Why Mid-Market Gyms Are Losing Ground in Singapore's Golden Age of Fitness

When personal trainer Sharon H began taking clients in April, she did not rent a large commercial space. She offered three options: training at ActiveSG gyms, at clients' homes, or in her own flat, where she has a dedicated workout area. About half of her active clients choose her flat. They do not hate public gyms; they want privacy, less waiting and a flexible schedule. These small choices are telling a bigger story about Singapore's fitness industry: the mid-market segment is getting squeezed even as the market is described as booming.

According to CNA, True Fitness and True Yoga abruptly closed all their studios in Singapore earlier this month. Parent company Kontafarma cited unprecedented challenges: the rise of boutique studios, the spread of condo gyms reducing the need for outside memberships, and the growth of online training programmes. But taking a wider view, the Singapore Fitness Alliance calls this the “golden age of fitness and wellness”. SportSG found that 76 per cent of residents exercised at least once a week last year, up from 66 per cent in 2026. The market has more customers than ever. So why did a gym with more than 41,000 sq ft, like TFX Club, still have to close?

The middle segment, where traditional big-box gyms stand, is under pressure from two directions. On one side are boutique studios with 1,000–2,500 sq ft, focused on a single discipline such as pilates or indoor cycling. On the other side are budget 24-hour chains like Anytime Fitness, Snap Fitness and 24/7 Fitness, with 4,000–6,000 sq ft, no showers or toilets, and lower costs. Large gyms have swimming pools, saunas, changing rooms and many machines, but their fixed costs are also huge. Sean Tan, co-founder of the Singapore Fitness Alliance, points out that industry margins are traditionally 15–25 per cent, while rent can take up 15–20 per cent of revenue. When that ratio rises to 30–40 per cent, the big-box model becomes especially fragile. The belief that “a big gym will attract enough members” no longer holds, because operating costs are fixed and do not fall when attendance drops.

The most interesting part is that studio owners do not blame market demand. Samuel Gallo, co-founder of Surge Strength & Results, puts it bluntly: “If a free gym downstairs is enough to make someone switch, the question is what else that gym is offering beyond access to equipment? Demand is not the problem. Being nothing in particular is the problem.” Boutique studios grow by selling accountability, personalisation and measurable results. Surge only offers one-to-one training, with no group classes or memberships. It invests more than S$50,000 a year in staff education because “the coaches are the product”. UFIT has about 700 active clients, does not sell pay-per-use memberships and builds a “circle of care” that includes physiotherapy, podiatry and nutrition. UFIT calls 2026 its best year in five years.

The biggest blind spot is often rent and operating costs. Many commercial properties are now owned by real estate investment trusts, where investors demand rising yields every year. Rent negotiations have become rigid; many leases are also based on gross turnover, so a gym that performs well can expect a rent increase at renewal. For a 4,000 sq ft bodybuilding gym in Shenton Way, operating costs reach S$40,000 a month, including utilities, staff, maintenance, marketing and loan payments. Owner Luke Yeo says he has invested about S$1.2 million since 2026. Premium commercial gym machines can easily cost S$15,000–S$20,000 each. On top of that, well-funded investors are pouring capital into the industry, making the game even more expensive.

Exercise habits in Singapore have also changed. People no longer treat a single gym membership as the centre of their fitness life. They use condo gyms, run outdoors, attend pilates classes, play pickleball with colleagues, follow digital programmes and even travel overseas for Hyrox competitions with their training communities. Fitness spending has become fragmented, flexible and driven by experience, community and measurable outcomes. Amore Fitness, a women-only chain with more than 40 years of history, has had to constantly open and close outlets to find the right locations: it closed Jurong Point in 2026 and Seletar Mall in 2026, then opened at CPF Jurong and Punggol Coast Mall. Director Lim Kian Leong says the goal is not to have more locations, but to have the right ones, close to where members live and work.

The lesson for any sports market – including Vietnam – is not about chasing trends or adding more equipment. A mid-market gym cannot survive simply by “having everything”. It must answer the question of what customers can get there that they cannot create at home or in a cheaper gym. If the answer is only “treadmills and dumbbells”, the battle against condo gyms and fitness apps will be unwinnable. When a gym dares to choose a clear position – either cheap and convenient, or specialised and results-driven – it no longer has to worry about customers drifting away. Singapore's fitness industry is showing that the golden age is not for everyone; it is only for those who know exactly what they are.