Quote:
Originally posted by StephenSa
First there would be no long-term contracts, just month to month with either a minimal or no sign up fee. I'd probably charge $30 to $40 a month. I'd use primarily Hammer Strength for machines and have plenty of free weights and benches available. For cardio I'd have a few bikes, both spin and the tradional style, maybe a treadmill or two. There would be a protein smoothie bar and a lounge area with fitness magazines and reference books. Maybe a tv in the lounge area with the Fitness channel on it or fitness DVDs. No tvs in the work-out area, just iron, steel, and rock and roll. I'd sell a few supplements, just the basics at a fair price. Shower rooms would have separate stalls with towels available at the front desk for a small fee. Trainers would be on-staff and everyone that joined would get one training session free to familarize them with the eqiuipment. There would be no step/aerobic/cardio classes. I have no prob with these classes but my gym would be slanted more toward bodybuilding and I could save $ by not needing all the extra space. Thats pretty much it, simple but effective.
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Hah. You've precisely described the gym I belong to (except for the stall showers). It's a World Gym owned by a former bodybuilding champ, and he designed a high-quality no-nonsense facility for people who are serious about their workouts. It works pretty well. Clientele is split fairly evenly between people who are primarily lifters and people who are primarily cardio (although the place is heavier on treadmills and lighter on spinbikes than your model). It's a good place; there are usually a lot of people around, but it never feels crowded. There's enough of everything.
High quality machines -- yes, primarily Hammer, but a lot of custom-made stuff as well, inluding squat cages and platforms, a big pulley cage with six stacks, and so on.
Personally, I wouldn't change much except to make the lounge area a little bigger (It's really just some seats around the smoothie bar and a TV set. Maybe also make the locker rooms a little bigger.
One thing about payment; they don't have contracts and charge about what you say, but they do the checking-account deduction thing for monthly dues. They were spending too much time bugging people about keeping current on their dues, and they just gave up and made deductions mandatory. Personally, I pay by the year because I don't like other people in my checking account, and you get a discount anyway for paying up front.