Q&A FBC
UPFRONT» Q&A
If you could improve/change one area within your organization, what would it be and why?
I
f I could add an area to my club, it would be a hot yoga studio. However, we have looked at this option for the past two years and
have decided that it simply won’t work. Hot yoga is a growing trend with
both men and women participating in great numbers. Burlington has at least four yoga-only studios, and a few fit- ness clubs have hot yoga rooms within
their facilities. Many of the studios are charging more than $100 per month for membership to all classes, while an average fitness club membership in Burlington is $50 per month. I have toured several of these hot
yoga rooms to learn what the physi- cal requirements are and how the tem- perature and humidity are monitored. Many yoga instructors that we have interviewed believe that people gravi- tate to these classes due to the sweat- ing that results with limited effort. Some instructors don’t like teaching in the heat but realize that this is where great numbers of people are flocking. To implement a proper hot program,
Kelvin Galbraith
12 Fitness Business Canada May/June 2017
a dedicated space is required. Our club currently has a large studio that we considered using as a multi-purpose room (e.g., for hot yoga, spinning, boot camps etc.). But after much research, we decided against this. It takes hours for the room to reach the required temperature and humidity and hours to return it to the cooler tempera- ture required for spinning and boot camps). Hot yoga room temperatures can run as high as 38 degrees where a cardio class likes it as cold as 16.
We are currently experiencing is-
sues with our current (regular tem- perature )yoga classes that follow a spinning or boot camp class, since one class likes it cold and the other likes it warm. We have had to allow for time between our classes for the room to change temperature. We looked at converting another
area in our club to a yoga studio, but with just 10,000 square feet of gym space it was hard to justify a second studio dedicated to just hot yoga. The expense of the conversion and equip- ment required, in addition to the op- erational cost increases, would require years for us to see a return on the investment. Thus we have decided to remain
with one studio and have added some additional heat sources to keep it warm for yoga classes. Yoga still remains our most popular
program with many classes at capacity, so why change a good thing?
Kelvin Galbraith president The Fitness Firm Inc. Burlington, Ontario
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