In the Beginning: The Body
Like Total Gym, TRX offers pre-choreographed rou- tines—from endurance-centric programming, to strength workouts, to mind/body inspired classes. TRX also seems to be on a trajectory much like Total Gym’s—its offerings are being adopted and utilized enthusiastically, and the company seems poised for a healthy and lengthy run. “As an industry, we’re at the very beginning of the development of this approach to training,” suggests Fraser Quelch, TRX’s director of training and develop- ment. “Given the renewed emphasis on function, it was inevitable that there’d be a rediscovery of movement-based training, which must start with body weight.”
PROGRAM DIFFERENTIATION
At the club level, there’s also a lot going on. One facility that appreciates and has profited from the many positive outcomes that bodyweight training provides is the Gold’s Gym in Davenport, Iowa, a 30,000-square-foot facility with just over 2,500 members. Several years ago, owner Chris Agnew decided that he
wanted to offer members “something unique, something dynamic—something that would be highly effectual for club and client, alike.” The something that he chose was Total Gym-branded equipment and classes. To accommodate his seven new Total Gym machines, Agnew remodeled his club, adding a nearly 1,000-square- foot space—the GRAVITY room. Now, looking back, Agnew admits he has a small regret: “I wish we’d made the room larger so we could accommodate more equip- ment and more users.” The program has been that much of a boon to his business, he explains.
“We’re taking in about $3,000 per month in revenues
from our small-group workouts alone. We’re also doing well as far as personal training revenue is concerned,” he reports. “Overall, the return on our initial investment has been outstanding.”
Gold’s members can take part in hour-long classes, conducted twice a week for five weeks, at a cost of $85. “There are usually 15 sessions per week, and most of the classes are at capacity,” says Dawn Dowsett, the general manager of the GRAVITY offering. “Our clients achieve great results, appreciate the fact that the equipment can be adjusted to suit their individual needs, and love being able to work out in a social, supportive environment. “Honestly, they keep coming back session after session—they refuse to give up their spot.”
PROVIDING CHOICES
At Body Business (BB), which has two locations in the greater Austin, Texas, area—at Anderson Lane and Davenport Village—the story is much the same. Like Agnew, owners Susan and Scott Cooper invested in Total Gym equipment and GRAVITY group programming, but also acquired TRX products and classes. Members can make use of both in their personal train- ing sessions, but the BB schedule also boasts about
52 Club Business Internat ional | FEBRUARY 2012 |
ihrsa.org
GRAVITY GM Dawn Dowsett oversees training
Total Gym at Walnut Creek Sports and Fitness Club, Walnut Creek, California
40 different Total Gym and TRX group workouts per week, each accommodating eight clients. “Half-hour classes run $60 for four sessions, while hour-long workouts average $100 for four,” says Susan Cooper. “Personal training ranges from $60 to $85 per hour.” She estimates that a full 30% of the clubs’ nearly 1,000 members now participate in the group classes. The couple’s reasons for investing in Total Gym and TRX are ones that many in the industry would appreci- ate: “We felt we weren’t engaging as many of our members as we could,” she says. “As a result, we weren’t realizing our full potential in terms of profitability.” Adding Total Gym and TRX products and choreo- graphed workouts to the clubs’ mix, she reveals, produced a 25% increase in personal training revenues, contribut- ing to a 30% profit margin. “As the economy becomes more robust, I expect those figures to increase,” she dis- closes. “Moreover, in the case of each type of equipment, we saw a return on our investment in about six months. “Total Gym and TRX proved very low-risk,” she con- tinues, “and both of them have helped us achieve our aim, which was to reach our untapped clients—for instance, die-hard group fitness devotees who’d never considered personal training, or individuals who, for financial reasons, felt compelled to give up on one-on- one instruction.”
Cooper points out that the clubs’ bodyweight offerings have also had a positive effect on retention. “Because these approaches are so engaging and effective,
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