Status, networking, and longevity: Why Wall Streeters love expensive gyms and workout classes

• High-end gyms offer networking and social status for finance professionals.
• Expensive gym memberships reflect a shifting focus on health.
• Fitness classes sometimes even replace happy hours.

It's no secret that expensive gyms and fitness classes are filled with people who work in high-paying industries like finance and tech.

But why? Does that sauna really warrant paying an extra few hundred bucks a month in membership fees?

According to Wall Streeters we spoke with, membership at places like Equinox or Life Time isn't about the amenities per se. Instead, members are buying two intangible benefits: the chance at networking and social status.

While networking at the gym might sound hellish to some, it's not necessarily like you'd imagine it. Gyms will actually set up designated networking events for members, said Laz Rabanales, who works at Okada & Company, a commercial real-estate firm.

"I have a friend that works at Chelsea Piers [Fitness], and he was telling me that they throw events like ice cream social hour," he said.

Going hand in hand with networking is status. By paying high monthly fees, it's shorthand for other members that you're of high corporate and social status.

"I feel you can kind of signal to other people that you're paying a lot for a gym membership — so you have a good job and that kind of thing," said Nyla Legemah, a customer success manager for benchmarks and indices at London Stock Exchange Group in New York. "It's like assumed you made it to the club."

But the expensive gym trend also simply reflects societal changes — young people increasingly care about their health and longevity, and are willing to prioritize it.

"I think that the status element of going to a nice gym is a factor for some people but it is also a generational shift that focuses on health and wellness instead of buying items," said Alexander Wah, the founder and chief investment officer at Prince Capital.

Cassie Henry, a trader at Gresham Investment Management, a hedge fund, said that workout classes have sometimes taken the place of client happy hours.

"Banks will take us out, do a workout class instead of getting a drink," Henry said. "It's a good value if someone pays $50 for your pilates class."

Caring about being fit in and of itself can also be an outward manifestation of status in the finance world, Rabanales said.

"You always want to look good because you always want to impress your clients in this industry," he said. "The minute you walk into a room, they'll judge you."