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An Athletech News analysis argues that fitness operators have succeeded in monetizing premium experiences — from recovery lounges to Black Card tiers — but face a new challenge: proving measurable health outcomes. With healthcare payments shifting toward results-based contracts and consumer demand for testing rising, outcomes may become the industry’s next differentiator and revenue stream.
Fitness operators have proven they can charge members for better experiences — recovery lounges, cold plunges and premium tiers — but the industry’s next revenue frontier is measurable health outcomes, according to an Athletech News analysis. The report points to slowing membership growth alongside rising per-member spending at major chains, and growing demand from consumers, employers and healthcare payers for proof that fitness services improve health, as evidence that amenity-led differentiation may be reaching its limits.
The analysis documents how much of the industry’s recent growth has come from selling more to existing members rather than adding new ones. Life Time grew revenue 13.7% to $866 million in the second quarter of 2026 while membership grew just 1.2%, producing an 11.8% revenue increase per membership. Planet Fitness‘s Black Card penetration has climbed from 62.6% in 2021 to 68% today, and YMCA operators have signed up hundreds of members for monthly recovery add-ons, according to the report.
The underlying fitness business remains strong. A record 81 million Americans belonged to a gym, studio or fitness facility in 2025 — 26.1% of the population aged six and older — logging nearly 7 billion visits, while no-shows fell to an all-time low of 4.6%. But Rony Sellam, CEO of health-intelligence company InsideTracker, argues that amenities alone are a weak long-term moat. “Amenities can deliver great returns, but they’re a thin moat,” Sellam told Athletech News. “As experiences become table stakes, the next tier has to be something a competitor can’t order from a catalog.”
Consumer appetite for deeper health insight is documented in the report: wearable ownership has risen from 13% in 2015 to 46% today, and Quest Diagnostics expects its consumer testing business to grow 20%-30% in 2027, reaching $250 million. Sellam notes that when members want to know whether their training is improving their health, that spending often flows to outside providers — “not churn,” he says, but “wallet-share leaking out of operators’ own relationships.”
Why Outcomes Could Reshape Fitness Revenue
The report’s central argument is that outcomes-based services could open a revenue channel far larger than amenity upsells: healthcare contracts. Nearly half of U.S. healthcare payments — 44.9% — already flow through arrangements tied to results rather than services, and performance-based contracts with digital health vendors can put fees at risk against measured outcomes. Buyers in those arrangements expect validated, clinically credible measures supported by transparent data, such as HbA1c and blood pressure, rather than attendance or satisfaction metrics.
Federal initiatives are adding pressure and opportunity. The analysis cites CMS’s ACCESS model, which ties payments for technology-supported chronic care to measurable health outcomes, and MAHA ELEVATE, which is testing evidence-based preventive care approaches that include physical activity. Together, the report argues, they point toward chronic disease management and prevention as potential entry points for fitness operators seeking payer relationships.
For consumers, the shift would mean gym memberships that increasingly compete on demonstrated health improvement rather than amenities — a claim fitness operators have long implied but rarely measured rigorously.
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From Amenities to Intelligence Layers
Fitness operators spent the past decade layering premium services onto traditional memberships: recovery lounges, cold plunges, red light therapy and tiered pricing. As the Athletech News analysis notes, this expansion has been commercially successful but easy to replicate — any competitor with enough capital can buy the same equipment. That dynamic has pushed operators to look for differentiation that cannot be ordered from a catalog.
Building outcome-measurement capability has historically required significant investment in science, health data and technology. The report highlights new platforms attempting to lower that barrier, including InsideTracker’s Terra platform, a modular health-intelligence system that combines blood biomarkers with activity, sleep, nutrition and DNA data to generate individualized guidance. InsideTracker says it also has years of longitudinal data supporting its approach, though the analysis notes peer-reviewed validation is part of its evidence base.
“The industry has already answered the question of whether consumers will pay more for a better experience. The next question is how they show the next generation of services is moving the needle beyond better fitness and performance, and delivering measurable results in other areas of health and wellbeing.”
— Rony Sellam, CEO of InsideTracker, to Athletech News
What the Report Leaves Unproven
Whether fitness operators can actually secure healthcare contracts remains untested at scale. The report identifies pathways — value-based payment models, ACCESS, MAHA ELEVATE — but cites no fitness operator that has yet closed a substantial outcomes-based payer deal. The clinical rigor required, including validated biomarker measurement and transparent data, may exceed what most operators can currently deliver.
It is also unclear whether consumers will pay premiums for outcome measurement comparable to what they pay for amenities, and whether privacy concerns around combining member data with blood and genetic testing will constrain adoption. The report’s projections for Quest Diagnostics’ consumer testing business are the company’s own expectations, not guaranteed results. Additionally, the analysis was authored by Athletech News with commentary from InsideTracker’s CEO, whose company sells the health-intelligence infrastructure it discusses — a commercial interest readers should weigh.
Watching for the First Payer Deals
Key developments to watch include whether any major fitness operator announces a value-based contract with an employer or payer tied to clinical biomarkers; the rollout and results of CMS’s ACCESS model and MAHA ELEVATE pilots; and adoption rates of health-intelligence platforms like Terra across mid-sized gym chains. The trajectory of consumer health-testing spending — including whether Quest Diagnostics hits its projected $250 million in 2027 — will signal how large the wallet-share opportunity is. Operators’ next earnings reports will also show whether amenity-driven per-member revenue growth continues or plateaus, testing the report’s core thesis.
Key Questions
What does ‘monetizing outcomes’ mean for gyms?
It means generating revenue from demonstrated health results — such as improved biomarkers like HbA1c or blood pressure — rather than from access, amenities or experiences. This could include premium testing-based memberships or contracts with employers and healthcare payers that pay for measured health improvement.
Why can’t amenities sustain fitness industry growth?
According to the Athletech News analysis, amenities are a ‘thin moat’ — any competitor with capital can purchase the same cold plunges, red light systems or recovery lounges. Outcomes backed by clinical data are harder to replicate.
How big is healthcare’s shift to results-based payment?
Nearly half of U.S. healthcare payments — 44.9% — already flow through arrangements tied to results rather than services, per the report, and federal initiatives like CMS’s ACCESS model tie payments directly to measurable health outcomes.
Are fitness operators already selling outcome-based services?
Some are adding blood testing and health-intelligence integrations, and platforms like InsideTracker’s Terra are making that infrastructure accessible. But large-scale outcomes-based payer contracts involving fitness operators remain unproven.
Should I trust health claims from my gym?
The report emphasizes that credible outcome claims require clinically validated measures and transparent data. Readers making health decisions based on biomarker testing should consult a qualified healthcare professional rather than relying solely on fitness-operator guidance.
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