Breaking: How Wework’s First Wellness Club Is Ushering in a New Era for Boutique Fitness

Photos: Kris Tamburello

While the boutique-fitness bubble is far from bursting, it's started expanding in a surprising way as of late—from specialized studios offering a single type of workout to more tricked-out spaces that house multiple high-end exercise modalities under one roof. Think: SoulCycle's new Annex, Project by Equinox, The SweatShed by Crunch, and now Rise by We, which just opened in downtown New York City and takes the holistic model to the next level.

The massive "wellness club" is the latest concept from the cool co-working company WeWork, which experimented with offering people more than office space last year when it launched WeLive, its co-living apartment complexes in NYC and Washington, DC.

We're not sure if WeSweat was already taken, but Rise by We features multiple fitness areas—the Mindfulness Studio, meant for yoga, boasts calming plants hanging overhead, while the Flight Studio, intended for cardio classes, is lined with Woodway treadmills and WaterRowers; Muay Thai bags hang around the Fight Studio, where boxing, kickboxing, and MMA-style classes are held. (Group classes cost $100 for 4 or $180 for an unlimited month and are being led by instructors who've taught everywhere from Barry's Bootcamp to AKT, SoulCycle, Equinox, and Bikram Yoga.)

"We loved the idea of creating an elevated wellness and fitness experience in a community oriented space."

There's also a designated space for turf work packed with free weights, kettlebells, sleds, Schwinn Airdynes, VersaClimbers, and functional equipment where you can work out on your own or take a semi-private training session (for $40). Not to mention the superspa with a steam room, dry sauna, hot tub, and mineral bath that was "inspired by bathing cultures around the globe, particularly Russian and Turkish bath houses,” says Mallory Woods, community lead at WeWork Wellness. “Overall, we loved the idea of creating an elevated wellness and fitness experience in a community oriented space."

So, is this the future of boutique fitness? Too soon to tell, but if people want to have their Pilates and bootcamp, too, who could blame them?

Scroll down for a photo tour of the new Rise by We wellness club in NYC. 

Flight Studio.

Mindfulness Studio.

Fight Studio.

Superspa.

Turf.

Two more trends catching on in fitness right now: immersive workouts and lifting heavy weights

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