Group exercise is a valuable amenity that not just helps keep members fit, but also builds community and improves member retention. However, not all members can take in-person classes when they’re offered. With this in mind, Bailey’s Health and Fitness partnered with Fitness On Demand to offer on-demand group fitness.
Here, Addie Kasraeian, the corporate sales director for Bailey’s Health and Fitness’ 15 locations, shared the benefits of their Fitness On Demand partnership.
CS: Why did you decide to work with Fitness On Demand to offer virtual fitness?
AK: As someone who worked the front counters for years, I immediately saw the value in this system as an additional amenity. We often have members who don’t fit into the typical 9-to-5 job schedule, who miss out on our regularly scheduled classes. This gives them the opportunity to benefit from instructed classes at lower traffic times where we don’t schedule an instructor-led class.
CS: Is Fitness On Demand easy to implement across multiple locations?
AK: Yes. At Bailey’s we started our Fitness On Demand amenity at one of our 15 locations and built it up from there. Two of our locations had pretty low group fitness participation for different reasons, so we converted our group fitness rooms into sports training rooms and added the Fitness On Demand in smaller rooms. This allowed us to service a larger portion of our membership base, but still keep the group fitness element to our program. We currently have Fitness On Demand at eight of our clubs and we’re adding more systems each month.
CS: What are the benefits to your business as a result of this partnership?
AK: As a business we want to offer our members every amenity we can. The Fitness On Demand system gives us the opportunity to offer another amenity without breaking the bank. As a large fitness center, we have seen a diverse group of members using our Fitness On Demand system. It has been interesting to see that this amenity also serves a population of individuals who, for multiple reasons, are more comfortable with the small or individual nature of Fitness On Demand.
CS: Have you been pleasantly surprised by working with Fitness On Demand in any way?
AK: I was pleasantly surprised by an incidental benefit of the Fitness On Demand system. One of our members was going through cancer treatment and was immune compromised. Her doctor recommended that she not be in large groups, but still encouraged her to workout. Since she loved classes, she found the Fitness On Demand system to perfectly fit her fitness needs and credits it with helping her maintain her fitness levels while going through chemo.
CS: What else can you tell other club owners about the benefits of working with Fitness On Demand?
AK: The Fitness On Demand system allows us the flexibility to serve members who otherwise may not be able to experience a group fitness class. Fitness On Demand also allows us a contingency for an emergency situation where an instructor is not able to make it to their scheduled group fitness class.
For more information, visit fitnessondemand247.com or call 877.474.0505.
Stay ahead in the fitness industry with exclusive updates!
Rachel Zabonick-Chonko is the editor-in-chief of Club Solutions Magazine. She can be reached at rachel@peakemedia.com.
