Is Hot House the new cool girl studio? Inside the Family Form fitness studio in Makati

Founded by Lindsay Jang and Helen Kim at The Upper House in Hong Kong, Family Form blends Jang’s background in yoga and Kim’s expertise in gymnastics, dance and other sports, resulting in a totally distinct conditioning method. Rodriguez first came across it when they were holding pop-ups in Manila. “I’ll never forget my first class: my Whoop registered 800 calories in 55 minutes,” she recalls. “I’d never seen that from anything else I’d done.” Yet the real reason Family Form stuck with her isn’t the number. Beyond the studio, Rodriguez works in investments and corporate finance; Family Form is her mental outlet. “It’s meditation,” she says. “You’re forced to be present in the sequence. There’s no room to be anywhere else.”

“It really did become more than a workout,” shares creative director Ysabela Narvasa, who works a full-time job in sustainability and portfolio management for a Southeast Asian venture capital firm. “It became our gateway to wellness as a lifestyle and a routine that grounded us physically and mentally.” Their love for the method inspired them to teach it, and Family Form found a temporary home within a multi-concept studio in Manila, where they built a solid client base. Eventually, however, the studio could no longer keep up with the demand—there simply wasn’t space to teach as many classes as their regulars had asked for. “We are incredibly grateful for the space and community they’ve shared with us, but we also felt that there was so much more we could build around Family Form,” Narvasa explains.

And thus, Hot House was born.

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From the very beginning, Hot House was built around their client’s needs. Their programme is designed with the same intent. Described as “your house of daily transformation,” Hot House offers three classes: Family Form, the signature 55-minute infrared-heated sculpt class; Foundation, a slower introductory class in a warm room, built around detailed instruction and technique; and Recover, a 60-minute heated mobility class of slow movement and deep stretching. “Every class works together as part of The Rhythm, our approach to building a balanced, sustainable practice,” explains Anya Limjoco, head of marketing. “Rather than standalone workouts, each class has a purpose that supports strength, recovery and long-term progress.”

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Unlike most fitness classes, Hot House teaches the same sequence all week for both Foundation and Family Form, with new choreography dropping every Wednesday—so a class on Thursday and the following Tuesday are identical. The change comes from within. “There are multiple opportunities to learn the sequence, adjust and understand your body each time, and notice how much stronger you feel towards the end of the week,” Limjoco explains. The classes are taught with minimal cueing by design. “It’s intentionally taught with minimal, concise cues, encouraging students to find their own movement and flow,” she says. A few classes in, the fluency clicks; the awkward transitions become almost intuitive, and you’ll be surprised at how much the body remembers. The result is a workout that promotes stability, flexibility and mobility—and with the optional ankle weights and dumbbells, strength, too.

Because the method is designed for consistency, meaning two to three classes a week, you start to see a lot of the same clients who have built the same habit, made the same commitment. “Community isn’t an accessory to the programme; it’s the mechanism,” says Rodriguez. “We know people by name. We know who’s been away for two weeks. It seems like a small courtesy, but it’s the difference between a place you go and a place you belong to.” Their community has become their strongest testament to the method; Hot House takes a no-influencer approach to marketing, letting word of mouth work in their favour.

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The studio’s calming interiors don’t hurt, either. Narvasa and Rodriguez worked with an architect on the initial plans, but led design direction, materials and sourcing themselves—warm, grounding tones, nothing that reads as a typical sculpt studio. “We think of Hot House as a hospitality business that happens to have classes in it,” Rodriguez explains. “The question stopped being ‘does this look right ’and became ‘how does someone feel thirty seconds after they walk through the door.’ So much of fitness is built to make you aware of how you measure up. We wanted the opposite of that—somewhere you can arrive as you are and not feel like you're being assessed.”

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Joining the founding team are Giea Gorostiza, head of compliance, and Clara Elizalde, head of community, who also oversees The Neighborhood—Hot House’s network of partner brands, from Moom supplements to Nora everydaywear and Better Hair styling products. “As our community grew, so did the conversations,” Clara shares. “People weren’t just coming to us for movement anymore—they were asking where we got our coffee, what supplements we took, what skincare we loved.” The Neighborhood took those recommendations and made them official, making them a part of their space; Hot Habit, their in-house line of grab-and-go snacks like energy balls, PMS brownies and sardines, did the same for nutrition. “We wanted to start with food we actually eat ourselves—whole, functional foods that support everyday life without overcomplicating nutrition,” she adds.

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Of course, none of it happens without the people leading the room. Training under Kim (who is based in New York) to become an instructor takes months. “You’re essentially training almost daily,” says trainer Jovy Acuzar Tagle, “which is what it takes to build the form and endurance you need since teaching in a heated room is a different animal.” It’s a four-phase process that ends in private one-on-one sessions with Kim to refine teaching cues. “It was intense, but challenging in the best way.”

For fellow trainer Bea Elizalde, it reshaped more than her teaching. “The most rewarding part has been how much teaching and training here has strengthened my mind-body connection,” Bea reflects. “I’ve never felt more connected to myself. That awareness has changed how I live, not just how I train.”

The instructors, Rodriguez, Narvasa, Limjoco and Gorostiza included, come from different backgrounds; some have a strong foundation in yoga, others don’t. “That diversity is a strength,” Acuzar observes. “It shows students that you don’t have to be hyper-flexible to get the most out of this method.”

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Less than three months since opening, Hot House already has plenty in the works, from brand partners and activations to its referral-only resident programme that grants unlimited classes to new members who come in through an existing regular. Naturally, growth is part of the plan. “More classes, more people through the door and a bigger team,” Rodriguez says, mindful of scaling without sacrificing the energy of the room.

The most common question I get about Hot House is whether I enjoyed it; ten classes and counting, I think that speaks for itself. As Rodriguez says, “The best workout for you is the one you love to show up to.” And perhaps that is the real measure of a successful workout: whether it becomes part of your lifestyle, something you look forward to returning to, week after week.

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