How big is the gym you go to?

[lm89]

Hey guys. Just wondering the size of the gym is that you attend in relation to the size of the region? Wife and I are looking into opening a gym in a smaller community of roughly 5000. There’s a 3500sq ft spot up for lease right now but unsure if it’s big enough. I’ve been out of a commercial gym since covid now just training in the home gym we built, but before then, any gym I’ve ever been to was a big box gym so around 10,000sq ft and up. The plan is for the gym to be your typical gym with free weights, machines and cardio. Not really interested in classes since for 1) smaller space and 2) never been interested in running classes. Just looking to gain some information into what some of you guys prefer.

 

[cage99]

Mine is a tad over 400sqft… Wish I had 1500sqft!!! But it’s just me working out in my garage…

Do you think you’ll even have enough interest in that small rural town? I’m in a metropolitan area so if that seems like a dumb question it wasn’t meant to be…

Cage

 

[Fattyone]

With a smart floor plan and equipment choice 3500sqft would definitely be enough for a commercial gym. Won’t be huge or anything but definitely doable.

My buddy started his gym in a smaller space than that. Put a ton of thought into the looks aspect of it which drove members in like crazy (everybody loves an instagramable space!). Didn’t take long before he sold that gym $$ and opened one much bigger.

 

[lm89]

Well that’s why I’m trying to find out what type of gym others go to. All my 20’s were in the big box gym and then we decided to move further from the city and build a home gym. So I’ve been far removed from seeing what people are interested in and expect these days. At 3500sq ft it’ll definitely be more of a limited membership semi private type club but with a good selection of quality equipment with good aesthetics to it. I can’t be the only one who lives in a small community hahah

 

[lm89]

With a smart floor plan and equipment choice 3500sqft would definitely be enough for a commercial gym. Won’t be huge or anything but definitely doable.

My buddy started his gym in a smaller space than that. Put a ton of thought into the looks aspect of it which drove members in like crazy (everybody loves an instagramable space!). Didn’t take long before he sold that gym $$ and opened one much bigger.

Thanks for the reply. That’s definitely what we would be aiming to achieve.

 

[Pheedno]

My gym is 5000 sq ft. in a city with 40k+. I'm the only one in the downtown area.
Theres 4-5 other small gyms in the area as well as 2-3 crossfit gyms and all seem to do well. I've been in business for 15 years and it's not difficult at all to thrive. about 3500 sq ft of training space(rest is bathrooms/showers/front desk). I fit around 25-27 pieces of equipment(including a 5 stack cable system and another two stack in the back), two racks of dumbells, two racks of fixed barbells, a couple racks in the back for squat/dead/whatever, and 10 pieces of cardio.

 

[EnhancedFatGrappler]

Mine is small with 800m² ~ 8,611sq ft floor space (second floor being Locker Room, Showers Sauna etc), and about 8-10 people lifting in my time spot. I can't imagine a gym that is half that size, and open to the general public. Just too many people, it would suck to workout when you have to wait your turn at every machine or rack.

Maybe with just invite only memberships, to avoid overcrowding?

 

[lm89]

Mine is small with 800m² ~ 8,611sq ft floor space (second floor being Locker Room, Showers Sauna etc), and about 8-10 people lifting in my time spot. I can't imagine a gym that is half that size, and open to the general public. Just too many people, it would suck to workout when you have to wait your turn at every machine or rack.

Maybe with just invite only memberships, to avoid overcrowding?

Definitely the reason we would be putting a cap on memberships having that semi private feel to it.

 

[lm89]

My gym is 5000 sq ft. in a city with 40k+. I'm the only one in the downtown area.
Theres 4-5 other small gyms in the area as well as 2-3 crossfit gyms and all seem to do well. I've been in business for 15 years and it's not difficult at all to thrive. about 3500 sq ft of training space(rest is bathrooms/showers/front desk). I fit around 25-27 pieces of equipment(including a 5 stack cable system and another two stack in the back), two racks of dumbells, two racks of fixed barbells, a couple racks in the back for squat/dead/whatever, and 10 pieces of cardio.

Thanks for the info man! I really appreciate it..

 

[slesh]

I don’t know the square footage but Reds is easily the size of 2-3 Lifetimes/Equinoxs lol

 

[gib68sg]

I’m in an area with about 20k people per sq mile and my gym is probably about 1500-2000sq feet per floor spread out over 3 floors. Definitely not huge and can get crowded but I’ve never felt I had to fight for space. Only been going here about 6 months though. There’s a ton of gym options in the area ranging from $20-500 a month though.

 

[Watchman]

One is big, but its an LA Fitness so largely its just a collection of broken equipment, broken tvs, not enough dumbells, etc...but its literally 5 mij door to door. I also belong to a smaller Powerhouse Gym. Smaller but everything works, like everything, including steam room, sauna, and whirlpool. It's Immaculate as well. I know the gm, and she is on top of everything like no other. The gm at LA I think is there just to make sure the place doesn't burn down, but to be fair, corporate has also written that location off as far as upkeep and improvement.

 

[ace24]

We are in a rural area, population is 4500 give or take, our fitness center is 8000 sq, with 5000 dedicated to free weights/racks/plate loaded machines. The remaining 3000 is dedicated to a golf simulator and personal training. From my experience, personal training is where you will make money with the right marketing. You will really need to be aggressive in your marketing campaign, shoot me a message if you have any questions.

 

[lifter]

Ill have to ask. The main one I go to is pretty freakin huge and has everything for both the serious bro, cardio bro, crossfit bro. whatever the fuck bro.

Forgot.....or ho

 

[TomJ]

I couldnt tell you the actual membership but theres probably a solid 50-60 people in there during peak hours.
its not that big of a place so it can get annoyingly packed

 

[control]

My gym is 5000 sq ft. in a city with 40k+. I'm the only one in the downtown area.
Theres 4-5 other small gyms in the area as well as 2-3 crossfit gyms and all seem to do well. I've been in business for 15 years and it's not difficult at all to thrive. about 3500 sq ft of training space(rest is bathrooms/showers/front desk). I fit around 25-27 pieces of equipment(including a 5 stack cable system and another two stack in the back), two racks of dumbells, two racks of fixed barbells, a couple racks in the back for squat/dead/whatever, and 10 pieces of cardio.

This is exactly what I've been talking about doing. How much do you charge for memberships?

 

[qbkilla]

I couldnt tell you the actual membership but theres probably a solid 50-60 people in there during peak hours.
its not that big of a place so it can get annoyingly packed

Same here couldn't guess the square feet but I have 3 memberships 1 is of with multiple locations. Between 3:30 until about 7 it's disgustingingly packed. Seems like since the govt lockdowns gym membership exploded unfortunately.

 

[sickboy]

90,000 sq ft. Is the size of the main gym I go to. I’m in Vegas. I pay 140 a year for access to 7 LVAC’s and it’s 24hr

 

[lm89]

We are in a rural area, population is 4500 give or take, our fitness center is 8000 sq, with 5000 dedicated to free weights/racks/plate loaded machines. The remaining 3000 is dedicated to a golf simulator and personal training. From my experience, personal training is where you will make money with the right marketing. You will really need to be aggressive in your marketing campaign, shoot me a message if you have any questions.

Thank you very much. I’m going to check the place out on Saturday to see if the space can work for us. I’ve been away from personal training for over a decade now. Got into municipal work but it’s hard to see myself doing what I’m doing now for the next 20 years. With my wife being into fitness and having a 5 year old boy and 3 year old girl, I think it’s time for us to push boundaries a bit and grind out something we can build and teach our children along the way

 

[LK3]

most of the home gyms guys on here post are better then any gym ive been to in more then a decade.