The Real Cost of Fitness in Singapore: Why Sustainable Fitness Is Harder Than It Looks

Health and fitness have been part of my life for decades. I have experienced this industry from different perspectives – as an athlete, trainer, fitness manager and, increasingly, through the lens of active ageing, preventive health and community fitness.

That experience has taught me something that is easy to miss from outside the industry: fitness can look simple to consume, but it is difficult to deliver sustainably.

A consumer sees a membership fee, a personal-training rate or a class price. An operator sees rent, fit-out costs, equipment, depreciation, maintenance, utilities, payroll, instructor fees, software, insurance, cleaning, sales, marketing, financing, customer acquisition and the constant challenge of retaining members.

A responsible exercise professional sees another layer: professional qualifications, continuing education, CPR and AED competency, insurance, assessment, programme design, documentation, scope of practice and the responsibility to remain current as exercise science evolves.

A 2026 event that makes the economics impossible to ignore

In September 2026, the closure of True Fitness and True Yoga in Singapore brought the economics of the fitness industry sharply into public view.

CNA also reported that the parent company pointed to increasingly intense competition, higher costs of attracting customers, boutique gyms, gyms within condominiums and residential developments, and alternatives such as online training, mobile apps, video platforms and virtual coaching. It also cited high operating costs and tight cash flow. ^[1]

This is important because it moves the discussion beyond the simplistic idea that a fitness business succeeds merely by signing up more members.

A business can generate substantial revenue and still struggle if its cost structure, financing, liabilities, customer-acquisition costs and cash-flow requirements cannot be supported by that revenue.

Why a full-scale gym is a capital-intensive business

Traditional commercial fitness is a form of high operating-leverage business. Many major costs exist whether a facility serves 100 members or 1,000 members.

Before the doors even open, an operator may have committed substantial capital to lease deposits, renovation, flooring, changing facilities, showers, electrical works, air-conditioning, access systems, lockers, cardio equipment, resistance machines, free weights and technology.

After opening, those assets do not eliminate costs. They create ongoing ones.

This is the economic tension at the heart of commercial fitness: operators need sufficient scale to spread large fixed costs across many members, but aggressive growth often requires even more investment in marketing, sales, facilities and capacity.

The business model beneath the membership card

Fitness businesses are sometimes viewed as simple subscription businesses: collect recurring membership fees and provide access to the gym.

In reality, the model involves several interconnected variables.

Prepaid memberships deserve special attention

Upfront membership and package payments can improve a company’s immediate cash position. But money received in advance also represents services that must still be delivered over time.

In other words, prepayment should never be confused with permanently available cash.

Consumer confidence therefore becomes part of the fitness business model itself.

In February 2026, Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry reported that gym and fitness memberships were among the three largest sectors contributing to complaints involving difficulties cancelling recurring subscriptions or being subscribed without express consent. ^[5]

CaseTrust’s prepayment-protection framework also specifically covers qualifying accredited fitness centres. Under the scheme, protected advance membership, package and session payments can provide consumers with recourse for the unused protected amount if an accredited business closes. ^[6]

The other hidden cost: keeping an exercise professional competent

The economics of fitness are not confined to gyms.

A serious exercise professional must continually invest in knowledge.

Completing an initial personal-training qualification should mark the start of professional development, not the end.

International professional certifications operate in a similar way.

ACE currently requires its certified professionals to renew every two years, including 20 hours of approved continuing education and current CPR/AED competency. ^[3]

ACSM certifications operate on three-year recertification cycles. Current requirements range from 45 CECs for ACSM-GEI and ACSM-CPT to 60 CECs for ACSM-EP and ACSM-CEP, alongside current CPR certification. ^[4]

These requirements cost time and money. Courses, conferences, workshops, first-aid renewal, professional membership, insurance and specialist education are all part of maintaining professional capability.

I do not see those costs as a burden that should be removed. I see them as part of becoming a genuine profession.

Why this matters even more as Singapore ages

The future customer of the fitness industry will not always be a healthy 25-year-old seeking muscle gain or fat loss.

Exercise professionals are increasingly likely to meet older adults, people returning after prolonged inactivity, individuals managing chronic conditions, people with mobility limitations, or those rebuilding physical confidence after illness or surgery.

Those situations demand more than enthusiasm.

• Appropriate readiness screening and health-history collection.
• Understanding professional scope of practice.
• Knowing when medical clearance or referral may be appropriate.
• Safe exercise selection and progression.
• Strength, balance, mobility and functional-capacity considerations.
• Documentation, communication and ongoing reassessment.

This is why continuing education matters.

Exercise science develops. Populations change. New evidence appears. A responsible professional must evolve with it.

The fitness market is fragmenting, not disappearing

It would be a mistake to interpret the difficulties a large fitness operator faces as evidence that people no longer want to exercise.

What is changing is where, how and with whom people exercise.

Today a Singapore resident may choose among:

• Public gyms and swimming complexes.
• Large commercial fitness clubs.
• 24-hour neighbourhood gyms.
• Boutique studios.
• Condominium gyms.
• Home-based personal training.
• Outdoor fitness corners and parks.
• Workplace wellness facilities.
• Mobile applications and wearable technology.
• Online coaching and hybrid programmes.

CNA’s report on the True Singapore Group specifically noted competition from boutique gyms, residential gyms, online training, mobile apps, video platforms and virtual coaching. ^[1]

This points to a deeper industry shift:

Why I created UFitnessSG

This is also why I created UFitnessSG.

I did not create it because I believe Singapore needs another conventional gym.

Singapore already has significant fitness infrastructure.

What I believe we increasingly need is a better way of connecting the right person, the right professional, the right environment and the right level of support.

A motivated and experienced exerciser may simply need affordable access to equipment.

Someone else may need accountability and programming.

An older adult may need strength and balance training delivered close to home.

Someone living with a chronic condition may require greater care around screening, progression and professional boundaries.

Another person may be uncomfortable entering a large gym but willing to begin in a condominium gym, home, fitness corner or community environment.

The UFitnessSG model: lower infrastructure dependence, higher professional value

There is an economic reason this distributed model interests me as well.

Not every fitness professional needs to own a large facility.

Singapore already contains underused exercise infrastructure in residential developments, homes, workplaces, community spaces, fitness corners and commercial facilities.

A platform-based model can therefore explore whether more resources can be directed towards the part of fitness that is difficult to manufacture at scale: knowledge, judgement, trust and human support.

Professional fitness also needs sustainable careers

There is another side of affordability that the industry should be willing to discuss.

We cannot continuously ask trainers to become better qualified, undertake continuing education, maintain first-aid competency, buy insurance, specialise, assess clients carefully, document programmes and maintain high professional standards while also assuming professional coaching should always get cheaper.

Eventually those expectations conflict.

A sustainable fitness ecosystem should work for everyone involved:

• Consumers deserve transparent pricing, competent professionals and fair contracts.
• Exercise professionals need viable careers that support continuing development.
• Facility operators need sufficient margins to maintain safe, useful infrastructure.
• Technology should improve efficiency without lowering professional accountability.
• Public policy should continue encouraging safe participation and higher industry standards.

Sustainability does not mean charging the highest possible price.

It means ensuring that the economics can support the level of service, safety and professionalism that consumers reasonably expect.

Perhaps we have been measuring fitness businesses the wrong way

For many years the fitness industry’s most visible numbers have been membership counts, club size, locations, equipment and monthly fees.

Those metrics still matter.

But I believe the next generation of fitness should increasingly ask different questions:

• Did the person become stronger?
• Did mobility improve?
• Did balance and confidence improve?
• Can an older adult perform everyday tasks more independently?
• Did the programme help someone establish sustainable exercise behaviour?
• Was progression appropriate and safe?
• Was the client referred appropriately when needs exceeded the trainer’s scope?

Those outcomes are harder to display than rows of treadmills.

But ultimately, they are why the fitness industry exists.

What consumers can take away

This discussion is not an argument against commercial gyms.

Good gyms provide enormous value: infrastructure, convenience, community, classes, equipment, expertise and environments that encourage people to move.

Nor should one corporate closure be treated as proof that one entire model has failed.

Instead, consumers can become more informed purchasers of fitness.

• Compare the service, not merely the monthly price.
• Understand the duration and cancellation terms of a membership.
• Be cautious about unnecessarily large advance payments.
• Ask what professional qualifications a trainer holds.
• Check whether those qualifications and relevant registrations are current.
• Consider whether the trainer has suitable experience for your needs.
• Look for progression, accountability and outcomes rather than novelty alone.

My reflection: fitness is ultimately infrastructure for living

Having spent much of my life around health, fitness and sport, I remain optimistic about the future of this industry.

But the industry is changing.

Physical facilities remain important. Digital fitness will continue growing. Exercise professionals will need to become more capable. Consumers will become more informed. Singapore’s ageing population will create new needs. Technology will change how people discover, receive and monitor fitness services.

The winners should not necessarily be the businesses with the largest floor area, the cheapest membership or the most equipment.

The organisations that endure may be those that can create genuine value while maintaining financial sustainability, professional competence, consumer trust and measurable outcomes.

That is the direction I believe the industry needs to move towards.

And that is the future I want UFitnessSG to help build.