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How Gyms Make Money (2015)

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Re: How Gyms Make Money (2015)

#121

Post by grecy »

Larrikin wrote: post #109
dgfitz wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To make light of the comment: what the hell does someone need to take a 30m shower for?

I personally don't understand the people who wouldn't want to take a 30 minute shower. So long as the water stays hot and you have the time, it's one of the more relaxing things you can do at home. Baths use way more water, and if you don't live somewhere like Japan, they aren't deep and cool off quickly without a bath warmer. Its also kind of gross to sit in a bath without already showering and getting clean before…

> I personally don't understand the people who wouldn't want to take a 30 minute shower.

Are you aware that clean water is a finite resource that we're almost certain to run out of? [1] does that not bother you all?

Even mighty British Columbia with all the rivers, lakes, mountains and snowfall is under drought conditions, right now in winter!

https://www.theworldcounts.com/challenges/planet-earth/state...

Re: How Gyms Make Money (2015)

#123

Post by tkgally »

ravenstine wrote: post #14
ben_jones wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Popularity is an anti feature at the gym. Working adults have limited windows to workout and so once a gym gets affordable like 24hr fitness where seasonal sales at Costco make it VERY cheap it becomes a gym you might not actually want to work out in. Then you have the whole gym owner archetype which I won’t dive into but IMO exasperates the issue.

Mega-gyms are pretty terrible. I've never been to a 24 Hour Fitness, LA Fitness, or Gold's Gym that wasn't a sea of equipment hoggers, broken machines, random dirty towels, occupied lockers, and screens with CNN or daytime TV on. What's even more strange is how willing people are to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for an Equinox membership. The rationale is that paying that much upfront keeps you motivated to ma…

> I've never been to a 24 Hour Fitness, LA Fitness, or Gold's Gym that wasn't a sea of equipment hoggers, broken machines, random dirty towels, occupied lockers, and screens with CNN or daytime TV on.

I was a member of Gold’s Gym in Japan for more than a decade and worked out at many different branches, and other than occasional equipment hoggers none of that applied. The gyms were all clean and well maintained. I also used a Gold’s Gym for a while in Southern California, and it was fine, too. When it came time for me to cancel my memberships, there was no hassle whatsoever.

Another mega gym I used a few times in Southern California was pretty awful, though. I still remember the dirt under all of the machines and the caked dried sweat covering the handles of the ellipticals.

Re: How Gyms Make Money (2015)

#124

Post by randomdata »

talldatethrow wrote: post #39
nelblu wrote: post #25

I've been a gym rat for almost 20 years now, and I'm probably the worst customer for gyms. I only workout at 24*7 gyms and being an early bird I get there at 430 and I have pretty much the whole gym for myself. I am there 6 days a week and I always shower at the gym. Further, I use the corporate discounts available to join the memberships. With all that, it comes down to approx. $50 a month for membership and I used…

The worst customer is similar to you, but doing it at peak times, while also taking up resources of staff somehow (even if just chatting them up). Doing it at 430am is their second favorite customer other than someone that doesn't come at all.

The 4:30am customer is the top favourite as they are much more likely to stick around for the long haul. The customer who never comes sounds nice, but they are likely to be a short-lived customer.

Re: How Gyms Make Money (2015)

#125

Post by SkyPuncher »

klipt wrote: post #43
RajT88 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just recently dealt with this. Gym would not respond to emails asking for cancellation form, nor pick up the phone during office hours. Then stood by their cancellation policy of 30 days despite the weeks of messages left. 30 days from time of signing the form. Shady business.

If you paid by credit card just dispute the extra charges. Credit card company will side with you if you have evidence of trying to cancel earlier.

The major chains don't accept credit cards.

I refuse to purchase a Planet Fitness membership because of this. Despite PF being both closer and cheaper, I will not play their BS cancellation games with my bank account.

Re: How Gyms Make Money (2015)

#126

Post by 6510 »

legerdemain wrote: post #61
nelblu wrote: post #25

I've been a gym rat for almost 20 years now, and I'm probably the worst customer for gyms. I only workout at 24*7 gyms and being an early bird I get there at 430 and I have pretty much the whole gym for myself. I am there 6 days a week and I always shower at the gym. Further, I use the corporate discounts available to join the memberships. With all that, it comes down to approx. $50 a month for membership and I used…

> Finally I must add, all the friends (more like acquaintances) you make > at the gym are absolutely crucial to motivate oneself and also just have > a positive social interaction. Eh, been going to a gym weight room for 10 years and it's damn lonely and demoralizing. I'm sure it's different in tiny one-room Olympic weightlifting gyms or whatever. I'm not in my 20s anymore and I'm not actually that athletic, so 10 ye…

Work on your war cry!

Seriousness aside, I ask fitness folk online what the point is of a gym. If you are serious about it (they are) surely you buy your own equipment and train in the comfort of your own home?

One said he does have his own equipment and that [while people would deny it] the gym is entirely for social interaction.

I suggest watching, broScienceLife, most of his videos are bad, actually they are all bad.

https://www.youtube.com/@BroScienceLife/videos

Re: How Gyms Make Money (2015)

#127

Post by iosnoob »

legerdemain wrote: post #61
nelblu wrote: post #25

I've been a gym rat for almost 20 years now, and I'm probably the worst customer for gyms. I only workout at 24*7 gyms and being an early bird I get there at 430 and I have pretty much the whole gym for myself. I am there 6 days a week and I always shower at the gym. Further, I use the corporate discounts available to join the memberships. With all that, it comes down to approx. $50 a month for membership and I used…

> Finally I must add, all the friends (more like acquaintances) you make > at the gym are absolutely crucial to motivate oneself and also just have > a positive social interaction. Eh, been going to a gym weight room for 10 years and it's damn lonely and demoralizing. I'm sure it's different in tiny one-room Olympic weightlifting gyms or whatever. I'm not in my 20s anymore and I'm not actually that athletic, so 10 ye…

Funny how serious / loner type people often open up when you ask them to help spot your bench press. At least that's been my experience, that moment of them helping you out at your vulnerable time somehow lowers the guard / the friction to chatting

Re: How Gyms Make Money (2015)

#128

Post by [deleted] »

nomilk wrote: post #85
doix wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you been doing this for a long time consistently? Have you noticed your shoulders rolling forward? You do a lot of chest work but 0 back work. I'm not big into bodyweight stuff, but I did manage to cause myself problems in my early lifting days when I used to half-ass rows and take bench super seriously.

About 5 times per week for 6 months. The exact workout is from 19m28s - 37:22 in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0WOTplwNlw&t=19m28s (I do the whole thing twice, then 3km run then stretch) Imbalance is something that worries me. I figure it's better to do a workout that's imbalanced than to come up with a theoretically perfect workout that requires a gym that I hate going to or, worse, doing no structure…

[deleted]

Re: How Gyms Make Money (2015)

#129

Post by bobsmooth »

nelblu wrote: post #25

I've been a gym rat for almost 20 years now, and I'm probably the worst customer for gyms. I only workout at 24*7 gyms and being an early bird I get there at 430 and I have pretty much the whole gym for myself. I am there 6 days a week and I always shower at the gym. Further, I use the corporate discounts available to join the memberships. With all that, it comes down to approx. $50 a month for membership and I used…

Do you lack the space for a home gym or are you an advanced lifter that would benefit from the specialized machines?

Re: How Gyms Make Money (2015)

#130

Post by klipt »

siliconc0w wrote: post #47
asylteltine wrote: post #40

The best thing I ever did was invest in some quality gym equipment at home. I have a power rack, tons of weights, bars, etc. treadmill, TVs, speakers, whatever. Never going back to a gym again.

+1 total quality of life improvement, I (try to) use mine everyday. If you hunt for deals on FB marketplace you can generally get the basics for I'm kinda into flywheels right now. Not too hard to DIY, basically unlimited resistance, very low space, and if you can figure out how to do a vertical and horizontal pull - you can get a full body workout in pretty efficiently.

Do you have a good guide to DIY flywheels?

And how can you know you're doing progressive overload with them? With weights it's easy to tell you're going up in numbers, how can you quantify gains with flywheels?

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