Inside the Heart of Cincinnati’s Boutique Fitness Studio Market

This story is featured in CityBeat's Jan. 10 print edition.

What comes to mind when you think about boutique fitness? While some people may not know what that phrase means, others have used it to build community and lifelong habits.

Boutique fitness studios are small gyms that typically specialize in one or two fitness areas for instructor-led group and one-on-one exercises. Though boutique fitness studios have been around for decades, the market is booming now more than ever.

According to Yahoo Finance, in 2021 the global boutique fitness studio market was valued at $49.3 billion and is expected to reach $66.2 billion by 2026. Cincinnati has seen an increase within its own wellness and boutique fitness studio scene with studios popping up all over the city.

Here’s a look into Cincinnati’s fitness studio market, and the people behind it. 

Pilates Center of Cincinnati

Kelli Green became interested in Pilates after giving up running. "As I got older and had three kids, I was a little bit more injury prone, and I kept noticing different women and their physiques,” Green said. “I kept saying, ‘They’re older than me, and how do they look so toned?’ Most of them would say Pilates.”

After a nine-month training program, Green became a Pilates instructor.

Pilates Center of Cincinnati follows the traditional Pilates teachings of inventor, Joseph Pilates. "The main focus on any kind of Pilates is reformer," said Green. "Pilates today is getting a little watered down, we are a back-to-the-basics Pilates studio where everything is quiet; it's about perfection of detail, your form, so we (have) a different approach."

"Pilates is good for your flexibility," Green said. "You work from the inside out, so you work the finer muscles outward, you incorporate breathing and maintain this core that is practiced. It's a wonderful way to move. You can do it forever."

Green believes that Pilates has gained so much popularity because it is community-driven. "You get to know people next to you on your machine, you become friends and I think that was something that people were missing after the pandemic,” Green said. “You have a support system, people kind of count on you and if you're not in your class, they actually notice. Especially in niche boutique-type studios like these. We're a family so the teachers are a family and we really treat our clients as a family. I think that's what's kept me in business."

NYXX Cycle

Nick Melnyk discovered his passion for cycling in a search for connection. "I went to University of Cincinnati, and I started school at the College-Conservatory of Music for theater, and it was a really small program,” Melnyk said. “I left the program after my first year, and it was hard for me to adjust from being at that super small program that was kind of its own school on UC's campus to then being in the large university. I had a hard time making friends and meeting people. I had a friend who was going to the rec and she said, 'You should come take this spin class with me,' and I was like, ‘Okay, I don't know what that is.’ I fell in love, worked up the courage to audition, then taught in college. From there (I) had a love and passion for it." 

Melnyk found that music made cycling more enjoyable for him and uses this to make cycling fun for others at NYXX Cycle. "What I wanted to open here was much more rhythm-based and less about stats and metrics. For us, when we first opened, (it was about) determining how we introduced that to people who have not ridden like that before and getting them to like it. We were shocked at how quickly people started to adapt and have fun."

Melnyk runs NYXX Cycle as a no-pressure environment. Welcoming new and old riders alike, he wants riders to feel comfortable no matter where they are in their cycling journey.

"Any class you take here, you see different types of people from physical abilities, age, gender, race, sexuality, everything in this room," Melnyk said. "That was a huge thing for me, so seeing that growth has been cool. I think a lot of us expected to see people we always taught over the years at other gyms, and it's been so cool to see all these new faces."

Melnyk thinks that boutique fitness has always had a special role in fitness because of the larger nationally known boutique studios, but Peloton and the pandemic were the real push for the boom in group fitness.

"COVID happened and Peloton blew up, that was the thing. When that happened, people realized, 'Oh wait, I miss working out with people,' and it's just not the same. It's not just cycling I think, it's any group fitness atmosphere. I go and take tons of group fitness classes, for me I need someone to tell me what to do, I need that accountability and I just love the energy of other people around me. I think there's something really special about it."

Define Oakley

Jill Fishburn and her husband have owned Define Oakley since November 2022. Fishburn found her passion for fitness through Define, which was a factor in purchasing the studio. Define offers cycling, barre and bounce (HIIT done on a trampoline) classes. 

"The former owner posted that she was looking to sell the studio,” Fishburn said. "My first reaction was, ‘This is my happy place, I can't let that go.’ My husband and I are very entrepreneurial, we've always known we were gonna do something, the plan was to always work for ourselves and we reached out. It happened really fast, we met with her in early September and we took over Nov. 1. I didn't want to change anything about it, I changed little things but the base of what Define has always been for nearly a decade is exactly the same. The previous owner felt the same way, she didn't want to pass it off to anybody that was going to massively change it. She still teaches for us, we have 12 active instructors and more than half of them have been with the studio since the beginning which is really unique."

After graduating from UC, Fishburn realized that despite being active throughout high school, she had not been active at all in college. She tried to get active again by going to the gym with her husband but realized that she needed motivation outside of herself.

"[Define] had a sale, seven classes for $77, for whatever reason that one stuck. I was like I can spend $77 and do anything seven times, I got hooked on bounce. It's so fun, it's a killer workout and I finally looked forward to what I was doing in terms of exercising. It became easy to show up and easy to motivate myself to come, eventually just addicting. It got to the point where if I didn't start my day here, my day was off."

Fishburn says that outside motivation is a big reason people find boutique fitness so appealing. "I think my story is definitely a common one, it's so hard to motivate yourself, especially in a post-COVID world where we weren't able to go places. Everybody got out of routines and everybody was looking to get back with people. Now that people are allowed to do that again, showing up and someone knows your name when you walk in the door or they're shooting you a text that they miss you when you didn't show up — that accountability is a piece that I think sets group fitness apart."

Contrast Studios

Contrast Studios offers an alternative path to fitness for Cincinnati as the first sauna and cold plunge club in the city. Contrast therapy combines hot and cold temperatures for physical performance and mental wellness, with a recommended 57 minutes a week in the sauna and 11 minutes a week in the cold plunge. Contrast therapy offers benefits like increased metabolism, accelerated muscle recovery, improved cardiovascular health, boosted immune system, accelerated injury healing and more.

Co-founder Patrick Coyne's experience with contrast therapy is what motivated him to bring a studio to Cincinnati. "This was formulated in January, signed the lease at the end of April, then we opened up Oct. 5," Coyne said. "For me, it was very personal. I've always dealt with mental health issues, and I was sick and tired of medicine. I didn't want to feel numb anymore, and I had done it for about six months by myself, without telling people or even thinking about a business plan because it helped me. After the last one at my buddy’s house, I came outside, and I was tired of using his place, so I Googled cold plunge in Cincinnati — nothing. Cold plunge in Ohio — nothing. Cold plunge in the U.S.? There’s very few businesses, and when there’s that big of a lack of product and a huge demand, that’s when I decided to come up with a business plan.”

Coyne uses his businesses to add value to people's lives through wellness. "I really wanted to affect the masses’ mental health-wise because not everyone can work out. We just surpassed 200 members in less than four weeks, we're at 250 members right now." 

Though contrast therapy is trendy, Coyne believes that the science behind it is the reason for its popularity. "Everyone likes new, exciting things that can better themselves without having to put themselves through rigorous workouts."