Demand for fitness studios is more than healthy, and there’s room for variety as openings continue

Down Under Yoga Justine Cohen, a founder of Down Under Yoga, leads a class as part of a 300-hour course focused on professional teaching and the business of yoga.

There are nearly 50 fitness businesses in Cambridge and Somerville ranging from private trainers to the Y and from boutique offerings with yoga, barre and Pilates to chains with more traditional weights and workouts. We talked with leaders at four locally owned studios – two established, two that opened just within the past three months – to get a sense of how these businesses become spaces not just for movement, but for a sense of community.

The sector keeps flexing its muscles. One of those established businesses, Down Under Yoga, is adding to those numbers by opening its seventh location on Sept. 19 in Cambridge at 585 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square – an opening that also illustrates the churn of the industry: That space was Prana Power Yoga in the early 2000s, until that studio was bought by the private-equity-owned chain YogaWorks in 2018. After growing to more than 60 studios nationwide, YogaWorks crashed during the Covid pandemic, filing for bankruptcy protection and emerging with online-only instruction.

A report this year by Cinch, a company that makes marketing software for gyms, shows Web searches for “gym membership” are at their highest levels, and it looks at data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to name this area as the third-biggest large metro for gyms and fitness centers. Grouping Boston, Cambridge and Newton, we land behind only two spots in North and South Carolina. (We fall to 14th in a comparison of metro areas of all sizes, and Massachusetts is fourth among states behind Montana, New Hampshire and Connecticut.) While Cambridge and Somerville have around 25 gyms and rising for every 100,000 residents, there’s more than 28.5 per 100,000 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Cinch finds.

“Wellness is certainly having a moment in general, postpandemic,” said Justine Cohen, a founder of the Down Under Yoga chain, in a Tuesday phone call about the factors contributing to the strength of fitness businesses locally.

A lot of the studios are small and reflect trends that come and go. “Boutique studios offer something that the corporate monoliths can’t compete with, and that there are certain modalities that have their moment in the sun – Pilates right now is having its moment in the sun,” Cohen said. (The new Central Square location will be Down Under’s first to incorporate Pilates, followed by the Back Bay and Wellesley locations, Cohen said.)

“Are we oversaturated, or is there a sort of prolific amount here? Yes, but you see a lot of turnover … It’s a tricky business to do well,” Cohen said, and “there’s a hell of a lot of these gimmicky workout things that go for 12 months.” As an example, cycling studios have seen participation drop by one-third since 2019, the Sports & Fitness Industry Association. The drop in cross-training isn’t far behind.

Pilates is not just complementary to yoga, the way Cohen sees it, but are “also kind of serious and lineage based – it doesn’t have that rather faddish element.” Yoga has been growing in the United States since the 1960s, and arguably since the Baptiste family opened a San Francisco studio in the 1950s. Baron Baptiste’s Porter Square power yoga studio now belongs to Down Under; Baron Baptiste’s partner, Gregor Singleton, remains a Down Under instructor.

Down Under is lineage-based in a second way that feeds the creation of fitness studios in Cambridge and Somerville, as well as around the word: It runs 200-hour teacher trainings and 300-hour courses focused on professional teaching and the business of yoga. The business courses draw attendees from other states, Canada and from as far away as Germany, Cohen said. Sunbeam Yoga, recently opened in Central Square by Giuliana De Marchi, is a product of the 300-hour course.

“She’s one of several students who we send out into the world and say, go, try to cut your teeth at this. In many ways, our goal as a school is to help them leapfrog the first 20 years that we did and set them up with the tools for success,” Cohen said.

Each space brings a distinct presence to the local wellness scene: calm, restorative vibes and community focus; energetic dance fitness and intimate classes; a disco-inspired, welcoming atmosphere; depth and teachers with decades of experience.

Through interviews with the women leading these studios, one theme stands out as universal – creating inclusive and welcoming environments where clients feel supported and inspired.

Sunbeam Yoga

Cassandre Titus, a Sunbeam Yoga team member.

Opened in late April by De Marchi, Sunbeam Yoga at 1773 Massachusetts Ave., near Porter Square in Cambridge, emphasizes creating a welcoming environment for every client and overall well-being.

“It can be somewhat of a workout, which is excellent,” DeMarchi said. “But I also wanted to foster something that allowed a little bit more of people to come together.”

Sunbeam is becoming known for its calm, laying-down styles such as restorative and yin yoga, creating a peaceful environment for all bodies and levels. Beyond classes, community is key.

“In this space, in addition to yoga and pilates, I’m also doing a lot of community building like a book club, or in the winter, we’ll have different workshop series like candle making and potlucks and spaces that can continue to foster that sense of community,” DeMarchi said. “It’s not just people that you walk by, they are the people you get to know because they are your neighbors.”

Embodi Studios

Gabby Pacheco leads a class at her Embodi Studios.

Opened the same weekend at the end of April, Embodi Studios – above the Bloc coffee shop at 11 Bow St., Union Square, Somerville – is led by owner Gabby Pacheco with a mix of Pilates, yoga, strength training and dance classes.

“Everything is built in a mindful, thoughtful way, with very small class sizes to give that personal training effect and that one-on-one attention,” Pacheco said.

A dance fitness class, Turn Up, offers some hip-hop choreography in a high-energy experience that she describes “as if a night at the club was mixed with Zumba at 10 o’clock on a Saturday.” With small class sizes and personal attention, Embodi fosters close connections while also getting a good sweat in.

Barre & Soul

A class at Barre & Soul, which has a location in Cambridge’s Harvard Square.

Founded in 2013, Barre & Soul has grown into a New England staple with a studio in Cambridge at 36 John F. Kennedy St., Harvard Square. Studio manager Cassidy Dekreon highlights the studio’s community-first approach.

“It’s not like you’re walking into a studio, taking a class and just leaving, not having spoken to anyone or having any meaningful conversations,” Dekreon said. “Our instructors really see our clients as friends.” The studio goes beyond workouts with warm hospitality: acknowledging a first-time student by offering a studio tour, checking for injuries or limitations, and ensuring the space is set up with the necessary props.

Barre & Soul rebranded recently with a distinctive aesthetic Dekreon describes as “Studio 54 disco vibes. Every class and every day feels like a disco party.”

Building on barre and yoga foundations, Dekreon said, the studio is expanding Pilates offerings, adding reformer classes this fall – a reference to the equipment used, which differentiates it from the “mat Pilates” that is more like yoga.

Down Under Yoga

Down Under Yoga Down Under Yoga offers teacher training along with fitness classes.

With more than 20 years in Boston’s yoga community, Down Under Yoga in Harvard Square combines tradition with top-tier instruction. Teacher and soon to be chief executive Shilpa Reddy said that instructors are there to offer expertise, not just a workout.

Known for its rigorous teacher training program and scholarly approach, Down Under cultivates a dedicated community. Reddy emphasizes the studio’s lasting impact.

“We literally have some of the best teachers in America teaching at our studios. We have a very comprehensive, in-depth teacher training program,” Reddy said. “That’s something that we really invest in, and that’s partly why we call ourselves the school of yoga and not just a yoga chain. The second thing that sets us apart is the variety of classes that we offer.”

Down Under also offers expanded wellness services such as meditation workshops, supporting a holistic path for practitioners, Reddy said.