What makes a gym perfect for you. I’m not just talking about equipment, how does it sound, what are the people like, what would your perfect gym offer, what sets the perfect gym apart from the pretenders…..
Here are some suggestions of what makes a gym perfect for them from regular gym-goers of all types.
Equipment
Benches and squat racks. Get enough then get a few more.
That is exactly what i thought when i walked in to the place….needs at least two more squat racks and benches as a minimum.
To piggyback, get more barbells than you have benches/racks. When people want to deadlift or oly lift it shouldn’t prevent someone benching or squatting if you have the floor space. And a punching bag is sweet. And a lifting platform is also pretty sweet for dead and oly lifts.
ONE smith machine please. My gym has three and only two squat racks.
Open 24 Hours
24/7 access. I’ve chosen crappier gyms with fewer fitness options because it was open all night and I could go deadlift at 2 a.m.
Real talk, I bet that could be a liability in a 24 hour gym tho. Probably the reason so many anytime fitness gyms are so void of squat rack cuz it’s hard to killa yourself with a cable tower. Hey guys, I can do pull-ups with my neck!
Organization
Organize your equipment well. Obviously the building will present certain limitations, but I’ve been in gyms where there is no rhyme or reason to why a given piece of equipment is located where it is. It may be a pain in the ass to move equipment around, but if the layout is intuitive for your gym members they will appreciate it and you more.
Put space between the stations. I understand that floor space is a premium in any business, but I don’t like the feeling that I’m swapping sweat with the person on the treadmill next to me and I don’t want to have to worry that I’m going to drop a barbell on the guy who’s leg pressing next to me. A couple of inches go a long way.
Put up diagrams showing how to use the equipment. Most people will ignore it, but it will make it more newbie friendly.
Refreshments
Make sure your water fountains have spigots to fill water bottles / water jugs.
Have a vending machine with gatorade / powerade /equivalent sports drinks. And have some low carb options.
I would suggest you to go big on protein bars, shakes and good old plain water. At my gym they sell prefilled water at $2 each and they sell like hot cakes. You’d be surprised how many forgets their bottle at home. It’s basically free money and they have superb shelf time so you can buy in bulk.
Community and Engagement
Have some prominent way to recognize your members and make it more community oriented. Reward people for frequent attendance, for achieving lifts, for reaching goals, etc. It makes the gym seem like a friendlier place and a place they want to come back to.
Give out free t-shirts when people sign up for memberships or use them as rewards for achieving goals. Gym bags are expensive and the free ones are crappy, everyone has a thousand free water bottles and they just throw them all away because they’re crappy, and no one looks at free pens. T-shirts are cheap, people like them, and they’re great advertising for your business.
Social media presence. An instagram is probably enough, but if you like using facebook over it, why not. Host competitions in all forms to get interaction with your clients, weight loss, new personal records, most improvement in squats over a month and so on. Makes you look interested in your clients as well as a fun gym to go to.
Easy Membership
A non-binding membership. Most people are apprehensive about signing contracts with gyms for good reason. A month-to-month option would make you a lot more appealing than most competitors.
They tell you straight up, there are two ways of getting access. You can sign a 6 month or 12 month contract which is like $25 a month, or you can pay month to month which is like $32 a month. (Alternatively, if you pay for month to month for several months in advance, it’s the $25 rate). They have day use lockers, but you can get an assigned locker for another $5 a month, and 24 hour access is another $5 or $7 a month.
THey’re also honest about the cancellation fee, which is that if you sign a year, but want to stop, the fee is the difference between the two prices x the number of months left on your contract. So if you sign a year and cancel after 6 months, you owe them $42.
Clean
Cleanliness is huge. There’s nothing worse than a gym with saliva stains on the mirrors and ass cheeks of sweat on bench seats.
Towels, 24 hour operation, clean locker rooms, plenty of necessary equipment are all things a gym can control to make the customer experience better.
Location
Location. If you’re going to do the 24 hour a day gym plan try to get a place in the “good part of town”. No one wants to look over their shoulder walking to the car after a workout.
The location I am looking at is great and SAFE.
More responses can be found at www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/2zjnxy/buying_a_gym_help_me_make_it_perfect/