By now, you’ve figured out the location for your gym and have either signed the lease for the building or bought the space. These tips will help you figure out the kinds of equipment you should choose to outfit your new facility.
Determine gym space limitations
How much total space do you have for your gym’s building?
When starting a gym, remember that a significant amount of space will be taken up by non-equipment areas, including lobbies, offices, bathrooms, utility rooms, and other extra features. If you’re a franchisee, note that your franchiser has set up standards you must follow for how much room these features must take up.
The 2009 IHRSA Health Club Equipment Benchmarking Report notes that fitness-only gyms tend to allocate around 60 per cent of their gym space to strength and cardio equipment, with the remaining 40 per cent of space being used for lockers, personal training areas, food and beverages, and other features.
Choose your equipment mix
Once you know how much room your gym has for fitness equipment, you need to consider what kinds of equipment you are looking to provide in your gym. IHRSA research shows that, of total possible space for gym equipment in fitness-only gyms, the following amounts of space tend to be split up between strength, cardio, and group exercise: about 47 per cent strength equipment, 33 per cent cardio machines, and 20 per cent group exercise.
If you’re franchising, it’s likely that your gym company will give you specific rules on how much room you need to devote to cardio machines, strength training equipment (including both free weights and machines), and functional training or group exercise.
Visualise your gym space
To get an idea of the kinds of Precor equipment you can fill your space with, check out the Precor Space Planner. When entering our Space Planner, choose the option that suits your facility best – national gym if you’re a franchisee, independent gym if you’re starting your own gym from scratch, etc.
Upon selecting the type of gym you’re planning for, we recommend choosing the option to “Create a new plan”, where you can input the approximate dimensions of your gym. You can then browse through all of our options for cardio and strength equipment, discovering potential ways to arrange your gym.
Determine financing or leasing
When it comes to the financial side of things, each gym has its unique needs.
Given your situation, is it better for you to buy your gym’s fitness equipment, or lease it? Leasing equipment offers you the chance to change your fitness equipment every few years, keeping your gym up-to-date with the latest machines on the market. Buying equipment means it’s yours, turning it into an asset that you can later sell if you decide. Also if you decide to buy equipment for your gym, you should figure out whether it’d be better for you to purchase new or used equipment.
There are pros and cons to each option. Speaking with a sales rep and tax advisor will offer you insight on which option may be better for you.
Consider maintenance and warranty
If you’re investing large amounts of money in your gym equipment, you want it to be able to withstand the tests of time and consistent usage.
Alongside deciding whether you should buy or lease equipment, inquire about the maintenance involved and warranties included. Most gym equipment manufacturers offer warranties that cover service technicians and parts replacements.
Decide whether you should network your facility
Offering your gym members a networked cardio workout experience is beneficial not only to them, but also to you as an operator. Having a cloud-based platform that exercisers log on to in order to keep track of their workouts can keep them motivated to hit the gym on a more regular basis, increasing the customer retention of your fitness facility.
Find out how Precor stands apart with our Preva networked fitness technology – enquire below.