Adding PACE to an Existing Health Club

Why add a PACE circuit training program to an existing club? According to IHRSA (International Health & Racquet Sports Association), less than 20% of the US popular are members of a coed health club. Intimidation and no time are the top two reasons cited by nonmembers; especially for seniors, the overweight and those with busy lifestyles.

These factors contributed to the vast spread of women’s only clubs across the country in the last 10 years. However, Curves for Women, the largest chain of franchise women’s clubs had an inherent flaw in its program- built in obsolescence with their nonadjustable equipment resulting in members eventually hitting a plateau, getting bored and saying “now what?” This is one of the factors that contributed to thousands of Curves clubs closing in the last few years leaving hundreds of thousands of former and potential new members with nowhere to go.

Some wise fitness professionals are using our non-intimidating PACE circuit as a
means of attracting this deconditioned and intimidated market and transitioning them into the general population. Here are a few:

Fit n Fast Australia (http://www.fitnfast.com.au/). Founder Tony DeLeede is a long-time customer, first featuring PACE in his Australian Body Works chain in Atlanta back in the 1980’s. Tony and his team now use PACE as their “Quickie”
busy lifestyle circuit workout as well as a non-intimidating introductory workout into their clubs.

Gold Star Fitness (http://www.goldstarfitness.com). A 5 club chain in Tennessee, uses PACE as a part of a women’s weight loss program which has become both a stand-alone profit center as well as a “feeder” member program into their full service clubs.

Snap Fitness (http://www.snapfitness.com). One of the nation’s largest 24/7 chains, recently completed a test of a separate women’s only room featuring a PACE circuit in their club in Springtown, TX. Watch for more Snap Fitness clubs with PACE coming soon! UPDATE!!! Just returned from conducting a PACE Training Workshop with the staff of Snap Fitness in New Caney, TX. Had a great time and they learned a lot about what PACE will do for their members and club.

PACE: The Ideal Circuit for 24/7 Clubs

24 hour access clubs are opening all over the world like wildfire with franchises like Snap Fitness and Anytime Fitness leading the trend. Many independent clubs are following suit to be able to expand their membership base without a great deal of additional costs (the utilities cost may go up a bit, but there are no additional personnel or rent costs).

What seems to be a roadblock for many club owners considering a 24/7 format is the potential liability of someone hurting themselves without supervision. We suggest adding a PACE circuit training program- Since there is no fixed load or eccentric resistance "negative", it is virtually impossible to hurt yourself with PACE hydraulic equipment. Instead, PACE features double concentric "positive" resistance which works opposing muscle groups for an intense, full body workout. And since PACE's work/rest circuit format combines strength and cardio workouts into a time efficient 30 minute program, it can fit into the busiest of lifestyles.

A 24/7 PACE program will not only increase your potential membership base and profits, it will also help set your club apart for the competition. Curves clubs have been forbidden from offering 24 hour access. Although some Curves clubs have gone ahead and implemented a 24/7 format, they are in violation of their franchise agreements and have been told the cease and desist.

For more information, email pacefitness@att.net or call 888-604.2244.

Large Club Owners- Consider a Sattelite Studio

It is no secret that women-only circuit training clubs saturated the country a few years ago. The Curves for Women franchise at one time boasted over 10,000 locations. Although thousands of Curves clubs have closed in the last few years (for a number of reasons; over-saturation of markets, unqualified owners, lack of support, high franchise fees, inferior equipment, tight franchise restrictions, etc.), they still are a significant factor in the fitness industry across the country. There is no doubt that they are still a thorn in the side of larger coed facilities by taking away thousands of potential members. With their message of “no intimidation” and the time efficiency of a 30 minute workout, these clubs appeal to the needs of today’s deconditioned, busy Baby Boomers.

Some large clubs have attempted to counter these circuit training clubs by offering their own “express” type of circuits within their facilities using conventional weight stack machines borrowed from their main workout area. However, the problem of getting the intimidated person in the front door still remains. Some progressive club owners have opened their own satellite circuit training/weight loss studios to attract the out-of-shape and intimidated market and act as “feeder” clubs into the main club. With satellite clubs, when a member reaches a certain level of fitness and gets over the initial intimidation, it can be an easy upgrade into the “mother” club. One of the biggest problems that Curves clubs face is a high drop-out rate when members hit a plateau because of their non-adjustable equipment. They have nothing to offer when a members says "now what?".

Low overhead is a major key to the success of these circuit training studios. Rents and personnel costs for 1,200- 2,000 square feet facilities are obviously much less than those of 20,000+ square foot clubs. For example, if you assume the rent for a small facility to be about $2,500.00 per month and if you have four part time people working 20 hours per week each at a rate of $10.00 per hour, your overhead would be approximately $6,000.00 per month. Typically, a small women’s circuit training club will charge $39.00- $49.00 a month for memberships; the average club needs 125-150 members to break even. Much higher fees can be charged if a weight loss program is incorporated into memberships. Fees of $499.00- $599.00 are not unusual for 8-12 weeks of a weight loss program- with no exercise component.

Granted, small studios will not generate the profit dollars made by larger clubs, but percentage-wise, these small clubs can be much more profitable (and much less expensive to set up and staff). Besides enjoying new profit, the key factor to remember is that members of these small clubs can be transitioned into the main club when they are ready- a feeder system for those people who would normally not join a large club. Members of Curves have no where to go when they reach a plateau.