Looking For Advice

Off Topic
21

[quote]ehayden71 wrote:
its got to have all of the above.

child care… very important.

power racks and other power movement stations.

HEAVY DBs!!!

allow some chalk use.

that should take care of the Grunts.

and for the Men’s Health and Cardio Bunnys…
balance balls, cables, cardio stations galore, hip music and maybe tanning beds.

if you do it right you can get all the types to workout at your gym in Harmony. i know i like DBs, Squats and Rack Pulls but my wife likes machines and cardio. and we use the day care daily.
its like $1 per hr per kid. not bad.

t.[/quote]

ehayden71:

Great idea. I think I am going to have an area just for Barbells and Dumbells.

22

DeterminedNate:

I have heard about the Towel charge in some of those places. Bad idea. I think it leaves people with a bad taste in their mouth. No one wants to feel like they are doing business with a place that sucks the last dime from their pocket. FREE TOWELS DOG GONE IT! (But if I notice people are stealing them I will get very mad…won’t I?)

23

en7i7y:

If I don’t have enough windows do you think a “sky” mural would work?

24

Toddy:

You always have plenty of good ideas. However, I don’t know about Chin-ups. How do you do those again?

25

jaimeo:

Yea…what’s the deal with free lockers? Do some clubs charge you for a locker if you sign up for a year? How does that work?

Don’t blame you on the free gel. If they say it, they ought to do it.

I’m learning plenty from all you guys. Please keep the ideas coming. Many thanks!

26

Basically the last two clubs ive been to make you bring your own padlock for the locker…or you can “rent a locker” for ?40 for 6 months.

Not a problem to bring a padlock but why freakin bother? Much better at the club where you put a coin in. If you dont have a coin, they would lend you one if you left something like your drivers license with them

Padlock etc. is just an extension of the showergel thing. I mean, how much stuff do i have to bring to train? There were no cups with the water cooler so i pretty much had to bring,

padlock, sgel, kit, towel, headphones, etc. etc. etc. its bloody annoying. Fair enough if its a bottom end club but yet again i find that its the “luxury” clubs where most of the onus is on the member.

27

[quote]vroom wrote:
Zeb,

I like the idea of “education” regarding the proper use of the equipment. Do you think a complete tour of the facility is good enough, for the new customer, if done by a good employee?

I guess it depends if the average person, man or woman, is interested in progressing or not. Do they have a desire to expand their exercise knowledge?

I know I got the walkthrough when I joined, and it was enough to get me doing cardio and machines.

If any of them want to do things like squats, deadlifts, bench presses, military presses, chins, dips or anything else not done on a machine, they may need advice from someone to know how to do it properly.

Maybe that is what the personal trainers are for?

I don’t know, just thought it might be useful to remove a barrier. Make it an event for a bunch of newbies at once so nobody feels out of place. Over time they’d acquire a lot of new skills if they wanted to.

Good luck in your venture![/quote]

Zeb,

At my current gym they have various posters stuck on the walls with exercise descriptions. Each poster is dedicated to a particular muscle group and has a photo of an instructor performing the exercise along with a description. This helps to describe the free weight movements, as well as the machines, but the machines all have their own description on them. Stuck to the wall next to each poster is a plastic holder which contains small versions of the poster laminated in plastic which members can take around the gym with them for a reference and then return at the end of their workout. The gym has also put together sample workouts for different goals eg hypertrophy, strength etc and put them on laminated cards as well. While this is not as good as keeping a training log, at least it can help give newbies some direction and stop them aimlessly going from different exercises without any sort of plan.

Both gyms I have trained at had a compulsory fitness test session with an instructor where the goals where discussed, fitness, body fat, flexibility and body measurements where taken. The instructor would then write a program suitable for the person and then take them through the program to show correct exercise technique.

Other ideas are:

  • Have a dedicated stretching area with stretch charts showing all of the stretches you can do.
  • Copies of the T-mag paper edition available to read for people on the recumbent bikes so that they might learn to get into the weights instead!
  • “No Bicep Curls Allowed” sign above the squat/power racks.
  • If your gym is large and is going to have heaps of people in it make sure that there are large oscillating fans on the walls to blow the air around, air conditioning doesn’t always make things comfortable, especially in the middle of summer.

I’ll try and think of some more, gotta do some work before going on leave for 3 weeks :slight_smile:

Ben

28

[quote]ZEB wrote:
RoadWarrior wrote:
A well positioned Gear dealer! Good affordable child care, great selection of free weights and free weight machines. An area where they don’t mind chalk and grunts. One no one ever thinks of, convenient parking and no fights with neighboring businesses over parking. A uni-sex “Alley McBeal” locker room…

“A uni-sex ‘Alley McBeal’ locker room?” Are you suggesting that men and women change and shower together? Sorry, but I don’t understand that one.
[/quote]

That was a joke ;-)>

Not to scenic, most likely…

29

This isn’t really for the normal people but maybe a sign saying “You CAN deadlift”. A platform and bumper plates for olympic lifting, but people have to take a class (which you can offer) or show they know to how do them so they dont hurt themselves. And I agree on the “NO BICEP CURLS IN THE SQUAT/POWER RACK” sign.

30

ZEB, they call both machines a StairMaster. I like the rotation stairs, vs what I call the step-step version.

And yes, you can bust your butt on a StairMaster if you mis-step and are going real fast. But that’s why you hold onto the hand rails when you pick up the pace. I’ve saved myself more than once when doing HIIT.

It’s my cardio equipment of choice. Wearing a heart-rate monitor, I found I sweated more on a StairMaster for a given heart range than on other pieces of equipment.

This is really cool, ZEB. I wish you great success in your venture!!!

31

An aerobics class lead by rediculously hot women that wear tight, tight leotards (sp?) and work out to the song, “Call on Me.” :wink:

Kyle

32

Where are you planning to put this gym? What city/state? I fly/run all over the country and look forward to dropping by.

33

A climbing rope would be cool.

Safeties / spotters for the bench presses would rock. I’ve been to two gyms that had 1 bench that had some sort of cage for it, and it made those “alone” workouts so much better.

34

Here are the things I like about my Gym and dont like about my Gym.

Like - Free lockers
Like - Plenty of machines and free weights
Like - 2 squat racks
Like - Enough cardio equipment to kill a horse
Like - TV’s and music all over the place

Don’t Like - ONLY 1 UPRIGHT CHAIR IN THE FREE WEIGHT SECTION. At least 2!

Don’t Like - Only 3 lay down benches in the free weight section. I bet 6 would do the trick.

Don’t Like - Naked 80 year olds in the locker rooms posing in front of mirrors (Not much you can do about it… but i still dont like it)

Would Like to see - Power Bands, motivational pictures (men and women)

35

I have a couple more things to add. Nothing big, just more thoughts.

Someone mentioned a climbing rope; great idea. I would also like to see a climbing peg board. They used to be found a lot in older schools. A boardrunning up the wall with 2 rows of holes in it. You take a peg in each hand and “climb” up by putting a peg in the holes. I don’t know how much the average gym rat would use this or the rope, but I wish my gym had them.

So, this got me to thinking. If there was a rope in my gym. I’d bet that I would be the only one to use it. The average gym goer has no idea what else can be helpful for staying in shape, other than weights and machines.

Maybe a class on “alternative fitness” would be good idea. Have a separate room with non-traditional equipment and teach how to use it. A large tractor tire, ropes(maybe one with knots), kegs, etc.

I think that if you could turn the general public on to this sort of thing, they might actually find it fun. But, then again, what the hell do I know about the general public?

The more I read this thread, the more I think about what would be my ideal gym that still attracts the general public. I would like to see a fully equipped “T-gym”(for lack of a better word) that still has what everyday people are looking. And hopefully, once the average gym-goers are signed up, with everything the gym has to offer, they can learn there’s more out there than just the pec deck and EZ curl bar. Sort of a transitional gym, I guess, to make then more in educated in their pursuit of fitness and strength.

One last thing, motivational posters are different for different people. Some people like to see bodybuilders, some don’t. I say mix it up, put some bodybuilders, powerlifters, O-lifters, even some professional athletes. And like someone said, get some females athletes up there.

I’ll add more as I think of it,
Toddy

36

I think I will have to be careful to walk a fine line between what might suit the minority (T-Men) and what is commercially viable.

While I will have free weights, I will also have to have all of the machines that I have never touched. A sad but an unfortunate reality.

However, I like the suggestion of having classes once per month on educating the general public. I also think T-Nation could be introduced at this point.

I want to thank everyone for all of the great responses! You have all given me great ideas and I appreciate that very much. If there is ever anything that I can do to help any of you just ask!

Zeb

37

[quote]ZEB wrote:
If there is ever anything that I can do to help any of you just ask!

Zeb[/quote]

Gimme a job at your gym!

I’m kidding. I don’t think I’ll be in California again anytime, soon.

One quick question. You ARE going to have bench press benches, right?

38

Zeb

Good Luck with your gym. I am sure it will be a sucess!

  1. Lockers - the kind you can leave
    your lock on. Keep your stuff at the
    gym.

  2. Lot’s of plates. No shortage.

  3. Friendly staff. Not sickly sweet but
    the kind of people who remember your
    name or give you a good comment now
    and then.

  4. Keep it clean. No towels on the
    floor. A clean space helps keep the
    members healthy too.

39

malonated:

I am going to indeed have Free Weight Benches! Plenty of Barbells, Dumbbells and Plates!

Hedo:

I agree, neat and clean keeps people interested and healthy!

40

Consideration of space allotment will be a large determinant of the type of people you cater to.The cardio/toning crowd will want all the bells and whistles,(tanning,ego masuese),and the hard core will want power racks,reverse hyper mach. and plenty of 45lb. plates.A harmonious existence between the two will be difficult.
One bad gear dealer can bring down the whole place.
Keep in mind that you will not be able to please all the people all the time.Have fun.Be accessable by the clientelle.Foster a good relationship with them. It has worked smashingly for T-Nation.