Mark Wahlberg Is Building Affordable Luxury Gyms With Cold Plunges Blood Tests and Protein Muffins
TL;DR
- Mark Wahlberg is staging a fitness comeback after the F45 collapse with a new affordable luxury gym concept called Municipal, set to launch in 2026.
- The gyms will blend budget pricing around $30-$40 per month with high-end wellness perks like cold plunges, blood panels, red-light therapy, and protein muffins.
- The move positions Wahlberg to take on expensive longevity startups like Equinox Optimize and Bryan Johnson-style clinics by bringing biohacking to everyday consumers.
From F45 Failure to Municipal Comeback
Mark Wahlberg is getting back into the gym business, and this time he wants to make biohacking cheap.
After the very public rise and fall of F45 Training, the fitness franchise where Wahlberg was a high-profile investor and ambassador that went from a NYSE darling valued at over $1.5 billion to delisting, lawsuits, and near-collapse, Wahlberg is betting on a very different model.
His new venture is called Municipal, described as an affordable luxury gym built for the masses. Instead of boutique $300-per-month memberships or $40 boutique classes, Municipal is targeting a price point of around $30 to $40 per month. Wahlberg has said in recent interviews that he wants to build something accessible, community-driven, and sustainable after learning hard lessons from F45's rapid over-expansion and debt-fueled downfall.
Municipal is being developed with partners including former F45 operators and hospitality veterans, and is expected to open its first locations in Los Angeles and Las Vegas in late 2026, with franchising plans to follow in 2027.
What You Actually Get: Cold Plunges, Blood Tests and Snacks
Despite the low price, the amenity list reads like an Equinox or longevity clinic.
Early details shared by Wahlberg and his team point to:
Cold plunge and heat therapy zones with saunas and cold tubs as standard, not a $100-per-month upsell. Recovery lounges with red-light therapy, compression boots, and stretching areas. On-site blood panels and health screenings through third-party wellness partners, allowing members to track cholesterol, hormones, metabolic markers, and biological age. Functional strength and cardio equipment in an open, premium-designed space. A cafe concept focused on high-protein grab-and-go foods, headlined by Wahlberg's much-talked-about protein muffins, along with shakes, coffee, and meal prep options.
The idea, Wahlberg says, is that recovery and data should not be luxury add-ons. If consumers are already wearing Whoops and Apple Watches and tracking sleep, why should a blood test cost thousands at a longevity startup?
The Protein Muffin Strategy
Yes, protein muffins are a core part of the pitch. Wahlberg, famous for his 4 a.m. workouts and extremely disciplined diet, has been teasing his own line of high-protein snacks for months on social media.
Municipal cafes will serve as both a revenue driver and brand differentiator. Think Starbucks meets GNC: affordable, macro-friendly muffins, donuts, and coffees that keep members in the store longer and give franchisees higher margins than just membership dues. It is a playbook borrowed from Costco's food court and 7-Eleven's food pivot - use cheap, craveable food to drive foot traffic.
Wahlberg has also linked the food angle to his other ventures, including Wahlburgers and his Flecha Azul tequila and supplement investments, signaling he wants Municipal to be a lifestyle brand, not just weights and treadmills.
Can Budget Biohacking Disrupt Luxury Wellness?
The timing is no accident. The wellness industry has split in two.
On the high end, you have Equinox's $40,000-per-year Optimize program, longevity clinics charging $5,000 to $20,000 for full-body MRIs, epigenetic testing, and personalized protocols, and celebrity biohacking routines popularized by Bryan Johnson, Andrew Huberman, and Peter Attia. On the low end, you have Planet Fitness and Crunch, which are cheap at $10 to $30 per month but offer little beyond basic machines and pizza Mondays.
Wahlberg is aiming for the white space in between: affordable luxury. Give a 28-year-old in Phoenix or a busy mom in Ohio access to a cold plunge, a sauna, and twice-a-year blood work for the price of a Netflix, Spotify, and gym bundle combined.
Analysts say the model could work if unit economics hold. Cold plunges, saunas, and blood-draw partnerships are far cheaper to operate at scale in 2026 than they were five years ago. At-home panels from companies like Function Health, Superpower, and Level have already driven the cost of comprehensive labs from $2,000 down to under $500. By partnering rather than building medical labs in-house, Municipal can offer testing without FDA headaches.
The risk is the ghost of F45. Rapid franchising, inconsistent quality, and overpromising crushed Wahlberg's last fitness bet. Franchise experts warn Municipal will need to prove it can maintain clean tubs, calibrated equipment, and real medical oversight at a $35 price point without cutting corners.
Why This Matters for the Future of Fitness
Whether Municipal succeeds or not, it signals a major shift: longevity is going mainstream.
Cold plunges were a pro-athlete oddity in 2018. In 2026, they are in suburban strip malls. Blood panels were for the ultra-rich. Now startups are racing to make them $99 and routine. Wahlberg, with his everyman brand and mass-market appeal, may be the perfect messenger to take biohacking out of Miami penthouses and into Middle America.
If he can avoid the mistakes of F45 and actually deliver premium recovery, real health data, and good protein muffins for $1 a day, expensive longevity startups should be nervous.
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