Wellness is booming. Driven by more health-conscious consumers, global wellness has quickly ballooned to a 4.2 trillion-dollar industry1. For those of us in fitness, it’s important to think about how this impacts our businesses.
Historically, members joined gyms to get stronger and better-looking, but today, attitudes have shifted. A good percentage of members are now more likely to make a healthy, more balanced lifestyle their top priority.
That said, understanding wellness and recovery can sometimes be confusing, so it’s important to be educated on how to best help your members.
What’s Available for Wellness and Recovery?
Walk through a fitness trade show this year and you’ll be amazed at the new developments. Beyond the traditional cardio and strength equipment, you’ll see compression boots, percussion massage devices, water massage beds and lounges, vibration therapy, saunas, hyperbaric chambers, stretching machines, and cryotherapy chambers.
Each product is different, but they all share the goals of helping members feel better and recover faster. When evaluating what’s right for your member population, it’s important to ask a few questions:
- Are your member demographics specific or diverse, meaning you would want services with a narrow or broad appeal?
- Do you have staff to assist members or should your recovery services be able to operate unattended?
- Do you have a higher volume club? Member usage impacts whether you’d want products that take 10 minutes or 30 minutes to use.
How To Introduce Recovery to Your Clubs
Yes, you could always add a small stretching or foam rolling area in the corner of your club, but if the goal is to show members that wellness is important, consider making a destination for member recovery. A recovery zone with multiple wellness-based services has a much higher impact and is much easier to monetize, should you choose to do so.
Also, consider the marketing impact of a product that serves both as a recovery and feel-good service. This is one of the reasons for the increase in popularity of post-workout water massages. Members not only fill the need for recovery, but they leave the club feeling good and wanting to come back again.
For today’s members, wellness and recovery are an essential part of the health and fitness equation. Consider how to adjust your business strategy to capitalize on this significant trend.
Content provided by HydroMassage. For additional information, call 727.536.5566 or visit HydroMassage.com.
1 – https://globalwellnessinstitute.org/press-room/press-releases/wellness-now-a-4-2-trillion-global-industry/
