![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/the-fitness-industry-is-big-business-W27Z7R5NSZFVDBXKJY3XKLGJFA.jpg\")
<\/p>\nA rising interest in fitness \u2013 particularly among health-conscious young people \u2013 has prompted CityFitness to announce a $100 million expansion plan.<\/p>\n
The gym chain will make the multi-million-dollar investment over the next five years, opening around 50 new gyms and creating up to 1000 jobs nationwide.<\/p>\n
Chief operating officer Doug Hatten said the gym would target population centres with catchments of 30,000 to 40,000 people within a 5km to 10km radius who have limited existing gym options.<\/p>\n
“We\u2019re not just growing our footprint, we\u2019re making a long-term commitment to the health of New Zealanders,” Hatten said.<\/p>\n
“Our goal is to ensure more communities have access to high-quality, low-cost fitness facilities. We\u2019re focused on making fitness accessible to everyone, regardless of location, income or background.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The fitness industry is big business. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n
CityFitness was also opening women-only gyms in response to broader changes within the industry and changes for training environments designed for people\u2019s preferences.<\/p>\n
Member Lauren Richmond said some women preferred having a dedicated area, away from busy weight rooms.<\/p>\n
“It’s a bit of grunting and slamming of weights and you feel uncomfortable with some of them possibly gazing at you.”<\/p>\n
A recent industry report estimated gyms and fitness centres would generate about $636 million in revenue this year, while nearly one in three adults already paid for some form of structured fitness.<\/p>\n
Exercise New Zealand chief executive Richard Beddie said younger members were helping drive participation higher.<\/p>\n
“When we look at the number for teenagers, so 16- and 17-year-olds, it’s over 30%, and a further 14% want to join.”<\/p>\n
Industry leaders said social media, fitness influencers and the popularity of strength training have helped motivate a new generation of gym enthusiasts, particularly young men.<\/p>\n
Sixteen-year-old Lincoln Stapleton, who trains four times a week, said his interest started with his father.<\/p>\n
“My dad’s always been into it and then he got me into it when I turned 14 and I’ve just really enjoyed it since.”<\/p>\n
Fellow teenager Will Weavers said the gym had become part of his daily routine.<\/p>\n
“I\u2019ve been going around a year and a half and I started because I just felt like I needed to change my life and get into something good for myself.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A rising interest in fitness \u2013 particularly among health-conscious young people \u2013 has prompted CityFitness to announce a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":918848,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[64,63,99,538,137],"class_list":["post-918847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-fitness","tag-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=918847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918847\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/918848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=918847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=918847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=918847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}