park, Texas, and will later expand to other places. Members can train at Equinox’s exclusive “E Clubs,” which have higher membership fees.
Function Health’s goal is to help people live healthy lives for a long time, and it partnered with Equinox because of its leadership in the industry. They believe Equinox’s personalized fitness and health programs are the perfect fit to apply their data effectively.
Swerdlin emphasizes that staying healthy for a long time isn’t just about doctor’s visits but also about daily choices and exercise, where Equinox plays a crucial role.
