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Original poster

Some facts from my mate who owns a gym..

72 replies

GreenDragone · 30/04/2019 20:51

My mate owns a private gym. The other day we were sitting in the sauna together & he was telling me all about the running of it:

There are 3000 members paying just over £100/month
Of that, the membership is split 70%women/30%men
Only 300 members regularly attend, so 2700 are paying subs for something they never use!
Of the 300 who do regularly attend, 70% are men & 30% women..

Somehow that just blows my mind... I don't know what the overheads are but it sounds like a money-making machine. 2700 coughing up £100+ a month for nothing... & a great place to meet a man!

OP posts:
ILoveMaxiBondi · 30/04/2019 21:23

Grin i’ll wave to you!

Original poster
GreenDragone · 30/04/2019 21:24

My gym has a waiting list though I'm not sure why?Hmm

OP posts:
TalkinPaece · 30/04/2019 21:25

Greendragone
Waiting lists are just a marketing ploy

Whatdoyouknowwhenyouknownowt · 30/04/2019 21:29

Someone at David Lloyd told me the same thing, 6000 members, so they can't possibly service them all. Try never to remind them if their direct debits.

I used to be a £500 a swim person but I took up functional fitness with monthly rolling contracts & coaches who chase...

aneres · 30/04/2019 21:30

I want to quit the gym

ShastaBeast · 30/04/2019 21:30

I’d definitely join for £100 plus if it was on my doorstep. But I wouldn’t if it a pain to get to and £10pcm.

What defines regular? I sometimes make it three times a week but often life gets in the way, especially school holidays, and I’m lucky to make it once a week.

70% of men who join don’t use it regularly, compared to a shocking 95.7% of women.

The gym I attend is more even but they use it very differently. Women in classes and cardio machines, evening classes fully booked and no spare treadmills in the day time. Men in the weights area and some cardio, loads of free treadmills in the evening but struggle to use weight area at most parts of the day, especially evening when it’s more of a local hangout for the men.

ShirleyPhallus · 30/04/2019 21:30

I love my gym but fuck me it is expensive to use!

DonttouchthatLarry · 30/04/2019 21:32

I often struggle to park at my gym so don't really want the people who never go to suddenly start Wink. It annoys me when they do recruitment drives as more new members only makes the parking situation worse, but was glad to hear someone being told the other day that there was now a waiting list so I guess we've reached maximum capacity!

Original poster
GreenDragone · 30/04/2019 21:37

I've also noticed how it always gets busy in January with the new Christmas memberships but they've all buggered off by Valentine's & we have the place to ourselves again!Grin

OP posts:
FudgeBrownie2019 · 30/04/2019 21:41

Mine's £30 a month for gym, swimming pool and all classes included. I use the gym 4 times a week, swim with the DC at least twice and attend 3 or 4 classes a week, so I get my money's worth.

A friend pays more than twice what I pay for her gym membership, has to pay extra for classes and uses it twice a month, tops.

For some people gym membership is just another 'tick box' rather than something to be used regularly.

Theninjawhinger · 30/04/2019 21:48

Attracting 3000 members seems LOADS to me! I’m ooop norf, and that would mean every single person in miles joining up. I wonder how many members my local gym has. I want to know now!

Nacreous · 30/04/2019 21:55

I am a member of my LA gym, and I use it 2-3 times a week in average for either classes or swimming. I worked out that as long as I averaged > 5x a month I would break even and over the last 4 months I've definitely got my money's worth.

DisastrousBee · 30/04/2019 22:00

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

blue55 · 30/04/2019 22:36

A close friend is a manager at a top London health club and the stats are very similar!

I'm not really surprised though, I hate the gym 😂 but always feel as though I 'ought' to be a member.

NicoAndTheNiners · 30/04/2019 22:42

I pay around that price and do 12 classes a week. Plus spend most of my weekend there socialising. I get my money's worth.

MissCalamity · 01/05/2019 09:39

Oh God, this reminds me that if I don't use my gym by the end of this month I'm going to cancel. Mine's only £13.99 a month, but so far I've only been twice this year 😫
I need a huge kick up the arse!!

WhatHaveIFound · 01/05/2019 09:46

I've got a discounted rate at my gym (health insurance benefit) so it costs me £10/month for classes/gym. There's no pool or sauna but that doesn't both me. I go 2-4 times a week so i think it's a bargain.

The stats don't surprise me though. I've known for a long time that gyms make their money from the people who don't go.

CakeNinja · 01/05/2019 09:54

We are members of David Lloyd. Sometimes I go 5 days a week for a month but then I’ll go 3 months without visiting once. Dp uses it less than me and the dc use it sporadically.
We are definitely not making the most of it!
It’s so handy though, when it’s chucking it down to just pile in the car and go swimming. Not £350 a month handy granted, but for some reason we just don’t bother cancelling.

ComtesseDeSpair · 01/05/2019 09:55

People who can afford to pay £100 a month for a gym are also people for whom that £100 isn’t a lot of money, hence the attrition rate. There’s a balancing act: I pay almost £500 a month for my fitness studio (albeit that’s mostly for three sessions a week with a PT) and whilst I and the other clients can afford it, paying that sort of money genuinely does motivate you to attend every session!

Passthecherrycoke · 01/05/2019 09:59

It’s easy to find gyms charging £100 a month.

However your friend isn’t exactly analysing it properly- the gym still has to be available for a good % of those 3000 members so his running costs don’t decrease just because people don’t turn up. The pool still hasn’t to be opened, gym cleaned and maintained etc etc. Apart from potentially being able to reduce staffing a little it doesn’t really make much difference.

Although I agree selling a product where 70% of people use it is a bit shit. I think gyms will be prevented from having this advantage going forward- we’re already seeing changes to cancellation circumstances (ie able to cancel due to being unable to afford it)

Orangecake123 · 01/05/2019 10:04

My gym is £25.00 a month. There is an option of a pool and suna, but I have the cheapest option which does also include classes.

It offers either a monthly option or if you pay yearly it's £18.80 if you buy 12 months all in one go.

MyFamilyAndOtherAnimals1 · 01/05/2019 10:16

@MrsJ - where is 9.99 per month?! I'd love to cut my gym costs down to that!

downcasteyes · 01/05/2019 10:18

You take a sauna with you male friends?

thegreylady · 01/05/2019 10:36

I pay £48 monthly and use the pool 2/3 times a week including one Aquafit class. I haven’t been a member long and hope I can keep it up. It is the leisure centre at a local hotel.

bridgetreilly · 01/05/2019 10:47

Mine is £24/month and I haven't been for about three months. I know I should cancel it but I keep pretending that this will be the month I start going again...