IGX

Cave Canem wrote:RBK must be all in on this.

Cave Canem wrote:

We, the CrossFit affiliates and CrossFitters are affecting the fitness economy.I spent many years in large corporation big boxes as a personal trainer, Fitness Director and Club Manager. (Bally's, 24 Hour Fitness, etc) Until recently, and recently being the past 3 years, the big boxes always increased their rates in January. They never offer specials or discounted rates in January.

The arrogance of this statement is astounding. Could @fit get a few of the cost conscious members away from a Bally's, et al ? Probably, but how long would would they last. I think the author has forgotten the explosion in Planet Fatness, Retro Fitness, and other new large franchises that are truly driving the prices down.
A local chain/franchise is not going to drop their prices from $29.95 per month to $19.95 to compete with $150-$200/month @fit.
In a 1.5 ch of highway
here, there is n independent high end commercial gym (that is still $100 cheaper per month than any local @fit), a Synergy, a new Retro Fitness, Bally's, a new Planet Fatness and a @fit. The @fit is doing ok serving the niche market but the parking lots are full at Retro and PF to the detriment of the other gyms.

Brutal Bajan wrote:

Cave Canem wrote:

We, the CrossFit affiliates and CrossFitters are affecting the fitness economy.I spent many years in large corporation big boxes as a personal trainer, Fitness Director and Club Manager. (Bally's, 24 Hour Fitness, etc) Until recently, and recently being the past 3 years, the big boxes always increased their rates in January. They never offer specials or discounted rates in January.

The arrogance of this statement is astounding. Could @fit get a few of the cost conscious members away from a Bally's, et al ? Probably, but how long would would they last. I think the author has forgotten the explosion in Planet Fatness, Retro Fitness, and other new large franchises that are truly driving the prices down.
A local chain/franchise is not going to drop their prices from $29.95 per month to $19.95 to compete with $150-$200/month @fit.
In a 1.5 ch of highway
here, there is n independent high end commercial gym (that is still $100 cheaper per month than any local @fit), a Synergy, a new Retro Fitness, Bally's, a new Planet Fatness and a @fit. The @fit is doing ok serving the niche market but the parking lots are full at Retro and PF to the detriment of the other gyms.

Exactly. In my area we have this Planet Fitness-type chain spreading like crazy. Their main selling point is $10 per month memberships with no start-up fees or contracts. That's why the established chains are lowering their prices, not the local box that's $150 per month. It's basic macro economics.

What a duck says wrote:My buddy is a studio owner, I was asking him about this new Chuze Fitness chain that was opening up right by him for $9.99/month and how he felt about it. He said there is a new concept in making mid-size globo gyms, not gigantic, not studios, but somewhere in between. They cost less to maintain, so they can charge less than the big ones and pull away a lot of their members due to the cheaper price. My wife thinks a Zumba class or two a week is fun...the studio by my house charges $15 a class, while this new place charges $9.99 per month...the choice is duh.

If the big gyms actually start allowing more @F stuff and carrying more equipment, a smart trainer would definitely take advantage of that...low monthly membership plus cheaper-than-the-box-down-the-street monthly training prices for the client, with more personal attention...they would likely make more money than if they worked for another @F owner.

Jay wrote:

What a duck says wrote:My buddy is a studio owner, I was asking him about this new Chuze Fitness chain that was opening up right by him for $9.99/month and how he felt about it. He said there is a new concept in making mid-size globo gyms, not gigantic, not studios, but somewhere in between. They cost less to maintain, so they can charge less than the big ones and pull away a lot of their members due to the cheaper price. My wife thinks a Zumba class or two a week is fun...the studio by my house charges $15 a class, while this new place charges $9.99 per month...the choice is duh.

If the big gyms actually start allowing more @F stuff and carrying more equipment, a smart trainer would definitely take advantage of that...low monthly membership plus cheaper-than-the-box-down-the-street monthly training prices for the client, with more personal attention...they would likely make more money than if they worked for another @F owner.

I don't know about more money for the trainers. Those gyms are cheap and a lot of them either don't have PT or the trainers itself make little money due to the low cost of training services. Plus you are dealing with space and equipment, those bargain gyms aren't going to invest in bumpers, a huge open area and other @fit equipment when they can jam in 20 treadmills and get 50 more soccer moms at 10 bucks a month. Plus trainers at gyms like that don't make what they are worth (relatively speaking). When I was a PT manager back home I had to bust my ass to make decent money because the gym only gave you a small percentage of what the actual training fee was. Those who made the most money were the ones who tripled up clients every half hour. This was at a 60 dollar a month gym with a ton of amenities.

Shafpocalypse Now wrote:3 places in the area offer "crossfit style" training without the affiliation or the certification.

Shafpocalypse Now wrote:3 places in the area offer "crossfit style" training without the affiliation or the certification.

Cave Canem wrote:Or on "Biggest Loser"

"Welcome to our newest CrossFit Impavidus athlete: Caroline. She's 8lbs and 22". She's already eating Paleo and dreaming of Fran . . ."