Lara Richli moved to Detroit from New York just a few years ago, but when she arrived in the city she saw a lack of infrared yoga and Pilates classes. So, she decided to open Hot Bones, a dual-concept hot yoga and pilates studio featuring a bone broth bar in the lobby, aiming to simplify wellness by bringing movement and nutrition under one roof.
Hot Bones opened in December at 2895 E. Grand Blvd. in Detroit’s Milwaukee Junction neighborhood. However, as Richli wanted to perfect each piece of the puzzle slowly, she initially just opened it as a studio.
Now, the bone broth bar has finally launched and is ready to serve customers following every session.
“After you go to a class, you want a little snack, you don’t want a full meal, you don’t want to get a drink, and it’s such a social activity that you do with friends frequently,” Richli says. “Bone broth is really all-encompassing and inclusive as well if you think about the audiences that it serves.”
The combination makes sense as both hot yoga — conducted in rooms heated to 85°F-100°F — and bone broth share similar health benefits, Richli says. They enhance athletic performance, replenish nutrients, promote muscle growth, repair joints, build collagen, and support gut health. Bone broth is particularly beneficial for seniors, expecting mothers, bodybuilders, and those with gut health issues.
Inclusivity and reflecting the city of Detroit are the core missions of Hot Bones. So, all instructors are Detroit-based, with 50% being Detroiters of color.
The diversity of bone broth itself also relates to this mission.
“I’ve been doing yoga and pilates for 10-plus years, but as it relates to broth, it’s not a new product,” Richli says. “Every single culture has a form of broth. You have pho, you have ramen, Broto, chicken noodle soup, matzah ball soup. I grew up always having broth at home, my mother would always make broth, my grandmother would make broth, and I did as well when I was sick. It was just a very natural desire that started whenever I would go to class, I was just craving something that would replenish my nutrients and fill me up, but not really be a full meal. So, I think from my personal context, it’s something I actually just grew up with because it is just such a cross-generational remedy that’s been there for centuries.”
To keep it simple, Hot Bones will offer three bone broth options: beef, chicken, and vegetarian. All choices are made using locally sourced ingredients.
“We’re creating a product that is a high-value product because the broth requires five pounds of bones to make one gallon of broth, and it’s really just a dense-filled nutritional option that serves as a meal replacement in every way,” Richli says. “To my knowledge, there’s not actually in the U.S. anywhere that pairs fitness with broth, and it’s something that is so complementary because, after a class, you really do feel like you want a little snack and a little something. So I think actually offering broth within a fitness context, a yoga plus pilates context, is definitely something that makes it unique.”
Overall, simplifying fitness is the main goal that Hot Bones hopes to achieve and reflect.
“The wellness industry has gotten so crazy and out of hand and so exhausting,” Richli says. “When you think about where wellness has gone on in general in our world is you’re supposed to take your vitamins, have your green juice, and meditate and do all these things and actually along the way of becoming healthy we’ve become exhausted with expectations of what to do. So everything all under one roof and very simple concepts, good yoga classes, good Pilates classes, and good broth, it’s really just our way of simplifying and bringing it back to basics.”
Additionally, Richli hopes for Hot Bones to be more than just a transactional business. The spacious lobby, furnished with couches, magazines, and books, encourages lingering and community building, so customers can find a home away from home in the space, rather than leaving right after class.
While there won’t be a grand opening for the bone broth bar, regular customers have been eagerly anticipating its launch.
“I think the community and our members are very, very excited,” Richli says.
Coupled with the bone broth bar launch, Hot Bones released new merchandise available for purchase in-studio. Looking ahead, Richli hopes to soon offer broth that people can take home in bulk and a broth subscription.
