If you started a business where the point was to chill out and relax, it might seem like the opposite of fitness. However, it would have to utilize many of the client programming aspects of a fitness club.
Stress Good And Bad
I want to cover the full spectrum of activities on the Gym Insight Blog. So, I think it’s worth touching on some counter-trends, such as offering relaxation space as a membership.
The modern world is full of the causes of stress, some negative and others, such as working out, are positive. The good stress is called eustress, which is the exertion that makes you stronger. It is what you push for whether you’re doing yoga or some High Impact Interval Training like CrossFit.
High-Intensity Interval Training really pushes the human body to the limit. The result should be that eustress makes you stronger. The distresses of daily life, work, and the world around us, demand some downtime to recover. There is undoubtedly room to balance both kinds of stress with relaxation.
Relaxation as A Fitness Proposition
Arguably, there is a clear need for busy workers to slow down and de-stress. So what kind of slow-it-down businesses could you open to the public?
The first and most well established is probably mindfulness meditation. The practice of mindfulness can be couched in the eastern traditions of its inheritance, or it can be a secular service that draws on the skills of meditation and the teachings of modern cognitive psychology. Tanning salons and day spas that specialize in skin care, saunas, and massage could be another way to go,
There are other things such a nap spaces and recharge rooms that seem to be experimental. If you’re in a densely populated area, you can try out fringe ideas that might not take hold elsewhere. A wellness center in New York City, Nap York offers nap pods by the membership. If it catches on, you’ll see them in your city soon. Another report lists nap centers in Chicago, Washington D.C., and Madrid.
The thing about coming up with radical new business ideas is that they make a splash and journalists love to write about them. If the latest thing sounds goofy or outrageous, then the media looks at the click-bait opportunities they can squeeze out of it. Of course, just because you get media attention doesn’t mean that you’ll get enough sign-ups to make it a profitable business, but who knows, maybe this will catch on.
The Factors Shared by Relaxation And Fitness
When you think about relaxation, keep the big picture in mind. If you have meditation classes, they shouldn’t be scheduled adjacent to your advanced spinning class, for example. While high-energy activities thrive in a noisy and frenetic environment, with TV screens blasting the latest news headlines and loud EDM music, the shift to quiet times and relaxation would have to be total.
If you were to create a business model based around relaxation, you would still require many of the features of a fitness club. You need a space that is clean and conveniently located, much like a gym. You will need a small staff to run the front desk, respond to inquiries, and sell both memberships and add-on products and services.
Finally, you will need an organizing system that tracks memberships and takes payments. Gym Insight is the perfect fit to manage operations, memberships, and payments for such a relaxing fitness club. If there is one way to relieve the stress of operating a small gym business it’s getting organized and that is precisely what Insight was designed to do.
Concluding Thoughts
Recharge rooms and Nap rooms are the latest trends in relaxation. It has yet to be seen whether they truly will catch on or just turn out to be another flash in the pan media sensation that goes nowhere. Whether you have a weight room, yoga and meditation studio, a spa, or a relaxation space, Insight helps you keep up with customers, track memberships, and help you have a profitable business with less work.
Any kind of service that brings individual customers together as members for activities is suitable for fitness management software like Insight. Don’t underestimate the client programming possibilities that help your members overcome distress and optimize their eustress, by providing a service that helps them de-stress.
Bibliography
Pochepan, Jeff. ‘Recharge Rooms’ Are the Next Trend Your Employees Need in the Office. June 5, 2018. https://www.inc.com/jeff-pochepan/recharge-rooms-are-next-trend-your-employees-need-in-office.html (accessed November 26, 2018).
Vivanco-Prengaman, Leonor. Downtown snooze studio offers power naps for $ 20. November 29, 2017. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-met-nap-studio-chicago-20171128-story.html (accessed November 26, 2018).
Warren, Katie. I went inside the NYC napping lounge where people are paying up to $250 a month to nap in dark, private pods at any time of day – here’s what they look like. November 11, 2018. https://www.businessinsider.com/nap-center-new-york-city-private-pods-photos-2018-9 (accessed November 26, 2018).