YogaSix, StretchLab Tap Into the Business of Longevity
The Xponential Fitness brands are leaning into the anti-aging trend, offering new classes and services, while tailoring their marketing approaches to appeal to new consumers
The business of longevity is booming as consumers embrace the idea that they can live better for longer through medical, pharmaceutical and lifestyle interventions.
The market for longevity and anti-aging therapies alone is projected to grow to $44.2 billion by the end of the decade, up from $25.1 billion in 2020. That number likely represents just a small slice of the economic power of the longevity movement in the broader wellness economy, which itself is projected to reach $9 trillion by 2028.
For fitness brands, the longevity movement offers an opportunity to appeal to consumers who might not ordinarily be interested in working out.
Xponential Fitness brands YogaSix and StretchLab are tapping into the longevity movement, offering new class types and services, along with tailoring their marketing approaches to get members excited about the idea of doing fitness for the long haul over quick fixes.
“With both brands, we’re not having to reach too far to be able to fit into this trend,” YogaSix president Lindsay Junk tells Athletech News. “We’ve always used (terms) like recovery, mobility. The word longevity we haven’t used in the past with yoga, but it’s something we’re starting to add into some of our keyword searches.”
YogaSix Adds Mobility Class, Targets New Consumers
Amid the longevity movement, YogaSix is launching a new class type, Y6 Mobility, which focuses on active mobility and will incorporate tools like TriggerPoint balls, a type of massage ball. The yoga brand has also introduced Y6 TRX, a class that leverages TRX suspension trainers to help members increase their range of motion and get into deeper yoga poses with the help of straps.
In marketing materials, YogaSix highlights the “more gentle aspects of yoga,” including breathing, Junk notes. This helps the brand appeal to a wider swath of the fitness population than would generally be interested in yoga.
“It allows us to bring in a whole new group of people that maybe historically hadn’t thought about doing yoga,” Junk says.
The average age of a YogaSix member is around 44, but Junk reports the brand is seeing success attracting members in their 50s, 60s and 70s. The yoga brand is also seeing interest among younger populations, including athletes and weekend warriors.
“We’re not just getting people that are older; we’re getting athletes and people that are coming in after a hard cardio workout,” Junk says. “Longevity doesn’t necessarily have to be about age, it could just be about being able to do things for a long time. Say you’re a marathon runner and you want to be able to run lots of marathons for several years, you need to be able to (recover). That type of work is where yoga can come in.”
StretchLab Adds Normatec, Markets Longevity
StretchLab, which offers a range of assisted stretching classes led by accredited instructors, has partnered with Hyperice to bring Normatec compression therapy leg sleeves into its studios. Over 100 StretchLab locations now offer Normatec services, which members can purchase as an add-on to their existing membership plan after a complimentary session.
StretchLab president Verdine Baker tells ATN the brand added Normatec sessions to help members get more out of their health and wellness journeys, in line with the longevity movement.
“Our goal through the first couple of quarters of next year is to have all 500-plus locations using Normatec as a service,” Baker says. “As it stands right now, we’re the largest provider of the Normatec compression therapy out of any singular brand, so we have a great partnership.”
While assisted stretching naturally lends itself to the longevity movement, StretchLab is taking deliberate steps to put itself front and center of the anti-aging trend.
For example, in its marketing, the brand tells stories about its members who’ve experienced health benefits over the long run versus just feeling better after a 50-minute stretching session (which happens, too).
“When you’re telling a story, you have to be able to show it with real examples,” Baker says. “ We leverage testimonials of our members who’ve gone through a journey to show what it looks like to go through six months a year, two years… We have members who’ve been with us since the very beginning, so we try to bring those stories to life in how we market locally.”
Why Longevity Is Here to Stay
Fitness is an industry of trends, but both Baker and Junk believe the longevity movement has staying power, even if it may not always be top-of-mind like it is today.
“I don’t think it’s a trend, but it is trending,” Baker says of longevity’s newfound popularity. “In my opinion, we have a more educated consumer than we’ve ever had in the history of the fitness industry, and it shows by how our consumers are valuing these different wellness modalities.”
Junk believes that over the coming years, longevity will settle in as an accepted pillar of fitness, similar to cardio and strength training today.
“I think something else will become really popular in the next couple of years. But I don’t think people will say, ‘Oh, forget about longevity, that’s not important,’” she says. “It’ll always be a part of the complete fitness journey.”
Eyeing Expansion
Buoyed by the longevity movement and a strong pipeline of franchise sales under parent brand Xponential, both StretchLab and YogaSix are eying continued studio expansion.
StretchLab just topped the 500 studio mark in North America and is eyeing 600 locations as its next big goal. International expansion, in particular, will be a big focus for the stretching brand in 2025 as StretchLab looks to build on its presence in countries including Australia, Mexico, Japan and soon, Kuwait.
“We’re excited about our international expansion opportunities,” Baker says. “We have a great team in-house that’s doing a great job of trying to find the right partners for us to have the right growth plan.”
YogaSix has over 200 open studios, making it one of the world’s biggest yoga brands. In 2025, YogaSix will continue to pursue domestic expansion, although Junk notes it will be “very strategic with where we develop” in the United States.
International expansion is also on tap for the yoga brand in the year ahead.
“We’re going to have our first studio open in Japan, we just opened in Germany and we have plans for Mexico,” Junk notes. “Xponential has built out its international team, and some of our focus for the year is going to be on international (expansion). But we still have some domestic work to do.”