When you think of trends in the industry, it’s likely one word comes to mind — recovery.
After more than two years of facing a global pandemic, inflation, labor and supply shortages and a mental health crisis, the need for this type of offering is very clear.
“Recovery isn’t just a trend, it’s here to stay,” said EK Navan, the co-founder of Regymen Fitness and The Covery, and a panelist on the latest Thought Leaders panel. “I think it’s the most needed thing in fitness that we’ve seen in the last 10 to 15 years.”
A recent MINDBODY survey of 16,000 Americans reported 43% are exercising to feel better and 59% to reduce stress. Providing your members more opportunities to unwind, relax and destress is a win-win for everyone.
From compression therapy, percussive therapy, cryotherapy and even sound bath meditation — a new offering Blake Mistretta, the co-founder of MOXI3 and panelist, has begun offering at his facility — there are a plethora of recovery options available to offer to members. While you may think recovery is a great option for your members who work out every day, you may be surprised who the amenity can bring in through your doors.
“When we started this, we thought we’d see a lot of fitness consumers navigating over to us in recovery,” said Navan. “And we have, it depends on the attitude at that location and the members themselves, but what we really see a lot of is people who come in who don’t work out.”
Additionally, to attracting new people from your community, Ani Oksayan, the VP of Fitness at Chuze Fitness, told the panel she has seen an increase of members coming in solely to use the recovery amenities. She explained members don’t feel the pressure to knock out a hard workout and then reward themselves with rest. Rather, members are accepting that just resting is OK, too.
While the need and demand for recovery options is prevalent, it’s vital you assess the need in your community, and they are educated on the topic.
“Every community has different needs” explained Navan. “Every gym has a different mixture of members. At the end of the day, you can have all these modalities and make absolutely zero money and zero impact if you’re not educating people and you’re not doing outcome-based type materials.”
Jeremy Longwell, the national recovery director at UFC GYM & UFC FIT, echoed the importance of educating your members, but really honed in on the importance of staff education as well.
“You’re going to fall flat down on your face if you do not have the infrastructure, the training, the right team members in place to speak to, to operate, to provide excellent customer service,” said Longwell. “These are premium services, so people expect a premium experience. The biggest piece of advice is continuing education consistently.”
Learn the ins and outs of offering recovery services — including maximizing ROI — by watching the full roundtable below.
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Taylor Gabhart is the editor of Club Solutions Magazine. She can be reached at taylor@peakemedia.com.
