What do you expect from a gym?

toned_thugs_n_harmony

We recently bought a space to open up our own gym in late fall/winter 2017. Just curious what you would want/except from your gym? Classes, types of machines, etc. Things you wished you had, things you don't like about your gym...any and all input is much appreciated.

Also, anyone with an awesome name idea gets a special prize.

ndj1979

plenty of squat racks, power racks, and benching areas. It sucks when you go in one leg day and all the racks are taken up and you have to wait/try to mix up your routine..

Chef_Barbell

A deadlifting platform with bumper plates. Plenty of mirrors.

MommyMeggo

Thats awesome, congrats! I also second a lot of love for the free weight section, racks and benches.

Packerjohn

How big of a space are you outfitting?

MonkeyMel21

Being allowed more than 1 towel at a time and clean shower curtains (I am just thinking about what I don't like about my current gym, lol).

deputy_randolph

Squat racks, power rack, bumper plates, a wall of treadmills (b/c no matter how many there are...all seem to be full on the weekends); plenty of clips (those seem to go missing all of the time). If you want to get fancy, a competition bench (my gym finally bought one and hid it in a back room).

ETA: Squat racks with adjustable safety catches; there's one with static catches no one uses at my gym.

Cherimoose

toned_thugs_n_harmony wrote: »

Also, anyone with an awesome name idea gets a special prize.

I'll help with your market research without any repayment.

This is a global community with ridiculously diverse interests, and people here may or may not match your target demographic, so trying to please them might be a waste of your time & money. Best thing to do is to ask locals.. specifically the type of people you want as customers -- powerlifters & meatheads? mellow Planet Fitness types? crossfitters? seniors? Ask people exiting other gyms what they like and dislike (don't try to steal them). Read Yelp reviews of local gyms.

To answer your question, i'd like a climbing wall, an outdoors space with a sled and a parkour trail, and boxing bags.

bgh707

toned_thugs_n_harmony wrote: »

We recently bought a space to open up our own gym in late fall/winter 2017. Just curious what you would want/except from your gym? Classes, types of machines, etc. Things you wished you had, things you don't like about your gym...any and all input is much appreciated.

Also, anyone with an awesome name idea gets a special prize.

Congratulations! To me, it depends on how much you're charging per month. If you're in the low range (e.g. planet fitness, blink), I would say that dumbbells in 2.5-5 lb increments from 2.5-~40 lb would be good, along with all of the standard cardio machines (treadmill, elliptical, stair master, cross-trainer, spinning bikes etc.) I'm not a power lifter and I don't use any of the strength machines, so I can't provide much feedback there.

If you're middle-end, I think that it makes sense to provide classes that don't require expensive equipment or certifications -- boot camp and any kind of HIIT being an example, along with stretching and regenerative classes

If you're going higher-end, you should offer at least 5 classes a day and try to cater to a wide demographic. Think barre, yoga, HIIT, spinning, treadmill, kickboxing, etc.

Tracieisfitastic

Plenty of Treadmills, Elliptical machines, stairs etc.

cwolfman13

I think you need to figure out who your target demographic is going to be. The last couple of gyms I've belonged to have been very much geared towards people who are pretty serious about lifting, namely because that's my primary reason for going to a gym and I like doing Olympic lifts and whatnot...so it's been pretty important to me to find places that cater to that...but it's obviously not going to be everyone's cup o' tea.

TR0berts

Barbells (both stiff and deadlift) plus plates and bumpers
GOOD collars for the barbells
Dumbbells going in (max) increments of 5 lb up to 150 lb
Several power cages
At least two deadlift/Oly platforms
Reverse hyper
HGR bench
Bench press benches
Adjustable (both up and down) benches
Leg press
Cable Crossover
Standalone cable station (with variable heights)
Lat pull station
Machine preacher curl
Barbell preacher curl
Straight and EX-curl bars (preferably where one could plate-load)
Leg press
Pec-Deck
Blocks for block pulls
At least a few of each: elliptical, rower, bike, and treadmill
Rollers
Various bands and chains
Chalk, or at least a chalk bin where lifters could bring their own in
Water fountain
Showers

And cleanliness

eta: I fully agree to figure out what clientele you want to cater to. But the above is my list.

jbirdgreen

I like plenty of cardio machines (elliptical, treadmill). Nothing worse than having to stand around and pretend to do something because all the machines are in use.

I like a wide variety of free weights too -- Don't forget the lightweight ones (5-20 lbs) for those of us who aren't doing heavy lifts yet. A squat rack...a hex bar...leg press...A few benches -- mine only has one. .

My gym has a section with mats laid out for people to stretch. I am a germaphobe so I would never use them, but I know there is always SOMEBODY using them. Mostly the older men, but still.

I mostly go to my gym for the classes: Zumba and Spin...lifting class like BodyPump (I have always wanted to go, but my gym does it at a sucky time for me). Kickboxing for something different. I would love if my gym had like a switch week, where they completely change the schedule to let you try something different. The time I currently go to classes (5:35 p.m. weekdays, 2:00 p.m. on Sundays), is about the only time I can do it. So I miss out on all the other classes because my schedule isn't that flexible. Also, I wish the schedule made a little more sense at my gym. They only have two different classes on Sunday, and they are BOTH at the same time. I would totally do them back to back.

jbirdgreen

I would LOVE if my gym had a barre class! They always put those studios on the rich side of town, and they are expensive. If my gym offered them in the current membership fee, I'd probably never leave.

VioletRojo

cwolfman13 wrote: »

I think you need to figure out who your target demographic is going to be. The last couple of gyms I've belonged to have been very much geared towards people who are pretty serious about lifting, namely because that's my primary reason for going to a gym and I like doing Olympic lifts and whatnot...so it's been pretty important to me to find places that cater to that...but it's obviously not going to be everyone's cup o' tea.

Exactly. If I were going to join a gym, I'd want a strong focus on free weights. I have no need of treadmills, stationary bikes, or ellipticals. I'd have no interest in classes, except perhaps an introductory lifting class. But that's me, because I do my cardio on the road.

toned_thugs_n_harmony

Packerjohn wrote: »

How big of a space are you outfitting?

it will be about 3500 square feet to begin.

toned_thugs_n_harmony

geared towards people who are serious about their fitness. Not exactly a planet fitness type place...but there will be something there for everyone.

There will also be plenty of free weights, squat racks and benches because that's what most people who will use our gym want, but thought it might be interesting to see what things other people either love or hate about their gym.

BootCampC

just plenty of space to move around so I don't have to bump into people or get in the way or them get in my way when lifting.

cwolfman13

Any gym I will ever belong to will have an Olympic platform for Oly lifts and dead-lifts.

Packerjohn

toned_thugs_n_harmony wrote: »

Packerjohn wrote: »

How big of a space are you outfitting?

it will be about 3500 square feet to begin.

In that case, IMO as others have suggested, what is your target market/focus? Are you the only gym in a small town? An Orange Theory fitness franchise requires 2600-3600 commercial square feet which isn't real big. You are not going to have room for a cardio area, free weights, weight machines, classes, etc.

toned_thugs_n_harmony

cwolfman13 wrote: »

Any gym I will ever belong to will have an Olympic platform for Oly lifts and dead-lifts.

thats a given.