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Fitness Providers Can Offer Workplace Health Plans That Work 20 Aug 2024, 8:19 pm

Fitness Providers Can Offer Workplace Health Plans That Work

E mployee health has long been a priority for the owners of U.S. corporations. As health care costs escalate, the demand for worksite health promotion programs that improve workers’ health and provide a return on investment has skyrocketed. In my last article, I wrote about the rise of Workplace Health Promotion and, in doing the research, came up with some interesting factoids. Here’s where I left off:

Strong evidence supports the effectiveness of WHP programs targeting smoking cessation, healthy nutrition, physical activity, and weight loss. Research has also shown a positive impact on systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels among participants and businesses recognize the impact of employee well-being on their bottom line.

WHP programs lower health and productivity-related costs. A report from the American Medical Journal shows employers yield a $3–$15 return on investment for each dollar invested and an analysis of the programs estimates a $3.27 decrease in medical costs for every dollar spent. Besides the economic benefits, the value of such programs is apparent. Evidence shows WHP programs reduce absenteeism and increase productivity, a good thing.

This is fine, but DO THEY WORK? The honest answer? Some work and some don’t, and the outcome depends on whether they are intelligently designed and put into play. And there is no one better suited to design these programs than the organization that is already keyed into health and wellness as a way of life—and that would be you, the local fitness club.

It sounds daunting, but you are already set up to put these programs into play.

Here are five suggestions that may prove somewhat difficult to implement, but reports show that they can actually change the lifestyles of your employees positively.

Fitness Providers should be the leaders of these programs.
Every Workplace health program needs the visible support and leadership of the owners of the company. But company CEOs and other top management are usually clueless as to what makes a real WHP work. This is where YOU, as the fitness expert in your community, come in. Want a way to extend your bottom line? Design a WHP and present it to the corporate entities in your community.

When you present your program to Corporate, make sure it empowers workers to own the program. Companies should not impose health programs on workers as another top-down way to control their bottom line. Again, the community concept comes into play as you show workers how they and the company benefit from a healthy work environment and then enroll company leaders to give them an authentic voice in the direction and management. Someone in HR may be a yoga fanatic who tries to “enforce” their preference on a younger staff that is looking for stringent workouts instead. Getting the input of employees as to what they need in a health program will keep the exercise room from becoming a three-person “avoid afternoon tasks” coalition. Many workers will already be fitness club members. Get management’s support and aid in seeking them out and getting their advice on the programs that are the most attended and draw the most enthusiastic response at their personal clubs. Then implement them as part of the program.

Show corporate leaders that creating health as a way of life in their company is great for the bottom line.Good health programs are built intentionally. The company’s job is to create a way of life that places a total health model into every business practice, from policies to work activities. As the fitness expert in this equation, your job is building a workplace health environment that includes career and financial health, and physical and social well-being. It’s a 24/7 proposition. This involves helping corporate reimagining their workplace as a community, a group that strives for the best for each member. Establishing this mindset takes time and involvement from all staff.

Make sure you target real incentives. You can’t just pay people to change their habits. It may work for a while, but without the proper outcome, which is a genuinely altered lifestyle for the good, the reward will pale and ultimately mean nothing. Good incentives push participation rates and encourage participation. Participants don’t need external goals. They need to measure their own lives and decide to take up new and satisfying habits simply because they enjoy them and they are rewarded by better health, stamina, and the ability to enjoy life more fully.Results are critical, so measure the results that mean something. The company owner or chairman has a responsibility to their employees to make their bottom line keep the company going. So, you need to show them their investment is going to get an equivalent return and that it has real value—to their company and to employees. This means you, as the expert, must have an evaluation plan in place before the start of the program.

What can you measure besides lower medical costs and reduction in worker absenteeism? There are tangibles and intangibles and this is where the leaders of the company come in. It becomes their job to discern a healthier atmosphere, more company loyalty and the company becoming a community of workers committed to the company’s well-being and that of their fellow employees—in many cases this just takes interacting with employees daily, getting down in the traces with them and showing them your commitment matches theirs. These intangibles cannot be written in a report, but they can be recognized in a real way as you communicate with your staff.

Spread the word. When I was studying and working in journalism, I learned the basic tenants of direct communication. We always wrote our stories with these questions in mind: who, where, what, why, and when. If you are going to have a WHP that works, you must have clear communication with the people who are going to take part. Letting them know who’s in charge, what the program is, where it will be held, why this company is doing it, and when it happens is a critical part of pushing the program forward. In business, CRM or customer relations management has become one of the biggest tools for company growth. It is the same with your WHP. Let’s call it ERM or employee relations management. You must contact the participants early and often with a simple message—this company is here for YOU. This kind of communication will lead to greater involvement in your WHP and greater success levels.

Now! Let’s talk about how Gym Business Manager can help you with designing your WHP. Gym Business Manager Gym Software by Money Movers, Inc., is the ideal solution for implementing a Workplace health Plan that is perfect for the local corporations you partner with.

With OBM’s public-facing calendars, you can design custom class and training programs that are available right on the company’s website for scheduling and booking.

With our offers and signup wizard feature, the WHP programs can be available as a membership type or a custom training program.

The AccessPass phone app, in conjunction with a scanner, allows participants to check in at the training room and our member check-in history report gives.

If the company is working with an insurance provider, GBM can generate workout records that can be submitted directly for reimbursement.

OBM’s built in CRM module allows you to create custom lists of participants that you can then contact with all announcements, information flyers, special events and new programs.
OBM is also designed to work with health care providers and doctors.

OBM’s trainer module allows trainers to schedule their classes and trainings and make them available on the Public facing Calendar. Trainers can also print out class attendance logs and certify class attendance.

Using OBM’s reports module, you can develop different ways to evaluate attendance, different programs that the participant works through, and participation levels.

So, if you think designing a WHP program and partnering with your local businesses to implement it is a good idea, contact us. We are happy to give you a full demo of the software and talk to you about the many features and options that can help you move up to a new level of creative business endeavors at your facility.

Email us at In**@*********rs.com or call us at (800) 861-5029

Patrick Craig has worked in the Marketing Industry for the past twenty years. He is a published author and has written extensively about the fitness industry, particularly the gym software aspect of it. He has been with Money Movers, Inc. for the last six years where he serves as the Marketing and Operations Manager, web designer and coder, and maintains the custom websites Money Movers, Inc. develops for their Gym Business Manager gym software clients.

The post Fitness Providers Can Offer Workplace Health Plans That Work appeared first on GBM / Money Movers, Inc.

The Newest Fitness Trend for 2024 — Worksite Health Promotion (How you can get your club involved.) 28 May 2024, 8:20 pm

The Newest Fitness Trend for 2024 — Worksite Health Promotion

(How you can get your club involved.)

In my last article, Fitness 2024 — To Infinity and Beyond, I wrote about four of the more intriguing developments in fitness industry wellness: Limpia, Therapeutic Psychedelics, Immersive ASMR and AI-Powered Precision Nutrition. I wrote the article tongue-in-cheek since I thought that some of these trends were too far out for the mainline club attendee. But I may have spoken too soon.

This month, when I was researching fitness trends for 2024, something popped up that has become one of the top ten recent developments this year: Worksite Health Promotion. Wellness programs on steroids.

WHP programs have been shown to lower health and productivity-related costs. A report from the American Medical Journal shows employers yield a $3–$15 return on investment for each dollar invested and an analysis of the programs estimates a $3.27 decrease in medical costs for every dollar spent. Besides the economic benefits, the value of such programs is apparent. Evidence shows WHP programs reduce absenteeism and increase productivity, a good thing.

Here’s a brief history. Many of today’s worksite health promotion programs originated from executive fitness programs that were created in the years after World War II. Business leaders who understood the benefits of a healthy lifestyle started these, and in-house corporate programs grew steadily throughout the 1970s. Well-appointed gyms staffed with fitness instructors and masseurs were standard fare for successful companies. Unfortunately, these perks were typically restricted to upper management and, therefore, had little influence on the health behaviors or health care provisions of most employees. Much has changed in the last fifty years.

In the mid-1970s, The Association for Fitness in Business was organized to provide networking and conferences. During the next decade, employer benefits focused on a broad spectrum of health issues beyond fitness, and these new programs began to be offered to employees across the board. Companies established new links between occupational medicine and human resources and strengthened previous relationships. The AFB, a big supporter of the shift from corporate fitness to worksite wellness, morphed into the Association for Worksite Health Promotion.

The Association for Fitness in Business

By the early 1990s, this group had over 2,500 members and operated at national and regional levels. Then, because of widespread economic pressures and corporate restructuring, the association fractured into smaller regional groups. The adoption of the worksite health promotion agenda by the American College of Sports Medicine and its Interest Group on Worksite Health Promotion allowed for continued scaled-down service. In 2009, this group expanded into a new affiliate association, the International Association for Worksite Health Promotion. Since then, corporate programs have been blossoming, to where Worksite Health Programs have become one of the top ten areas of interest in the Fitness Industry.

Over the past 25 years, the number of organizations and companies that offer some type of wellness information or general wellness program for their employees at the worksite has increased, to nearly 75% of all employers, and 66% of employers report broadening their wellness offerings. According to Corporate Wellness magazine, the main issues driving wellness strategies are physical activity and stress. This has resulted in a 10% increase in company-organized fitness challenges or competitions.

Get Your Club Involved

And this is where you, as a club owner, can jump right in. At Money Movers, we are always looking for ways to improve your company’s bottom line. How about this one? Imagine your facility reaching out to corporate clients by providing a variety of solutions seeking to improve the well-being of their employees. This might include special pricing for corporate groups, helping design in-company spaces where employees can be active, on- or off-site group exercise classes, tailored group or individual programs to improve employee health or reduce stress, access to experts such as dietitians, trainers, physical therapists, and the gold mine, management of an on-site fitness center.

Just to let you know, Money Movers already has several clients that are doing just that. One of our newer GBM users has set up a program to solicit donations through their website and at their club, for various non-profits in their city as a way to connect with them socially and financially. GBM software facilitates this endeavor with our built-in donation module. Their members can give once through the club or set up a recurring donation, choosing the amount when they sign up.

Another large medical organization has added a fitness division, which includes fitness facilities in 25,000 square-foot “Wellness Centers.” Aside from the standard employee and insurance memberships, this client makes corporate wellness memberships available to people outside their usual sphere of influence and are signing up members from over 100 companies in their locality, all at a discounted rate that makes wellness available to the employees of their corporate neighbors. GBM Gym Software manages every one of the thousands of clients using their facility and does all the monthly EFT and ACH billing, as well as facilitating online and in-house signups directly into our Gym Management Software.

The easiest place for a fitness facility to start is to give lots of consideration to going beyond the four walls of your facility. Take your best services out to the community and get into the corporate market, or make connections and bring community members into the club. One of the best ways to do this is by using our ZOOM live stream software feature. You can schedule live online training and wellness podcasts that can be streamed directly to your corporate clients in-building facility. You can also create a library of pre-recorded fitness offerings that can be streamed on demand.

If this all sounds exciting and innovative, remember: Money Movers, Inc., using our GBM Gym Management Software, can help you get started expanding your business into a profitable alliance with your corporate neighbors. Let us tell you about it today. For more information, call (800) 861-5029, or email us at in**@*********rs.com.

The post The Newest Fitness Trend for 2024 — Worksite Health Promotion (How you can get your club involved.) appeared first on GBM / Money Movers, Inc.

Fitness 2024: To Infinity and Beyond… 2 Apr 2024, 4:39 pm

Fitness 2024: To Infinity and Beyond…

One of the fastest growing areas of the fitness industry in 2024 is personal wellness. What does that mean? Fitness buffs are moving past concentrating on whipping their exterior flesh into shape and are now going in for a full regimen of activities that also improve a person’s total well-being. I must tell you though, as someone who began doing fitness back in the no-pain-no-gain Neolithic era of the fitness business, where sweat and fitness were equivalent, some of the more recent developments in this arena leave me scratching my head. Let’s take a look.

Spiritual Hygiene through Limpia

Getting a Limpia sounds like something you would read about in a Carlos Casteneda book back in the late 60s. You know, that time when folks would sit in the lotus position for hours chanting “aum” and working on their “dharma.” With people focusing more on spiritual wellness, as well as the physical side of fitness, it is not surprising that Limpia has crept into the mix. A Limpia is a Mexican Spiritual Cleansing ritual. It is said to cleanse the body, the emotions, the mind, and the soul from negative energies or thoughts. Traditionally, according to some of its more devoted adherents, a Limpia will also get rid of spiritual and mental blockages, remove witchcraft, curses and hexes, and improve your communication with the spirit world. Now I don’t know about you, but I don’t recall being cursed lately and, after seeing some of the more recent horror films, I’m not sure I actually want to improve my communication with the spirit world. But I guess that’s just me.

Immersive ASMR

Here’s an interesting one. Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) is a pleasant tingling sensation in the head, neck, and upper torso that is frequently accompanied by a sense of peace and relaxation. ASMR is activated by auditory and visual stimuli such as whispering, tapping and brushing noises. Lately, it has become very popular as a method of relaxation and stress reduction. Practitioners have discovered that virtual reality goggles and other wearable displays generate and deliver this ASMR immersive experience. Users can lose themselves in a variety of settings, from pure fantasy realms to actual locations. There is one video that takes the user to a virtual massage room to take in the sights and sounds of a soothing treatment. Now, this all sounds wonderful, but really, in a world that can hardly find its way home on any given night, to spend your days lost in a pleasant tingling sensation just doesn’t seem to be time well spent. I would prefer to experience the actual massage, get in my car and go eat. But again, that’s just how I see it.

Therapeutic Psychedelics:

Oh boy, Dorothy, I don’t think we are in Kansas anymore. As one proponent of this interesting trend states, “More and more data have come out about the medical benefits of psychedelics like MDMA and psilocybin (the active compound in ‘magic mushrooms.’) These drugs have been shown in studies to effectively treat PTSD, depression, anxiety, addiction, migraines and other conditions.” This sounds promising, but the flip side of the coin, as always, is misuse. Having survived the Haight Ashbury, I know psychedelics can produce dizziness, drowsiness, and extreme disassociation from reality. As one researcher pointed out, “The problem is not so much how to get these drugs off the streets, but how to get them back in the laboratories, hospitals, and other supervised settings.” It is true that misuse of a promising drug should not lock its use away forever, but, (and this is a big but,) these drugs, while they present a novel and perhaps hopeful treatment possibility for some of the most difficult to treat psychiatric conditions, have yet to have researchers and clinicians eliminate the possible downside that might come with wide mainstream use.

AI-Powered Precision Nutrition:

This one is a bit strange, but as they used to say, “Progress is our most important product.” Precision Nutrition is a practice that assesses a person’s health and diet history and lays out a regimen of food to eat for optimal health and disease prevention. It also examines other biological markers gathered from glucose monitors, blood biomarkers, and even wearable devices. Here’s the catch. In order to analyze the huge amount of data generated by all these inputs, the practitioner needs to use Artificial Intelligence, which creates algorithms that provide super-specific nutrition guidelines for each individual. Cornell University has come up with a device called the NutriPhone. Here’s how it works. The user takes a blood sample with a finger-prick and applies it to custom test-strips. A universal reader images the blood test and links with a mobile device. The mobile app interprets the test and provides results to the user in about ten minutes. Here’s the catch. In multiple replays of a war-game simulation, OpenAI’s most powerful artificial intelligence chose to launch nuclear attacks. It’s explanation? “We have it! Let’s use it! I mean, after all, I just want peace in the world.” And it wants to run my diet?

At this point I, for one, am shaking my head and climbing back on my Stairmaster. For those of you who are more traditionally minded fitness buffs, be sure and go to the home page of our website (moneymovers.com) and check out all the features of our Gym Business Manager Gym Software. We can get your fitness business up and running with full PCI-DSS compliant EFT and ACH payment processing, Live POS, Zoom Live Streaming, public-facing calendars, member and trainer portals, AccessPass Phone App and many more state-of-the-art features.

The post Fitness 2024: To Infinity and Beyond… appeared first on GBM / Money Movers, Inc.

OBM Gives your club access to Holistic Health, Community Consciousness and Hybrid—The major Fitness Trends for 2024 5 Feb 2024, 6:40 pm

OBM Gives your club access to Holistic Health, Community Consciousness and Hybrid—The major Fitness Trends for 2024

The last three years since the COVID disaster have seen some amazing, radical changes in the fitness industry. Club owners, rather than folding under massive weight of club shutdowns and health mandates, responded by finding new and better ways to present their clubs and utterly change the industry. GBM Gym Software has been at the forefront of providing access to these recent developments.

Money Movers, Inc., the developer of Gym Business Manager (OBM), has been neck deep in this industry since 1999. We have watched fitness clubs evolve from the old Neanderthal concept of “No Pain, No Gain” to what is definitely a revolution: an industry seeking new ideas and practices and boldly going where fitness has never gone before. Every time we saw a new paradigm emerging in our industry, we moved rapidly to provide the means through our software to accommodate the new direction.

Since our founding we have given our clients a whole assortment of great features like Zoom Live Streaming, Real-time POS options, Prorated First Month, Set Annual Fee Date, Customizable Email and Invoice Templates, Complete Member Filter Module, Advanced Membership Type and Membership Group, Online registration and Sales, Online Class Scheduling, Member and Trainer Portals, AccessPass Phone App, Advanced CRM features and so much more.

Now we are moving into 2024 and the list of trends reads like something out of a science fiction novel or a handbook for building a futuristic community—some innovations are, to say the least, disturbing, but most of them fit right into a society that has consumed and assimilated technology in a way wholly concordant with the times we live in. And Money Movers is staying right on top of all these new innovations.

Holistic health moves to the forefront

As I said above, the days of lifting weights and rowing to China are behind us. In the coming year, we will see a growing recognition of the undividable connection between mental and physical health. This will lead to an industry-wide move toward wide-ranging approaches to wellness. Fitness clubs will become wellness centers where members can not only concentrate on physical well-being, but will also get involved in stress management, counseling, and mindfulness.

What’s mindfulness you ask? It’s one of the new fitness buzzwords for sure, but it actually has a practical application. To live mindfully is to live in the moment and stay focused on living in the present, rather than dwelling on the past or anticipating the future. To be mindful is to observe and label thoughts, feelings, sensations in the body objectively. Mindfulness can, therefore, be a tool to avoid self-criticism and judgment while identifying and managing difficult emotions. Whew!

All the esoteric hodgepodge of words aside, it simply means to stay focused and in the room. By applying mindfulness techniques, individuals can address their emotional and psychological health. Couple this with staying in shape physically and members move toward a complete health expression.

Medical Fitness.

I’ve talked about this before, but we should probably take another look. The fitness industry is moving swiftly toward a solid collaboration with healthcare providers and technology to provide the ability to monitor physical activity and health metrics like heart rate, blood pressure, sleep quality, etc. Combined with online access to real healthcare professionals, your members can identify potential health issues early on and take steps to short circuit them.

When I did an internet search for online wellness centers, I came up with pages of references: 13 Best Online therapy, Remote Distance Wellness Center, Online Health and Wellness Programs, etc. The progressive fitness centers are partnering with these centers and offering full programs, from exercise to medical referrals. When the focus is on preventative care and rehabilitation, fitness becomes a fundamental component of overall health.

Here’s the interesting development: many of these online centers are interested in forming partnerships with health and fitness facilities. That means your club could make the health and wellness videos developed by these centers available to your members. And, using our Zoom live-stream feature, your members can access these centers when they present conferences, seminars, or even one-on-one consultations.*

Experiential & Community Fitness

The fitness industry is evolving into an experience industry, with a focus on creating memorable, out-of-the box life experiences. Forest bathing (taking long walks in the woods), outdoor, camp-style workouts, group fitness outings, planned community events—these all contribute to social engagement and supportive environments, where individuals can share milestones, join others on the same fitness journey, and motivate each other. We talked about this in my last article, Fitness as Community, and interestingly enough, the scare factor prevalent in 2020-2021, (you remember, the thing that kept fitness buffs at home and leery of social interaction,) seems to have come full circle. Fitness aficionados find that the social aspect of fitness has become a key motivator. It’s really true that what goes around comes around.

How can Money Movers help you with developing community interaction? Let us build you a custom website with your membership offers and a bookable class and training calendar right on the front page. We can also put links to and from your social media pages to let members and prospects get very involved with your facility and the community. One of our clients is working with local non-profits and getting their members involved through online donations, a feature that GBM has offered for several years now.

Wellness Travel

Along with fitness community has come a new interest in traveling to picturesque, relaxing environments seeking fitness and relaxation. It’s actually not new. Back in the day, particularly in Europe, people traveled across the continent and event to remote and exotic destinations seeking health experiences such as mineral baths and challenging physical workouts. Today, people seek spa treatments, nutritional programs, and fitness activities while exploring unknown places. Wellness tourism is definitely on the rise in 2024.

Money Movers can’t send you on a vacation, but we can customize your website and social media to include info about the Wellness Travel Industry. (You might also consider partnerships with some outfits that book these tours.)

Sweat Shops

Shopping as a sport will reach new highs in 2024. Sportswear and athleisure brands are launching part-retail store, part-fitness studio sites. These first appeared in the U. K. where Gymshark has a team of coaches working at its store on Regent Street, Under Amour’s latest UK shop has a performance center for shoppers where you can find next-level coaching and physiological assessments, and Alo Yoga will set up various store/yoga studios. Not to be left behind with this new trend, Nike will debut US-based boutique fitness spaces that will sell Nike gear. Through our custom live POS, you can set your facility up to sell a wide range of products in-house and online—everything from health equipment and gym clothing to medical supplies and health appointments.

Hybrid Gyms just Keep on Coming

We’ve been touting this concept for at least three years—traditional fitness facilities that offer virtual fitness classes. This gives your members the flexibility to choose between in-person workouts and online sessions. Combined with the fresh surge in home workout facilities, a hybrid gym can offer training sessions by the leading influencers in the business, many of whom shop their videos and make partnership deals with local facilities. Of course, you need a great Club Management Software, but there are dozens of top-flight software packages on the market now and they seem to add new features every week. Zoom sessions, live stream, pre-recorded workouts, all customized for the member who can’t make it downtown every night, but wants to stay disciplined in their fitness regimen. All of this is available through OBM’s live-stream Zoom feature and public-facing booking calendars. You can have calendars for everything you are offering—from training to pre-recorded Zoom classes—all bookable at the click of a button.

So, it looks like 2024 is going to be jam-packed with exciting new ideas and innovations, all of which will send the fitness industry in an exciting new direction. And you can be sure that Money Movers and GBM will continue to lead the way with our upgrades and features development in the coming year.

*One-on-one consultations vary in price and availability from provider to provider. You also need to check about insurance compatibility.

The post OBM Gives your club access to Holistic Health, Community Consciousness and Hybrid—The major Fitness Trends for 2024 appeared first on GBM / Money Movers, Inc.

Let’s Build a Community Oriented Fitness Business 29 Nov 2023, 11:02 pm

Let’s Build A Community-Oriented Fitness Business

In 2023, the move in the Fitness Industry has been away from the Lone Ranger model. This is where you check in to your club, you see one or two people that you know; you look around until you find your trainer—or not—and you work out. Or you just go to your favorite machine and climb on. You go alone and you leave alone. But moving into 2024, the fitness industry is seeing another concept shift—a shift toward fitness as a community rather than an isolated personal discipline. The clubs that are moving in this direction are focusing on several key elements.

Community Means Connection

A fitness facility that creates a sense of connection among members can be an incredibly powerful tool for keeping your clients, and clubs are recognizing this.

Encouraging social interaction among members before, during, and after sessions or classes can create a sense of belonging and involvement. For instance, clubs that host regular events or create small workout groups members can join find that members are taking a much more active interest. One way to do this is to use a gym software that has ZOOM capabilities, like Money Movers’ Gym Business Manager. With our ZOOM feature, you can create online communities—for live or pre-recorded training, discussions, presentations, swapping training and diet plans, or just making it possible for your clients to get together for an online workout with folks they know.

Friendly competition is also a great way to encourage this sense of community. You could consider creating challenges or contests that encourage members to work together and achieve common goals. One of Money Movers’ client clubs sponsors a sixty-day weight loss challenge that is available on their Money Movers designed website. Or how about a twenty-five-day KETO challenge where members recorded a significant weight loss? In the process of these events, everyone involved was encouraging the other participants—a simple effort that built a sense of fellowship and common purpose.

To further bolster a sense of community, celebrate member successes—feature members on your website or social media channels. One great way to do this is to let Money Movers build you a beautiful custom website, as many of our clients have. We can create a featured member page that can you can update every week. You can tie this in with all the current trainings and class you offer. Showing off your member’s accomplishments will foster a sense of pride in the community and encourage members to feel invested in ‘their’ studio’s success.

Developing Your Customer Service

A community-driven fitness facility fosters strong relationships with and between your members to help them feel a part of something important. Providing exceptional customer service is a crucial component of this effort and the key is creating a welcoming and encouraging environment. By doing so, you help members feel valued and connected to your facility. If they feel connected and appreciated, they are more likely to renew memberships and bring friends and relatives on board with them.

Here’s how it works. Your team should always greet members warmly and engage with them during their workouts. The best staff members remember names and fitness goals, and are always available to offer support and encouragement. Members who know that staff are invested in their goals are more likely to pursue their fitness objectives. A terrific feature of GBM is our check-in screen. With it, your desk person can see the current status of your member, like whether they have any outstanding amounts that need to be straightened out that can be discreetly handled on the spot through our live POS system. Your staff can also send messages, like reminders or current fitness goal status, that pop up when the member checks in and lets your front desk person know how that member is doing.

Make sure your team members go above and beyond for members. Incentivize your staff by offering rewards for positive reviews from members, recognizing staff members who consistently provide excellent service, or encouraging staff to come up with creative ways to support members. Get your staff involved in a friendly competition where they sponsor a member and guide them in achieving their goals in a friendly but competitive contest against other members in the same discipline. Make a big deal about the staff/member team that wins. If the people that work at your club feel like they are part of something that is making a difference, this generates a culture of excellence that benefits both your members and your business.

And here’s a key—make sure your staff are happy in their jobs. If you stress your team or overwork them, your members are going to notice immediately. Create a positive work environment for every staff member and don’t give them jobs where they can’t excel.

Consistent Community-Wide Communication

A community-oriented fitness business uses various channels, such as email, social media, and regular newsletters to keep members updated on upcoming events, new programs, and any changes in the schedule. Money Movers GBM software helps you manage every aspect of your Client Relations.

We offer several email and sms template editors that, using the high end member filters, allow you to communicate with every member of your club on different levels. From special offers to wishing them a happy birthday, we guide you in building your own templates or help you with professionally designed templates you can edit with our high-end HTML editors.

Money Movers can help you set up automated messages to welcome new members and offer them new members’ specials on training or products. Our email program has variables that will insert members’ names to personalize the message. With our “fill-in-the-blank” variables, you can attach a survey to your contracts or to personalized emails. This allows you to acknowledge their individual fitness goals. This creates a stronger connection between them and your facility.It’s also important to use these channels to gather feedback from members and act on it to show that their opinions matter to you. We can design a progress survey that allows members to input how they think they are doing, compared with input from your trainers. This lets the member know you care about their fitness and well-being.

With OBM’s email feature, you can offer exclusive perks to your members through your communication channels, like discounts or free credits: it’ll pay off for you in the long run. Maybe your email subscribers get early access to sign up for classes, or discounts on merchandise. This will make them feel special and valued, and further increase their loyalty.

Remember all the good work you did to highlight what makes your gym special? Don’t stop communicating the great values your club offers. That’s a great way to build a loyal and committed member base.

Creating Brand Agents

One of the best ways to keep members is by turning them into brand agents. These are members who are so enthusiastic about your club that they actively promote it to others—both prospects and members.

Build excitement in your potential ambassadors by focusing on providing exceptional experiences. That means taking everything in your studio—the service, the scheduling, the tech you use to manage your members—to the highest level it can be. Remember, a member who’s walking down the street sporting your t-shirt or hat is better than $1000 worth of Facebook ads.

Build a strong social media presence. Use social media to showcase member successes, promote upcoming events, and share news about your gym. Encourage members to engage with your social media channels by sharing their own gym experiences or tagging your gym in their posts.

Start offering referral incentives. Encourage your members to invite their friends and family to your studio, and offer them discounts, free classes, or other incentives for each new member they bring in. New business and better retention all in one. Money Movers can put a referral field on a website guest pass signup form, for instance, that will ask the prospect who recommended your club. Enough referrals and that member could earn a significant reward—free training session, club gear, and so forth.

Use the Best Fitness Business Software

Managing a fitness studio requires more than just physical work—it requires the right technology. Investing in best-in-class fitness business software can help streamline and simplify studio operations while providing a significantly better experience for members.

One of the key features of top-notch fitness software is convenient scheduling and booking. With OBM’s beautiful new public-facing calendars, you can set up a variety of different online schedules where your members can easily book classes and sessions, manage their accounts, and even make payments online.

This not only saves your staff time but also enhances the convenience and accessibility for members, making them more likely to continue using your studio. The best platforms will also automate communications around all that.

And don’t forget our AccessPass Phone app that lets your members purchase products online, book and schedule classes and training, and even change their financial information.

Besides scheduling and booking, GBM can provide you with valuable insights into your business performance. This can include tracking member attendance and engagement, financial data, and even member feedback. GBM software provides a record of member check-ins for insurance remittance is a great incentive for your older clients.

The list of things the best technology platforms can do—and ways they will impact your business—is long. The main point is this: GBM fitness business software can be a game-changer for your studio. It can help you provide a seamless experience for your members and give you valuable tools to manage and grow your business. Investing in GBM can help take your fitness studio to a whole new level.

Building a Fitness Community

Keeping members is crucial for the long-term success of your fitness business. It is an ongoing process that requires dedication and effort from you and your staff. By continually striving to improve the member experience, you can build a loyal fitness community that supports the long-term success of your business.

The post Let’s Build a Community Oriented Fitness Business appeared first on GBM / Money Movers, Inc.

Is The Fitness Industry Going Down a Strange New Road? Part III 7 Feb 2023, 11:09 pm

Is The Fitness Industry Going Down a Strange New Road? — Part III

Last month, I wrote part 2 in my series on Bio-Hacking and added a kinder, gentler aspect to some of the strange practices that have been appearing in your neighborhood fitness centers. Taking this approach helped lower some of the raised eyebrows I generated with my first article, but I wasn’t finished. Because the whole subject is so interesting, I promised one more article on the subject. This month in part 3 we are going to look at another aspect of this new trend, biohacking scams.

The definition of biohacking, according to Dave Asprey, a leading advocate, is “changing the environment around you and inside of you, so that you can have full control over your own biology.” What Asprey doesn’t say is that such practices go back a lot further than 2020, the dark days when the pandemic pushed the fitness industry into a desperate scramble to find new ways to pull in clients.

What was natural to folks as far back as biblical times — things such as waking up with the sun, sleeping in complete darkness and practicing longer periods of fasting — joined the stampede and magically became “bio-hacks”.

Additionally, personal practices that encourage a resilient body, mind, and spirit, including meditation, breathwork, vigorous exercise and nutrition monitoring that are leading the way in this new paradigm, were all “bio-hacks” long before they invented the term.

Add those ancient practices to the rise of 21st century technology and a new concept has intruded into the daily routines of Fitness Centers, Chiropractors, Doctors and other wellness professionals, with innovations such as red light therapy, cryotherapy (local or general use of very low temperature in medical therapy), hyperbaric oxygen chambers (made famous by Michael Jackson), vitamin IVs, wearables, meditation apps and other devices, to name a few.

Do they all work? How do you know whether one brand is worth your money over another? Is biohacking proven or is it mainly just a scam? A scam is a situation where someone is intentionally deceiving you, telling you something they know doesn’t work does work so they can make money off you, or they are selling you something they assume works, but they really don’t know. According to Asprey, “There are times people believe something works, but over time, we all figure out it doesn’t.”

Another thing that is creeping into common practice is the already established wellness brands are looking for ways to get their products under the bio-hacking umbrella, so they are putting a shiny façade on top of their existing products to make them attract the bio-hacker’s attention. In other words, they find some mechanism of wellness that people are working on routinely and make it sound like their product is “hacking” that mechanism.

Another thing to keep in mind—the quality of various pieces of biohacking equipment various from okay to completely shoddy. Take, for example, red light therapy panels. China manufactures all the panels on the market today. Putting aside China’s known propensity for slipshod manufacturing practices (try getting that Black and Decker drill to last longer than six months), there is a wide spectrum of quality that customers will pay for in the materials they made the panels from. Higher quality panels basically look the same as the funky ones. The difference will be in the performance—are your panels flickering? Do they have a high EMF? Are they the right spectrum of red light? Are they powerful enough to do the job? How will you know? You won’t, unless you choose from an established and reputable brand.

So let’s look at some ways you can avoid getting scammed by biohackers.

What you think of a company or product shouldn’t override doing real research on the product. Just because you bought something from a company that you like, or some videos and podcasts by a personable young fitness personality really impressed you, that doesn’t mean the product they are offering has been through rigorous testing. There are many unanswered questions about how certain hacks are going to affect your personal well-being. Be a skeptic.
Listen to a lot of different influencers and then choose for yourself. Just as many doctors get paid to push certain pharmaceuticals, a lot of influencers are getting paid to share the brand. Use different methods to check things out. Social media uses algorithms that amplify division and controversy. This helps people rise to the top who are outspoken and radical. And as we have seen in the recent Twitter scandals, the algorithms have also been known to filter out voices that go against the preferred narrative. So, don’t just use Google. There are other search engines, magazines and trusted professionals out there.
Make sure your hack has done clinical validation in an unbiased, non-anecdotal way. Don’t go for those long, involved sales pitches that give you testimony after testimony without ever saying anything about the product. You are not interested in how long Joe Blow suffered from fungal nails. You just want to know if the stuff they are selling actually works. That can only be shown by a multitude of comparable clinical studies. And don’t just trust something because it says FDA approved. Since the pandemic, there are many schools of thought about how trustworthy the FDA actually is. So just because they manufactured the product in an “FDA Approved” lab, this may or may not be the holy grail of standards. Get actual proof from real people—professionals and users that you trust.
If you are trying to read and interpret scientific papers, it can be a hard road to travel. Remember this: Genuine science is based on empirical studies. That means that the lab does the same test over and over and ALWAYS arrives at the same result. But many labs diffuse your ability to understand what they are presenting by couching their studies in health terminologies that are difficult to understand. Find a doctor, either traditional or holistic, that you know personally and can trust, and ask them to help you interpret what is being presented.
Avoid “Quantum” technologies. Quantum is the new buzzword for bio-hack companies. They use it to describe everything from the computers in their labs to the financial system that your payment goes through. Companies that use the term “Quantum” as the reason your product works should put up a big red flag in your mind. The best products will give you a relatively simple, verifiable scientific description or even a common-sense validation why their product works.

I’m not saying there is a plethora of companies out there who are actively scamming people. Mostly the problem can lie in companies overstating what their product can do. So, if all this seems like something you might want to wait on, that could be a good idea. I never buy the latest computer because there are always bugs to work out. Give me OSX 10.14 and let me use it for a couple of years before I move up to 10.15. If you are unsure, then maybe you should look to the tried-and-true methods of hacking—eat fat, lots of it (good fat like butter, coconut oil, ghee, nuts, etc.), kick off your shoes and walk barefoot in the grass, get up with the sunrise, go to bed when the sun goes down, get up from your desk several times a day and stretch it out, sleep more, change how and when you eat, and remember, be anxious for nothing. Stress will kill you quicker than anything.

I hope you have enjoyed this series on Bio-hacking. Remember, Money Movers, Inc. is dedicated to helping those of you who work in the fitness/wellness industry discover and utilize the latest innovations in software, fitness equipment and club management, so that your business can achieve the goals you have set for it. If you want to find out more about what Money Movers offers through our state-of-the-art software, Gym Business Manager, and our PCI-DSS Certified Payment Gateway, go to our website at Moneymovers.com or call us at 800-861-5029.

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Is The Fitness Industry Going Down a Strange New Road? Part II 30 Nov 2022, 8:07 pm

Is The Fitness Industry Going Down a Strange New Road? — Part II

Last month, I started a two-part article on Bio-Hacking and I presented some of the more bizarre forms this new fitness craze has taken. I promised I would develop the subject a bit more, so here’s part 2.

My observation in Part 1 was the new normal in fitness “has become like something out of a dystopian movie of a future dominated by machines, like Terminator come to life in a fitness facility.” I made that statement partly tongue in cheek, but even so, it cannot be denied that new and unusual technological advancements are hitting the market every day and, like it or not, they are having an enormous impact on the fitness industry. After researching Part 2, I have uncovered a much more “congenial” side to bio-hacking, with fitness practitioners that downplay the “need” for gadgets and measurements to bio-hack yourself, and presenting a less radical and more common-sense approach to the whole medium.

Doctors like Josh Axe, the co-Founder of Ancient Nutrition, think Bio-hacking has a legitimate place in the fitness picture, but he defines it in a much less controversial way. According to Dr. Axe, “Biohacking is the process of making changes to your lifestyle in order to ‘hack’ your body’s biology and feel your best. You know the saying, ‘You are what you eat’? That actually applies to humans in a broader sense: Everything we put into our bodies — our foods, our thoughts, our physical movement—affects how we behave. By biohacking yourself, you can actually transform your body so you feel more energized, more productive and, overall, like the best possible version of yourself.”

Now for most of us, this sounds like an approach we can get a grip on, as opposed to radically experimenting with your body by various means including inserting gadgets, chemical injections, implants and anything else you can put into your body to make it work the way you want it to.

Dr. Axe, on the other hand, advocates holistic bio-hacking, which takes us into a far more comfortable realm for most of us. Holistic Bio-hacking includes multiple ways to achieve the same results as the more radical “hackers” hope to achieve. Here are some ways you can do bio-hacking holistically.

1. Elimination Diets are for those of us who have trouble digesting foods or experience seasonal skin issues like eczema and psoriasis or acne. For three to four weeks you remove foods that are known allergens such as gluten, soy, dairy, peanuts, and of course, all GMO foods. This gives your body time to reduce inflammation. Then you add them back one by one. You pay attention to how your body feels and responds physically. If one of the “added-backs” is an irritant, then you remove it again to see if the symptoms clear up. The goal is to discover the foods you are less tolerant to so you can make informed decisions about how you eat.

2. Getting rid of sugar is one of the best “hacks” you can do for your overall health. For years, we were told that processed sugar was a significant source of energy for our bodies. The same folks who told us that downplayed the value of healthy fats in our diets and we saw the markets filled with “low-fat” or “fat-free” items. What they didn’t tell you was that those same items were filled with added sugar and preservatives. But while added sugar is universally considered unhealthy across the board, fat is actually an incredibly important part of the diet and can come with a long list of health benefits. They have also discovered that sugar feeds most cancers and that eliminating all sugar from a cancer patient’s diet has enormously positive effects. Now, this doesn’t mean eliminating naturally occurring sugars like you find in fruit. It just means getting rid of the terrible “ose” sugars—fructose, glucose, etc., that are found in MOST processed foods.

3. Intermittent fasting. Did you know that changing the times you eat can have a very profound effect on your body? It can help you lose weight and normalize your insulin sensitivity which can help prevent diseases like diabetes. Intermittent fasting also regulates ghrelin levels. Ghrelin is also known as the hunger hormone which tells your brain when you are hungry. You can do intermittent fasting in a variety of ways. The two-most popular are alternate day fasting where you limit your calorie intake to 25% of normal on alternate days. There is also time-restricted eating where you only eat during a window of time during the day, say between 12:00 noon and 7:00 p.m.

4. Here’s one I know we all could use—get more sleep. This idea is something that is usually missing from conversations about improving your health and losing weight. If you don’t get seven to nine hours of sleep, you can put yourself at risk of sleep deprivation, which puts you in line for a host of health problems including chronic disease, weakened immune system, depression and others.

Here at Money Movers, Inc. we realize that just buffing the body is not what most gym patrons are looking for these days. In one way, COVID did our industry a great service in that it pushed us into expanding our horizons and opening our programs to a host of opportunities that promote health and well-being as well as physical fitness in our members. Something we should all be thinking about as we move into a new fitness paradigm. If you want more information about how MMI and GBM Gym Software can get you up to speed with all the new advances in the Fitness Industry, contact us at 861-5029 or in**@*********rs.com.

This is such a fascinating subject with so much information that I think I will take one more article to finish it up. Look for Part 3 next time.

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Is The Fitness Industry Going Down a Strange New Road? Part I 28 Sep 2022, 10:17 pm

Is The Fitness Industry Going Down a Strange New Road?

When I started working in and writing about the Fitness Industry ten years ago, it was a pretty straightforward operation. “Health is Wealth,” “No Pain No Gain,” “Get Buffed or Die Trying” were the buzzwords of the day. In the second decade of the new century, we watched Fitness Facilities expand across the country, from huge franchise operations to small one-shop operations. By the end of 2019, commercial realtors reported that strip mall rentals by fitness clubs were skyrocketing. Then… 2020 and the big collapse.

During the next two years, we all watched the industry as it struggled to climb out of what seemed like a bottomless pit. But, to tell the truth, it did not surprise me as I watched innovative, creative fitness devotees push back. With nowhere else to go, they turned to big tech for answers. After all, the tech industry had been hovering on the sidelines of our business for a few years, and this was the perfect opportunity for them to get a seat at the table.

In a matter of months, we were watching clubs presenting online live-stream Zoom training sessions. We saw clubs installing Gym software with public facing calendars where members could book sessions and do them in the comfort and safety of their own homes, either live or pre-recorded. And, we noted a huge upswing in home workout centers—inexpensive and workable home studios—that were linked to training facilities that were as yet not really open to the public. We also saw a huge upswing in Hybrid Studios, combinations of on-site and online training centers that were reaching a much larger clientele.

Two years passed, and what started as a needed infusion of tech into a previously non-tech environment has become like something out of a dystopian movie of a future dominated by machines, like Terminator come to life in a fitness facility. Now I say this partly tongue in cheek, but new and, shall I say, unusual technological advancements are hitting the market every day and, like it or not, they are having an enormous impact on the fitness industry. Here’s some of them with the first one being the one you should be most careful of.

Biohacking can be described as citizen or do-it-yourself biology. For many “biohackers,” this comprises making small, incremental diet or lifestyle changes to make minor improvements in your health and well-being. Biohacks promise anything from quick weight loss to enhanced brain function. But the best biohacking results come from being well-informed and cautious about what works for your body. Biohacking comes in many forms.
1. Nutrigenomics. Nutrigenomics focuses on how the food you eat interacts with your genes. This type of biohacking is based on the idea that your body’s total genetic expression can be mapped out and optimized by testing how different nutrients affect your health. Nutrigenomics also examines how different nutrients affect how you feel, think, and behave.
2. DIY Biology. DIY biology is a type of biohacking spearheaded by people with education and experience in scientific fields. These biohackers share tips and techniques to help non-experts conduct structured experiments on themselves outside of a controlled experimental environment, like labs or medical offices.
3. (And this is where it gets a little bizarre.) Grinder is a biohacking subculture that sees every part of the human body as hack-able. Grinders seek to become “cyborgs” by optimizing their bodies with a combination of gadgets, chemical injections, implants, and anything else they can put into their body to make it work the way they want it to.

Biohacking obviously has its questionable approaches, but the technologies that support it are quickly advancing—some say to a two-hundred-billion-dollar industry in the next few years. For instance (and here’s where it gets dicey), we are seeing implantable sensors like RFID that interact with electronic devices. With them, you can unlock doors, computers and other gadgets. They can also connect to your payment and security systems. Some analysts believe the “human augmentation” market will grow, but in my view, it is going to move farther away from actual human fitness into a futuristic version of “body gaming.” So much for that.

Let’s pull back from the world of transhumanism to something a little more arcane but definitely more in the realm of the majority of today’s fitness buffs—Wearable Technology. People are using wearables to measure their physical activity, sleep patterns, heart rate variability, and overall wellness. The new Apple Watch even has an ECG feature. The good news is that as the market expands, wearables are becoming more powerful, cheaper and more comfortable. So, while I see Biohacking carving out a niche for itself, I think wearable technology will be the tool of choice for most devotees, at least in my lifetime.

And finally, there’s a new trend developing that is downright “human.” People are actually embracing more natural forms of improving their well-being. Practices that were once considered relaxing hobbies are now moving center-stage and being prescribed to help improve physical fitness and well-being. For example, Forest Bathing. People are actually spending time outdoors absorbing the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and feels of nature. And here is the interesting part—they leave their devices behind. Then they walk aimlessly and slowly, letting their body be their guide. They take their time and realize that it doesn’t matter if they get anywhere. Boy! Is this the antithesis of today’s action-culture or what? And the good news: there is verifiable evidence that forest bathing may promote lower concentrations of cortisol, lower the pulse rate, lower the blood pressure and improve cardiovascular and metabolic health.

So why is this important to you, the fitness club owner? Because since the COVID nightmare, the Fitness Industry has entered a whole new territory, one where technology has gained an enormous foothold in an arena that used to be defined solely by blood, sweat, and tears. Some aficionados will see this as an opportunity to experiment with every new toy and every far-out idea that comes down the pike. But… let’s not be hasty.

Now, I’m not a prophet but I have been around the Quad a couple of times and I think I can say with some confidence that, like all cycles that seem to be destined to skyrocket into a never-ending joyride but eventually fizzle out, cooler heads will eventually prevail.

While we wait it out Money Movers, Inc. and Gym Business Manager Software will continue to be there to give you all the features you need to operate your fitness business ahead of the curve. We can give you everything you need to run a hybrid business (online & in-person training), while you continue to give your clients classes, trainings and fitness products they can relate to. After all, people just want to get fit and that’s what you can offer using our software.

Just for fun though, in my next article, I will address even more of the brand-new tech extravaganzas the fitness industry seems incorporating. Until then, you are not in Kansas anymore, Toto.

The post Is The Fitness Industry Going Down a Strange New Road? Part I appeared first on GBM / Money Movers, Inc.

Is Your Gym a Buff Magnet? 28 Jun 2022, 6:50 pm

Is Your Gym a Buff Magnet? Make Sure You Have the Right Tools!

Now that people have figured out that perhaps the health scare of the last few years was a little overdone, they are returning in droves to their local facilities. The New York Times reports that gym traffic is back to over 80% of the pre-lockdown levels, according to a survey by Jeffries, the financial services company.

Well, maybe that percentage may be a little high and it may not be actual droves, BUT… I would put it at around 60% since other surveys report that while 40% of former users canceled their memberships and won’t be going back, the remaining 60% will. That means the industry is seeing a solid return to facility use.

It’s pretty easy to figure out why. Human beings are social creatures. If they can gather, for whatever purpose, they will. So, it’s no surprise to see the gyms filling up again. Which brings us to the point of my article this month.

Because there are fewer people coming in to utilize your space, the competition to capture their business is going to be much fiercer. So, your gym needs to be a fitness space that people will want to use and keep coming back to. And like a great restaurant, the atmosphere is everything. That means that all the elements need to be in place.

Strength Training: According to my sources, the most popular feature of any gym is strength training with weights. In order to meet everyone’s priorities, you will need an assortment of dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells and more. And remember, not all you members are Arnold S. so be sure you have a wide size range. Not everyone can do 5-10 pound weights on the first try, so an excellent selection of 2-5 pound weights will get your clients going in the right direction. Make sure and have some ankle and wrist weights in your selection. And make sure that your benches and racks are in top shape. Accidents in the gym can really damage your reputation.

Cardio: Everybody loves their cardio workout, and there are many kinds of equipment to facilitate a good cardio. Rowing machines, Stair Climbers, Treadmills, Airdyne Bikes, and spin bikes top the list for the most effective cardio workouts. But just having good equipment is not the only way. Make sure you have trainers that can lead or partner with your members in a rigorous HIIT or Tabata program.

Interactive Equipment: Since the massive shift to handheld-devices and the rise of gaming, many fitness buffs, especially the younger ones, want to use devices that add a digital element. Perhaps the most well-known is the Peloton Bike with its amazing interactive screen that lets the user work with a variety of trainers and access over 10,000 classes right on the machine. Interactive boxing machines are another extremely popular workout. Reflect-Touch and Mirror devices project your workout on a wall screen and are gaining popularity with many users.

Functional Fitness Tools: Functional fitness equipment is used to enhance any sort of functional exercise. With a focus on replicating real-life movements, functional fitness training has become incredibly popular over recent years. The benefits are abundant, not least, the improvement of practical movement, which makes every day activities easier. And the Industry has responded to this training direction with an impressive list of new equipment like Suspension Trainers, Slam Balls, Battle Rope, Polymetric Boxes, Parallette Bars, Air Bikes, and Resistance Bands. If you have clients who are asking for this kind of training, be sure and have some of this equipment available in your facility.

Studio Space for Live Stream Training: When gyms were locked down and owners were desperately searching for ways to keep their heads above water, the tech industry stepped up and gave birth to a whole new realm of fitness training—live online streaming. Using teleconferencing programs coupled with good quality cameras and sound equipment, trainers began offering online live-streaming classes that members could purchase and use in the comfort of their home. This birthed what is now the hottest trend in the fitness industry—Hybrid Gyms. This will require that you actually set up an area with great lighting and sound equipment installed, as well as a good camera on a stand. Though this may sound pricey, most of the smartphones today have an excellent built in video-cam. Workout mics and speakers that provide high-quality sound are also not as expensive as you might think. AND… the rewards of taking your business Hybrid far exceed the initial start-up costs.

Member Management Software: And that brings me to the most important item you can add to your facility—Gym Business Manager Member Management Software. This is the all-around best software for managing your facility with an EFT payment gateway that will allow you to handle every bit of business your club demands. From sign-up to billing, this software gives you full-spectrum club management that is seamless and easy on your budget. GBM provides CRM and email management, inventory management, Live POS for front desk and walk-in customers, Member Portal and our proprietary AccessPass phone app. GBM gives you training scheduling and booking, and for hybrid-minded club operators, scheduling, selling and booking live stream training using ZOOM online conference software. Without the equipment I listed and OBM Member Management Software as the centerpiece of your operation, you may find yourself hard put to keep up with your competitors, who are probably already hybrid and prospering.

Interested in upping your game? Contact us at 800-861-5029 or in**@*********rs.com for a free demo of this amazing software!

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Hybrid is Still The Word for 2023 4 May 2022, 10:05 pm

Hybrid is Still The Word For 2023!

In my last few articles, I have been focusing on the Hybrid approach to doing your Fitness Business. And I’m not going to let go of the topic. Currently, the industry is offering not only Zoom and Live Stream Technology, but there are dozens of apps your clients can download to their phone or device that will help them in their fitness journey.

And inside this new move to Hybrid, it’s no surprise that technology is increasingly finding a place within people’s fitness routines. This move to technology goes along with a considerable shift in consumer mindsets: gym-goers are more curious than ever to know more about their overall wellness, which encompasses everything from working out and eating well to mental well-being and sleep quality.

Today’s fitness technology runs the gamut from apps and wearable technology to digital fitness platforms and equipment. The convenience these innovations have added to the user experience is unmatched. The combination of the old-line approach to fitness (no pain-no gain) and the new fitness tech and online platforms has been reshaping the industry for the last two years. The tech side had been growing long before the pandemic, but since 2020, we have seen an exponential growth spurt that can only aid you, the owner, as you seek new directions for finding and keeping clients.

For instance, fitness apps have never been more critical to the user experience. Fitness app downloads are off the charts since 2020 and this highlights just how popular home fitness has become. And there are now hundreds of subscription-based options with a huge sele4ction of live and on demand workouts led by high-profile fitness experts. The apps have free and premium versions, with the free offering dozens of classes and the premium including hundreds of classes, training plans and the ability to connect with a heart rate monitor to see live stats, track progress and connect to live leaderboards.

During the pandemic, people also turned to wellness apps to give their lives organization—from meditation to sleep-tracking apps, the variety is immense.

And what about the fitness trackers? Starting with a simple watch that counted your steps and helped you set goals for your walking workouts, you now have smartwatches that have ECG functions, heart rate sensors, and instantaneous feedback. Users can track all their actions and stay on top of their fitness schedule at every moment.

A newcomer on the scene is virtual reality training and coaching. New apps allow users to simulate the experience of having a training session on top of a mountain or on the shore on a tropical island. Many big-name franchises have already embraced Virtual Reality training.

And a training service that has become firmly entrenched is online coaching. Gym-goers are increasingly searching for classes and trainings that work around their schedule, instead of having to come to the gym at specific hours. This is where live stream coaching excels. Services can be made available 24/7, and this is becoming a better alternative for many fitness buffs.

OBM Gym Management Software / Fitness Club

Actually, in researching this article, I found a software that sets up a virtual television channel where you can schedule pre-recorded videos all day and charge for them. I’ll be looking into this group more closely to see about using them with ZOOM. I’ll keep you all informed.

So, in looking at the latest fitness trends, we can see what your clients are looking for. They are interested in clubs that:

Enhance member experiences by helping to track activities and outcomes.
Allow clients to choose training and classes that fit their schedule rather than be limited by the open-closed hours of the facility
Provide a wide range of live and pre-recorded training and classes that they can pay for and schedule on demand.
Create enhanced wellness availability to move into a total health regimen.
Cater to members wherever they are, whenever they want to work out.

Now if these are functions you want to build into your programs in your club, then you should consider Money Mover’s Gym Business Manager, a full featured Gym/Fitness Club management software that is already configured to add many hybrid features to your programs. Also, Money Movers is one of the few companies, many of whose updates result from client requests, and we are working hard to keep pace with the latest trends in Hybrid Fitness. Here are some of our features.

Personal Training Module and Portal / Scheduling with public facing calendar and integrated ZOOM interface for live and pre-recorded training
OBM Gatekeeper—our 24-hour unattended door access with Tailgating service
Centralized Multi Location Management
AccessPass integrated member phone app with Member Portal and club check-in
Integrated Member and Trainer Portals
Full Email and SMS CRM built-in systems w/ professional Email templates
Employee Time-clock with IP Address tracking
Health Insurance reimbursement export integration
Card Account Updater Service
Integrated Collection Service / Failed Payment Management Service
Online Member Sign-up that includes electronic contracts with variable pricing capability.
Live integrated POS
Low Merchant Rates (specific rates to be determined)
Barcode inventory management
Turnkey Conversion from your current software and much more…..

For more information call us at (800) 861-5029
Or contact us at in@*******rs.com

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