A must pre-IHRSA read! Check out this compelling article as industry leader Darren Jacobson of Virgin Active talks about the future of fitness in tough economic times. See the opportunities to explore new revenue streams and augment non-dues revenue by large scale integration of high impact, low cost and low maintenance equipment coupled with strong programming and educational support.
As we move through 2009 and the challenges associated, the fitness industry, being the sacred space in many people’s lives, needs to step up to survive. If you do not show the value in your offerings, your current members will look elsewhere. If his or her perception of their gym membership is just a contract, a piece of paper, and there is no lifestyle shift or compliance, routine or adherence then what value does it add? Why waste money? It is my firm belief that attrition of members and clients is a direct result of the value proposition, by this I mean that people will only cancel their personal training sessions, their gym memberships and wellness coaching sessions if they do not see the value in these entities. To stay abreast of fitness trends and to show value for money in your offering is demanded nowadays from more educated consumers who are tight with their hard earned dollars. If you stagnate you become extinct. To be competitive as a facility you need to look at the activities that show the best value to your members and offers your fitness professionals and personal trainers the opportunity to put their best foot forward and display their willingness to move and shape with the times, this will in turn reflect on the facility as a forward thinking and progressive entity.
We have successfully disconnected the industry!…..much of the equipment we see in health clubs, and the default for many start-ups is the isolated, non-functional, artificial load, artificial stabilisation type pieces, in short the bicep curl, leg extension, shoulder press machines and more.
The industry leaders and fitness organisations have touted new age training, integrating vs isolation, functionality vs formality, while many facilities are paying this lip service, few are moving with this wave at a rate that the consumer demands. Could it be that the new wave of integrated functional fitness equipment is too costly, definitely not, in fact most of these modalities are a fraction of the price of a piece of selectorised equipment…so where is the stumbling block? I believe it is through a level of complacency and ignorance from many decision makers both at a management and procurement level, that watch new trends come and go and allocate minimal space to really afford this new style of training a fighting chance to catch on. They default back to the comfort zones of selectorised pieces safe in the ignorance of their member base…. Not for long though, our members are more demanding and more informed then ever, they want to see the value in their investing in a membership, and they want to feel their membership evolving…..the time to act is now.
Do a quick check on your equipment vs member profile and you will quickly note that you have as a guestimate 20% bodybuilders in your facility and 85% of your full equipment spec is from the Arnold days! Point is that like many industries the fitness industry needs to evolve with the times. Gone are the days of steroid junky personal trainers prowling the floor looking for prey, our new age fitness professionals are coming off courses talking the functional lingo, speaking tri-planer movement patterns and then entering health clubs loaded with an artillery of new exercises and movement patterns, only to fall back into the old ways when they enter the many chains that flood their training space with high cost selectorised pieces. For streetwise health clubs and start-up’s this is a massive opportunity for you to introduce products that actually work to improve you members lives as opposed to segmenting and compartmentalising muscle groups with no carryover to daily activities.
It is a must nowadays that products such as TRX, Vipr, Kinesis and others are the logical choice. As a chain of multi-purpose facilities within South Africa with 89 clubs and 520 000 members we must gear our offerings to the needs and desires of the members, not towards the biases of the management or procurement teams. To survive we must move with the industry and gear our facilities towards that connection of all components to impact on the member experience. The TRX for me is a logical and demanded addition to our facility, low cost, high return it not only looks great but attacks the new wave of fitness with aggression, backed by clear training progressions and excellent support it is a no brainer for our facilities. The attraction for me in this product is that the human body is the driver, not some fixed plane of motion or artificial load. The challenges are gravity, lever length, body position and movement patterns… suspension training is here to stay. The smallest of movement patterns can have the greatest follow through and get the best returns, our members and clients want to move better, want to feel better and want to stay young, not necessarily in looks but in mobility.
The bottom line in most businesses is the driver, without money in the bank your facility will be nothing more then a charity, but the way in which one makes this money must be determined by the vision of the business and the sound, sensible and structured approach to both your basic member offering and your additional paid for add-on’s. An opportunity exists for you to generate additional revenue streams through these new age functional fitness activities like TRX. Lets stop paying lip service to, and start bringing in these integrated activities. The member experience will drive the bottom line, and to impact on this experience means to satisfy the member needs and desires through innovation and forward thinking.
Many of the successful clubs and chains have their finger on the changing pulse of the industry and are not afraid to invest in new products and activities that will work to the advantage of their member. Low cost, low maintenance pieces such as TRX and the like will become the standard spec of the health clubs into the future, as much of the costs involved in health club operation relate to equipment spend and preventative maintenance, The time has come for health clubs to start working for the members as opposed to on the members. The hard sell will make way for the logical choice, and the masses will continue to move through our clubs. The health club is the third place in people’s lives, beyond home and work it is a sacred space where people can unwind from the stresses and strains of their daily lives and work to better themselves… clearly we have a huge role to play.
Darren Jacobson is the innovator of the franchise personal training concept for Virgin Active South Africa, where he manages over 780 personal trainers in 89 health clubs. He holds a bachelors degree in human movement science and is a featured writer for numerous industry publications. In addition, Darren sits on the IDEA Personal Training Committee and has presented at fitness conventions across South Africa, Canada and the USA. Darren can be contacted at darren.jacobson@virginactive.co.za