Ask yourself the question of what is it that you want from your club and members? You want to attract more members right? Then you want them to renew? You want them to spread the word and tell their friends? You want them to stay longer, take part in more classes and visit more often? You want your club to be high up their list of priorities so, instead of the gym being an afterthought, they make time to visit?  Ultimately you want your club to have the X-Factor, the “Apple, or Amazon, of the fitness world”.

These are currently unstable times. At one end of the market we have well run, wonderfully efficient clubs who are driving down costs, and passing the savings on to members, and giving individuals lean, mean club machines. At the other end of the spectrum we have the niche, boutique clubs whose expertise is specialisation – think Boom! Cycle, for example. The “boutique-ification” of the industry is flexing its muscles. While all of this is happening, the number of health clubs is also increasing.

The combination of market diversification, innovation and falling prices mean times are tough. As it stands, mid-market gyms are in danger of falling between two stools, too expensive to be cheap and too broad to be specialist.

So how do you react?

The key is not to fight the fight on the grounds of price. The facts are that no one is leaving a club because they having too much fun, making too many friends or getting in too good a shape! When was the last time a member of yours failed to renew their membership because they were looking too good?! They’re leaving because they feel they can get what they’re currently experiencing for less money or, they are prepared to dig deeper for something more specialist.

The demand is out there, it’s just a case of reaching out, creating a buzz and supplying what people what. Members want results and motivation, so let’s concentrate on giving them that. Research tells us that a stimulating environment, a social experience and motivating health education are three of the main motivators that keep members coming back for more. They want to have fun, make friends and get in shape.

With the rapid expansion at both ends of the industry the time to act is now. As I’ve said, these are unique times, big names that have dominated the market are no longer around while we’re all getting accustomed to new players that, six months ago, none of us had heard of. The danger of simply being reactive, rather than proactive, could have serious repercussions.

So how do you go about creating that unique experience to differentiate you from your potentially business threatening competition?

Creating a sense of community, where members have fun and socialise is an important factor, so too is your team of staff.

Group exercise with a variety of classes and equipment plays a huge part in determining whether a potential member will join a club as the vast majority of people prefer to work out in a group, rather than individually. If you can harness the power of small group training then membership becomes about friendship and having fun, rather than just exercising, which is so often associated with hard work. Members then feel a commitment to one another, instead of just to themselves. By building this sense of loyalty between members can only have a positive impact on retention figures.

An IHRSA Member Survey from a few years back found that the number one factor influencing a member’s decision to join a club was “Professional staff and knowledgeable trainers”. We know that members want results and so a team of trainers that are educated and trained on the equipment is vital to ensuring you are providing the best level of service.

It’s also vital that you communicate this message effectively too. Design is an important part of communication – just think of Apple – to ensure that a facility captivates the audience and imparts that feeling of brand loyalty. We must also be informing members, and future members, what it is we do and believe in, how we do it, why we do it and offer a compelling case as to why we’re the best choice for them. By targeting customers in this way you start to dominate your market as prices are justified due to equipment Excellency, supported by high class training in an environment that inspires.

The beauty of a changing industry is that opportunity awaits and getting ahead of the crowd can be a richly rewarding experience, but only if you act today!

If you have any thoughts on the changing nature of our industry then drop me a line at marketing@escapefitness.com and let me know what you think. Also, check out last week’s blog on our industry survey to be in with a chance of winning a set of Gripmasters!

Surrey Sports Park in Guildford is the location for the fitness jamboree, with all the action taking place on Saturday July 6th. Tickets are just £15 and the festival is expected to attract over 1000 fitness enthusiasts. The event will give participants the unique opportunity to take part in big group fitness classes which will be run by many UK, and International, Head Trainers in those fields.

So what will you get for your money? Well, Escape Fitness and our training partners, Ushomi, are proud to be involved and we’ll be showcasing the beauty of kettlebells, Bulgarian Bags and Dynamax Balls through special 45 minute workshops, with each product workshop running twice during the day to make sure you don’t miss out! They’ll also be the chance for you to purchase the equipment when you’ve fallen in love with it?

There’s something for everyone during the event with Les Mills on site to showcase all their workout classes, bringing BODYATTACK™, BODYCOMBAT™, BODYPUMP™ and BODYBALANCE™ to life while you’ll also get the chance to experience a wide range of studio classes, everything you could think of!

There’ll be a whole host of educational seminars taking place, featuring topics such as; “Effective Flexibility Training” to “Speed, Efficiency and Running” and “Improve Your Performance – Practical Solutions”. The dedicated sessions will run all day to ensure you have every chance to catch these informative presentations.

The glamour will be provided by Olly Foster. Not only is Olly an accomplished sportsman (professional Rugby League player), and a highly experienced Personal Trainer, he is arguably the most well-known fitness model in Europe, with a record number of six Men’s Health Magazine covers.

All of that for JUST £15? That’s a pretty good day if you ask us so, to buy your tickets, simply visit the Fitness Festival website and come join the party! We’ll see you there!

It isn’t just a med ball people! Whenever we introduce customers to this product and training course they seem to have this immediate reluctance to try it out.

Why? Because they think med ball training is just for warm ups and abdominal exercises. Correct, we can’t argue that point, the med ball is most definitely for that. But, have you considered what else it could be used for?

When you have a soft, easy to handle ball with great cushioning and absorbant properties that can be used for partner drills, explosive exercises, team games, game based activities and yes warm ups and abdominal exercises, then you have one seriously good ball!

You see, with Dynamax training it’s all about movement, speed, balance, agility and coordination. What’s more, Dynamax training only really comes alive when you work in pairs. So it’s perfect for all you coaches and PTs out there looking for an interactive training tool.

Thanks to the need for interaction, this style of working out opens up a wide variety of avenues for you as a trainer. Social and physical interactions are key factors in building strong relationships with your clients and keeping them for many years to come.

These relationships aren’t built on counting reps or holding a stopwatch, they are made from the ways you interact with your clients. We’ve seen the magic that Dynamax training has had with clients and how it creates a fun, challenging, play based environment, which leads to these strong bonds. So you have to stop thinking of Dynamax as just another med ball, it really isn’t, it’s a whole lot more than that!

On top of being a great interactive tool, Dynamax training also develops a variety of physical qualities that us coaches strive to achieve with the vast majority of our clients. We all want our clients to get results but, in order to do that, our clients need to move well; they need to have a good level of coordination, balance and proprioception. These are not always the goals of our clients, in fact I can’t remember the last time a client told me they wanted to improve their coordination!

However, have you considered what the knock on effects of this might be? If our client improves these above physical qualities they will improve their ability to perform other non-related movement patterns and exercises. Increase neural activity and the pathways you lay down will allow you to perform other exercises with greater efficiency and technique.

Wouldn’t it be nice to reduce the client’s learning curve when teaching new exercises? Think about all those technical movements that you really want your clients to perform but they just don’t have the skill level to perform it. It’s frustrating, right?

Well, there is a fix! Improve your client’s proprioception and coordination with skill based activities which are easy to learn, require external feedback mechanisms and are appropriately challenging for their level of skill/ability and it will improve their performance in the other technical exercises. Essentially Dynamax med ball exercises hit the nail on the head here.

Check out the video below to see the ball in action!

This method allows us to prepare our client’s for other activities that require skill and coordination. This comes hand in hand when we want to achieve the more popular goals with clients like weight loss, or strength and power. How are you going to get someone to do a kettlebell snatch if they don’t know where their arms are?

For years I did basic proprioceptive training drills with clients and it was amazing to see how they would start to improve their ability to pick up exercise technique more quickly.

There are a host of reasons why people should give Dynamax training a go and here at Ushomi we have invested a lot to get our coaches fully certified as Dynamax Master Trainers to allow them to impart their knowledge and skills with you.

So what are you waiting for? Come and play with the Ushomi boys and their balls!

For more information visit Ushomi.co.uk.

We recently stumbled across an article from Athletic Business which focused on the current economic climate for club owners and the challenges they faced.

The spotlight was on how the squeeze is being put on to mid-market style gyms in the US through, firstly, the entrance to the market from budget gym operators and, secondly, those clubs that specialise in just one specific exercise activity.

Jatomi got creative and used free weights to attract and retain members

The focus was then the challenges that mid-market, general purpose health clubs, faced to remain competitive in this ever evolving market seeing that, at first glance, they would appear not to fit easily into either category – too expensive to be cheap and too big to be small.

So how does this relate to the fitness industry in the UK? Well, there are a lot of similarities and the situation is certainly not alien to what is happening on these shores. At Escape we are always trying to remain creative and innovative and to produce solutions to help businesses stay successful and ahead of the game, and so it would be fascinating to hear from the people on the front line, you guys, so we can tailor our solutions to your needs.

So, if you are a club or business owner then now is the time to have your say on the state of the fitness industry today. We’re asking you to tell us the challenges that you are facing and how you see your future over the next 12 months.

What we’d love you to tell us is this:

What are the top 3 challenges/threats/concerns that you see for your business over the next 12 months?

Maybe its increased competition, maybe the competition is bringing new ideas, lower prices? Maybe it’s the challenge of keeping your equipment and classes exciting and your members engaged and motivated? Maybe it’s making sure your marketing is communicating the right message?

There are many genuine threats, in what is an increasingly unstable time for the industry, and it would be interesting to hear your thoughts on what you consider to be your most worrying and demanding of problems.

As a thank you for taking part, the first 25 entries we receive will be given a FREE set of Gripmasters. Gripmasters provide an effective alternative to weightlifting gloves and give protection to the palm and enable an improved grip to be maintained in the studio, or gym, even with sweaty hands.

All you have to do is email marketing@escapefitness.com and list your top three challenges. Make sure to include your name and address so we can dispatch your prize, should you be one of the lucky 25!

Wherever there is a great event, the duo of Strong & Flex TV take their own camera and get to work. So, it was no surprise that they paid a visit to the Escape stand at FIBO to check out the latest high quality and fantastic functional training equipment on display.

Behind the concept are Raphael Schneider (Strong) and Toni Hackmann (Flex) who have been exercise junkies from an early age. Both are personal trainers and the concept of Strong & Flex TV is simple: they illustrate various exercises, representing a combination of strength and agility.

We showcased our functional playground at FIBO and that proved exactly the right environment for them to have some fun and get their camera rolling!

Strong & Flex TV is constantly looking for new trends and so our Functional Playground hit the bulls-eye! Battle Ropes, Bulgarian Bags, Plyo Soft Boxes and, of course, the Octagon all got the Strong & Flex treatment!

Check out the awesome video of their adventures…

More Videos of Strong & Flex TV can be found here www.youtube.com/user/StrongandFlexTV. If you want to find out more about bringing your fitness experience to life then Escape design partners, ESC Creative, are masters in doing just that. Visit their website and see what they could do for you!

That is according to research from shopping website vouchercodes.co.uk whose recent ‘Slimmer Summer’ survey reports that we will spend a whopping £2billion shaping up for the summer.

That equates to nearly £86 that the average person will spend, shedding some holiday pounds and toning up for the beach. Rather worryingly though, the average slimmer will keep to their good intentions for just four weeks, before returning to ‘normal’. 40% of people that were asked said that booking a summer holiday was their main motivation for getting in shape, while 4% said their reason was to find summer romance!

So, how will this war chest of cash be spent? 22% say they’ll take up a new sport. This is hardly a surprise given the love for tennis that sweeps the nation around Wimbledon time. Interestingly, our recent blog – Get a Sporting Chance – highlighted what a productive way sport is to make sure you hit your fitness goals so we’d certainly be in support of this one! 14% of those asked said they’ll be purchasing a fitness DVD and 12% said they’ll be downloading a fitness app to help them get ripped for summer.

One of the interesting points to come from this though is the thought that these “summer resolutions” will last a mere four weeks. That’s a pretty depressing stat.

What we need to make sure is that any new members that are joining clubs, or signing up for classes, feel inspired and motivated by what they are getting. Results speak for themselves so if workouts are doing the job, staff are supportive and knowledgeable and, importantly, people are having fun, then they’ll keep coming back.

Building the right environment, a feeling of community, will help to ensure that those four week quitters last longer than 30 odd days. And you never know, that 4% might strike it lucky too…

We’d love to work with you to help turn those four week individuals into long term members. Contact the team today (email or call +44 (0)1733 313535) and let’s embrace the summer!

Friday, July 12^th at DC Leisure, Tooting, London is the venue for the fitness extravaganza that will provide you with all the tools you need to grow and develop your skills as a fitness professional.

You’ll have the opportunity to get hands-on with some awesome functional equipment, learning how to incorporate them into your programming to allow you to offer your clients greater variety when it comes to their workout experience.

As an added bonus we are also delighted to announce that Joslyn Thompson will be our guest presenter. If you didn’t already know, Joslyn runs online blog Fit Girl About Town and writes for various national newspapers while also being a UK Nike Master Trainer! You’re in for a real treat!

The best thing is, until June 14^th, the price is a specially discounted £25! With only 100 places available, and with the first Roadsho being such a huge success, the race is on to book your place, don’t get left behind!

Check out the video below to see what the inaugural Roadsho was all about!

To book your place on the Roadsho then call Ushomi on 0800 023 6611, email Ushomi or visit our Roadsho webpage to find out more information about this must-attend event!

If you thought that ‘doing the Poznan’ was a football celebration adopted by both Celtic and Manchester City then, well, you’d be right. However, the 8th edition of Fit Expo provided just as much excitement with those that attended the three day spectacular putting their own, fitness spin, on “doing the Poznan”!

The show attracted the owners and managers of health clubs and gyms, rehabilitation centres and spas along with personal trainers from around the world who got hands on with equipment and received tutelage from some of the best fitness coaches on the planet!

Naturally, we were in place to ramp up the volume and bring our own energy and enthusiasm to the show, rocking the Escape Octagon as the centrepiece of our stand which attracted loads of positive comments and generated plenty of excitement!

Steve Barrett was on hand to bring his unique presentation skills to our stand, getting the crowds going and pushing the levels of fun through the roof! As the Reebok Global Master Trainer, Steve was the perfect guy to showcase the Reebok EasyTone Step, highlighting all the benefits of this unique product and explaining how using it will engage the whole body and leave you begging for more!

Check out our recent blog, including video, all about the EasyTone Step!

The ETS provided the backbone for our programme of functional training demonstrations which brought our whole stand to life and left everyone in no doubt about why functional training rocks!

To find out more about the Escape Octagon, the EasyTone Step and our full range of functional equipment then get in touch with the team today! Drop us an email or give us a call on +44 (0)1733 313535.

The aim of the step is to help tone and tighten muscles with the air flow pods engineered to create natural instability to force muscles to adapt and encourage toning.

It’s the perfect tool for the more experienced fitness individual but is ideally suited to those who are just starting off, making it wonderfully versatile and just the right piece of kit for any studio environment. and of course it’s heaps of fun!

Take a look at the video below as Reebok Global Master Trainer, Steve Barrett, gives you the complete A to Z on this most exciting of products, telling you why all clubs should get involved and why an end user will love it!

If you needed any more encouragement to embrace the power of ETS then here it is: music. At the start of last month new PPL licensing charges were introduced, bringing changes to the way music is used. HOWEVER, instructors and health clubs within the UK do not have to pay PPL fees when using the second episode of the ETS soundtrack! Once that workout soundtrack is purchased, an ETS class can be taught as often as a club or an instructor wishes, with no additional PPL charges! Subsequent ETS programmes that follow will also be PPL-free.

If you want to know more then get in touch with the team today. Drop us an email or pick up the phone and call us on +(0)1733 313535.

Unless motivated by a health situation, the majority of people almost have an ingrain detachment between inspiration and perspiration. The way round this? To provide them with something that they find so enjoyable that they bypass any of the negative feelings and emotions associated with it and so it becomes totally about pleasure.

A quick browse around the web and you’ll find that the majority of studio classes that take place are around the 45 minute to 60 minute mark. To any beginner, or fitness “newbie”, this can be an intimidating prospect. So, when it comes to working out, is it any wonder that the majority of people associate it with pain and, therefore, politely sidestep round the issue?

Using this as an example then, to appeal to as wider demographic as possible, maybe classes could be offered that last just 20 minutes? Arguably a more attractive proposition, more “pleasure” than “pain” on the scale. But what other factors can help turn pain into pleasure?

How about the environment in which you are asking people to work out in? To bypass any negativity regarding working out a motivating, inspiring and stimulating space can do wonders. It can help people push themselves that little bit harder, and feel good at the same time. If an individual is getting results then they’ll keep coming back for more – very few people, if anyone, cancel their membership because they were achieving too much!

We wrote recently about putting yourself in the shoes of your members and it’s a vital exercise to do. If you picked up a piece of equipment in your club, and were unsure how to use it effectively, is someone on hand to assist, and do they have the knowledge to inform, demonstrate and guide? An IHRSA survey stated that 84% of members said staff were the key to them renewing their membership. Competence and professionalism of staff is vital as members will gain confidence from them.

We’ve touched on just a few factors here but there are many things to get right to ensure your club or PT studio is as appealing as possible. However, if you get it right then the rewards can truly separate you from your competition.

To find out more then get in touch with us today, contact us via email – sales@escapefitness.com -  or give the team a call on +44 (0)1733 313535.