Equinox to add treadmill studios in NYC, LA in 2019

The US-based luxury fitness club and spa chain Equinox is banking on group indoor running becoming the next big fitness craze. Yesterday the company announced its expansion into treadmill classes with a studio to open at 12 West 21st St. in New York City’s Flatiron District this spring. 

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Run don’t walk to Equinox’s new standalone club for treadmill enthusiasts https://t.co/SNYoLvPSf0

— Fast Company (@FastCompany) January 29, 2019

Treadmill classes adopt the same group dynamic, pulsating music and high intensity loved by spin class aficionados. Equinox has been offering Precision Run treadmill classes at its upscale studios since 2014, and the new studio will share the name. The company claims Precision Run was its most successful fitness concept in the company’s history. A new landing page for the brand calls Precision Run “a radically precise, results-obsessed treadmill class and studio.” 

The move is likely a response to the rapid expansion of rival companies Orangetheory and Barry’s Bootcamp. Orangetheory’s high-intensity workouts are now offered at 95 franchises across Canada. (Treadmills are just one part of the workout classes at Orangetheory, which also include free weights, resistance bands, TRX and balance trainers.)

.@Equinox will open its first luxury hotel this year—complete with a sprawling 60,000-square-foot gym, its largest yet. https://t.co/iyabNDDlaY pic.twitter.com/bfVpwTWNYk

— ForbesLife (@ForbesLife) January 19, 2019

The fitness class booking platform ClassPass told Runner’s World its treadmill class bookings were the fastest growing segment last year.

Equinox is parent company to the spin studio SoulCycle. Equinox and SoulCycle operate two locations in Toronto and one in Vancouver. It is also planning its first luxury hotel, also in New York, in 2019, to include a 60,000-square-foot gym.