about us

company history

Founded in 1983 as a one-club operation in San Leandro, Calif., 24 Hour Fitness has grown to become a global fitness leader. Over the past 25 years, 24 Hour Fitness has built or opened more clubs in the United States than any other privately-owned fitness club chain. The company is widely credited with changing the industry landscape by introducing a variety of innovations, including extended hours and month-to-month memberships.

In 2004, 24 Hour Fitness became the first official fitness center sponsor of the United States Olympic team. The sponsorship grants memberships to selected U.S. Olympic hopefuls and includes upgrades to various U.S. Olympic Training Centers across the country. The first facility renovated was Colorado Springs, Colo., followed by Lake Placid, N.Y. and Chula Vista, Calif. In 2008, 24 Hour Fitness team members will help our athletes prepare for the Beijing Summer Olympic Games in a state-of-the-art High-Performance Training Center at Beijing Normal University.

Also in 2008, 24 Hour Fitness announced its expansion into New York City by partnering with Yankees all-star Derek Jeter to open stylish and sophisticated clubs on Manhattan. Jeter joins a list of superstar athletes and celebrities – including Lance Armstrong, Shaquille O’Neal, Andre Agassi, Magic Johnson, Jackie Chan, and Yao Ming – to open co-branded clubs around the world. 24 Hour Fitness also enjoys strategic partnerships with major consumer brands and has partnered with NBC’s popular reality TV show, The Biggest Loser, for the last five seasons.

24 Hour Fitness operates more than 425 clubs in 16 states with three million club members and more than 20,000 team members. The company also operates two dozen clubs in five Asian countries. In 2005, the company was sold to New York-based private equity firm, Forstmann Little & Co. for $1.6 billion. Carl C. Liebert III joined the company as CEO in October 2006. 24 Hour Fitness is headquartered in San Ramon, Calif.