The last five years have seen quite a shift in the fitness industry. The pandemic made people, whether they had a gym membership or not, look at home workouts and digital fitness content in a different light. While that time now thankfully feels like a distant memory, the desire for digital workout content from local independent gyms and fitness clubs has not. Spurred on by the ‘digital’ generations as they take up an ever-larger percentage of the fitness community, this is something that we don’t think gym and fitness club owners should sleep on.
Today’s gym and fitness club members expect workouts, and on a broader scale, services that fit into their lives, not the other way around. Since the pandemic it is estimated that over two thirds of fitness enthusiasts now prefer a hybrid approach to their workout routines, blending the convenience of home workouts with the motivation, equipment and environment of an in-person gym or club.
Despite valid concerns from some areas of the fitness industry, this is good news for independent gym and fitness club owners. It shouldn’t be seen as a threat, but as a great opportunity for any fitness business to boost member satisfaction, increase retention and strengthen your offering and appeal for this new and growing demand.
As a company that has been working with independent gyms and fitness clubs for the last 25 years, as well as running our own, we believe that independent fitness businesses are in the best position to capitalise on this new market demand, using their strengths as fitness authorities and trusted community institutions to great effect.
What will we cover in this article?
A simple breakdown of what hybrid fitness really means and why it matters for modern gyms.
A quick look at how hybrid fitness boosts retention, flexibility and member engagement.
Practical steps to create low-cost, high-impact digital workouts using what you already have.
Straightforward answers to the most common concerns around hybrid fitness.
Short, clear responses to the hybrid questions gym owners ask most.
What is Hybrid Fitness for a Gym?
It sounds dangerously close to a buzzword, but at its core hybrid fitness is simply about offering your members a digital fitness service in addition to the traditional gym or fitness club membership they are already utilising. It is a member who visits your gym on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, while catching an online class hosted by their usual personal trainer on a Sunday when they won’t be in the city.
But in order for them to watch that online class, your independent gym needs to create and host that video. It can sound like a daunting task, but it is one being undertaken by gyms just like yours every day.
This model emerged from necessity but has stayed because it provides a service that there is clear demand for. A demand that looks set to only grow as more and more of the younger, digital generation enters the fitness market.
The Benefits for Your Gym and Your Members
Why should your gym spend time, money and effort bridging this gap? Let us run you through the four main benefits it could bring to your fitness business.
Improve Member Retention: A member who uses your on-demand classes when they are out of town, or uses your live stream during a busy week is a member who stays active, connected and engaged with your business.
This allows them to get value out of their gym membership even when unable to attend your facility directly.
Flexibility: By offering hybrid fitness, you are removing one of the biggest barriers to retention. Inconsistency. No-show rates drop when members have a backup option. They don’t have to skip a workout because they’re stuck at home with the kids or working late, they can just tap into your digital library.
Building Confidence and Comfort: We have talked about the people using hybrid fitness as a way to bridge their usual workout routine, but hybrid fitness is also a great way to start or restart a fitness journey. We’ve covered gymtimidation and how damaging it can be to someone who has suffered a setback (another thing the fitness industry saw a dramatic rise in due to Covid-19 a few years back).
Engage Your Members: Your engagement with your members no longer has to stop at your front door. Use member apps to create leaderboards for virtual challenges, host hybrid events and advertise for in-person activities within the gym itself.
How to Start Making Hybrid Fitness Content for Your Gym
You don’t need a multi-million-pound budget or a TV studio setup. Start with practical, low cost, high quality content using your existing pool of personal trainers and class runners and build from there.
Hybrid Fitness is about utilising the existing expertise that your fitness business utilises every day. Personal trainers and class teachers already offer these services within your walls, it is about capturing that knowledge, guidance and expertise and offering it to your members online as well.
The advice is what is important, not a £3000 camera. Start small and practical.
- Leverage What You Have: Don’t invest heavily to begin with. Start by recording a few of your most popular classes with a simple camera setup. Offer them as on-demand content or schedule live streams. Make sure that it looks professional and that the instructions can be heard clearly. Use a private Facebook group or your members app to host them if this matches the branding and content plan.
- Expand Your Offering: If the recorded classes go well, offer a broader range of classes. Ask the members who use this if they would enjoy livestreamed content or direct advice from a PT. Question of the Week formats with personal trainers are an increasingly popular way to create content using only a single phone or camera.
Overcoming Common Hybrid Hurdles
Just like any change, transitioning to a hybrid model comes with questions. Here at Ashbourne, we’ve been talking to our partner gyms to understand what they’ve been doing to make the transitional process as smooth as possible.
Concern: “Will the attendance rates for our in-person classes suffer?”
Solution: Structure is key. Use your digital offerings to enhance your gym’s offerings, not to replace it or compete against it. Don’t offer live-stream features at the same time as popular classes. Use the uniquely unrestricted benefits of hybrid fitness to fill time that would otherwise be difficult to fill for your business, such as off-peak hours.
Challenge: “How do we make sure members are training safely when working out in a hybrid environment?”
Solution: Make safety and sustainability part of the hybrid fitness experience. Encourage your class-leaders and personal trainers to spend time explaining how best to do the exercises in a safe and sustainable way, from posture to recovery techniques. Emphasise that the nature of the challenge will be a little different when they can’t see the people they are guiding, so it is all the more important to offer clear, easily understood safety instructions.
Challenge: “How do we encourage members to use our hybrid fitness material and exercise outside of the gym?”
Solution: This is a common question, and one that gets down to the core of why your members would use your fitness content over, say, a YouTube or TikTok video. The answer is two-fold, one is that your gym or fitness club should be a trusted source of experience and authority to your members. The second factor is that they know you and your staff. They have worked with your personal trainers, shared a joke with them on the gym floor, they know that other members will be watching as well. It is this trust and sense of belonging that put independent gyms and fitness clubs in a great position to be providers of high quality, low-cost online fitness instruction.
Frequently Asked Questions by Gym Owners Looking to Offer Hybrid Fitness
What equipment should we expect our members to have when making hybrid fitness content?
Very little. Start with bodyweight exercises and other workout routines that require very little equipment and space. If your members respond positively to this content, you could consider expanding this to workout routines involving dumbbells and yoga mats. If you have a relevant supplier, this could be a good way to bolster secondary spend and provide your members with quality home workout equipment at the same time.
Won't this compete with our in-person membership?
As we covered above in the challenges section, if implemented correctly, hybrid fitness should only complement and offer value to your in-person membership package. It should help keep your members engaged for longer, and increase the perceived value of their monthly membership. They are using your digital offerings as a supplement, not as a replacement. It allows them to continue to use a service directly related to your fitness business even when life gets in the way of visiting the facility in-person.
Will the technology/gear required be complicated to use and/or expensive to buy?
It doesn't have to be. As we detailed earlier, the setup costs can be as low as free if your phone has a good enough camera (but we would recommend that it is a really good phone camera if so). In fact, there is no reason to overcomplicate this and buy expensive gear. One of the main reasons that Hybrid Fitness is taking off is exactly because it can be done relatively simply by independent gyms and fitness clubs with their existing pool of talent.
What Comes Next?
We’ve been in the fitness industry long enough to know that there isn’t a silver bullet solution. Hybrid fitness won’t be what saves your gym, but it might be one of many improvements and innovations that will help your business thrive.
Hopefully we’ve helped put forward the case for why hybrid fitness is looking to be a promising area where independent gyms and fitness clubs can leave their mark.
As an independent gym, your personal, local and hopefully trusted brand should be your best selling point. By offering hybrid fitness as a service, you are not replacing the unique community and equipment of your gym. You are extending it, making it available outside of your four walls and creating additional value for your monthly membership fee.
Designed by gym owners, for gym owners, Ashbourne has been providing the hardware, software, advice and support to help gym owners like you build and adapt their business across decades. Contact our demo team here today and start talking about how we can help you bridge the gap.
