The Health and Fitness Association released its 2026 Benchmarking Report on October 7, drawing on data from 244 operators across 40 countries. The headline figures are strong: median revenue is up 10.7% year-over-year, and median EBITDA margins have reached 22.1%. If you run a gym or fitness franchise, those numbers probably feel encouraging. They should also make you cautious.
Aggregate data tells you where the industry average sits. It doesn't tell you whether your location is above or below it, or why the gap between the two is widening faster than at any point in the past decade.
Reading the Report Honestly
A 10.7% median revenue gain across a 244-operator sample spanning 40 countries is not noise. That's a meaningful, broad-based recovery and growth signal. The 22.1% EBITDA margin figure is equally notable. For context, pre-pandemic fitness industry margins typically clustered between 14% and 18% for mid-market operators. Reaching 22.1% at the median suggests that the operators who survived the 2020-2022 contraction rebuilt their cost structures more efficiently before scaling back up.
But median figures mask distribution. When half the sample is performing at or above a benchmark, the other half is performing at or below it. The question you need to ask isn't whether the industry is healthy. It's whether your operation is structurally positioned to stay above that median line as competition intensifies.
Record Memberships, Declining Locations: The Anytime Fitness Paradox
US gym memberships hit record levels in 2025. Consumer demand for fitness, by any headline measure, has never been higher. And yet Anytime Fitness, one of the largest franchise gym networks in the world, recorded a net decline in franchised US locations across three consecutive years through 2026.
That contrast is worth sitting with. A rising tide is not lifting every boat. What's happening is that membership growth is concentrating in locations and brands that have invested in product quality, programming depth, and operational infrastructure. Locations that haven't made those investments are losing members to ones that have, even within the same franchise system.
This is a structural divergence, not a temporary blip. The operators capturing the HFA's headline gains tend to have higher per-member revenue, lower churn, and better unit economics. The ones being squeezed are often running on thin staffing, outdated equipment, and programming that hasn't evolved since 2019.
Where the Revenue Mix Is Actually Shifting
The HFA report's margin improvements aren't just a function of more members paying flat monthly dues. They reflect a meaningful shift in revenue mix driven by four trend categories that dominated the 2026 fitness landscape.
Wearable tech integration has moved from a marketing talking point to an operational expectation. Members who use wearables work out more frequently and churn at lower rates. Operators who've built gym environments and coaching workflows around wearable data, rather than ignoring it, are seeing measurable retention improvements.
Programming for older adults is now a legitimate revenue category. The 55-and-over demographic is the fastest-growing gym membership segment in both the US and UK markets. This group has higher disposable income, lower price sensitivity, and significantly higher lifetime value when retained. Operators who've built dedicated programming around mobility, strength maintenance, and fall prevention are capturing that spend. Those who haven't are leaving it on the table.
Weight-management services have been reshaped by the GLP-1 medication wave. Members using these medications still need structured resistance training and nutritional support to preserve lean mass. Gyms that have positioned coaching and programming around this clinical reality, rather than treating it as a threat, are generating new revenue streams. This connects directly to what strength tech startups are building for the gym floor: tools that make evidence-based training more scalable without inflating labor costs.
Mental wellness offerings are broadening what members expect from a gym membership. Recovery programming, stress management classes, breathwork, and community-oriented formats are no longer niche. They're becoming a standard part of the premium fitness value proposition. Operators who've integrated these offerings are reporting higher average revenue per member without proportional increases in facility cost.
Capital Reallocation Is Not Optional
Each of these trend categories requires you to make decisions about where your capital goes. Wearable integration means investing in platform partnerships and staff training. Older-adult programming means hiring or certifying coaches with appropriate credentials. Weight-management services require clinical partnerships or at minimum a structured coaching protocol. Mental wellness offerings require versatile space and specialized instructors.
None of this is cheap. And that's precisely the point. The operators achieving 22.1% EBITDA margins aren't doing it by holding costs flat. They're doing it by reallocating capital toward higher-margin services while running leaner operations on the commodity side of their business.
If your facility is still configured the way it was in 2021, with the same equipment layout, the same class formats, and the same front-desk staffing model, you're not competing in the same market as the operators driving the HFA's headline numbers. You're competing for the members they don't want.
The Winner-Take-More Dynamic
The gap between strong aggregate performance and individual franchise stress is not a contradiction. It's the defining characteristic of a maturing, consolidating market. When an industry's aggregate metrics improve while a meaningful number of individual operators struggle, it means value is concentrating. Stronger operators are absorbing members, locations, and market share from weaker ones.
This dynamic is playing out visibly in the M&A data. European fitness M&A in 2026 has accelerated as well-capitalized operators move to acquire distressed or underperforming locations at favorable valuations. PureGym's $315 million Swiss acquisition is one of the clearest examples of a scaled operator using strong unit economics to expand aggressively while smaller competitors lack the balance sheet to respond.
Private equity is paying close attention. The PE roll-up playbook in 2026 is specifically targeting operators with defensible EBITDA but insufficient scale to invest in the technology and programming upgrades that would let them compete independently over the next five years. If you're in that category, you're either a target or a casualty. Understanding which requires honest assessment of your own margins and reinvestment capacity.
What Operators Actually Need to Do
The HFA data gives you a benchmark. Here's how to use it strategically rather than just reassuringly.
- Audit your revenue mix. What percentage of your revenue comes from flat monthly dues versus premium services, coaching, programming upgrades, or ancillary offerings? If the answer is more than 80% from flat dues, your EBITDA is more exposed to churn than the aggregate numbers suggest.
- Assess your space versatility. Can your floor plan support older-adult programming, recovery-focused formats, and small-group coaching simultaneously? If not, you're structurally limited in your ability to shift the revenue mix without a capital investment.
- Evaluate your coaching bench. Certified coaches with credentials in corrective exercise, weight management, or sports performance command higher billable rates and produce better member outcomes. If your coaching staff is undercertified, you're capping your per-member revenue potential.
- Map your tech stack. Wearable integration, personalized programming platforms, and AI-assisted coaching tools are becoming table stakes. International boutique operators entering the US are arriving with tech-enabled models that create a material experience gap versus legacy gym formats.
- Understand your consolidation exposure. If a PE-backed roll-up or a scaled national brand opened within three miles of your location, how would your membership and revenue hold? If the honest answer is "badly," that's a planning signal, not just a competitive concern.
Structural Gains Require Structural Decisions
The 10.7% median revenue growth and 22.1% EBITDA margins in the HFA's 2026 report reflect real improvement in how the strongest operators in this industry run their businesses. They're not an accident, and they're not primarily driven by a membership surge that happened to everyone equally.
They're the result of deliberate investment in versatile facilities, qualified coaching, tech-enabled personalization, and programming that reflects what members actually want in 2026. Understanding how training volume principles translate into program design is one example of the kind of depth that separates operators who retain members from those who cycle through them.
The divergence between the industry's headline performance and the stress visible at the individual franchise level is going to widen before it narrows. The operators who plan around that reality now, by investing in the right places and understanding their position in the consolidating landscape, are the ones most likely to be above the median line when the 2027 report comes out.
The question isn't whether the industry is growing. It clearly is. The question is whether you're growing with it, or whether someone else is growing at your expense.