For the past 10 years, Retro Fitness franchises have outsourced personal training. But earlier this year the fitness brand launched Retro Results, an in-house personal training program. In order to celebrate this new initiative, Retro Fitness embarked on a 90-Day Fitness Challenge.
“There was a lot of excitement and hype around the contest,” explained Michael Urti, the vice president of personal training at Retro Fitness. “Especially for our first year really operating personal training throughout the franchise, it was a great way to put our brand of personal training on the map.”
Personal training clients at all 130 Retro Fitness locations were eligible to participate; they only had to meet a few requirements. All clients had to train throughout the 90-day period, they could not simply buy a few training sessions and enroll in the contest. Participants also had to utilize 90 percent of their training sessions during that period.
In order to spread the word, Retro Fitness developed a few social media videos that were featured on its website, as well as banners throughout the club and email blasts to all members. Trainers also encouraged their clients to enroll in the contest.
Besides meeting their fitness goals, cash prizes acted as extra incentives. Third place received $500 and a free 12-month membership. Second place took home $1,000 and a free 12-month membership, and the winner won the grand prize of $10,000.
Mike Defalco, a member of the Toms River, New Jersey Retro Fitness, won the challenge, losing the greatest percentage of body weight. He went from 332 pounds to 194 pounds.
According to Urti, the contest benefitted everyone involved. “It was a win for us because in order to be a part of the competition, they had to be personal training clients, so we did see an increase in personal training revenue,” said Urti. “It was a win for club owners and trainers because they also had additional revenue coming in. Then it was a win for the members because it created some financial incentive to commit and stay on track toward their fitness goals.”
However, launching the contest did not come without its challenges. Each participant completed an initial, mid-challenge and end-of-challenge weigh-in. Urti explained with over 1,000 applicants, it was difficult to sort through all of the data. Therefore he recommends other clubs looking to launch a similar contest invest in a digital weighing system, enabling you to track data digitally, instead of through a manual process.
A few other important factors to consider are timing and prizes. “Make sure it is done at the right time. January is a great time to do it because members are already motivated,” suggested Urti. “Also offer a substantial prize. A free gym membership might not be as exciting. Giving away $10,000 dollars generated a lot of interest.”
While the contest was a learning experience, Urti said without hesitation, they would do it again. “There are a few tweaks we would make, but overall it was a great success,” he said. “The participants lost over 3,200 pounds. We already have members asking if we are going to do it again next year.”
