Unusual fitness equipment has its advantages in both attracting new customers to your fitness business and retaining current members.

Encouraging New Gym Goers Join Your Gym

When new customer walks through your door that has never had a gym membership, emphasize why the variety of your gym equipment is important to their overall fitness regimen. Inform them that gym equipment is scientifically designed to ensure that when you use it, you are actually burning more calories as well as increasing the strength in your muscles.

The reason why personal trainers and fitness instructors emphasize the use of the equipment is because they are required to tap into the body’s true physical potential. In order for you to lose weight and maintain an overall fit state, you will have to perform activities that exert your body’s energy which in turn burns calories. These calories are then converted within your body’s system to improve your physical attributes.

Spiking New Customers Interests & Keeping Current Members Interested

Now that you convinced your new customer that utilizing gym equipment is beneficial, like any relationship, you still have to keep things spicy in order to maintain their interest in your facilities.

In order for people to continue to like going to your gym or fitness club, it is incumbent upon the gym or club to keep things fresh and attractive to their members. Keeping things fresh does not just include overall health club cleanliness and gym maintenance, but also providing your members with a revolving piece of equipment that looks (and is) fun to try!

Many people judge gyms and clubs based on the equipment that they provide. Quality and effective fitness equipment will lead to more customers joining your health club as well as help to retain existing ones. Gyms that provide facilities beyond the customer’s expectations will be more attractive to them than those who provide regular, mundane facilities. It is important for gyms and clubs to increase the interest levels of the members and be on the lookout for those equipment pieces that are both intriguing to the eye and effective to the body.

Here are a few pieces of fitness equipment to consider for your gym business.

Jacob’s Ladder

Jacobs ladder is an awesome piece of cardio fitness equipment that I would personally like to add to my gym soon enough. This conditioning equipment replicates the same effectiveness that one can achieve while doing high impact aerobics without the joint damaging impact. You literally climb a tilted ladder set to your own speed. The faster you go, the faster the ladder goes, and vice verse.

This video shows the Jacobs Ladder at Fitness Ranes Training Studio in Honolulu, HI.

Battling Ropes

One highly effective and captivating piece of equipment is the battling ropes. These are thick ropes that look like ones you would see in ports and harbors for tying boats, though their purpose is completely different in the gym environment. One downside to supplying these types of ropes in your facility is the space that is required to perform the exercises. If you are tight on inside space, it may be best to provide the ropes as part of your bootcamp training classes or if you have an outdoor area to allocate a designated battling rope area.

Battling rope exercises can be done alone or with a partner. The basic concept when training with battling ropes is to get the ropes undulating up and down rapidly. This requires your entire body to generate power to move them.

If you are interested in the specific types of exercise routines that battling ropes can offer, here is a great video from Joe Haywood, owner of Not Your Average Joe’s Fitness Training in Atlanta, GA.

Kangoo Jumps

The kangoo jumps are great pieces of equipment that will definitely spark interest in your members. These low-impact boots are used to bounce up and down to give your body a proper cardio workout. You can even run to one place, jump from side to side or do jumping jacks, all of which are fun way to do plyometrics. These pieces of equipment can be used alone or incorporated into a group fitness class.

Here is a detailed video how to get started with kangoo jumps and group class workouts.

Topic for Discussion:

What are other types of unusual but highly effective exercise equipment?

What is the most unusual piece of equipment that your gym or fitness facility has?