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Business|More People Are Lifting Weights. It’s Changing Gym Culture.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/04/business/more-people-are-lifting-weights-its-changing-gym-culture.html
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corner office
Colleen Keating, chief executive of Planet Fitness, wants them to do it in a “judgment-free zone.”
Jordyn Holman tries to maintain a weekly workout routine of strength training, Pilates and long walks.
Jan. 4, 2026, 5:00 a.m. ET
It’s hard to scroll through social media these days without a gymfluencer telling you about the benefits of lifting weights and eating more protein. These messages have changed the way Americans think about fitness and wellness. Cardio, once the king of exercise, is being supplanted by weight lifting sessions.
Planet Fitness, one of the largest gym chains in the world, has long billed itself as a place for exercise novices. Now it is trying to respond to the rising popularity of strength training by redesigning its space and adding more weights and resistance machines.
On a recent tour at the company’s headquarters in Hampton, N.H., Colleen Keating, the chief executive, walked past the old-faithful treadmills and pointed to the dumbbells and weight machines people use for chest presses and to build their quads, glutes and hamstrings.
“A couple of years ago, we did not have rigs and racks in our gyms,” said Ms. Keating, who took the top job in June 2024 after a career in hospitality, including as chief executive of FirstKey Homes, a rental home property company. “We used to be a bit more cardio-forward, and now we’re dedicating about half the gym floor to strength and about half the club floor to cardio.”
The changes may shift how people think of Planet Fitness, which has nearly 2,800 locations and about 21 million members. So might the membership fee, which in the summer of 2024 increased to $15 a month — still cheaper than some Sweetgreen salads but a 50 percent jump from the $10 it had been for decades.
The higher fee hasn’t been bad for business, though. In the company’s most recent quarter, total revenue increased 13 percent. Its share price is also up, by more than 30 percent in the past five years.
