Solidcore expands beyond the reformer with its first new class in nearly 13 years

Peloton put strength and mobility classes into its app in 2023 ^[11]. Orangetheory launched a strength-only class the same year, then added Hyrox race-preparation sessions last year ^[12]. Solidcore's second format opens this winter, about three years later ^[15]. Business Insider gives no price for Ascend, no studio count beyond Manhattan West and no membership figure ^[17].

The demand case in the piece rests mostly on one booking app's own figures. The first-timer share ClassPass gave measures trial: it counts a user's first visit to a studio, not the visit that turns them into a regular ^[10]. The operators' behaviour is firmer evidence. Business Insider says consumers can now identify gaps in their fitness portfolios and seek targeted solutions, and that gym franchises are pushing into boutique modalities such as Pilates, barre and interval training ^[19][13].

Both named voices in the article describe the same buyer. "Consumers are more savvy now. They're talking about longevity, recovery, wellness, not so much calorie burn," CJ Zarb, founder of The Pilates Journal, told Business Insider ^[8]. Solidcore chief executive Bryan Myers used the same vocabulary: "People are starting to think, 'What's a longevity athlete's approach to building my fitness routine? I want a little bit of everything that is going to help me move better, feel stronger, recover faster, to live a longer, more enjoyable life,'" he told Business Insider ^[9].

I read the expansion as trading a defensible position for a crowded one. Solidcore was the reformer company; Ascend puts it in the same room as any gym selling heated strength work ^[4][13]. The counter sits in the same article's advice to operators: a brand has to be clear about whom it is speaking to, and that clarity can mean leaning into a changing audience or sticking with the established base ^[14]. By that standard the test for Ascend is whether Solidcore can say in a sentence which member each class is for. Business Insider also says companies that expand beyond their first niche can attract new demographics and capture a larger share of the industry ^[20].

Ascend's physical differentiator is a new infrared heating system, which Business Insider ties to emerging research that training with heat may offer heart-health and anti-inflammatory benefits ^[6]. Heat is a build-out item. One studio at Manhattan West sets the cost of finding out, and the estate-wide version follows only if the class fills ^[3]. Business Insider says the brand is betting that the cross-training era will bring in a new generation of loyal members ^[16].