Driving around Orlando, I have been watching a new category of business take over storefronts that used to belong to something else. Medspas have replaced dry cleaners. Contrast therapy franchises have moved into old retail space. Hotels have started marketing their saunas to locals as a reason to visit, not just a reason to stay. The longevity market is moving fast, and the businesses capturing it are not always the ones best positioned to do so. A lot of fitness operators are watching it happen from the outside when they should be building it from the inside.

Recovery infrastructure is not an amenity. It is a product. And the operators who figured that out early are building revenue streams that compound in ways a class schedule alone never will. The market is telling you something. According to Fact.MR, the global fitness recovery services market was valued at $8.3 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $26.8 billion by 2035, a compound annual growth rate of 12.4 percent. Commercial demand for cold plunge and contrast therapy is outpacing residential adoption, with wellness centers, gyms, and sports rehabilitation clinics emerging as the primary revenue drivers. This is a structural shift in what fitness consumers expect from a facility, and what they are willing to pay for separately.

The Amenity Trap

Most operators who add recovery infrastructure make the same decision. They position the sauna as a membership perk, the cold plunge as a way to stand out from competitors, and the infrared room as a bullet point on the amenities page. Each addition is absorbed into the base membership with no dedicated pricing structure, so none of it generates revenue on its own terms. The facility looks more compelling, but the bottom line does not change.

The amenity model has one job: to justify the membership price. The product model has a different one entirely. Recovery services are priced, packaged, and sold separately from the base membership. Access requires a decision and a transaction, so every session has measurable revenue attached. Members who want access upgrade to a tier that includes it. Non-members can purchase sessions or contrast therapy packages without buying a full membership. The suite becomes a destination rather than a perk, which opens up a second revenue stream, non-member clients, and the kind of recurring income that changes the economics of operating a facility.

Grace Cannon is an esthetician who began offering red light therapy and microcurrent therapy inside upscale gyms across the Miami area in January 2026. By the time this article was written, she reported that her client volume had grown by 300 percent since she started. Her read on why operators leave money on the table is blunt:

“Nobody wants another membership card. What I see is clients who are absolutely willing to spend more at the one place they already belong to. They will add a service, upgrade a tier, or try something new, as long as they do not have to walk through a different door to do it. The gym that gives them everything in one place not only keeps them longer. It earns a bigger share of what they were already going to spend somewhere else.”

— Grace Cannon, esthetician offering red light and microcurrent therapy inside upscale Miami-area gyms

That is the compounding effect the product model produces that the amenity model cannot. When recovery infrastructure is positioned as a distinct profit center, it attracts practitioners, partnerships, and clients that a standard fitness membership never would.

Building the Suite as a Distinct Profit Center

Three decisions determine whether a recovery suite generates meaningful revenue or becomes an expensive line item on the operating budget.

The first is pricing architecture. Recovery access needs its own tier, its own session pricing, and its own membership option. Bundling it into a base membership at no additional cost signals to the market that the suite is not worth paying for separately, making it nearly impossible to unbundle later without causing member friction.

The second is operational design. A recovery suite that requires staff supervision for every session has a labor cost structure that limits margin. The operators running the most profitable recovery models have designed their suites for semi-autonomous operation: booking systems that manage session flow, clear protocols that clients follow independently, and staff touchpoints at key moments rather than throughout every session.

The third is positioning. Brands like SweatHouz are opening two new locations every week, and search interest in “contrast therapy near me” continues climbing month over month. The consumer demand is already built. The operator’s job is to position their suite as the premium local option within that demand rather than a secondary feature of a workout facility.

Many operators report a return on investment in under six months after installing commercial-grade recovery systems, when those systems are positioned and priced as standalone products rather than as included amenities. The equipment cost is real. The revenue model determines whether it is an investment or an expense.

Related: The Coaches Who Keep Clients for Three Years Have a Calendar

The Honest Tradeoff

Building a recovery suite as a profit center requires upfront investment that an amenity addition does not. Commercial-grade equipment, dedicated space, a booking system, and the operational design to run sessions efficiently all cost more than dropping a sauna into a corner of the locker room.

The honest question for operators is whether they are willing to make the product commitment that turns that investment into a revenue stream, or whether they want the marketing benefit of having the equipment without the operational discipline of charging for it. Both choices are available, yet only one of them pays back.

The operators who are scaling recovery revenue right now are not doing it because contrast therapy is trendy. They are doing it because they made the product decision early, built the pricing architecture to support it, and positioned the suite as something worth choosing rather than something included by default.

The market is $8.3 billion and growing toward $26.8 billion. The question is whether your suite will capture a piece of it or decorate your membership pitch deck.

Related: Dead Time as a Design Problem: How Amber Toole Turned Off-Peak Hours Into a Second Revenue Stream

This article is intended as business education for fitness studio owners and operators. Market figures are attributed to Fact.MR. Revenue, ROI, and pricing outcomes vary by market, facility, and execution and are not guarantees.

About Jessica H. Maurer
Jessica is a recognized fitness business consultant and strategist focusing on transforming businesses from overwhelmed to organized. Her international presentations, workshops, certifications, and consultations underscore her commitment to helping fitness professionals and businesses realize their full potential. When Jessica takes the stage, she’s sharing fresh ideas and inspiration that spark positive change. Jessica’s international presentations and consultations are about growth, career transformation, overall wellness, and making fitness a joyful journey. Her expertise spans education, program and instructor development, and brand evolution, making her a key player in elevating the industry. Jessica also played a pivotal role in developing the Mental Well-being Association’s certification for Fitness Professionals., always striving to bring a holistic approach to wellness that’s as uplifting as it is effective.

Jessica has presented at prestigious events like IDEA World, Fitnessfest ACSM Health &amp,Fitness Summit, SCW Mania, AsiaFit, and more. She has worked with brands such as FIT4MOM, SFR, BOSU, Lebert Fitness, Savvier Fitness, SCW Fitness, FitSteps, canfitpro, IDEA, and VIBES music. She also has written content for the IDEA Fitness Journal, canfitpro Magazine, Mental Well-being Association, FIT4MOM, Motherly, and more.