Imagine a gym that is totally and completely dedicated to your success, so much so it offers a money back guarantee. So, after three months of hard work, if you don’t see positive changes in your body, your membership would be refunded. What a concept, right?
Jeff Halevy brought this idea to fruition with his gym Halevy Life. After starting off as a personal trainer, Halevy wanted to open his own place that reflected what he believed in.
“I have always leaned heavily on science to be my guide in terms of how I develop a program for my clients and my coaches,” said Halevy. “I wanted to have a place that was reflective of that. I wanted to create a place where if my mother went and spent her money to get in better shape, I would feel like not only was she getting her money’s worth, but she was getting an excellent deal.”
For Halevy, a significant part of providing an excellent deal included incorporating a money back guarantee.
After years of working in the fitness industry, Halevy became frustrated with the mentality in which the member is held accountable for his or her own success. If they do not see results, it is their own fault.
“I think that when someone becomes a gym member it is a very low-value proposition,” explained Halevy. “The gym is more than happy to take their money, give them absolutely no instruction and then most people are completely lost in the gym and they have no clue what to do.”
Halevy wanted to challenge this notion. Halevy Life ensures both the member and the gym are held accountable for a member’s success. “Our mission statement is three words: raise the bar,” he said. “It is about raising the bar overall and for us, that means the quality of our coaches, the quality of our facility and having higher standards for holding ourselves accountable for the work that we do.”
For Halevy, in order to “raise the bar,” he created the Fitness Guaranteed membership model. A thorough assessment is conducted for every new member, which includes determining lean mass, fat mass, cardiopulmonary fitness, mobility, flexibility and strength. “We test for each of these so we have quantitative hard metrics that we are holding ourselves accountable for and the clients are holding themselves accountable for,” he explained.
Each member’s progress is tracked throughout the next 90 days. If the client’s fitness has not approved in at least three out of five areas, they will get their money back. “We will write you a check on the spot and we will return your money,” added Halevy.
While the money back guarantee attracts new members, it is not the reason clients are seeing such exceptional results. According to Halevy, this is due to the club’s extraordinary programming and trained staff. All coaches at Halevy Life must have completed a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in exercise science or related field.
“I don’t hire folks who may be moonlighting as a trainer because they are really an out-of-work actor,” explained Halevy. “I have legit coaches, all of whom have field experience at either the pro or collegiate level. They understand what it means to train every single one of our clients just like they would an athlete.”
Halevy’s unique approach to fitness appears to be working and soon more people will have access to the high-quality level of fitness Halevy Life provides. He has plans to open two more locations in Manhattan within the next 18 months, with a high possibility of adding a Los Angeles location as well.
“Fitness Guaranteed is really my way of drawing a line in the sand and letting the rest of the world know this is what we stand for and we absolutely stand behind the promise that we make,” said Halevy.
