If Canggu were a country, its national animal would be the micro-influencer, its national dish would be protein powder. National sport? Gym-hopping.

Before you come at me, bro: yes, I considered padel and surf. But nothing stimulates flirtation in this town quite like asking, “Are you Team Body Factory or Team Nirvana?”

Welcome to Canggu, where gyms are multiplying like stray Bali dogs – and while on this island you still can’t flush toilet paper, you can spend LA-level prices ($200+ a month) on a membership with a sauna, cold plunge, protein smoothies, and a ready-made Instagram backdrop.

We talked to four power players shaping Bali’s gym boom to find out why new gyms keep growing out of the rice fields, whether the boom is still making anyone money, and if the bubble everyone whispers about is actually about to burst.

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“It’s about to reach saturation,” says Henry Hitchcox, co-founder of Omni. “Unless you’ve got something truly unique, why will people come?”

Hitchcox and his co-founder started working on their idea for Omni in 2022. Three years later, he admits that he’d think twice before jumping into the market.

“I would be scared to invest in Bali today. I don’t know if I would do it – and that’s even with having a unique concept that no one else is doing,” Hitchcox says.

What sets Omni apart is its data-driven model: bloodwork, 3D body scans, VO2 max tests, and a wellness algorithm that helps you track your health across 200+ (!) metrics. It’s part Equinox, part diagnostics lab, and part longevity startup – at a fraction of the price you’d pay in the U.S. or the U.K.

Omni’s aesthetic matches its wellness philosophy – Mediterranean minimalism in shades of tan, blush, and white, softened with greenery and the gentle sound of water features. It feels more like checking into a boutique retreat than walking into a gym.

Hitchcox sees value in the model but is wary about the market. “I think we have something special, and even then, people come here and nitpick. People are used to the bar in Bali being so high.”

Expectations have undeniably shifted. While you can still find the barebones gym with weights and cardio, only in Bali has the “gym” become an outdated concept altogether. Early on, Nirvana adopted the “Nirvana Life” branding, emphasizing that what they offer is more than “gym” or even “fitness” – they offer a lifestyle. Every “gym” we spoke with said the term didn’t encompass what they’re offering, choosing instead phrases like “health and wellness destination” or “social wellness club.”

Even The Path Yoga is no longer “just yoga.” Tucked away in a quiet neighborhood, The Path feels like yoga for the people – an open-air shala surrounded by plants, mats laid out under the breeze, and the kind of easy community vibe that makes you want to linger in the lobby after class.

Now the team has launched The Cure, an adjacent recovery-but-not-recovery space (“you don’t need to recover from yoga”) in the hopes of creating a hub for social interaction that doesn’t revolve around bars and clubs.

“The biggest disease of our time is disconnection,” says Theresa Schiessl, shareholder and teacher at The Path and The Cure. “We’re offering a space where people can come together for deep connection.”

Anne Marie Kramer, shareholder and teacher at The Path and The Cure, adds: “Your yoga practice doesn’t end when you leave the mat, and this space is an extension of that practice. We envision bringing people together for philosophy talks in the sauna, and cold meditations, among other activations in the space.”

Positioning their recovery area as a different way to engage with the concept of recovery highlights a truth in the Bali health and wellness market: branding and the way a space “feels” is one of the only ways to differentiate what, on face value, is largely the same experience.

Everyone offers saunas and cold plunges. Everyone claims to prioritize community. Now, padel courts, restaurants, and co-working spaces are being added to the list of “must-haves.” “Vibes” become wallpaper, and the result for Canggu gym-goers feels not all that far off from choosing which warung to have nasi campur today.

In fact, part of the reason the scene keeps expanding is because gyms have become as much about novelty as they are about training. Newcomers are quick to add unusual touches – a ski simulator machine here, a cinema screen there – alongside the increasingly standard padel courts and smoothie bars. The atmosphere and backdrop matter almost as much as the equipment itself, particularly in a town where content creation is practically a second sport. Wellness influencers and gym-goers hop around, lured by the variety of aesthetics and the boredom-busting appeal of trying something new.

This helps explain why so many spaces lean heavily on design contrasts – a moody, brutalist gym hall paired with an airy, plant-filled recovery lounge; sleek lighting for dramatic effect in one area, then sunlit openness in another. For members, it means a range of environments to train and recover in, and a rotating set of “vibes” to experience and, for many, to document. 

Across the street, another gym is undergoing a renovation on its original location, now that its second home has opened up on Raya Canggu. If this gym were a person, it would be the school’s all-star athlete: competitive, muscular, fueled by protein shakes, and ready to win. It’s where Bali’s bodybuilders and serious lifters come to train, with the energy of a gym that could host a competition any weekend.

“We want to build Bali as the fitness destination of the world,” says a co-founder of the gym. “The more health and fitness centers happening in Bali, the better. Fitness will always be something people want.”

They believe there’s space for everyone to find their niche in the market – and they’ve certainly found theirs, catering to the whims of the Canggu gym bros (and gals). Interestingly, after being interviewed, this gym decided it did not want to be named as not to appear “in competition” with the other gyms. It also might have been because we said bros too many times.

Their approach? Listen to members, then pivot, fast. When members wanted better equipment, they upgraded. When it got too crowded, they built a new facility. Now that demand for Pilates has spiked, they’re renovating the original location to focus on class space – complete with reformers.

“We would not be where we are without our community making [this gym] what it is,” says a co-founder of the gym. Though arguably, the community wouldn’t be there if they didn’t respond to its needs faster than a helmetless bule on an X-Max whips down Jl Raya Canggu.

Ultimately, there’s a disconnect between how gym owners see the business and how gym-goers experience it. Gym owners speak in brand language: community, ethos, differentiation. But for the average Canggu resident, the decision is often simpler – you buy a membership one month at a time, follow your friends, chase a deal, or just look for a fresh space when you get bored. The irony is that while gyms brand themselves as lifestyle destinations, the true lifestyle here is switching between them.

That poses a challenge for gyms looking to build a consistent client base, especially at places like Omni whose business model focuses on data-driven insights to drive health behavior over time.

“We’re asking people to get in a relationship with us for at least three months,” Hitchcox says, “but everyone gets one month passes to the gym, even if they live here.”

So will Canggu’s gym bubble burst?

Depends on who you ask. Omni’s Hitchcox says he wouldn’t build here now. The unnamed gym is doubling down – tripling down even – with a third location in the works. The Path’s shareholders believe yoga isn’t part of the bubble at all.

Perhaps it’s this short attention span – the willingness to drift from one gym to the next – that will keep the boom alive. So long as people treat memberships as temporary and aesthetics as entertainment, businesses will keep refreshing their offers to tempt them back. Even if it’s just for one month. And then again three months later.

After all, aren’t you a little bit curious how the heck a ski stimulator works?

I am – and I don’t even ski.