Explore three-plus decades of fitness and regeneration breakthroughs at Equinox.
Since its founding in 1991, Equinox has fortified its reputation as the home of high-performance living. One Club in New York City’s Upper West Side has quickly become 118 across the U.S., Canada, and U.K. The number of group fitness instructors has skyrocketed, doubling in the last decade alone.
Amid the growth, one thing hasn’t changed: the commitment to innovating science-backed, results-driven offerings for members.
In honor of Equinox’s 35th anniversary, discover the biggest breakthroughs across Group Fitness, Spa, and Precision Run.
Group Fitness
Group fitness became distinctly “Equinox” back in 2007, when Signature Formats launched. The idea: to unify class programming concepts so that members, whether they checked into a Club in New York, Miami, Chicago, or Los Angeles, would be familiar with the formats on the schedule, says Keith Irace, Equinox’s vice president of group fitness.
In those two decades, Equinox has pioneered a number of science-backed, results-oriented exclusive formats. In 2010, Equinox became the first to blend HIIT-style Tabata into a group fitness format. Not long after, member-favorite MetCon3 launched, leading the then-emerging conversation surrounding metabolic threshold training, says Irace. Right before interest in strength training peaked in 2023, Stronger entered the chat. The approachable-yet-effective class offers plenty of heavy weights and stands as the top Main Studio class, he says.
Creative equipment has been added to the catalog, too. The 2010s saw the introduction of heavy ropes in Whipped!, mobility sticks in Best Stretch Ever, and the ViPR in a eponymous class. “We were very early to the loaded movement/functional training conversation that continues to thrive today,” adds Irace.
Nowadays, Equinox Clubs offer a total of roughly 11,000 group fitness classes each week, taught by a dedicated crew of about 2,500 instructors.
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The Spa at Equinox
In his 20-year tenure at Equinox, Senior Director of Spa James Gu has seen increased demand and interest around wellness and recovery. In turn, Spa service offerings have expanded and novel technologies have been adopted to satisfy those member cravings. Exhibit A: the launch of Aescape bodywork in 2024. “It’s not meant to replace or even be an alternative to getting a massage from a massage therapist,” Gu explains. “I view it as a much more effective way to recover or prime the body than foam rolling or utilizing self-myofascial release techniques.”
Other new additions: red light therapy and hyperbaric oxygen therapy. “I don’t think people realize how big of a deal it is that we now have such easy access to modalities that are proven to positively impact health at a cellular level,” says Gu.
Even with these groundbreaking treatments on the menu, some classic regeneration methods remain member-favorites; massage performed by expert, licensed professionals continues to be the most popular service, says Gu. Regardless of the service, “everything we do is informed by science and efficacy — not trend-chasing,” he adds.
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Personal Training
As the years have passed, Equinox has progressively emphasized the “personal” in personal training. Consider the launch of COACH X, which created a personal training experience that combined movement with nutrition and regeneration. This extra attention to lifestyle encourages greater results than those of traditional fitness programs.
In 2024, Equinox also unveiled EQX Optimize, a comprehensive approach to high-performance living. Available at select Clubs, the six-month program blends Coach X personal training, massage therapy, sleep and nutrition guidance, and biomarker testing with Function Health. The use of biomarker data ensures “a level of programmatic specificity and actionable insights that weren’t attainable — until now,” Coach X Stan Ward previously told EQX+.
Coaching became even more specific with EQX ARC, a three-month personal training program designed for women and informed by biometric data from Function Health and ŌURA. Like EQX Optimize, the program includes Bodywork and nutrition counseling, as well as sessions with a Coach. To best support women, however, all ARC Coaches have earned Equinox’s Women’s Health Certification and are trained to assist members through phases like postpartum, perimenopause, and menopause.
“Women especially are complex, and we have these different stages,” Coach+ Robin Werner previously told EQX+. “So I love that this ARC program addresses the movement [with personal training sessions], the nutrition [with dietitian support], the regeneration [with Bodywork]. It’s not just like, ‘OK, work out and go.’ You have to do all of it to really maximize your own overall health and wellness.”
Precision Run
After launching Precision Run in 2014, Equinox became the first company to have an indoor running program backed by its own proprietary scientific method, Precision Run Founder David Siik previously told EQX+.
In the same decade, the Precision Run Dashboard was uploaded to treadmills, unlocking access to the beloved one-touch recovery button that quickly slows the treadmill. The custom-made Precision Run Woodway treadmill also entered the studio. Sleek with luxe walnut arms, the treadmill was proof that style and substance can coexist.
Precision Run continues to live up to its mission: to imagine the unimaginable, then bring it into reality. Over the last few years, new classes — like Fully Vested and Precision Walk: Elevate — have been added to the schedule, and digital offerings on the EQX+ app have expanded, too. (See: Precision Step.) Clubs now offer Precision Run Personal Coaching for one-on-one training guidance and Run Clubs for community.
This fall, Precision Run is hitting a major milestone: the completion of the 1 millionth Precision Run digital class. To celebrate, one lucky member will win a Precision Run Woodway Treadmill. It’s not too late to start your winning streak; take part in the Race to a Million Challenge now.