What might the gym of the future look like? Are we reaching a point where group exercise – far from being a mere complementary offering sitting alongside the gym in a full-service club – has actually become a strong proposition in its own right? And if so, what models might operators consider to ensure they tap into this?

There’s certainly a lot of buzz around group exercise these days, from virtual classes and gym floor team training to standalone ‘microgyms’ (see Health Club Management 2013 issue 4 p47, and Health Club Management 2012 issue 5 p3 and p28) – not forgetting the ongoing enthusiasm for Zumba, which won the John McCarthy Industry Visionary Award at IHRSA this year (see Health Club Management 2013 issue 4 p22). When you combine all that with the potential of group exercise to boost both retention and revenues, now certainly seems to be the time for all operators – from full-service to low-cost – to be reviewing their offering in this area. So what are the options, and how can operators implement these cost-effectively?

Team training programmes are one possibility for existing clubs, with clear opportunities to drive secondary spend. “Gyms must charge for team training,” says Phillip Mills of Les Mills International, whose GRIT Series of HIT programming sits firmly within this category. “But it needs a separate studio, and you can’t call the sessions ‘classes’ – millennials see these as things their parents did.”

Meanwhile, virtual classes offer a cost-effective way of developing a group exercise offering, whether to give more choice during off-peak periods, to enhance live classes, or to make up the entirety of a studio timetable in clubs where the model doesn’t allow for a live offering. Operators already using a virtual system even credit the all-day availability of group exercise with a rise in membership sales (see Health Club Management 2013 issue 4 p58).

But for would-be operators starting from scratch, the standalone model is also worthy of consideration. Much has been said about the microgym, but we’re also witnessing a new take on group exercise-only venues: less the specialist, one-activity venue, more a standalone version of the diverse class offering found in full-service clubs. With the news that Fitness First Middle East was launching such a studio, we recently asked if this approach represented the future of fitness (see Health Club Management 2013 issue 2 p28). The founders of 30-Minute Fitness certainly think so: this new franchise, which launches in the UK this month, focuses exclusively on group exercise, with franchisees able choose from a portfolio of modules, from cycling to TRX to circuits.

And the numbers stack up for the standalone model, with minimal investment in kit, the option to charge a premium and, anecdotally at least, more loyal customers than gym-only members – anecdotes that look set to be given the weight of fact later this year in new research from Melvyn Hillsdon and TRP.

But however operators choose to enhance their group exercise offering, there’s an important consideration for all UK gyms: the change to the PPL licence that takes effect on 1 May, and that places responsibility for music usage in the hands of the operator (see Health Club Management 2013 issue 2 p24). Tariffs are also rising, and clubs hoping to boost their class timetable will need to factor this into their budgeting.

Nevertheless all the evidence suggests that, provided the right model is selected, gyms could benefit in terms of both revenue and retention from giving their group exercise offering a bit of TLC.