August 19, 2022
Courtesy/Roam Fitness
Roam Fitness is opening a full-service gym at the Philadelphia International Airport – its second location. For $25, people can use free weights, cardio equipment and suspended weight equipment. They also can use private showers or borrow workout clothes.
A lengthy layover in an airport terminal can be a monotonous experience.
Finding a comfortable place to sit, just to aimlessly scroll through your phone, can be a challenge. Restaurants may be overburdened or, depending on the hour, not even open. Snacks and beverages are overpriced.
Early next year, travelers flying through Philadelphia International Airport will have a more active option to pass the time. Roam Fitness will open a full-service gym in a 1,500 square-foot-space near Terminal F.
For $25, travelers can work out with free weights, cardio equipment and suspended weight equipment, or utilize yoga and plyometric training spaces. Live and on-demand fitness classes will be available, too. Travelers can reserve infrared saunas and private shower stations that include towel services and toiletries from the brand Malin+Goetz.
People in need of workout gear can borrow T-shirts, gym shorts, leggings and sports bras made by lululemon, Girlfriend Collective or Rhone Apparel. Brooks sneakers are available, too. Vacuum-sealed bags will be offered to people who wear their own workout gear.
Travelers can stash their carry-on luggage in lockers. And a flight display similar to those in the airport concourses will help ensure travelers don't miss flight updates.
The gym in PHL will be the second airport facility opened by Roam Fitness. The first opened at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport in 2017. Roam Fitness intends to open gyms at other airports, banking on frequent travelers wanting an option to maintain their workout regimens.
"We couldn't be more excited for PHL travelers to have access to our gym facilities," Roam Fitness co-founder Cynthia Sandall said in an email. "As a hub airport with a lot of connecting passengers, we look forward to giving travelers a place to care for themselves and decompress on travel days."
Ty Manegold, another co-founder, said the number of travelers who come through PHL made it an opportune place for Roam Fitness to expand. The facility in Philly will be bigger than its Baltimore counterpart, featuring more exercise stations.
Fitness centers are not particularly common in airports. Toronto Pearson International Airport and Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas have gyms similar to the one that is opening in Philly. Several airport hotels have gyms accessible to travelers.
Additionally, San Fransisco International Airport has yoga rooms. There are designated walking paths at Dallas-Forth Worth International and Minneapolis-St. Paul International airports.
"Our business model is designed from the ground up, with the unique challenges of an airport in mind," Sandall said. "We only pursue leases in airports, behind the TSA security checkpoints so travelers don't need to leave the secure side of the airport and concern themselves with TSA lines during their layovers."
The Roam Fitness gym at PHL will be accessible to anyone with a valid boarding pass and airline and airport employees. Annual memberships are available for $420. Members can reserve facility amenities 24 hours in advance.
