PRESS RELEASE: The - Fit Guide 2025: More 5-Star Fitness Clubs as New York Raises the Bar

Press Releases

PRESS RELEASE: The - Fit Guide 2025: More 5-Star Fitness Clubs as New York Raises the Bar

NEW YORK, USA – The Fit Guide (TFG), the world’s only independent rating system for fitness clubs and studios, has unveiled its 2025 New York results—revealing a rise in standards across the city’s boutique fitness scene. As the first launch city of the year, New York’s clubs have shown notable improvements, especially in class experience.

Dubbed the Michelin Guide of fitness, The Fit Guide evaluates premium studios across five modalities; HIIT & strength, cycling, yoga, barre, and Pilates. To ensure fairness, TFG conducts anonymous visits and, using over 250 objective criteria, assesses the class experience, reception services, facilities and technology. Awards are offered to the leading clubs and experiences.

Year-on-Year Performance: Where New York’s Fitness Clubs Improved

Class experience was the category with the largest increase, up 3.3%.
Reception services remained low-scoring, improving by just 0.5%
Barre was the modality that saw the biggest improvement, with class experience up 5.7%
Pilates improved overall but dipped in reception service
Yoga remains the lowest-scoring modality despite slight gains overall
Cycling was the only modality to decline, with class experience dropping 4.7%

"We’re happy to see that our second year of evaluations in New York has seen an improvement, but there’s still work to do—especially in the finer touches that complete the experience, such as hospitality and reception services," said Jack Thomas, Co-Founder of The Fit Guide.

Matt Lavender, Co-Founder of The Fit Guide, added: "Our mission remains the same—setting a global gold standard for fitness excellence. With data-driven insights, we help fitness enthusiasts find the best studios and operators deliver five-star experiences.”

The Fit Guide 5-Star Award Winners

This year, seven clubs earned The Fit Guide 5-Star Award, scoring over 90%, an increase from five clubs in The Fit Guide’s first year of evaluations:

Physique 57 (Soho, 60th & 5th)
Orangetheory Fitness (UWS 92nd St, Manhattan-Plaza District)
Pure Barre (Union Square)
The Bar Method (Cobble Hill)
F45 Training (Flatiron)

Expanding in 2025: Next Stops, LA and Miami

Following success in New York, London, Singapore, Dubai, and Sydney, The Fit Guide is expanding to Los Angeles (March 2025) and Miami (later this year), furthering its mission of recognizing the world’s best fitness experiences.

To view all of New York’s award-winning clubs, visit www.thefitguide.com.

THE FIT GUIDE 2025 NEW YORK FACT SHEET

Overview: The Fit Guide is an independent rating system that recognizes and evaluates the world’s leading boutique fitness clubs and studios. Often described as the 'Michelin Guide for fitness,' it provides a trusted, data-driven benchmark for the fitness industry. All evaluations are conducted by highly-trained, anonymous ‘experience evaluators’ who visit the clubs incognito.

2025 New York Evaluation Highlights:

Second year of evaluations in New York, the first launch city of 2025.
Increased number of 5-Star Award-winning clubs, from five in the first year to seven this year.
Overall improvement in boutique fitness class experience, with an average class experience score rising by 3.3%.
Barre saw the largest improvement, with a 5.7% increase in class experience scores.
Cycling was the only modality to experience a decline, with class experience scores dropping by 4.7%.
Reception services improved slightly (+0.5%) but remain an area for development.
Yoga continues to be the lowest scoring modality overall for the second year in a row.

Award Structure:

Clubs scoring over 70% receive the Recommended rating.
Clubs scoring over 80% receive The Fit Guide Award of Excellence.

Clubs scoring over 90% earn The Fit Guide 5-Star Award, recognizing the highest level of excellence.

2025 New York 5-Star Award Winners:

Physique 57 Soho
Physique 57 60th & 5th
Orangetheory UWS 92nd St
Orangetheory Manhattan-Plaza District
Pure Barre Union Square
The Bar Method Cobble Hill
F45 Flatiron

Award of Excellence Winners:

CorePower Yoga, Village
Modo Yoga NYC, West Village
Solidcore, Chelsea
SLT Tread, Nomad
Three Barry’s clubs: E 64th, NoHo and UWS
Conbody
F45, Lower East Side
LIFTONIC, West Village
Two Orangetheory clubs: Chelsea and Soho
Rumble Boxing, Flatiron
Sweat440, Chelsea
AARMY
CycleBar, Noho
Tone House
MADabolic Brooklyn

Expansion in 2025:

Following New York, The Fit Guide will launch in Los Angeles (March 2025) and Miami (later in 2025).
Previous cities evaluated: London, Singapore, Dubai, Sydney.

What The Fit Guide Evaluates:

Each club is assessed across over 250 standards in five key areas:

Reception Service – Quality of welcome, engagement, and professionalism.
Facilities – Cleanliness, design, and maintenance.
Group Class Experience – Coaching, engagement, and class execution.
Technology – Booking process, digital tools, and ease of use.

Online Presence – Website, email and social media representation.

Quotes:

"We’re happy to see that our second year of evaluations have seen an improvement for New York’s top fitness clubs. There are, however, still areas where New York’s clubs can improve their level of hospitality, such as the reception services." – Jack Thomas, Co-Founder, The Fit Guide

"While there is much to celebrate in New York’s 2025 evaluations, it’s interesting to note that yoga remains the lowest-scoring category for the second consecutive year. This presents an opportunity for yoga studios that offer a five-star experience, particularly those catering to beginners."– Jack Thomas, Co-Founder, The Fit Guide

"The past few years have been challenging for cycling, and our 2025 evaluations reflect a decline in the overall standard of cycling experiences in New York. In contrast, Pilates studios have shown an improvement in class quality. To remain competitive in an increasingly busy market, cycling studios will need to up their game to compete." – Jack Thomas, Co-Founder, The Fit Guide

"As we expand into new cities, our goal remains the same—to set a gold standard for fitness industry excellence. By delivering objective, data-driven insights, we’re helping both fitness enthusiasts find the best gyms and studios and operators provide consistent five-star experiences." – Matt Lavender, Co-Founder, The Fit Guide