Equipping your Dream Facility

What sort of people and what sort of clients would you like to work with? My name is Matthew Januszek, I am one of the co-founders of Escape Fitness. We have a very simple 4 step — what we call “Diamond” process that really talks you through the 4 key elements that are very important when designing a personal training, small group exercise or functional training space and I’m going to talk with you about those in a moment.

It’s very important to think about the type of equipment that you’ll be using in this area. Your clients are investing money in you, so you need to make sure that you are more confident in yourself and invest in the right type of equipment for them because they will notice. — Matthew Januszek, Cofounder, Escape Fitness

Why are fitness accessories trending up?

Fitness accessories are trending up because they are used in a way that encourages exercise professionals, group training instructors, and personal trainers to utilize basic principles of fitness training including, individual and group focus on movement efficiency. Education is king. The “experience” is the queen. As mentioned briefly in other segments of this page, health club trainers and the fitness industry (big picture) influence decisions people make regarding exercise and fitness accessories. The reason people are so eager to use the latest fitness tracker “wearables” technology, i.e., Fitbit®, Garmin® Jawbone®, etc. is because they were either introduced to the product by their personal trainer or friends in health clubs. All of the largest club operators and fitness industry consultants meet at industry conventions, mingle with product manufacturers, talk about trending technology and products, and buy the latest technology to introduce to their health club employees, members, guests, and clients.

“Bodybuilding” is out. “Functional fitness” is in … specifically, “dynamic training”, is in. “Social fitness” is in. These experiences are in, they are now, and — they are the future of exercise because they provide a platform for social acceptance, exercise engagement, movement efficiency, and functionality in the marketplace. Simply stated — fitness accessories allow exercisers to challenge very specific movement patterns in all planes of motion, strengthens the muscles of the body surrounding, and stabilizing, the spine, ribs, and hips, to allow the exerciser to improve strength, cardio endurance, speed, balance, coordination, joint mobility and flexibility during physical movement while the body is under dynamic stress.

Examples of fitness accessories reinvented for popular use among exerciser’s include core bags, battle ropes, stability balls, kettlebells, Bulgarian bags, water, steel shot and sandbags, TRX Suspension Trainer™, foam rollers, medicine balls, resistance tubing, and a wide variety of products and fitness accessories designed to challenge and encourage full-body muscular stability, hypertrophy, endurance, strength, speed, and power. No one is simply sitting on a machine anymore. People are moving, they are having fun, and being challenged. Using these products makes exercise more effective, fun, social, and people crave the competitive nature of accomplishment. It’s really tough to sit on a “bench press” machine after seeing the results people are experiencing because they are better informed, better prepared, and better equipped than at any other time in our history.

The same is true of the latest trends in exercise equipment for use in military and government facilities, upscale condominiums and apartments, workplace fitness facilities, hotels, resorts, private clubs, hospitality and spa facilities, universities, and high schools. Interactive exercise equipment, specialty products, and fitness accessories that allow people to maximize the return on their time invested in training trends higher than standard exercise equipment. Fitness accessories are easily portable, can be stored out of sight, or in aesthetically pleasing rack systems. People want to see the same fitness accessories in their travel and work-life as they do in their local health club or gym. In vertical markets, people planning fitness facilities look toward the same manufacturers to continue the health club experience in their facilities.

The following products are trending up:

FUNCTIONAL (33)
Strength bags (5)
Weighted balls (9)
KettleBells (4)
Gripr (1)
Plyo boxes (3)
Sleds (1)
Ropes (5)
Torso trainers (1)
ViPR (1)
Core training (1)
Storage (2)

STRENGTH (41)
Bars and collars (12)
Benches (2)
Cable attachments (7)
Plates and racks (9)
Dumbbells and racks (10)
Accessories (1)

SPEED (10)
Ladders, cones, hurdles (6)
Vests and resistor (2)
Parachute (1)
Reaction ball (1)

BOXING (13)
Bags (7)
Gloves and pads (3)
Ropes (3)

TiYR (1)

FLEXIBILITY (27)

Mats (10)
Rollers (7)
Gym balls (6)
BOSU® (2)
Accessories (2)

GROUPX (15)
Platforms (2)
Tubes (2)
Hand weights and racks (5)
KettleBells (1)
Rep sets and racks (4)
Storage (1)

FLOORING (6)
Coverings (4)
Floor guard (2)

TRX® (10)
Suspension trainer (3)
Rip trainer (2)
Accessories (5)

POSTERS (13)
Exercise charts (10)
Motivational posters (1)
TRX® charts (2)

Clearance (contact us today to learn about seasonal incentives and clearance items.)

Fitness accessories from the gym to vertical markets?

Functional training utilizes the entire body, and challenges members, guests, and participants, to learn about human movement efficiency, physical limitations, and muscular imbalances. Consistent, regular, functional training allows people to simply address challenges and weaknesses to, most-efficiently, improve them. Functional training exercise modalities, using the most advanced fitness accessories, have become the most popular foundation for exercise programs in gyms, health clubs, and vertical market fitness facilities worldwide. Customers and clients are looking for fitness accessories they use at their gym — in luxury hotels, resorts and golf clubs, in their multifamily residential community or apartment, at their university or college recreation gymnasium, and their workplace. Developers, architects, and building planners are now realizing the benefits of creating “health club experiences” in these associated fitness facilities. The next time you check into an upscale hotel, check out the fitness facility, you may be surprised to see the very same exercise accessories there, as you do in the images above. You’re welcome.

Gym members expect, need, and want whole-body fitness. Hotel guests, student-athletes, and multi-family community residents work hard, just like you and me, and they need to continue their exercise programs when away from the gym. Business executives who travel extensively specifically look for hotels with advanced fitness facilities or exercise rooms that offer popular exercise accessories. Student-athletes learn how to perform, and they are conditioned by strength coaches with new exercise tools to increase their physical endurance in order to perform better on the field or turf. Universities are now embracing functional training programs, corrective exercise strategies, functional movement education, using fitness accessories in order to better prepare their students, and student-athletes, for progress on the field, and physical fitness in the real world.

It’s really simple — gone are the days when people simply sit on a machine or walk on a treadmill. People are tech-savvy. Customers have become purpose-driven and exercise savvy. The trends in wearable fitness trackers, fitness accessories, functional training, dynamic, and social fitness training programs, available in nearly every commercial gym and health club, and endless information available on the internet have all worked together to help people become better informed. People are now better informed about exercise and healthier living, and — people simply expect more for their money in return for their loyal business.

Does your fitness facility layout affect customer experiences?

We can help you develop and deliver your vision for your gym members, guests, group training, and personal training clients. We manufacture and supply industry-leading exercise equipment and fitness accessories. Additionally, we provide high-resolution facility layout and exercise equipment renderings. It’s very important to make sure that your primary fitness training and functional training areas are well coordinated. It is vital that your branding expresses the right message to your members, guests, and clients. Our 3D visualization process begins with a detailed understanding of your brand — your purpose — and can show you how to develop the right atmosphere and select commercial exercise equipment, fitness accessories, and equipment attachments, for your gym, health club, boutique training studio, or vertical market fitness facility — before you invest.

There are very specific details and techniques that we can help you to explore. What may look great on paper, may not make sense for you, in your market, based on your brand, for your fitness facility. A lot of people forget about this; but everything you do begins from the floor, where we all walk, run, and exercise. So, there are specific opportunities to create exercise experiences beginning from the ground up. Essentially, dynamic training, social fitness training, high-intensity interval training (HIIT), group training, and personal training exercise modalities utilize smaller, better organized, portable, and easily secured and stored exercise equipment and fitness accessories. Leaving these accessories sprawled throughout your facility on the floor can create an unsafe environment. Keeping your floor clutter-free requires proper storage solutions, and exercise equipment that can adequately store all fitness accessories while not in use .. aesthetics, and safety — essential.

These types of fitness accessories are used as tools to teach customers how to exercise effectively. Efficiency in exercise leads to less muscular imbalances, improved movement, mobility, and physical fitness. Leading fitness accessories and “group concept” functional training equipment is now outreaching traditional pin-select stationary bulky exercise machines. Social fitness programming, dynamic training, and high-intensity interval training programs are creating — not following — but creating trends headed into 2016, and beyond, that can allow you to completely renovate your exercise programming to extend your reach deeper into your community.

We can help you evaluate the most cost-effective way to build the facility you really want your customers to experience. This begins with a clear overview of your vision, value propositions, and brand. Then we can move toward selecting the right functional training equipment, fitness accessories, and specialty attachments. Your staff can implement these tools into your training areas within your fitness facility. You’ve invested resources into your gym or fitness facility, and it is important to make it right. It’s really about creating an exercise environment, and training areas in which people are drawn to be a member, and regular participant. Think of different areas of your fitness facility or gym as micro-opportunities to welcome a social gathering of like-minded people who will become loyal to your brand because of the experiences you build … and they, unlike nondedicated members, and guests, will come back to you, again, and again — all year long.

Why should I learn more about commercial fitness accessories?

Commercial fitness accessories alone do not satisfy your customer’s needs. Properly trained staff continued education, paired with vision, practical use, and “using the right tools for the job” does. In order to remain relevant, to remain current, in leading exercise programming, it is essential to keep all of your gym or health club support staff, exercise professionals, and vertical market (hotel, hospitality & spa, university, military, multi-family residential, etc.) fitness facility operators engaged in continuing fitness education. Not only will your “front line” (receptionists, concierge, exercise professionals, etc.) employees better understand growing fitness interests, exercise technology, and how to correctly use new exercise equipment and accessories, leading all major innovations in the fitness industry, their complete understanding of “why” must be followed up with “how”.

That is where we come in. Commercial exercise equipment technology, and supporting education, has changed dramatically over the last few years. No longer are club operators, and vertical market fitness facility managers looking backward at what people have been doing, they, and we, are looking forward to specific experiences customers, guests, and clients, are becoming interested. We must stay ahead of the curve — as must you. You must anticipate social trends based on movements in the arts, pop culture, and exercise modalities being delivered straight into your customer’s homes via television, pay per view, and streaming media. Remember, access to leading trends is only a click away on the internet.

People have greater access to what is now available to them — and what will be available in years to come. We must dig deeper, sell deeper, better understand our customers, their lifestyles, their needs, and the things that drive them to be social and feel connected. One way of doing this is to simply evaluate data from your social media efforts. We learn by analyzing millions of data points over the years to get an intimate understanding, to simply keep our finger on the pulse, of our families, friends, neighbors, and customers’ fitness interests. We do this because we care deeply about the exercise solutions we are able to provide. We have a choice. We can guess, or we can investigate, evaluate, measure, and execute brilliant ideas that transform our customer’s daily routines into experiences worth remembering.

Choosing, and developing social pods, and pathways toward progressive exercise opportunities can make or break your gym, health club, or fitness facility. Selecting the right commercial functional training equipment and fitness accessories can set the tone, and express the branding of your gym. The experiences you create become your brand. You are literally marketing your brand — not buying equipment. This process can literally set you apart from your competition by branding your competitive advantages, and business differentiation model by demonstrating that you are operating a business trending above current standard training programs while integrating elements of customer engagement and social strategies, technology, and pop culture.

This level of due diligence and data analysis translates into a deeper understanding of your members, guests, and clients. Because you understand them, you simply know how to engage them, and serve them better. Creating an exercise environment that captures their attention, and loyalty is key. The strategy we use for developing the right exercise equipment layout, exercise education, commercial exercise equipment, accessories, and series of equipment attachments, is purposefully executed to further enhance usability, and extend your brand and service offerings. Our strategy for developing your facility is based on market research, your vision, and our ability to solve challenges. That, my friends, is our competitive advantage. We simply give more, on a larger scale, and work with people throughout the world solving challenges and providing real-world solutions that meet real-world customer needs — and expectations.

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