HOW TO: MAINTAIN YOUR FITNESS ROOM ON A BUDGET
Has your budget taken a hit? How can you maintain a high-quality fitness amenity without breaking the bank? Learn about where to save, where to spend, and other practical steps you can take.
In these unprecedented times that we’re facing, many budgets have taken a hit. You want to be able to provide the same high-quality services and amenities to your customers that you have in the past but current economics make that difficult. With the right approach and careful analysis, you can maintain a high-quality fitness center on a budget. Here are some tips:
MAINTENANCE!
The primary way that you can continue to provide a high-quality fitness amenity is by keeping it high quality with proper maintenance.
Wipe everything down regularly. Even if your fitness center is currently closed, do not neglect vacuuming and dusting. When dust and dirt make their way inside the machines, they will drastically increase friction on belts and chains, causing them to break down faster. Keeping your fitness center clean can help to prevent buildup inside of your machines.
One of the more destructive elements that you should be mindful of is sweat. Cleaning the ramps of your elliptical, around and under the belt of your treadmill (carefully!), and any area where sweat collects will go a long ways towards extending the life of your machines.
Rotate your equipment. Studies have shown that every fitness center seems to have a "sweet spot” that exercisers tend to gravitate toward. This means that you will likely have one treadmill with substantially more miles than the rest. Or an elliptical that needs a new belt when the rest of your ellipticals have minimal use. If you regularly rotate your equipment, you will even out the usage and extend the life of all of your equipment. (Note: Most fitness equipment is extremely heavy. If you ask your employees to rotate your equipment, make sure that they are physically capable and understand how to do so safely.)
Have you been closed for a while? Ensure that all of your equipment is completely dust-free before you let your customers back into the fitness center. This includes removing covers from your ellipticals and bikes to clean anything that has built up on belts and chains. You will also want to clean under your treadmill belt.
If you’re not sure how to perform this maintenance effectively, give us a call or request a preventative maintenance visit here. We can do a one-time deep clean or recommend a regular maintenance schedule.
But, eventually, things will wear out. How should you proceed? Ask yourself a couple of questions.
DO I ACTUALLY NEED THIS PIECE OF EQUIPMENT?
We find that many of the facilities we work with have more equipment than they need. Today’s fitness trends are often best facilitated by open space for body and free weight exercises. For instance, what if you have a chest press that is in dire straits? You might not need to replace it. Do you have a multi-purpose unit like a functional trainer? Or heavy enough free weights? These can easily replace your need for selectorized units depending on the demographics of your customers.
A big key to maintaining a great fitness offering while reducing the amount of equipment you have in your space is providing direction. Great looking wall charts that demonstrate how an FTS Glide can be used to perform flys or the proper mechanics of a dumbbell overhead press make all the difference.
There are many factors to consider. We provide complimentary space planning and long term replacement recommendations. We’re here to help you decide if something should be replaced or eliminated based on the demographics of your customers. Let us know if you need assistance.
What about those pieces you know you need?
SHOULD I REPAIR OR REPLACE?
Does your elliptical have a strange knock? Is your treadmill belt slipping? Maybe the handle is broken on a piece of strength equipment that you need to keep. An important question comes into play: should you repair the piece or replace it?
We would love to be able to write an exhaustive list of circumstances and recommendations… But it would be impossible! We can’t cover all of the scenarios and diagnose your equipment with a blog post. Our service technicians are trained to make recommendations for when to repair and when to replace. We won’t recommend you replace a treadmill that needs a simple repair when it has years of life in it. And we won’t recommend an expensive repair on a unit that is on its last leg. Our sales and service teams work together seamlessly to recommend the best value for your business. Contact our team here.
CHOOSE THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT
When it comes time to spend your precious dollars on replacing a piece of equipment, how do you choose? It’s easy to want to run out and buy the cheapest, flashiest piece of equipment that you can find. Please don’t. Choose the equipment that is right for your demographic, your usage rates, and the lowest-cost-in-use.
What does lowest-cost-in-use really mean? When you add up the initial purchase price and repair costs over the life of the equipment, you have your cost-in-use.
It doesn’t save you any money to buy a piece of equipment that will need constant repair. We don’t believe in making those kinds of recommendations.
We have options for every scenario. If your facility is low-use, we might recommend a high-quality refurbished piece of equipment. Or if your equipment is really going to take a beating, we will provide you with a piece of equipment that can stand up to the impact.
One of the brands that we recommend most often is Precor. Precor has a reputation for excellent customer service (think warranty claims) and lowest-cost-in-use equipment. We have worked with them for more than 20 years, handling any repairs and warranty claims for our customers. We can say with absolute confidence that their equipment is an exceptional value. Precor has created equipment lines based on expected usage. When you have the right line of equipment, you don’t pay for more than you need and can rest assured that equipment will hold up to years of use in your facility. Precor also puts tremendous effort into designing their equipment to be the best user experience possible. Your customers will thank you for a great workout.
Our customers keep coming back to us year after year. Why? Because we carefully analyze their unique situation and made recommendations to bring the greatest value to their facility. Their equipment stands the test of time and requires minimal repairs. Their customers are happy because they are getting a great workout. And their return on investment adds to the success of their business. Let us add to your success with recommendations for an equipment purchase you can have confidence in.
We believe in being your partner, supporting your bottom dollar and your reputation. Let’s start working together on a fitness amenity that fits your budget today.
EQUIPMENT SPOTLIGHT: Escape TIYR Sport
Have you heard about the new TIYR Sport from Escape? Learn all about this awesome new product here.
“A tire represents movement. For you to move your vehicle, a tire lets you do that. It represents progress,” explains entrepreneur, Amen Iseghohi. His family history and childhood inspired him to develop a whole ethos that’s led to an exciting new partnership with Escape.
This is the TIYR Sport. Using his experience with the product expertise of Escape, they’ve added the features – colors, straps, better materials – to provide a more varied, versatile and safe training tool. Amen knows the benefits of the TIYR Sport better than anyone, through testing for over six months with clients. Now your members can discover them, too.
Amen continues: “I use fitness as a vehicle for self empowerment. The truth is: you have to be willing to fail. It’s humbling. That’s how you learn and that’s how you grow.”
With hundreds of combinations for warm-ups, stretches, HIIT workouts, strength training, and sport-specific fitness, the TIYR Sport is the ideal new fitness focus to empower members, helping gym-goers and clients of any ability to better their bodies and minds.
Could you use the TIYR Sport in your facility? We’d love to consult with you, examine your goals and space and budget, and see if this is the solution for you! See the form at the bottom of this page to get started.
How Can I Create Experience and Build Community?
How can you build community in your apartment facility?
How do you change an apartment complex from a facility, into a home? The simple answer: Build community and create experiences for your residents. That feeling of homeyness is something everyone desires in a residence.
“Without social interactions, an apartment is only a place to exist for a portion of the day. But with meaningful experiences and lasting friendship, it becomes a home.”
But what does that have to do with your fitness center?
Building community means bringing residents together and giving them meaningful experiences outside their apartment walls. Your fitness offering can have the power to do these things and beyond - with the right tools.
We partner with brands that bring you industry leading technology, management, and programming so that it engages your residents and strengthens the feeling of community. Pull your residents out of their apartments and into your fitness center to enjoy the offering. The following are some of the tools we love to use to bring in residents to create genuine experiences and build community.
What Is It?
Wellbeats is an on-demand fitness provider that delivers fitness classes, workout plans, and fitness assessments to users anytime, anywhere.
How Does It Work?
You have a choice of anywhere from a 22” to a 70” touch screen. You install the screen in your fitness room in a more open space, with a couple accessories nearby. Then your residents can walk up at any time and benefit from one of the 450+ Classes, 12+ Workout Plans, or even 3 Fitness Tests! Additionally, group training classes are available, which means residents can mingle in a group training session. With regularly refreshed content, there will always be new classes to choose from!
What if you set up and advertised a Wellbeats class every week at 5 PM? This is a great way to motivate and bring your residents together. This makes Wellbeats a highly effective tool for building community.
What Is It?
In an industry where technology is gaining traction, networked fitness is becoming a must, something residents will look for when searching for their new home. More people coming to your fitness center means more people gathering in a common space, meeting their neighbor and their neighbor’s neighbor!
How Does It Work?
All Precor Cardio with P62 and P82 networked consoles gain access to a whole new fitness experience and offering. Powered by the Preva network, operators can monitor their equipment, communicate with exercisers, and personalize exerciser experience with innovative features, like RunTV.
One great feature is in-workout messaging. Have a social event planned in your community center? Advertise it in an in-workout message! It will pop up on your resident’s screen as they’re working out. If they didn’t know about it before, they know about it now!
Technology has transformed engagement. By including networked fitness in your offering, you’re attracting residents to increase usage of the fitness room, maximize your investment, create new and unique experiences, and build a sense of community and connectedness.
What Is It?
Modernized fitness moves now shies away from the crowdedness of too much selectorized strength equipment and favors a more open floor plan. Providing open spaces for stretching and functional training is the way to accomplish this.
Including open spaces encourages gathering. A couple people will be stretching at the same time and strike up a conversation. A few in the building decide to exercise in a HIIT circuit using functional accessories. Create a space that promotes fitness as a social activity.
We are experts at building a space for your unique needs and goals. We know how to create a space ideal for strengthening a sense of community and engaging your members. We’d love the opportunity to hear from you and start a conversation about your goals! Ready to get started? Fill out the form and see our solutions at commfitness.com/multifamily.
Does Flooring Matter?
As the most used piece of equipment, flooring should be high in priority, as well as quality! Explore the importance of flooring and how to make the best choice.
Would you say that fitness equipment matters in a fitness center? The two go together; fitness equipment = fitness center. To function properly, a successful fitness center must have well-chosen equipment. Interestingly, there is one piece of equipment that every gym goer uses every time: the flooring. With athletes spending more time on the floor performing functional training movements, the floor really becomes another piece of equipment in your gym.
The flooring of your facility's fitness center must be safe, properly durable, ergonomically sound, and have the right acoustic design. We partner with Ecore Athletic flooring because we’ve seen how their flooring meets all these requirements, and then some.
Essentials to successful flooring in a fitness center:
1.) Safety
Your fitness center should be safe for your exercisers. If your floor performs poorly, it increases risk of injury, which is the last thing you would want to happen in your facility.
Should one fall, Ecore is designed to minimize risk of injury and keep joints, muscles, and bones safer during repetitive workouts. It uses recycled rubber composite to mitigate both immediate and long-term problems.
2.) Ergonomics
Ergonomics have to do with the intricate balance between energy absorption and energy restitution, or “give-back.” Ecore has successfully struck this balance. Ecore Athletic has designed their flooring to diminish fatigue, minimize discomfort, and maximize performance. The ergonomic design of Ecore athletic flooring supports your exercisers’ muscles and joints, to sustain their passion for your fitness center. Keep your exercisers healthy and coming back!
3.) Acoustics and Sound Reduction
Acoustics are extremely important in specific environments (multifamily facilities, hotels), but in every fitness space, the feel of the room and the quality of the workout is dependent on acoustics.
Ecore athletic flooring is firm, yet energy and sound absorbing. On top of checking all physical requirements, it meets the acoustic needs of a successful flooring.
How to choose the right flooring for YOUR space:
This has to do with the balance between force reduction and energy restitution. Force reduction is the amount energy the surface absorbs, whereas energy restitution is the amount of energy the surface “gives-back.”
This infographic gives an example to help explain force reduction vs. energy restitution:
For successful flooring, you’ll need the right balance between safety (which increases with force reduction), and performance and durability (which increase with energy restitution). The “perfect” balance between the two depends on what your facility’s specific goals are. For example, if your facility will have a lot of dropped weights, you’ll want a flooring with a higher durability that can withstand the pressure of repeated heavy impact; however it needs to absorb the sound and the impact of the weights without risking injury to the exerciser. For a mixed or multipurpose space, an almost equal balance between the two would be ideal.
We’re here to help you wade through all this technical mumbo jumbo. We’re all about finding you solutions that meet all your facility’s fitness needs and goals; which is another reason why we partner with Ecore. With so many flooring options, there is a flooring solution for any need you may have. Looking for flooring for your high traffic areas? Low-impact fitness? Slip-resistance for locker rooms or showers? Ecore athletic has a flooring solution for these specific circumstances and many more.
We can help in directing you to the flooring that provides the solution you need. Contact us and we can get started on meeting your goals for your facility and help find you a flooring to exceed your expectations!
Addressing the Trends: HIIT Zones
What is HIIT? Why and how should you incorporate it in your fitness center?
What and Why?
If you’re involved in the fitness industry, there’s a high likelihood that you have heard of High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). HIIT is essentially a training method that involves pushing the body to its workout limits for a short period of time (ex. 30 seconds), followed by a brief period of rest, then repeated over another short period of time (ex. 15 mins). These workouts are a huge trend in the fitness industry among fitness experts, gym members, and gym owners, because they’re awesome--and here’s why:
Time-Saver
The allure of a 15-minute workout as opposed to a half hour to an hour work out doesn’t take much explaining. We live busy lives, but we want to prioritize our health and fitness. HIIT allows for the best of both worlds.
Space-Saver
Workout spaces that are more open are ideal for HIIT because they do not require equipment that waste space, and you need room to move around at high-intensity. If space is an issue in your fitness center, HIIT helps with that!
It Brings Real Results!
Note what was revealed in this research study about the effectiveness of HIIT.
“The major goals of most endurance exercise programs are to improve cardiovascular, metabolic, and skeletal muscle function in the body. For years continuous aerobic exercise has been the chosen method to achieve these goals. However, research shows that HIIT leads to similar and in some cases better improvements in shorter periods of time with some physiological markers.”
-Micah Zuhl, Ph.D. and Len Kravitz, Ph.D.
Increased Attraction and Retention
Keeping your gym space new, attractive, and engaging is essential for retaining guests, members, etc. The ingenuity of HIIT workouts is a magnet for attracting and keeping hold of a larger demographic.
How?
Because of the success of this form of training, businesses will benefit from including designated spaces for HIIT, or “HIIT Zones,” in their fitness centers. Now here’s the important question for managers: How can I incorporate zones for HIIT workouts in my fitness center successfully?
Open Space
It’s important that you provide ample space for HIIT in your fitness center, thus “HIIT zones.” Have your HIIT Zones be free of clutter and have HIIT-specific equipment, described in the next subheading.
HIIT Equipment
To make your HIIT Zone a real “hit,” you should include equipment designed for HIIT workouts. The AirBike Assault and AirRunner are fabulous examples of large HIIT equipment. Going even bigger (yet still space-efficient), the Queenax functional trainer is another great option for HIIT. Queenax units allow for open space and functional storage. The many accessories you can couple with the Queenax are ideal for HIIT workouts.
To learn more about Queenax, check out this article.
Finally, and most importantly:
Consult with CFE!
We know how fully utilize a space and make it exactly what you want. Please see the form at the bottom of this page to request a consultation with us. We can talk about your vision and goals for a fitness center and how we will make it happen. We’re excited to work with you!
FOR LEASING AGENTS: HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR FITNESS ROOM
How can leasing agents make the most of their fitness amenity with potential residents?
FOR LEASING AGENTS: HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR FITNESS ROOM
If you’re a leasing agent, you recognize the value of community amenities. According to the 2017 NMHC/Kingsley Apartment Renter Preferences Report one of the top 5 reasons people move to another property is: community amenities. How can you capture the most interest in your amenities?
Well, just how important is your fitness amenity?
If you have a fitness center designed and outfitted by Commercial Fitness Equipment, then you have a great tool at your disposal to win new residents. We design each fitness center (and subsequent updates) with your goal demographics in mind. That means that once your potential residents are scheduled for a tour, you’ve got a lot to work with. The purpose of this post is to assist you, as leasing agents, to make the most of your fitness center amenity to bring in new residents.
In this article we’re going to focus on 2 keys that take a leasing agent, you, from good to great!
Take Time to Listen
The Personal Touch
How can these keys be applied to your fitness amenity? Let's get started.
TAKE TIME TO LISTEN
The very first step in providing a great tour is getting to know your potential residents.
www.apartment-marketing.com “Ask genuine questions to find out what they are looking for and what they need. The more you understand the prospect, the easier it is to present your community as the answer and solution.”
Here’s an easy one to start with:
How important is a fitness amenity to you?
Stop and take the time to listen. Even after they’ve answered, give it a few seconds, maybe they’ll tell you more. Follow up their answer with a “Why?” or even a “Really?” when it’s appropriate. Listen carefully to their desires and concerns.
Are they young? Perhaps they would be excited by your HIIT(high-intensity-interval-training) zone? Or your functional training items?
Are they older? Is the low step-up height of your Precor treadmill helpful? Or your Prism accessory tower with self-guided workouts?
Do they like watching television while they workout? Listening to music? Working out with a friend?
Showing a genuine interest will allow you to see what aspects of your property to feature to give the tour The Personal Touch.
THE PERSONAL TOUCH
How do you view your potential residents? Are they numbers on your next report or individuals seeking a comfortable place to call home? It’s easy to get caught up in the bottom line, but when you focus on the needs of individuals, you are going to have the most success not only winning new residents but retaining them.
Propertymanagerinsider.com “The greatest leasing consultants in the world are different because they seek to understand the customer’s wants, needs, and goals. They truly believe their product and service will help the customer. Solving the customer’s problem becomes their #1 priority. The entire business feels the positive impact of their unselfish goals.”
What products in your fitness room will help your customers? Use what you’ve learned about them to decide what to feature.
Do you have Precor networked cardio in your fitness center? If so, make sure that you have a Preva account. When you’re giving a tour you can simply use your phone to login. Show them how you’re automatically logged in to your Netflix, Hulu, ESPN, etc. and how you have access to all of your saved workouts and goals. Offer to help them download the Preva app and set-up a free account right on the spot.
How about Wellbeats virtual fitness classes? Show them how to look up their favorite kind of workout. Offer them a free one-year subscription to the classes when they sign up for a lease so they can workout in their own apartment.
Is the Expresso GO bike in your fleet of cardio equipment? Let them see all of the different workouts available such as HIIT games (chasing the dragons is one of our favorites), on-demand indoor cycling and racing your own best time. Plus, they can compete with others and show off their skills on social media.
Do they like working out with a friend? If your fitness center is large enough then we’ve probably set you up with 2’s for this very reason. Do you have 2 spin bikes together? 2 treadmills? Remind them how great it will be to have their buddy with them to motivate and provide support (If their friend isn’t already a resident, perhaps you can mention your referral incentive program).
Don’t forget to give them some quiet time. Let them wander around the fitness center if they want to. Don’t bombard them with words, but be available to answer questions. Allow them to picture the benefits of calling your property home. Help them to feel good about your property.
And finally, don’t forget to continue to remind them how they felt on their tour. Follow-up with specific items that you know they were excited about.
www.multihousingnews.com “Final steps to speak to your new lead include a final push roughly five to seven days after the initial point of contact. This could include a new promotion, personal invitation to an upcoming social event or highlighting upgrades to amenities that differentiate your community from the competition. In bringing the conversation back full circle, you complete the initial follow-up with points of self-interest, demonstrating both strong communication and listening skills that reflect positively upon your community.”
FINAL TIPS
Keep listening to your residents. When you leave the lines of communication open with patience and good customer service your residents will feel at home and happy. This will allow you to find those holes in your offering that you may need to fill to continue earning their business.
Plus, when your residents are happy they will help you to keep bringing in new residents.
Use your Precor networked cardio: Incentivize your residents to review your property on social media. Advertise events so they feel the benefits of being a part of a community. Encourage them to bring a friend to the fitness center with referral incentives.
We’d love to assist you in in getting these messages out to your residents.
We know you’ve got a great team. We’d love to support you in making the most of your fitness room. That might mean an update to ensure your fitness center is adding value to your property. It might be as simple as creating a document for you that gives you ideas on what to highlight during your tours.
We are ready to do what we can to assist your property to succeed. Contact us today!
EDUCATION: RIGS VS RACKS
This post is all about the differences, benefits, and limitations of rigs and racks.
RIGS VS RACKS
Fitness trends are changing. Have you noticed how much functional fitness has grown in popularity over the last 10 years? This, and the tendency towards training general population students like athletes, have changed the needs of a school weight room. Since most schools don’t have an opportunity to do a major update on their weight room more often than every 10-15 years, it’s important to make the right decision... You’ll be living with it for quite a while. This post is all about educating you on the differences, benefits, and limitations of rigs and racks.
What is a rig?
Rigs are so versatile they are difficult to define. For the purpose of our discussion today we will define a rig as a versatile frame with the ability to reconfigure your “stations” to your needs of the day. It can be anywhere from 4’ all the way 24’ and beyond. It can be just about any shape you want with almost any type of station you want. We will assume you would be wanting your rig with as many lifting stations as possible.
Here are some examples of rigs:
What is a rack?
We’re talking half racks, power racks, and ¾ racks. They can be “doubled” back to back, they can be annexed with storage and there are even a few accessories that can be added. Often you can expect to get not only a lifting station but also a pull-up station.
Pros of Rigs
Rigs are a great solution to getting the maximum amount of users in a tight space while providing a way to transition to other modalities. What does that really mean? Versatility. You could have a tiny 4’ wall-mounted rig, you could have a 24’ self-standing rig in the middle of your space or anything in between.
This means that you can tailor your rig to your training style and the number of students you want to train simultaneously. One option we love is a 6’ by 24’ rig. A setup like that means that you can have 6 lifting stations that you can monitor by walking down the center of the rig.
When you’re not doing lifts you have an unending amount of stations you can set-up such as dips, glute/ham, pull-ups, TRX, ball targets, battle ropes, etc. Maybe you even want to have turf down the center so that your students can be pulling a sled in the protected space in the center of the rig while other stations on both sides of the rig are being utilized.
All of this versatility adds up to space-saving. Training more students in the same amount of space.
Another benefit of rigs is they tend to be budget-friendly. For example, it is about 30% less to get a rig with 6 lifting stations than 6 free-standing half racks.
Cons of Rigs
While rigs can be configured to fit the needs of powerlifting and/or sports specific training they tend to put athletes closer together and not provide as much privacy as a power rack can. This makes monitoring even more important.
Rigs tend to be really basic in style, you could even describe them as raw. This may or may not fit with your vision for the room. The style and “feel” of the room need to be considered.
Another difficulty with rigs is that they need to be bolted to the ground. This requires certain conditions and sometimes it’s just not possible to do that. Rigs also tend to be tall and require a taller ceiling height. Plate storage can also be less functional and more cumbersome depending on the setup you select.
And then there’s the issue of space. Rigs are hugely space-saving but if you really have only a very small amount of space to work with, you may not be able to get a rig in that really adds to the value of your space.
Pros of Racks
Racks have been the go-to item for weight rooms for years. Power racks and half racks are fairly specific to the needs of the coach and the athletes performing the exercise.
If you’re doing Olympic lifts they are the gold standard. They provide adequate space to provide lifters with a safe, controllable environment. Collegiate athletics are going to lean towards a rack because they are more accommodating with power-lifting, better for moving a lot of heavy weight, and for linear strength programming. Plate storage is easy to access and efficient.
Plus a robust rack is going to look strong, it’s going to create a substantial feel in your weight room.
Cons of Racks
The biggest con on racks is that they are just not as versatile as a rig. You have a very limited movement plane to work with. When using a rack you know the lifts you can do and there’s not much of an opportunity to go outside of that.
They are not going to give you the same access to versatile dynamic/functional movements as a rig. The accessories and attachments that you can use on a rack are very limited. When putting multiple racks in a room you have the potential for a lot of “dead space” that would be utilized if it were a rig.
What should I use?
By now you might know exactly which option you lean towards. We feel these factors are the big 3:
Training Style: Are you performing just Olympic movements or are you wanting to provide more functional training like suspension training and room for dynamic movements?
Amount of students you want to train: Are you working with a small group(or with multiple coaches) that you can monitor easily or do you need to be able to monitor more students in the program simultaneously?
Budget: Do you have space and dollars to spread out or do you need to keep it really efficient?
Honestly, there are even more factors to consider than what we have mentioned in this article. For instance, when you add in the right flooring you can have the equivalent of lifting platforms in every square inch of your space. Is that beneficial for your space? That is exactly why we don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all approach to fitness room design.
We’d like to get to know your training style, your team, and your space so that we can help you to consider all the factors and assist you in building a facility for your students and athletes that will serve your needs for years to come. Get started on your project here.