A body can’t stay fit by sitting still—and neither can clubs’ approaches to providing on-point fitness programming for both new and prospective members.
The key to success with fitness programming, club managers have discovered, is the same as what is most important for an individual fitness regimen: to just keep moving, no matter what. And just as those working out may follow the familiar advice to “listen to your body,” a club wanting positive results from its programming must listen to its membership—and beyond.
“The minute we stop innovating or thinking about what’s next is when we will fall behind,” says Joel Livingood, CCM, General Manager/COO of Interlachen Country Club in Edina, Minn., where a new fitness center of 2,500-plus sq. ft. includes a diverse array of cardio and strength equipment and a studio for group programs.
“Things are changing quickly in a lot of facets of our business, but probably no quicker than in fitness,” Livingood adds. “Although it’s very new for us, we need to constantly be thinking about what’s new and next.”
A recurring theme for clubs that are expanding their fitness offerings is offering guidance for members, and not just providing a lifeless room filled with high-tech equipment. Answering these demands typically involves group offerings, and that requires space to properly accommodate those programs.
Interlachen had a previous fitness center for some years that Livingood likens to a “hotel amenity.” It was outfitted with modern equipment for members to use, he says, but had no programming or service associated with it.
That began to change when the members approved a major facilities improvement plan in August 2017, which included doubling the size of the fitness facility and moving it from an outbuilding into the lower level of the clubhouse.
“It’s become a core part of what we do now,” Livingood says. “We’re still in the learning phase of what works and what our members are interested in. But we do know that to be successful, we have to be competitive with all of the new fitness concepts in the marketplace. That certainly starts with state-of-the-art equipment, but it’s a lot bigger than that.”
Interlachen currently offers upwards of 30 classes per week and re-examines its group fitness schedule quarterly, to determine what changes may be needed to meet members’ needs. About half of the classes—including yoga, barre, and strength offerings—are complimentary, while a handful of specialty classes are available for a small fee.
“Those have been some of our most popular, in particular pilates,” Livingood says. “We priced those from a value perspective, so they’re paying far less than they’d pay at local gyms; we use that as added value to drive membership.”
Functional training—exercises that develop strength for performing daily life activities—has also become a big trend in the marketplace, Livingood notes. “We’re a little constrained by space for some of those things, so we look at outdoors,” he says. “Last season, we had a morning boot camp that met near our tennis facility and used our parking lot and some other areas.”
Busting Loose
Willoughby Golf Club in Stuart, Fla., also saw the need to create more room to give members what they want. The club’s old fitness facility was not-so-affectionately known among the staff as “the fitness closet,” says General Manager/COO Michele Reilly, CCM, PCAM. At 942 square feet, the room was so small, there was no opportunity to hold classes inside, so activities such as water aerobics were moved to the pool.
Willoughby’s new fitness building, which opened in December 2018, totals 5,200 sq. ft., with a studio for classes, a machine area, free weights, cardio, and a hoist motion unit with several stations.
“Since this is our first year, we’ve been very responsive to member requests,” Reilly reports. “We’ve been adding and subtracting things, to see what fits.”
The guiding force of all of Willoughby’s programming decisions is what its members—from 375 single-family homes within its community gates—want. Before opening its new fitness building, the club conducted a survey, asking what classes members were taking at other gyms in town, what classes they liked, what trainers they knew who they’d like to see working at the club, and what classes they may have taken that they liked in other locations before moving to Florida.
“We do some core conditioning and some interval training, but all have come as a result of member requests,” Reilly says. “We do chair yoga—which is not a new idea, but we didn’t start off with that. We weren’t sure there’d be a market for that here. But if a member and four of their friends ask for something, we’re willing to try it, and see if we can build up some momentum.”
Since opening its fitness facility, Willoughby has conducted a running survey, asking what’s missing and what’s really not needed.
“We did make a couple tweaks in our first six months,” Reilly says. “We added a leg press, which was something we didn’t think our members would use, but there was a great demand for that. I think some members would still like another recumbent bike. So it’s still a work in progress, but we feel we’ve settled on a pretty good program and good equipment.”
Crafting Willoughby’s programming involved not just member feedback but also checking out the competition and what classes other clubs were offering that were popular.
Breaking the Ice
While having up-to-date equipment is important, members also crave instruction on how to get the most out of it, managers note. Willoughby GC has found ways to break the ice for members and introduce them to all that the club’s new facility has to offer, Reilly reports.
Though the club charges a nominal fee for classes above membership dues, some “pop-up” classes are offered, free of charge, to help members get rolling.
“We have one large piece of equipment that has several different stations,” Reilly explains. “It was different for our members. A lot of them had never seen one before, and they weren’t confident. For members who perhaps haven’t been to the gym for a while, and [to whom] that piece of equipment looks scary and weird, they are reluctant to ask for help.”
“So we will randomly—maybe once or twice a week—put out an e-blast saying, ‘There’s a free pop-up class at noon. Come and learn what you can do for your biceps.’”
The pop-up classes are a maximum of 30 minutes, so the member commitment proposition is not intimidating. They also help members get to know new fitness staff members before signing up for regular classes.
“When you start new programming, you have to work extra hard to get people to come to the fitness center,” Reilly observes. “I’m not in full sales mode. We don’t do it to make money. We want to promote a healthy lifestyle and make it easy for people to learn how to use the facility and feel comfortable.”
Baby-step intro offerings are also an effective marketing tool at Interlachen, which offers free 30-minute assessments with trainers about what the member wants to accomplish. Interlachen also attracts member engagement in other ways. For example, its communications team developed a class schedule denoting the intensity and details of each class in a simplified, easy-to-understand presentation, and just produced its first video to send to members, to orient them to the new space and what is available.
Interlachen also partnered with a local physical therapist who holds a handful of office hours each week, exclusively working with members, in the club’s fitness center. “If you got your knee or hip replaced or hurt your back playing golf, you can rehab right here at the club,” says Livingood. “Early on, that’s been successful for us.”
Fitness Fights Forward
Ultimately, fitness classes can not only motivate and inspire individual members to get in shape, but encourage a community spirit that drives the health of an entire operation.
In October 2017, one of the state’s devastating wildfires ravaged the Fountaingrove Golf & Athletic Club in Santa Rosa, Calif. The flames claimed Fountaingrove’s three-year-old clubhouse and golf facilities, including maintenance buildings, the pro shop, golf cart barn, and more.
In fact, the only building left intact was the club’s athletic center. It was a shock for everyone, says Scott Butler, who currently serves as Fountaingrove’s Athletics Supervisor and has been at the club since it opened 16 years ago.
Once the smoke lifted, Butler and the rest of the management team got moving. “After the fires, we had a huge brand change,” he says. “We went from being Fountaingrove Golf & Athletic Club to The Fountaingrove Club—one club, one community—and really pulled together.
‘It was group fitness that kept the fitness department alive; it is stronger now than it ever was before,” Butler adds. Fitness opportunities currently offered at Fountaingrove include martial arts, yoga, aquatics, personal training, spin, and strength training.
Constant motion—physically and creatively—keeps the lineup progressing. It helps that Butler is inventive; in fact, he’s even created his own fitness routine for kids, TigerKick, that he says encourages constant movement and active participation.
“It’s a spinoff of martial arts,” Butler explains. “It has a major fitness element to it, keeping the core foundation of martial arts: confidence, perseverance, strength, and honor. We hold those values very high and call it Tiger Power.” The adult iteration of the program is called TK Fit.
Along with the program concept, Butler invented an accompanying product, the TK-Tool, that’s entering the market this year. He lost his prototypes in the fire, but he’s back in action and looking forward to his first shipment of TigerKick. Fountaingrove will purchase 40 of them for use at the club.
How to Keep Fitness Programs Healthy
Following these core principals can keep your members feeling strong about your fitness programs:
Ask, Ask, and Ask Again. Member demand should drive the content of fitness programming. “If you have the luxury of surveying your members, they love the feeling of participation, and it’s easier to start off on the right foot,” says Michele Reilly, GM/COO of Willoughby Golf Club in Stuart, Fla.. “That made our life so much easier when we opened the doors [of our new fitness facility]—we had a lot of supporters right out of the gate.”
Subscription Services May Not Work. At Willoughby GC, the fitness studio has a gigantic TV screen so members who want to follow their own program, when one isn’t hosted, can pull up YouTube or other video. Reilly says the club looked at using a subscription service for video-led classes, but found members instead preferred one of two options. “When asked, most of our members would rather have a person [on site] teaching class, or were very content [following] their own programming on YouTube,” she says.
Don’t Sell Members Short. “Sometimes I think we underestimate our members and their desire and ability to do some pretty strenuous physical activity,” says Reilly. “We found that some of the things they wanted were really core-focused and high-activity. They want to feel the sweat. That’s great for us, and we’ve added some of that high-impact interval training that’s a little more aggressive.”
Stress the Added Value. Don’t try to exploit classes as a direct-revenue stream, club managers advise. Successful programs are either included as part of regular dues, or have a nominal fee to cover costs. At Interlachen Country Club in Edina, Minn., the club’s new fitness offerings have made a strong positive impression on members, and especially those who don’t play golf. “Certainly, the new fitness center has driven a lot of value for that dues dollar every month,” says General Manager/COO Joel Livinggood.
Stay on Trend. Members may not always be aware of the next exciting idea, and proactively offering new programs and activities can pay huge dividends in their increased satisfaction. To keep getting fresh ideas forThe Fountaingrove Club in Santa Rosa, Calif., Athletics Supervisor Scott Butler attends the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association Convention. That led to the introduction of aqua standup boarding (see photo at left) as a popular new activity.
“That has been extremely helpful,” Butler says. “After attending the last convention in San Diego, I made a wise decision to bring in aqua standup boarding. They’re like paddle boards, but made of inflatable canvas, with a whole program behind them. We just had training for instructors for that program, and will have a press release in our local paper about it.”
SUMMING IT UP
> Functional training—exercises that develop strength for performing daily life activities—has become a big trend for fitness programming.
> Look for ways to use outdoor space on the property for fitness programs and activity whenever possible, not only to provide a refreshing change of scenery, but also to ease strain on indoor capacity.
> While offering up-to-date fitness equipment is important, developing programs involving instruction on how to get the most out of various machines can be a great way to break the ice and introduce members to all that a fitness facility has to offer.
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