Ok t-peeps i am calling on you all for some help i am interested in working in the sports field and am probablly going to be going into personall training and diet advice with the long term goal of opening my own training centre what i am interested in knowing is what would your ideal traing centre be regarding design / equipment / services offered / testing parameters etc please all chip in on this one, thanx !!!
Here’s my view of an ideal training center (which I’ll open myself in a few years): (1) No continuous membership drives. There’s only one membership price. There’s only so many members, and when it’s full, you go on a waiting list. Pay your dues by the 8th on the month or you forfeit your membership to the next person on the waiting list. (2) You don’t pay by the hour for trainers. They are there for you to use or not (and they are both certified AND knowledeable), it doesn’t affect your payment. (3) Lots of freeweights and lifting cages and platforms. And lots of SPACE. (4) Simple rules – you abuse the equipment or people, including other members, you’re gone, no refunds, no second chances, no coming back.(5) No music over the speaker system. If you want music, bring your own ON HEADPHONES ONLY.
I’ve been thinking on this one myself for some time now. I don’t think I’d have any problem filling the roster.
brider mine would be somewhat alike i think, only that i would open it a small group or idividual at one time no one else just for serious athletes and idividuals that want to train hard and not have a gossip round the water fountain.
I hate to post this, but I must. If you are in any shape or form a capatalist you will lend creedance to what advice I have to offer. Do not open a gym catering to plate heads! sorry, but it is the aweful truth. When you look at the upper realms of financial stability in this world it is not a income bracket full of meaty weightlifters. If you want to open a gym for self-fullfillment then by all means do a no-holds-barred free weight only facility with 50 sqaut racks and dead lift platforms for miles(the way an “ideal” gym should be) but if you want money, as I speculate you do, open a fitness center, and just make room to accomodate those true to the sport.
Gotta give Robusto the props for that post. Yeah, when I open my facility, it won’t be for the purposes of making money. Basically, if it pays for itself, I’d be elated. But it is, however, my vision of an “ideal” facility.
The gym where i´m training have two areas, one for the generalfitness and one for the power- and weigtlifters. Of course you are allowed to use all of the ekvipment but most people are in their right place so to speak.
Something to consider if you are opening a own place someday, make the money on fitnessstuff so that you can have a real gym at the side.
Gotta go with rubusto on this one; he really DID hit it on the head. Soccor Moms, College Aged Women, and Middle Aged professional men and women with disposable income are where the money is made. It’s not made with teenage and college aged males or MuscleHeads; the “HardCore” if you may. That’s a buisness fact. Might I add that Americans (our international friends can chime in about their countries) are very selfish and “entitlement” driven; they want it their way, they want it YESTERDAY, and if I’m payin’ my money, DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO! When we discuss all the bizarre things we see allowed in our Gyms, I think the managers are just responding to the credo “The cusomer is always right”…(which we ALL know is far from the truth!) But "it’s buisness…
My ideal gym would be similar to how I see the Bio-test manufacturing facility… a very functional training center…hoisting 45 gal drums of Andro… using surge in my chalk bag… swimming agains the current in the nandro tank… And the JUICE BAR!!..don’t get me started!
great stuff so far guys keep it coming and i think that you nailed it on the head robusto i am in it for the money and i realise that if it panders more to the trendy i use pink dumbells and i claim to work out brigade i woul;d make more but it is my dream to open a training facility for dedicated professional amature athletes and such as soccer players ,football players, hockey players, sprinters, martial artists, track and field athletes, any one who wants results but i don’t want this to be open to joe public just for the dedicated athletes that is my dream and i will achieve it you see at the moment in scotland there is a opening in the market for this kind of thing and that is where i will capatalise, there is a market because over here i would say that 98 % of the strength and conditioning trainers and advisors know shit all about new methods and advances in training and diet. So i would appreciate it if you guys would tellme what it is you would like to see as per the examples in my original post, but thanx for the thought of my capitalist goals ne ways!!!
You should make sure your equipment ‘fits’ short people. I used to go to a gym where I couldn’t get the bars off even the lowest pegs on the bench press, it was a royal pain in the ass when I was alone. As for services, have people who actually train. Sorry, leave the gum popping air heads out of your staff. If they can’t answer intermediate lifting questions they don’t belong in a gym. Just my $0.02
if your talking about trying to make as much $$$$$$$ as posible than alot depends on where you want to open it. you can make money w/ a small almost private gym but you had better be around alot of money so you can charge enough. lets say you have trainers at your place, if the “house” pays for them (500-800wk atleast)and lets say you have 4 trainers and you only have x amount of memberships available, say 100, 20 to 32$ a week from each member will go just to pay for the trainers.or you can do what the gym I go to does, memberships are cheap as hell (about 150.00 a year) you pay for anything extra, and you push yearly memberships (they charge about 125.00 for 6 months and 100 for 3 months) since over 50% of people that buy yearly memberships stop going after 3 months all you have to do is keep bringing the newbies in and you will make CASH. and sorry to anyone that hates even seeing these in their gym (myself inc.)you MUST have spin classes, kickbox arobics, ect… to get the house wifes in (they almost always quit after a month or two)good luck