Gyms: A Simple (But Long) Question to You

Off Topic
21

[quote]dianab wrote:

I’d say if the choice is so limited to over-priced, over-equipped gyms in your area, then there is an rather large untapped market out there.[/quote]

Even though my post started off as a rant that a few people took a bit more seriously than I intended, this is the underlying point I am trying to support. I also agree there is a large untapped market in most, if not all, major cities across the US.

I live in a very large metro area, and finding a gym that understands the basics for power, size, strength, and endurance has become impossible. They don’t exist.

Imagine: The owners of T-Nation opened 14 gyms in the US, all 14 designed to help you understand proper exercise and nutrition to help you hit your goals. Debunking all the myths, charging properly, pushing progression instead of the ridiculous “feel better and look better”
mantra everywhere. In short, outlying successful paths to your personal goals without suckering you into thinking that you cannot make gains without their state of the art equipment and world class training team. Both of these things cost stupid amounts of money, and are completely worthless.

How long until this franchise idea starts pulling major business? I am not against companies making money, but do it right. Stop profiting from fear and ignorance. The foundation has been laid, the enemy is known, so a mission statement railing against the typical treatment of people interested in bettering themselves physically for whatever reason would go a long way.

Keep it simple, stupid. We’ve all read this philosophy, most of us live this philosophy, and all of us that have see the elegance of WHY this philosophy has worked, does work, and will always work in regards to strength, size, power, and endurance.

Where is the business savvy mastermind who will rise up and change the face of fitness as we know it?

Modernizing an age old pursuit has been driven the wrong way. The point has been brought up in this thread numerous times: “They are convenient. They are close by, they are everywhere.” No one has mentioned how they can’t live without their awesome selection of treadmills, triceps extension machines and stadium seating spin classes. When was the last time a trainer spent 10 minutes with you helping you knowing that you are NOT going to be shelling out cash in the future?

Make a gym a gym, don’t force me to sign a contract, don’t require a cc number to be a member, stock it with real equipment, replace $500/month “personal trainers” with easy to understand and follow fitness plans (Pull, Push, Squat, Deadlift) (Power, Strength, Size, Endurance) (Rep range, weight range, tempos), and watch people actually enjoy and BENEFIT FROM their time invested.

Charge the SAME AMOUNT AS LA FITNESS, use that money to pay and attract real trainers/coaches that dont mind spending 2 minutes a day with people. Hell, could you imagine what 2 minutes a day of real face to face time with Coach Thibs would do for you over the course of a month? 6 months? A year?

Again, I don’t mind spending money, but you should all care about what you’re paying for. If it’s for sheer convenience, I can understand that. I am in the same boat. The market dictates you HAVE to go there. However, I do dream of a day where it becomes taboo to even be seen near these buildings claiming to care about your physique and well-being when it is absolutely obvious they do not.

TL,DR?
Sound it out and use the context clues. Lazy bitches.

22

Your asking for quality trainers to all be in a central location. They can go to a commercial gym and make twice the money. Sadly most businesses and most employees are going to do what makes them the most money in the least amount of time. Very few will do it for the purity of the business or other eloquent terminology you have given to it. This is capitalism. Even Thib works in a commercial gym and I’d say he “gets” it more so than anyone else that works at a commercial gym and has the means to start his own training facility. Fact is you have to pay the bills.

23

OK, let’s face it, it doesn’t take all that much to be a quality trainer. You need some education, and open mind and the ability to help people and actually give a shit about their goals (this is the big one, and why I no longer train people).

I’ve mentioned before, my friend opened her gym 3 years or so back and has a great, bare bones facility. She runs it with group sessions for general fitness, strongman and powerlifting. The place is not open at all hours, but you can buy individual private training sessions. The business model is working great, she’s expanded and now has a team of 8 lifters entering in organized competitions. You can buy 1,3,6 and 12 month “memberships”. The cost is pretty steep but there doesn’t seem to be a lack of clients for both group and individualized training. From what I understand there is a few other people running small gyms in a similar fashion in this city.

My point is there IS a market for real training facilities. They don’t have to be dungeons with loud metal blaring and “meatheads” scaring off the clientele.

24

[quote]LiquidMercury wrote:
This is capitalism. [/quote]

And this is simply an appeal to the people being suckered into these wives tales for $39.99 a month to wake up. The real beauty of capitalism is NOT the fact that corporations can make billions off of uneducated people, it’s that others are constantly improving upon current business models.

The fitness industry is LONG overdue for an overhaul.

It’s ironic that on these boards of any collective group of people, there are cries of “Suck it up, take it like a man, pay your dues.”

While I am not advocating that everyone should quit their Crunch, LA FITNESS, Golds style gyms, I am asking that the next time you step into your gym that you look around and ask yourself what you’re paying for.

You deserve more for your money, and so does anyone who takes one look at what it “takes” to get in shape and draws the conclusion that it’s pain, cold hard cash, and a PHD in nutrition. (Or for that matter, a magic ‘pill’ that will make you lose weight, get abs, and increase the size of your dick by 6 inches.) The majority of what is being sold, discussed, and packaged today is bullshit, and you cannot seriously for one second disagree with a premise such as this:

A company that develops a reputation for honesty, effective products, and the most efficient use of your dollar and time to achieve YOUR goals will dominate any market. No slick advertising, no false claims, no ridiculous machines that cost over $10,000 each… And we’re talking about the FITNESS market. Not lazy, couch wallowing, dulled consumers. We’re talking about motivated, goal-oriented, rational adults that fall for this shit every single day.

Why has no one done this? Name one gym (with a corporate office) or supplement provider that does this. Explain to me that how over time this could not work.

25

So what makes your fantasy gym better than the big chains?

26

Don’t go to the hardware store looking for bread either. They ain’t gonna have it and probably don’t appreciate your witless rhetoric either.

27

I don’t disagree with most of what you say, I’m just saying that while there may be a need for it, the demand is hard met.

People who are great trainers, typically aren’t great businessman. Yes this is stereotypical, there are exceptions without a doubt, but how many trainers do you know that just couldn’t run a business to save their life. Most. The fact is there are some, such as DeFranco, Cressey, Poliquin, Evan Esh, and others who have combined business accumen with fitness knowledge. That join isn’t easy to come by, it is an issue in many fields. In the Physical Therapy world for instance, there are PT facility managers with no experience as PT’s, there are PT’s with no experience with business management and the two have a hard time meeting in the middle about equipment purchases, business practices, etc.

All that being said, I’m opening my own semi-private training facility (geared towards high school athletes though the odd powerlifter/strongman will be welcome on a membership basis) within the next 4 months.

28

Like all businesses all gyms have a target market to focus their attention on. I don’t need the place to be perfect, just meet my basic needs on equipment, cleanliness and a professional environment. The best gym where I live could set you back over 450/month. It has some of the best equipment, barbells and dumbbells available but it reaches a point where spending that much is not worth the opportunity to use that equipment. Plus you need to follow their structured programs. It has it’s target audience, they get results and they have a good client base, just that after being their 3 months I didn’t think I was part of their target market, so I went back to a globogym.

I’m now looking at a smaller boutique gym run by a friend of mine, it’s catered more for working professionals, they have some really good (qualified) trainers, good clean environment and even some strongman equipment. BUT their smallest plates are 5kgs. So I’m looking into buying my own micro plates and bringing them to the gym. Like anything manage the compromises.

If I felt about environment/equipment SO strongly then I’d discuss with my family in investing in a home gym. Case closed.

29

How many things in life to do you actually get the full benefit from? I know my cellphone gets unlimited internet (which I only use to receive emails, via push), gets TV (which I never watch), and a whole host of other features (call waiting, 3 way calling, etc.) which I rarely, if ever, use. That is 100 dollars a month. My gym is 25 a month. I go 6 times a week usually, and can always go for an extra session if I need it. If I had to “put my foot down” on something, I hardly imagine it is going to be the gym membership. It will probably be something like going out to eat. That 25 dollar gym monthly gym membership is blown at one meal at Red Robbin or TGI Fridays. THAT should be the crime, not the gym.

30

[quote]LiquidMercury wrote:
All that being said, I’m opening my own semi-private training facility (geared towards high school athletes though the odd powerlifter/strongman will be welcome on a membership basis) within the next 4 months.[/quote]

Looks like a good venture.

If your target market is right and suits you and you’ve got a steady stream of new clients and you know what changes you need to make to keep all existing and new clients happy then you’re on a winner.

Meeting client’s goals and keeping them happy will keep you profitable for a long time to come - hope it works out and pays dividends for you.

31

[quote]XanderBuilt wrote:

[quote]LiquidMercury wrote:
All that being said, I’m opening my own semi-private training facility (geared towards high school athletes though the odd powerlifter/strongman will be welcome on a membership basis) within the next 4 months.[/quote]

Looks like a good venture.

If your target market is right and suits you and you’ve got a steady stream of new clients and you know what changes you need to make to keep all existing and new clients happy then you’re on a winner.

Meeting client’s goals and keeping them happy will keep you profitable for a long time to come - hope it works out and pays dividends for you.[/quote]

Thanks, I sure hope so too. I’ve done quite a bit of market research and have experience on both sides fitness/business that I can draw from. If anyone’s ever in Atlanta come check it out!

32

[quote]johnnytang24 wrote:

[quote]dianab wrote:

[quote]Solarisol wrote:
Gyms mold to the demands of the customer, not the other way around.

Most people are not like you and me who are self-motivated and will work out in a gym with no music, dirty iron and old (but good)equipment. They want fancy, new equipment and bikes with TV screens in front of them that show them riding down a mountain. Would we prefer if they do it our way? Yeah. But a business is going to cater to what the customer wants, and generally people don’t like or don’t know what we do.[/quote]

Just wondering, what is the appeal of “dirty iron”? I don’t want to get tetanus from a rusty, dirty bar and what is old (but good) equipment? All the old equipment I run across is mostly stuff like crappy cables that don’t slide well and bent oly bars that are impossible to seat well on my back.
Everytime I read threads like this one it makes me wonder how there can’t be a “normal” gym out there for people. This city is full of what I’d call the average, not top of the line, but well equipped gyms with the basics. Memberships run from 350$-450$ yearly at one of these types of facilities. Even in the small town I grew up in on the west coast of this country I was able to find an average-equipped gym that ran in this price range, by googling “gyms in town X”.
I’d say if the choice is so limited to over-priced, over-equipped gyms in your area, then there is an rather large untapped market out there.[/quote]

I don’t like being dirty, I don’t like loud music, and I don’t like people raging. You’re lifting weights, not fighting for your life. And if you are fearing for your life, you should get some spotters.

The prices at the chain gyms are negotiable and often lower than anywhere else. They’re counting on volume. My LA Fitness membership was $20 initiation, $25/month fixed for life. Option to use any gym in the nation (outside of NYC, I think). It’s good when I’m not in town, or I want to go at an odd hour. I don’t get the hate. Some people like the pool, that egg-walker thing, or same-gendered-sweaty ass in a wooden room.
[/quote]

Damn, that is actually an extremely good bargain. I was originally of the impression that you can get any gm membership at less than $30/mth nowadays

33

[quote]privatemedical wrote:
basically, the world does not like meat heads.

there is a planet fitness by my house. every time i drive by, the parking lot is full. they are doing fantastic business.

i work out at one gym that has several world champ powerlifters and other up and comers. there is a 300 plus pound powerlifter jacked up on test that almost always has a scowl on his face. he is a bouncer at a bar and talks about the fights there, swears like a sailor and is openly talking about his drugs. recreational lifters dont want to be around that environment. business drops as more powerlifters join the gym.

I worked out at another gym that had national powerlifting champs and a host of other lifters and a few nationaly ranked body builders. they were so obnoxious that the gym membership dropped and the gym eventually closed.

running a business for meatheads is not always a good business model.

one gym in CA i trained at had an area that was cgaed off where a lot of the meatheads trained. It was pretty fitting. I think that was a pretty good model, but you need a big space. [/quote]

lol speaking about drugs, I actually saw 2 bodybuilders in my gym talking about their suppliers and how the suppliers were untrustworthy or something along that line. They were speaking softly to each other but obviously werent very secretive since I was only like 2m away .

Anyway, I actually thought it was cool. U rarely hear about such things in my country.

34

mfw I lift for 6.50 a month at an oly gym and train with a Strong Man competitor for free…

35

I made my own gym at the end of my garden. Spent £350 on 230kg worth of weight. Took scaffold tubes from work and made a squat rack that can hold upto 1000kg. Already have a bench. Took a longer scaffold tube for pull ups. It’s not ideal, but I’m not a people person and much rather lift at home.

36

If anyone is visiting Georgia, and looking for a great gym near Atlanta, there is one in Acworth. Stack’s Gym is the best around. Nothing fancy. Guys that lift real weights. No contracts. Pay by the day if you wish. Powerlifters and some wrestlers(pro) use that place. It is northwest of Atlanta. None of the hard-sell attitude, none of the douchebaggery that goes with big commercial gyms. Everyone is approachable. The place used to be a warehouse or large garage, but the family has been in business for a long time. You can google the name, and can find anything you want about the place. If I were to use a commercial gym, it would be Stack’s.

37

American-iron.com in Reno, Nv or in the midwest MonsterGarageGym.com/ I feel your pain as I am in a situation where our " Athletic club" was sold to the owner of a 4star Spa. So you see where this is going,
down the shitter. I dont even lift massive weights but I put everything into my Max effort days like tate, wendler or wenning would and have been asked on Multiple occasions to quiet down because others are trying
to “workout”. Damn fucktards, when was the last time they actually picked up a damn dumbell for shits sake?

So thanks for the vent and it takes ALOT of scrounging to find those hidden gems like I have listed and they
are REASONABLE and clean and filled with the TESTOSTERONE that is missing in so many places that are build for people living so far south of VAG !

Keep up the fight my brother in Iron and do not give up give in nor QUIT…ever !!!
the killerDIRK

38

i agree with the OP.
when i get out of the army (3yrs or longer if i decide to reenlist) i plan to build a small steel building and put some decent equipment in there. no treadmills, no bullshit lunk alarms. squat racks, heavy dbs, dip bars, pull up bars yada yada.
i wont do it to make money, ill mainly use it with the exception of a few friends.

oh and i wont ban chalk either… fcuking 24hr fitness…

39

Crossfit gyms generally have just some olympic bars and a bunch of weights. since they’re not concerned with what the general public considers “bodybuilding,” they usually dont have a single machine except for maybe a leg press.

I love the crossfit gym i occassionaly go to. They dont mind that I dont actually do crossfit, we have a mutual respect for each other because we’re all about free weights. They also have olympic rings, which I like doing dips and pullups with, and they have a sweet prowler sled too.