Can Your Gym Become an Essential Business?

This fall, Planet Fitness made news when four locations in California owned by the same franchisee reopened under the designation of an “essential” business. Their tactic? Pay for a membership in the Medical Fitness Association and follow its phased reopening guidelines, while directly contacting local health officials for permission to open. 

The gyms petitioned their Public Health Services department citing adherence to reopening guidelines published by MFA and vetted through the CDC. The MFA guidelines, in some cases, are stricter than the CDC’s published work: expanding social distancing recommendations based on a population’s health risk and the type of exercise. 

The effort worked for Planet Fitness and, since then, more than 500 gyms have sought membership in the North Carolina-based nonprofit, according to their membership experience director Jayson Aslanian.

The former PGA professional expressed awe at the surge of interest but wants to clarify a specific point: Membership in the MFA does not guarantee your business will be deemed essential by your local government. 

Fortunately or unfortunately, that decision is made by local and state officials, and each state varies widely on which businesses are considered “essential.” 

The 29-year-old organization, instead, provides a wealth of ongoing educational programs, conferences and seminars to individuals in the fitness industry, is the leading certification agency for organizations wishing to become accredited within the medical fitness arena, and provides access to industry research and trends. 

Membership in the MFA delivers education and resources to health club owners but does not convey certification. Certification by the MFA as a medical fitness facility is a costly multi-year process that formally recognizes your center’s actions incorporating exercise-based therapies into client recovery programs. The accreditation comprehensively reviews your gym’s adherence to expected standards for medical fitness centers, including active physician oversight and licensed staff. However, even a full MFA certification does not automatically categorize your gym as “essential.”

There are over 940 medically integrated facilities nationwide, according to MFA’s research, but only 45 MFA-certified facilities in the United States. For more information on building relationships within the healthcare community, see our August blog, “Healthcare & Health Clubs.”

What’s Next on the Road to Becoming Essential?

Lobby and prepare, from the information out there. Every state is at a different point in opening, and the continued uncertainty swirling around increases in COVID-19 cases makes decisions difficult to pin down. However, a good offense is the best defense. By implementing the MFA’s guidelines and keeping up with the CDC your gym will be ready when your state flips the switch. If there seems to be wiggle room in your community, go to the local public health services department and keep asking questions until you find the person with the best answer. 

Arm yourself with relevant state and local rules that apply to each of your business’s physical locations. Review them and determine if your business falls within any exceptions to the industry shutdown. If there is any question as to whether you are an essential business, prove to the county you’re a community resource with a dedicated group of clients who need and rely on you for their physical wellbeing. Or ask an attorney to do the talking for you.

Keep your chin up and your hands clean, and soon your company will be stronger, better informed, and ready to run burpees around the competition.

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Turning Gym Cancellations into Cash

What if I told you there was $500 in monthly gym memberships sitting in your computer? As an owner of a studio, would you search for it? Well, it’s right there — in the cancelled customer column. Let’s look at how we can bring these old friends back into the fold.  

Make a Plan to Contact 

Everyone knows turnover is high in the gym business, and lately that number’s crawled upwards. However cancelled and frozen accounts are a golden opportunity. These customers signed up once. They know your club. Now it’s up to you and your sales team to rekindle their interest. 

By challenging your sales team and giving them generous parameters within which to re-sign customers, you’ll bring in money without having to expend precious marketing dollars. After all, even if they sign at 50 percent off the monthly rate, that’s still cash in the drawer. 

Rally Your Sales Reps

1. Engage the sales team by exerting controlled pressure: Ask them to call in at least once a day with total gross sales and EFT’s sold. The accountability will get them off social media and thinking about how they can report a number.

2. Give them monthly sales goals broken into daily targets. One method to determine goals is to fix the number at their highest historic sales plus 20 percent. 

3. Provide access to the cancellation list — which should include membership terms and pricing — and ask the sales rep to make a specific number of calls per hour.  Work this figure out based on the sales representative’s other responsibilities. 

4. Instruct sales reps to keep notes on each conversation.

Build a Strategy

Statistical research says about 46 percent of gym members quit due to price. However, nearly 50 percent stay at a gym because of location. Mingled in the middle are all the other reasons people quit. By asking sales reps to call former customers, you can get to the bottom of this mystery while offering them an outstanding deal to re-sign today.

• Devise short-term re-sign offers, and give your reps the freedom to make deals based on guidelines. Even 50 reactivated accounts at $10 each is $500 in the till.

• Group text message your cancellations with super low reactivation offers.

• Get creative. If a customer says they only use the gym a couple of times of month, offer a Loyalty Membership that restricts visits. That way, they’ll payless per month but still have the chance to visit as often as they would normally. Give away a one-month Loyalty Membership with a membership re-sign — the right gym tour might sell their friend, too.

• Evaluate the terms your company encourages. Prepaid memberships are a cancer to gyms. Why re-sell the same customer over and over? However, month-to-month fees with no-notice cancellation policies are popular with many clients who profess to prefer cash. This is a great strategy, but require a credit card on file, just in case they’re running late one month. This way, control of the account is in their hands, but you’re protected from an automatic, end-of-the-month cancellation. 

Know What You Don’t Know

Many gym owners suffer from sign-up fever — they are constantly running after new business without truly understanding where their gym is failing. If you can’t identify the leak, how can you plug the hole? They see the cancellations, but they haven’t accessed the information to understand just why and how clients are leaving. In many cases, their gym management software simply does not provide the details needed for a studio owner to really see which areas need improvement.

With Gym Insight software, owners view all their sales information in real time. Its Location Performance report provides comprehensive, up-to-date metrics on every facet of your company, from total accounts, new accounts, and cancelled accounts, to such granular data as retention rates, dues breakdowns, and month-to-day comparisons. Shown across any selection of months and years, you can track and evaluate your gym’s progress, developing a full picture of your company’s strengths and weaknesses. 

Easy-to-use management software that puts the power back in your hands is available for as little as $175 per-month – with no hidden fees or charges. For an interesting podcast on how one owner used our Location Performance Report to recharge his business, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tDLSK8fHNk. The software looks different since this 2016 video but the ease-of-use has gotten even better!

41 New Fitness & Gym Membership Statistics for 2020 [Infographic]

https://www.ihrsa.org/about/media-center/press-releases/the-2020-ihrsa-global-report-clubs-post-record-numbers-in-2019

Fitness Market Size, Demographics & Revenue 2020 [+ Research Report]

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How to make Money with a Digital Business Model

Within a year, online fitness has become an industry staple for nearly every gym, boutique, or trainer. The question, of course, is can you make money at virtual fitness and, if so, how do you recoup the investment?

Online classes are, by their nature, a volume business. You’re going to have to sell more classes or train more people to make the same money as you would with an in-person experience. Why? Because you’re now promoting a lower-cost service while investing in new tools and novel marketing techniques.

And, unlike selling a physical product, your concept is vulnerable to market whims and perceived value. How much worth can be ascribed to your staff’s professionalism, industry expertise, or your own time? Those are hard ideas to wrap a number around. 

So how much can you charge for virtual memberships and services? The fees vary considerably based on the quality of the offerings and a gym’s target clientele. 

Making a Profit

A quick Internet search* suggests pricing ranges from $35 per month to as low as $10 per month. In all these cases, digital classes were stand-alone business models supplementing either an IRL studio or a fully online company. 

To determine the right pricing strategy for your business, take a few tips from the experts.

First of All – Know How Much to Charge — Pricing 101

Step One – Use cost-plus pricing to analyze your investment. This standard method compiles all the direct, indirect, and fixed costs associated with providing the service, and then adds a desired profit point to secure a final number. These costs include materials, labor, and overhead. 

Step Two – Research competitors’ pricing.  Although it is not often a good idea to compete on price alone, it is best to know competitors’ charges for similar services to a comparable customer base. Once you know this number, it is also important to understand the professed value of your service to the end user, as here is where pricing becomes an art form — that little wiggle space between too expensive and not expensive enough. 

Step Three – Determine a fair market profit. You need to make money, but you can’t overcharge either, especially in a down market or one as prospectively saturated as online fitness. Experts suggest looking at industry resources for net profit margins. Digital fitness companies have exploded in the COVID-19 era but the concept went live a few years ago – long enough to establish a track record. Anecdotal online articles suggest the estimated gross profit margin for virtual classes hovers at 40%.

Payment Models

There are innumerable ways to charge customers for your services but here are the most common methods. 

1. Cost included in the membership fee. In this method, customers select from a tiered payment model based on their personal needs, and can choose the option that includes online classes. Frequently, this fee increases their monthly charge by about $10. Some companies include app access in base pricing and even showcase free classes on social media. 

2. Add-on options. This a-la-carte selection style averages 5%–10% of a membership fee and works well within marketing plans. Common promotions give away two weeks or a month’s access to classes, then switch users to are recurring payment plan. This approach allows exercise enthusiasts to build or maintain relationships with favored instructors while training on their schedule from home.

3. Fully remote memberships. Pricing for this type of serviceis estimated at 1/3 the cost of a regular membership. These plans strive to keep clients who have moved, become injured, or for some reason do not feel comfortable at a gym. 

4. Remote live streaming membership. Pricing for this type of class depends heavily on the quality of the content. The better a product you can provide, the more you can charge. Current industry averages are 1/3 to 1/2 of an average membership. 

5. Remote private training.  This number varies. Pricing ranges from 25%–50% of an average hourly rate. Flat fees per client vary between $50–$100 per month. 6. Remote boot camps. These virtual group sessions typically charge 25%–40% of an in-person class. 

Online fitness introduces more people to healthy lifestyle choices. That’s got to be a good thing for the industry and for your business. It’s an exploding market that complements a traditionally brick-and-mortar industry perfectly. With a careful balance of price to investment, you should come out ahead. 

Virtual Personal Training – Bringing Your Fitness Business Online

https://www.forbes.com/sites/yolarobert1/2020/04/29/is-the-online-fitness-boom-here-to-stay/#634b2b2e7080

http://members.tabatabootcamp.com/sites/default/files/nutrition-guide/Pricing%20Your%20Virtual%20Bootcamps.pdf

https://www.inc.com/guides/price-your-services.html

• Companies researched included Crunch, Planet Fitness, CampTampa2go,  Melissa Wood Health, Alo Moves, P.volve, The Sculpt Society

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Gym Management Software — The Hidden Truth Behind That Low Monthly Fee

Choosing the right club management software is one of the most important decisions you’ll make as an owner. Whether you run a single-location Muay Thai studio or a multi-site full-service gym, controlling costs, managing employees, and tracking clients are the cornerstones to your success. If you don’t know how much money you’re spending – or making – then your very job is at risk.

Ironically, many fitness companies who sign-up with well-known, heavily-advertised gym software products are forced into that very position. Like a wrestler flat on the mat, they concede control of their business to a third party by signing contracts without fully understanding the agreement. The result? They take completely unexpected risks.

Hidden Fees

Nearly all gym management software is designed, built, and sold by billing companies – not health club specialists. Because of this, they’ve mastered the art of hidden fees. When evaluating software, watch out for these common extra costs:

• Merchant Accounts – The software company takes a percentage of every sale you make, either by forcing you to choose from their list of merchant providers, which offer higher rates, or by acting as the processor itself. The software system is tied into the company that processes your payments – imagine if you were buying a car and the dealership told you that you had to choose their finance company at 10 percent when you qualify for a much lower percentage with any other bank.

• Features & App Fees – Just because a company promises a fully automated experience does not mean every service is included in the base monthly fee. Instead, separate costs are often tucked into member use of online calendars, online membership sign-up portals, unexpected tech support requests, and external app use.

• Delinquent or Rejected Payments – These billing companies often impose a delinquent late fee, keeping a percentage if collected. Additionally, when a card or payment is declined, a normal cost is about 30 cents, but some companies are known to charge upwards of a few dollars.

• Unlimited Users – How many users may have access to the system and are they able to log in at the same time? Some companies’ monthly agreements restrict the number of users, allowing only one to be logged into the system at a time.

Hidden Challenges

Steve Jobs once said most product problems stem from bad design, and the same can be said for gym management software. Third-party software integration, clumsy report generation, and complex on boarding all lead to more headaches for owners and less time to do what you love.

• 24/7 Access – Ask about who controls your door system – you might be surprised at the answer. Most gym software companies do not manage their own door access systems. Instead, they outsource the software to third-party companies, whose systems experience a 20-percent failure rate due to the complexity of integrating their door-system software into your gym software. Text messaging and calendar software are also commonly subcontracted programs – a practice that can make managing marketing and training employees more complicated and expensive.

• Controlling Information – How easy is it to change member information in your system? Some companies require near complete control, turning you into a de facto employee – even refunding a customer requires a call to the software company.
• Retrieving Reports – How much access do you have to your daily numbers, or current monthly dues? Can you deep dive into every transaction every day and know exactly how much money your company has brought in at any time?

Hidden Risks

• Member Data – Sometimes relationships don’t work out. If you leave your membership sales software company, can you keep your data, including payment information? As bizarre as it sounds, some companies place digital handcuffs on their clients by not releasing encrypted payment information, or through charging an extraordinarily high penalty for record retrieval.

• Transparent Reports – Gym software companies whose systems are entwined into your payment processes prefer you not know how much they’re taking each month, which is one of the reasons drilling down to specific transactions can be very difficult for the average gym owner. This opaque approach to management may not hurt you right away, but in the long run it opens you up to a systemic company-killer – employee theft, as staff quickly learn you can’t access every detail of every transaction.

Closing Thoughts​

So how much is that $99 software management fee really costing you? In today’s business culture where so much of our data comes through the Internet — and much of that bought and sold by the very companies we are researching — it can be remarkably difficult to make good decisions. To help clarify pricing, we’ve built an easy to use pricing calculator that compares the most common pricing around the industry; you can try it by clicking on this link.

Yet, a lot is riding on that choice. Most gym owners are handcuffed to their businesses, unable to leave often, vacation, grow locations, or cede control as it is too difficult to run the management side and too challenging and/or complicated for most employees to assume responsibility.

So Here’s Our Elevator Speech

Gym Insight’s software is built by gym owners for gym owners. We use no third-party integrators – every piece of software running on our system is built by our programmers. You choose your merchant provider and our software links to it – nothing more, nothing less. All reports are transparent, drill-down is uncomplicated, and we are constantly improving and adding services, such as paperless document design, iPad and tablet sign-in technology, and user-friendly calendar sign-up designs.

Most importantly, our fee is completely transparent. You pay one monthly rate based on the number of members, and everything else is yours to keep. No hidden fees. No games. No silliness. Just good software that runs well, every day.

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Build Your Gym’s Niche With High-Quality Personal Trainers

There are two types of clubs growing in our economy: boutique centers, and low-cost, bare bones gyms. Many of those in the middle – think Gold’s Gym, 24-Hour Fitness, New York Sports Club, and Town Sports – found refuge in the bankruptcy courts as COVID-19’s shutdown ravaged their business models.  So what can you do to ensure your gym’s future in […]

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Recovery Equipment – Is It Worth It?

Recovery fitness is the phrase of the day for health clubs, boutique gyms, and personal trainers. The equipment used by athletes today ranges from foam rollers to cryotherapy tanks and every idea in between. The rage reminds me of a former health club catering to professional and elite level athletes. There, next to the pull-up bars and heavy ropes, was an automated massage […]

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COVID – 19 Clean — What’s Next For Gyms?

By this time, most everyone knows the basics of keeping their gyms and health clubs COVID-19 clean. Since we’ve figured out the basics, now is good time to consider the chemicals, techniques and emerging technologies that may make the difference in keeping your gym healthy and safe. Disinfectants When choosing cleaning products for your gym, consider that every product approved against SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) includes an EPA registration number […]

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Back in the Day Gyms Rocked!

Remember when fitness was an exploding rocket, taking off like a firebrand in everyone’s consciousness? The future seemed endless with new innovations blending technology and health, fun and funky athletic trends, and a swath of boutique and health club options catering to every age, income, and preference. The future will be “virtual, gamified, and totally immersive,”claimed a January […]

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Who’s Training in Your Gym?

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 […]

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Keeping Gym Clients on the Roster

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 […]

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Healthcare & Health Clubs: How to Make the Relationship Work

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 […]

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Rebuilding Gym Customers’ Trust in the Pandemic Era

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 […]

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Train Your Gym Staff Like Pros

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 […]

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Unite & Organize – Proving Gyms Are Essential

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 […]

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How Can Your Gym Firm Up Its Financial Future While Clients Social Distance?

If scientists are correct, COVID-19 is here to stay. According to Dr. Gregory Poland, director of Mayo Clinic’s Vaccine Research Group, respiratory viruses and their accompanying hospital stays are expected to be a seasonal threat to individuals across the world. Even now, an emerging virus from China, the H1N1 influenza virus, looms in our future. For gyms, fitness studios, and […]

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Use Surveys to Safeguard Your Gym Against COVID -19

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.  […]

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Virtual Fitness Is Your Gym’s Newest Profit Center

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 […]

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Take Advantage of That Clean Gym!

The COVID-19 pandemic has cast a long shadow on the question of how to maintain a clean and sanitized gym while running a successful, profitable business. The increased vigilance required by staff, the infrastructure investments, the heightened customer awareness coupled with suppressed demand all combine to swell both costs and risks.  Today’s gym owner walks a fine line between keeping his or her business open and losing it all to an uncertain market. However, for gym owners, […]

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Barbell Cage Versus Leg Press Machine Versus Smith Machine: Which Leg Equipment Should You Prioritize?

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 […]

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How to Find Natural Leaders Among Your Employees

When you’ve been “the boss” for a long time, it can be hard to remember what it felt like working for someone else. You get used to making the decisions, holding the power, and choosing the direction in which you want your company to go. When the future of your gym business lies on your […]

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Managing Your Employees’ Fears After COVID-19

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.  […]

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Reopening Your Gym After COVID-19

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 […]

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Should You Have a Physical Therapist Working Out of Your Gym?

What benefits does partnering with a physical therapist bring to your gym members? As the collective age of United States citizens continues to rise, so does the rate of exercise-related injuries. For many people trying to stay in shape, effectively rehabilitating an injury now means that they must see both a physical therapist and a personal trainer, […]

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How to Empower Your Employees

It’s not always easy to strike a balance between managing your employees closely and letting them take initiative. Depending on your management style, you might feel it’s more in your nature to micromanage your employees’ tasks and ensure everyone is getting the job done according to your standards. Or, if you lean toward the other […]

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Maneuvering Your Gym Through the COVID-19 Crisis

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 […]

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Need a Digital Marketing Strategy? Try These Tips

As the owner of a gym, drawing in new members is a topic that will always be near the front of your mind. Successful business owners never truly stop marketing. Over the years, you have probably run your fair share of gym promotions, membership discounts, and group signup events. Marketing strategies like these often – for good […]

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Exercise Series 9: The Burpee

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 […]

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What areas of knowledge does a basic personal fitness training certification cover?

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 […]

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The Best Specialty Classes to Add to Your Schedule

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 […]

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Exercise Series 8: The CrossFit “Thruster”

The CrossFit program uses some unusual movements that you might not be used to seeing in your gym. One such movement is known as a “thruster”. You might still hear non-CrossFitters calling this movement a thruster, but the name was made official by CrossFit in 2001 and has stuck ever since.  Unless you’re familiar with the CrossFit library of […]

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What is the “Slow Season,” anyway?

If you are new to the fitness industry, you probably have some amount of trepidation toward the time of year known as the “slow season” for gyms. Typically, when people talk about the slow season, they are referring to the summer months where most gyms struggle through a dip of low memberships and class participation.  […]

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Exercise Series 7: The Kettlebell Swing

Previously in the Exercise Series, we have covered major weightlifting movements such as the deadlift and bench press. Today, we’ll be looking in detail at a lesser-known exercise known as the kettlebell swing.  This is another highly effective and beneficial exercise that requires excellent form to avoid injuries. As a gym owner, you can learn the essentials of […]

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Benefits and Drawbacks of Popular Cardio Equipment

Choosing which equipment to stock in your gym is one of the many huge decisions you must make as a business owner. Especially when your budget and floor space are limited, the pressure is on to make your selections carefully. This week, we’ll be looking at some of the pros and cons of popular cardio equipment, […]

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CrossFit – Should You Encourage or Discourage it in Your Gym?

You would be hard-pressed to find a more polarizing and controversial modern exercise trend than CrossFit. Known for extremely intense workouts that combine core concepts from weightlifting, cardio, gymnastics, and even yoga, CrossFit is a “love it” or “hate it” experience.  Regardless of your personal feelings on the topic, we’re here to examine whether CrossFit […]

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Is it better to hire salaried trainers or accept freelance trainers who work out of your gym?

If you have just opened a brand new gym, you are probably in the process of making some crucial hiring decisions. As a business owner, you know how your staffing choices affect your day to day work life, your responsibilities, and your bottom line.  If you find yourself confronting the dilemma of hiring in-house personal […]

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Setting Up Your Gym: What “Extras” Should You Provide?

If you are getting your gym ready for opening day, chances are you have already assembled a checklist of equipment you would like to stock. Barbells, dumbbells, benches, racks, cardio machines, and weight machines are all standard fare and will likely be the bread and butter equipment that most of your soon-to-be patrons use.  But, […]

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Are Your Fitness Trainers Qualified to Teach Nutrition Guidelines?

The vast majority of people who join a gym and start a workout plan have some sort of goal in mind. It could be to lose weight, to put on muscle, to get in better cardio shape, to lower blood pressure and improve health markers, or any number of other worthy pursuits. Exercise is obviously […]

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Exercise Series 6: The Pull-Up or Pull-Down

Experienced trainers and observant readers may have noticed by this point in the exercise series that each movement we’ve covered so far is one of the “big 6” exercises that target major muscle groups over the entire body.  Each of these exercises in turn can be classified as a “push” or “pull” in their simplest […]

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