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How Gyms Make Money (2015)

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Re: How Gyms Make Money (2015)

#201

Post by cvwright »

sundvor wrote: post #152
xrd wrote: post #79

I'm surprised no one has compared Peloton. And, also surprised that Peloton can get away with charging ~$50/mo. But, then again, that's not so far off. I see activity on the Peloton tapering off a bit after the first few months of usage, and that in person colleague effect seems powerful. It isn't the same when you are seeing random people on the leaderboards.

Just got into Zwift, after getting a Wahoo Kickr for my road bike. This service is 100% amazing, highly addictive - and very affordable. Haven't even done a race yet, structured ERG mode workouts and hill climbs are so darned enjoyable. Have my squat rack metres away; home gyms are amazing.

Zwift is great, and so much cheaper than Peloton.

And with the weekly emails and monthly events, they seem to actually want you to use the service, unlike the stereotypical gym model. Maybe because an Apple subscription is so much easier to cancel?

Re: How Gyms Make Money (2015)

#202

Post by HaZeust »

ryanmartinson wrote: post #187
valec wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These are nowhere near a replacement for weights or machines. I notice you didn't even mention doing pull-ups, the only body-weight exercise with enough resistance for you to actually build muscle from. Can you point me to a bodyweight exercise that can sub in for 450lb deadlifts for sets of 6? How about for 250lbs bench for sets of 6? While you can build good general health and endurance i n 2 square meters in "the…

Doing bodyweight exercise instead of bench or machines for chest is pretty doable due to the huge number of push up variations. One Arm Push Ups and Planche Push Ups can create strength in even the best athletes with enough reps. Heavy deadlifts are much harder to replace with bodyweight exercises. Squats can be subbed out for pistol squats but I haven't found a great way to load hip hinge pattern. I'm curious if any…

The best BWF replacement for heavy deadlift that I have found is 1L Romanian Deadlifts[0][1], and that's still a bit of a stretch (no pun intended).

0: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoKjrvJi-Iw

1:https://barbend.com/single-leg-romanian-deadlift/

Re: How Gyms Make Money (2015)

#203

Post by klipt »

asylteltine wrote: post #186
klipt wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But then you're paying for a big house to fit all that.

Why does your sentence start with but as if that’s a bad thing?

Well depends where you live, but in the Bay Area a house big enough for a home gym would be like $3 million and outside most people's budget.

Re: How Gyms Make Money (2015)

#204

Post by nickfromseattle »

One of the interesting things about gym culture in Europe is no auto-renewed memberships.

Every single month your membership expires, and you have to bring your card to re-subscribe.

This is great for consumers (it was actually frustrating for me as gym person), but seems like a bad business decision.

Re: How Gyms Make Money (2015)

#205

Post by cardiffspaceman »

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…

100% on the impact of other people. The first gym I used had lots of big muscular men running around saying things like “I wanna do something ignorant [1]”. But when they saw a normy like me doing crunches incorrectly, they might stop to inform me on proper form. And this was a big gym chain.

[1] Ignorant meant painful.

Re: How Gyms Make Money (2015)

#206

Post by valec »

criddell wrote: post #175
valec wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These are nowhere near a replacement for weights or machines. I notice you didn't even mention doing pull-ups, the only body-weight exercise with enough resistance for you to actually build muscle from. Can you point me to a bodyweight exercise that can sub in for 450lb deadlifts for sets of 6? How about for 250lbs bench for sets of 6? While you can build good general health and endurance i n 2 square meters in "the…

450 lb deadlifts and 250 lb bench press seems like a lot though. Surely general metabolic health and long health span doesn’t require that kind of weight, does it? I’m thinking with a lot of weight on the bar, there’s probably some point where the chance of injury outweighs the potential long term benefits.

It's decent but nothing crazy. I think most men could achieve it within 4-6 years. Generally, you can build muscle until age 40 without TRT at which point sarcopenia sets in and you lose on average 10% of muscle mass per decade. Thus it's better to have a reserve. When you look at causes of death for old people, there is case after case of falling -> broken hip -> catch something and die in the hospital. Having a good base of muscle makes this significantly less likely.

WRT to injuries: in terms of physical activity, lifting has some of the lowest injury rates, leaps and bounds lower than something like basketball or sprinting. While they are possible, joints adapt to loads over time and having a strong back + spine makes it a lot less likely to pull something in daily life. With intelligent load management (sleeping + eating well, not putting in more volume than you can recover from, listening to your body) injuries are extremely infrequent and generally minor---I have not had a serious injury in the 5 or so years I have been lifting.

I think lifting is too-often overlooked in health discussions, and, given how important avoiding metabolic conditions and immobility is for general health and happiness, I would argue it's just as important as cardio as a physical activity.

Re: How Gyms Make Money (2015)

#207

Post by 6510 »

legerdemain wrote: post #144
6510 wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 b…

What should I suggest to my downstairs neighbors when I do deadlifts?

Less weight, put it down gently? If you are a nerd about it you know that Eccentric contractions build more muscle than concentric.

If I know I'm going to bother my neighbors (with parties for example) I buy them gifts and talk with them about it. Sometimes they just want to party along. Can adapt the schedule etc

Gyms are not forbidden if it makes sense?

Re: How Gyms Make Money (2015)

#208

Post by nomilk »

prodent wrote: post #189
nomilk wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's more relief than smugness. Gyms always seemed to let me down: onerous contracts, complex or buggy booking platforms/procedures, unhygienic, stuffy, rigid class start times and open hours. Gaining self-sufficiency made me incredibly happy/relieved. The final straw was when I wanted to pause the membership the gym required "supporting documentation" (i.e. flight or hotel itinerary). I cringed so hard. When I cance…

> rigid class start times This one doesn't count. Can't have a class without a fixed start time.

Consider comparing to gyms that only offer classes. The gym might offer 10-20 time slots per day. Whereas self sufficiency enables infinitely many start times. Very useful under certain circumstances. Examples: finish work very late (when no classes are scheduled), intend to train but shortly before class recognise a need for more of a warm up (I've heard this happens with experienced gym goers, not just newbie folks like myself). With a class you can't always turn up late and you almost certainly can't delay its start time. But with self sufficient training, you can start late if your body requires more warming up; it can start any time you want it to.

Re: How Gyms Make Money (2015)

#209

Post by cafard »

HPMOR wrote: post #194
cafard wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many years ago, at the end of a fifty mile race, I collected my bag and went to the locker room. When I got in, I guy was leaning against the wall, with the showerhead kind of over his shoulder (this was a junior high school). I undressed very slowly, for I was quite sore from the run. I took what I thought was a long shower, and then dressed very slowly and packed my stuff the same way. As I left the locker room, th…

You ran 50 miles in middle school??!!?

No, I ran 50 miles to middle school, or rather to a middle school. The 2024 JFK Memorial 50 Mile will finish at the Springfield Middle School in Williamsport, Maryland. I presume that it was the same school back then--I don't think Williamsport has the population for two middle schools.

I was 27, about twice the age I was when I finished 8th grade.

Re: How Gyms Make Money (2015)

#210

Post by dontupvoteme »

tkgally wrote: post #123
ravenstine wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 al…

TBH - Anything Japanese doesn't count.

They have a sense of Quality that almost no other demographic does.

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