Every Friday at 6 p.m., Antonia Fantasia goes to a Solidcore class. Sometimes she’ll meet a friend for dinner or go shopping after the class, then she’ll go home to shower, put on a face mask and watch a movie with her roommates before she goes to bed early.
Fantasia, a 26-year-old marketing manager in Boston who is a year sober, said this routine is new for her. She started taking group fitness classes a few years ago and scheduled her classes earlier in the morning so she had an excuse to not go drinking. Slowly, she stopped making excuses, stopped drinking altogether and created a new routine.
Young people like Fantasia are moving from “barstools to barbells,” according to a recent study by Bank of America. Alcohol spending is at its lowest level in 40 years, while spending on fitness is up.
For Gen Z and millennials, wellness is on the rise. The $2 trillion global industry is growing and expanding beyond its core categories, according to a report by consulting firm McKinsey & Company. Nearly 30% of Gen Z and millennials in the United States are prioritizing wellness more than they did a year ago, which is higher than older generations.
With a demand for working out later in the day, fitness studios are staying open later. SoulCycle, a high-intensity indoor cycling experience, recently started offering classes at 10 p.m. in some locations in New York City. Group fitness classes are utilizing bright, flashing and loud music, bringing a nightlife atmosphere to it.
“It’s like a party in there,” Fantasia said.
Some studios are even partnering with local bars. Loco Taqueria & Oyster Bar in South Boston has hosted several Pilates classes during the day, before the evening rush
At Barre Groove, a Boston-based group fitness studio that offers trampoline-based cardio classes, some sessions include a complimentary drink at The Bosworth afterward. Alanna Perry, 36, the owner and founder of Barre Groove, started teaching group fitness classes at her local restaurants and bars after hours.
“We would teach class in the space and slide drinks to everyone, and we turned it into a social aspect,” Perry said.
Those collaborations form connections and community, Perry said. Brands will partner with fitness studios and offer freebies before or after the class.
“We don’t want it to be just about class,” Perry said. “You have where you live, you have where you work and then you have where you build your community.”
Emily Smith said she started noticing the trend of workout classes emulating nightlife five years ago in group fitness classes that utilize yoga mats such as pilates, sculpt or heated yoga.
Smith, 30, is a sculpt instructor at The Handle Bar, is a Boston-based fitness studio that offers cycle, Pilates, sculpt, strength and flow classes across its nine locations. Sculpt classes are full-body workout classes utilizing dumbbells, Bala bangles, resistance bands and are heated with infrared heat.
Smith has been teaching group fitness classes for nine years and taking them since 2013. She described creating a sequence for her classes like “choregraphing a dance.” She deliberately chooses workouts that match the beat of the music.
“The highest intensity point of the sequence at that highest intensity point of the music helps everything feel really in sync,” Smith said. “It feels empowering.”
Kara Lennon, 36, a Boston-based fitness instructor and content creator, goes to group fitness classes because of the friendships and community formed with like-minded people.
“As a person that’s also been teaching and taking [them] for so many years, it’s how I’ve made some of my best friends,” Lennon said.
Lennon also fostered connection another way. She started a women’s only small group training program based in Boston called “Hot Girls Lift Weights” in hopes of teaching women how to weightlift safely.
Replacing nightlife with working out looks like it’s going to stay, said Carly Picarelli, 30, a social media manager from Boston. People are more health conscious and want to track that with Oura rings and Apple Watches, which weren’t around 10 years ago, Picarelli said.
“I already did my fair share of drinking, so I’m definitely in a stage in my life where I’d rather go do a workout than go to the bar,” Picarelli said. “It just seems like a cultural shift where wellness is definitely on the rise, and this party lifestyle seems to just be declining fast.”
This story is part of a partnership between WBUR and the Boston University Department of Journalism.
