Destination gyms

We love the way going to the gym makes us feel but we often dread going. Outside of personal motivation, the culture of a gym can be a powerful tool to persuade a person to get out of bed and go sweat. Gym culture has expanded from a place to go to sweat to a "destination" because research has shown that health and fitness is becoming more holistic than ever and working out should not feel like a chore. What attracts you to a gym? Hot personal trainers? State-of-the art personal entertainment systems on each machine? Maybe it's the wide array of trendy group fitness classes? In the spirit of summer, I’ve done a comparison of three popular gyms' cultures, based on their websites, to see exactly how they're exemplifying fitness. I chose the first three fitness clubs that showed up on google's search results for [fitness club]: 24 hour fitness, Crunch, and Equinox.

Let’s start with 24 Hour Fitness. I am directed from the home page to their non-member site. After some clicking around, I conclude their approach is reminiscent of an infomercial to attract frat boys. Key phrases like “fit for your success” and “special offers” remind me of a late-night sales pitch. But wait- there’s more! Even before they tell me the price of a membership, they show me the “body bugg” system, they’re selling for the low price of only $119 (msrp $149)! Additionally,(and similarly to infomercials) the photo on their home page have terrible composition and is of low-quality. Part of the woman’s arm is cut off by a workout machine.

Fig.1 24 Hour Fitness home page

Come on 24 Hour Fitness, you could have thought a little bit more about how you framed that shot. There are better stock photos on Google Image Search. Lastly, I’ll touch on their “initiation” fee. Since when do gyms initiate people? Initiation is something that fraternities do to filter out who is cool enough to be a part of their elite social network. The key to being fit is not just paying a company or buying a gadget, it's inspiring people to go. No thanks 24 Hour Fitness, I'm not motivated to sweat around a bunch of frat boys and girls who do their hair before they go to the gym.

Next! Crunch has a pretty straightforward website. They state at the top, there’s no judgment and their slogan is “making fitness fun”. Already, I like both of those philosophies. On the page where you sign up to get a guest pass, there is a photo with a very diverse (men/women/fit/not-so-fit/blonde/dark haired/man with long hair/tattoos, etc.) and happy group, that don't seem to be sweating all over the ground (magic?) I like the simple UI on their home page and their group shot inspires me to pick up a weight. Judging from their website, I would try out this gym and maybe even find friends to workout with. Their culture seems diverse and fun without the need for me to spend any cash on extraneous gadgets.

Fig.2 Crunch gym's free guest pass page

Then there’s Equinox.  I had never heard of them before I clicked to their site. The first phrase that pops into my head as I navigate around their site is “luxury lifestyle brand”. This quickly proves true as I notice a plethora of phrases like “portfolio of properties”, “designer performance”, “impeccable attention to detail” and my personal favorite, “brain-body magic” peppered throughout their site. Equinox wins out of these three as the most desirable gym "destination" in my book. Their website is reminiscent of a high fashion magazine, chock full of wellness tips and tricks, a blog, recipes, and a showcase of their fabulous international locations (although their over-use of the word "guru" is a little troubling).

Fig. 3 Equinox's site is reminiscent of a magazine

All three of these gyms have fundamentally different images, buzz words, and price points too. (Exclusive gurus command high salaries!) However, 24 hour fitness has been around for as long as I remember and they still don’t have a marketing strategy that motivates me to go to the gym. Price aside, I’m not convinced I’m going to have fun working out there. Crunch's philosophy and presentation is pretty inviting. I would definitely explore them in person to see what they have to offer. Equinox, while I can only imagine the price point is beyond what I would want to spend on a gym, wins as far as convincing me I should go workout. Their concept is holistic, and that's important because health is achieved through a combination of diet and lifestyle, not just 30 minute intervals on an elliptical machine.