Everyone, it seems. From teens to octogenarians, we're all pumping iron and taking classes to stay in shape. Thanks to medicine and technology, we are both living longer and more aware of how habits impact our health. And because of that, gyms are no longer the realm of young, beautiful adults. Today, your gym can attract everyone from a 16-year-old high school athlete to an 76-year-old retiree, and chances are, it will.However, just because everyone's exercising, doesn't mean we are all the same. There are many key generational differences and understanding them will help you refine services without wasting time [...]
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What does it take for a person to show up at the gym after they've paid their dues? What is the difference between the individual who exercises regularly and the one who drops the ball? Scientific research suggests it may all boil down to competency and support. People need to feel good at what they're doing and know others are in the game with them. Recent psychology research on motivation calls this the self-determination theory (SDT). How interested a person is in continuing something is driven by how well an activity meets one's need for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Exercisers [...]
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Does it make sense for your gym to expand into medical fitness services? The answer is - it depends. On one hand, your health club benefits from a growing base of business built off of referrals from the medical community, but, on the flip side, you can expect a large upfront investment requiring time, money, and space. You would be jumping into a growing trend led, in part, by the American College of Sports Medicine's Exercise is Medicine initiative launched in 2007. This powerful move by a leading organization is an attempt to reset the conversation on the importance of [...]
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Health clubs are in a pickle right now. Not only are they struggling under a load of new regulations and expectations, but they must figure out how to lure clients back into the gym -where the money is made. Just how can gyms rebuild faith in their brand, their facility, their people? Is there a roadmap to follow? Here are the facts In truth, gyms are not petri dishes of disease. Early non-peer reviewed research shows minimal transmission of COVID-19 at gyms when proper distancing and hygiene methods are in place. The Oslo-based study randomized 3,764 people split into two [...]
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What if every gym employee approached their job like a salesperson? How would that affect your health club's businessevery day? Would it help or hurt customer retention? Why would you even want to train employees in basic sales techniques? Wouldn't that become annoying? Probably not. See, sales is not just about selling something. It's an attitude. Employees are a core component of any marketing strategy.They reflect the composition of your gym, your target market.They are the face of who you are as a business and you hired them because of their skills, personality, and ability to relate to customers. So [...]
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When I first hit the gym in the 1990s it was a Jamie Lee Curtis video fantasy: muscle-bound men clustered around weight benches, ladies in leggings and cotton t-back leotards, body builders day-jobbing as personal trainers. Bally's even kept a separate weight room just for women. It was all about the look and if you couldn't keep up, you didn't show up twice. Today's gyms are way different. I don't have to tell you the range of options available to everyone of any age, skill-level or interest. It has grown into a $34-billion-a-year industry in the United States, encompassing more [...]
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Taking control of your gym's business during the ongoing economic crisis caused by COVID-19 is not simple. It's always been expensive to acquire new members-estimates suggest it costs 3x as much to lure a new client in the door as to keep the one you have. But in today's uncertain environment, retaining and expanding your client base is both critical and complex. So how can you maximize every gym member relationship? By understanding customers' concerns, clearing up misunderstandings quickly, and using real-time information to make informed updates to your business model. Nothing does this quicker than a survey. Surveys allow [...]
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In many ways, the COVID-19 gym shut-down accelerated an already intense competition in the virtual health and fitness marketplace. Companies such as Peloton and Mirror were already bringing high-end, high-quality workouts into individuals' homes, while club-staple Les Mills' expansion into the on-demand arena created another at-home avenueencompassing classes and training programs. Meanwhile, brick-and-mortar gym shops shut down, forcing owners to pivot and change business models within weeks. Their one option? Jump into the digital fray-which is exactly what they did-giving away free classes, offering free trials, and supercharging their online community with ad hoc Zoom classes and YouTube videos. Within [...]
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It's not always easy to know which equipment you need to stock in your gym right off the bat. Some gyms operate under strict financial constraints, while others have smaller indoor spaces than they'd ideally like. In a perfect world, of course, you would be able to start with the most essential equipment and then expand to include more as your business also expands. But where do you start? What are the essentials? And if you have to choose between a high-quality barbell cage, smith machine, or leg press machine to fill out your "lower body" equipment section, what's the [...]
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As a gym owner, you have likely been concerned with keeping the fears of your paying members at bay in the post-COVID-19 world. You probably have spent the mandatory lockdown coming up with ways to maneuver your business through the crisis and putting plans in place for your grand reopening strategy once the stay at home orders are lifted. But what about your employees? Many workers are facing huge numbers of uncertainties surrounding their jobs, as well as worrying about their own health and that of their families. Now is the time to plan how you will address your employees' [...]
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So many business owners are facing uncertainty due to the COIVD-19 crisis. Will your business weather this period of being closed down? How well can you recover once you reopen? What are the best ways of minimizing financial losses and maximizing health and safety standards for your staff and members? The best way to combat this uncertainty is to drive forward with a clear and determined strategy for reopening. This strategy should focus heavily on enforcing stringent health, safety, and sanitization protocols. When you take the guesswork out of your plan, you reduce your own anxiety as a business owner [...]
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The outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 (also known simply as "coronavirus") and the resulting COVID-19 pandemic has affected nearly every industry worldwide. Gyms, classified as "nonessential businesses," have been ordered to close until the pandemic wanes and health officials deem that it is safe for the public to return to normal daily activities in public. As a gym owner, you are no doubt feeling the strain of this unplanned closure during the normally busy spring months. Thankfully, there are many things you can do with this time to not only lessen the impact of this crisis on your business, but also to [...]
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The exercise series so far has focused on weighted movements such as the bench press, squat, and kettlebell swing. We've highlighted these movements because they are some of the most effective exercises that a person can do to build strength and overall functional fitness. However, it is completely possible to get a great, effective workout without any equipment at all. In fact, for some people with certain injuries or range of motion limitations, bodyweight exercises offer a safe and simple alternative to heavy resistance exercises. For this reason, this article will highlight the burpee as one of the "best of [...]
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As a gym owner or manager, you're in charge of hiring personal trainers and checking credentials. You probably already know that a trainer must hold a certification from one of the recognized, accredited fitness organizations in order to be qualified to train individual clients. However, not everyone knows that the entry level personal training certification does not qualify a trainer to teach group fitness classes or give clients detailed nutrition plans. If you're in charge of checking backgrounds and choosing the best candidate among a pool of potential fitness trainers, it's important you're clear on what exactly the various levels [...]
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There comes a point when every gym owner or manager must decide on a group class lineup. Some managers take a hands-off approach and let their trainers take over building out class schedules and routines. This works fine as long as you already employ a wide variety of skilled trainers in a bunch of different specialties. But what if you are just getting started hiring trainers? Or what if you want to broaden the scope of the classes you offer beyond the basic classes your trainers are qualified to provide? Keep in mind that not all fitness trainers are qualified [...]
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