As a health club operator, it’s likely you’ve heard at least one of these excuses from members on why they don’t exercise as much as they should: “I don’t have time,” “Exercise is boring,” “I don’t know what I am doing,” “I never get results,” and “I can’t get motivated.” Kubex Fitness, with three locations in Utah, is working to address each of these excuses with its unique, technologically advanced format.
I get embarrassed.
At Kubex Fitness, participants flow through 29 cubes, each with a different exercise, in complete privacy. “One of the main deterrents for exercise is that people are embarrassed because they don’t know what to do,” said Jordan Connor, the general manager at Kubex Fitness. “With this system, the founder knew there was a way, with privacy, to get people who normally wouldn’t go to a gym. The privacy system protects those people from avoiding getting healthy and getting in shape.”
I don’t have time.
Time is not an applicable excuse at Kubex Fitness. Members get a total-body workout in less than 30 minutes. Participants make their way through each cube, spending about a minute on each exercise, totaling around a half hour. “It is a quick, full-body workout,” explained Connor. “You are working every muscle group, which is great for people who are busy with their everyday lives.”
I don’t know what I am doing.
With virtual trainers in every cube, exercising is easier than ever at Kubex Fitness. “In every single cube, you have a virtual trainer on a big screen that will show you exactly how to do the exercise,” said Connor. “Then here at the main location we have a system that will prescribe the weight for you. You just enter how many reps you are able to get and based on what you enter, it calculates and customizes your next workout for you.”
I never see results.
According to Haddie Harris, an executive at Kubex Fitness, all workouts are designed by top sports physiologists to help members achieve maximum results in the minimum amount of time. “The sequencing of the equipment is strategically placed so members can get the most benefits as they go through,” explained Harris. “When you come in here, you are getting the best possible workout in 30 minutes and you don’t have to think about what you are doing. You don’t have to find a workout ahead of time or randomly jump on a piece of equipment — it is planned beforehand for you.”
I can’t get motivated.
Working out and flowing through a timed format helps to eliminate distractions. “The format forces you to be diligent,” said Connor. “A lot of the time at different gyms, you see someone you know or the TV is on, so there are a lot of ways to get distracted. Here you are cued to advance at the exact same time because there might be someone behind you. There is no way to do the workout without being consistent.”
While the virtual trainers and cube format has its benefits, operating such a technologically advanced facility comes with its challenges. But Harris explained these obstacles are very manageable. “It was nice that with the first location we opened, we worked through the bugs, like figuring out the animations. Now we have it hard wired so if anything were to happen we know how to fix it quickly,” she added.
Due to the success of the first three locations, Kubex Fitness is in the process of developing a franchising model, which will include several enhancements. “There will be a new system where you can actually use your phone and go through the cubes,” said Connor. “We have a web-based application and users can record what they want the weight to be the next time they come in, so that way they login on their phone and swipe through the workout and it will show them exactly what cube and exercise they are in and what weight they need to be doing.”
In order to have wider variety of workout programming, the franchise model will also switch to cable machines. “Rather than having to change the piece of equipment, you can just change the exercise because it is a cable piece of equipment that allows you to do multiple exercises,” added Connor. “We have a lot of cool ideas that we plan on doing in the future that will make us even more innovative when it comes to technology.”
