On a  weekly basis I visit fitness facilities all over the south central region of the United States, in that I have the opportunity to see a lot of different group fitness studio's.  I decided to share insight on not only what I have seen, but put together a series of blog posts using our studio at the Les Mills south Central offices as an example of how to build a studio that creates an environment for your participants and causes them to crave returning time and time again.

Lindsey Rainwater, Consultant to the Fitness Industry

The first installment of this post will be about setting the stage; what are the first steps in creating a world class group fitness studio?

Step one is starting with the end in mind; what do you want your members to gain from spending time in your studio?

Is your studio offering a large variety of class formats, and if so what story will the environment tell? Do you offer virtual programming in addition to live classes, and does the space feel fitting for each format and participant?

Most facilities already have a group fitness space that is dedicated to classes specifically, if that is the case in your center, the next step would be deciding if you can make some simple shifts in transforming that space or if a complete over haul is in order.

I have included a few images below on environments to give you ideas about how to make a few simple shifts to enhance the room.  Lighting, installing a stage, adding a projector system with worded messages or adding decals to the walls can be large enhancements with little investment. Let me know, Lindsey Rainwater; how have you enhanced your fitness environment to attract and retain more participants? 

Les Mills South Central Studio

Les Mills South Central Studio

Les Mills South Central Studio

Group Fitness rooms have an interesting look and feel in my opinion based on what we use them for.

Think about it, hard wood floors, mirrors, equipment stacked in the corners, florescent lighting, slightly sterile I might say and not exactly warm and welcoming, especially for our first time exercisers. 

That may sound harsh, but really, they do not really create a warm, welcoming environment.  Not to say that all group exercise rooms have this feeling to them, actually in the past few years I have seen a shift in the appearance look and feel of the group exercise studio's and the environments as a whole are really warming up!  Club managers and owners are getting more creative and taking risks to bring more of an environment to studios and members are responding well.

At Les Mills South Central we put effort into building a studio for this very reason. We wanted to provide an example of the potential of a powerful and fun environment to encourage creating a powerful group fitness experience for members and instructors.  

I have included a picture above of the Fitmarc/Les Mills South Central Studio to aid in a visual to show you how fun you can really make your group fitness space!

I would encourage you if you have not evaluated this footprint in your club to check it out and see if there are any enhancements to be made. Something as easy as adding colored lighting and dimming the lights can make a world of difference!

If you have a studio you are proud of and would like to share, please send it to me! I would love to add it to this collection to share!