Known for its gyms that cater exclusively to the wealthy, Equinox is pioneering a fitness option even further out of reach.
It has launched a $40,000 annual membership designed to extend your life through personal training, nutrition plans, massage therapy, and even sleep training.
Equinox is partnering with lab testing startup Function Health to bring ‘Optimize by Equinox’ to market, making it one of the most expensive gym memberships in the world.
“It’s really a paradigm shift in how we can live with vitality and avoid suffering,” said Jonathan Swerdlin, co-founder of Function Health.
‘It’s about what’s above the surface, your abs and glutes, which you can see in the mirror and which are great. But it also deals with what lies beneath the surface and what cannot be seen in the mirror. And that’s revolutionary,” Swerdlin added.
Equinox already has some of the most expensive gym memberships in the world, even before rolling out a $40,000 fitness option
Run DMC’s Darryl McDaniels (left) works out with JAM’N 94.5’s Ramiro (right) at an Equinox gym on Dartmouth Street in Boston.
Access to all Equinox clubs costs $405 a month, or just under $5,000 a year.
‘Optimize by Equinox’ costs $3,000 a month for a minimum of six months, and when combined with the gym’s standard membership fee, brings the total to $40,000 or more.
The old Equinox memberships are already quite expensive. If you want access to all 107 Equinox clubs around the world, it will cost you $405 a month, or just under $5,000 a year.
The Optimize program begins with Function Health testing new members with 100 biomarkers: biological traits that indicate a possible risk for a disease.
The tests will measure members’ level of health in their heart, liver, kidneys and even try to detect cancer markers.
Aside from Equinox’s new program, Function Health’s 100-biomarker tests cost $499 and the company says it has a waiting list of more than 200,000 people.
Once testing, which occurs twice a year, is complete, an Equinox ‘concierge’ will design the ideal fitness plan for members based on their results.
Each member will be assigned four experts, including a fitness trainer, nutrition coach, massage therapist and sleep coach.
As part of the Optimize fitness plan, Function Health tests new members on 100 biomarkers: biological traits that indicate a possible risk for a disease.
Pictured: A living room inside Equinox Hudson Yards. The facility provides members with access to exclusive group exercise classes, a 25-yard saltwater indoor pool, hot and cold plunge pools, and a 15,000-square-foot outdoor leisure pool and sun deck.
The pool inside Equinox Hudson Yards
A view of cyclists during Cycle For Survival at Equinox Bryant Park on March 12, 2017 in New York City
Men and women sprint around the Equinox rooftop training area as part of a Tabata class in Irvine, California.
According to Equinox, members pay to access approximately 16 hours a month of high-level training and coaching.
The Optimize program will be rolled out for the first time in late May in New York City and Highland Park, Texas. Over time, other states across the country will follow suit, Equinox said. For now, Optimize members will be able to train in Equinox’s elite ‘E Clubs’, which are more reminiscent of private gyms.
Function Health’s stated goal with its cocktail of tests is to give people “100 healthy years” on Earth.
“Living a healthy 100 years doesn’t happen inside a doctor’s office,” Swerdlin said. ‘It happens in your daily decisions. And it happens with the way you exercise, too, and Equinox really helps close the loop in that sense.’
