Zenergie Body & Soul debuts in Barcelona with longevity focus

Zenergie Body & Soul was unveiled in Barcelona on May 28, 2025, as a boutique gym aimed squarely at adults aged 35 and above. The new format puts longevity at the center of the offer, a sharp turn away from the low-cost, high-volume gym model that still dominates much of Spain’s market.

The brand is the latest move from Rod Hill and George Houtenbos, the owners of Fit Brands International and the master franchise behind Énergie Fitness in Spain. Zenergie describes itself as a longevity gym for people who want to stay strong, move well, feel balanced and keep an active life going for longer. It says the concept was born in Barcelona and draws on the city’s Mediterranean lifestyle, design and culture.

What separates Zenergie from a standard boutique gym is its structure. The company profile frames the offer around three longevity pillars: cardiovascular fitness, strength and mental health. That puts recovery, wellness and sustainable training habits on the same level as conventional gym work, and it gives the founders a clear pitch to people who want more than a treadmill floor and a weights room but do not necessarily want a luxury club.

Hill and Houtenbos are not treating this as a one-site experiment. Health Club Management said the pair are targeting 50 Zenergie sites in five years, a scale plan that suggests they see longevity as a category with room to travel beyond Barcelona. The city is a logical first stop: it has become a preferred testing ground for premium formats that want community and training quality without drifting into full spa-club pricing.

That track record matters because Fit Brands International already knows how to build in Spain. 2Playbook said the company has opened more than a dozen Énergie Fitness gyms in the country since 2020, reached 15,000 members and 10 million euros in revenue in 2024, and was on course to have 25 clubs operating in Spain in 2026. Hill and Houtenbos signed a master franchise agreement in 2020 to develop 75 Énergie clubs in Spain over 10 years, and SpaBusiness said the first Énergie club in Sant Cugat was intended to start that expansion.

Barcelona’s market has also shown it can absorb new premium entries. Barry’s entered the city with a two-million-euro investment, while Fitness Park opened its 35th gym in Barcelona in June 2024. Against that backdrop, Zenergie looks like a calculated bet that longevity, personalization and holistic health can become the next premium growth lane in Barcelona fitness.