3 Considerations When Creating Your Gym’s Fitness Class Schedule
Fitness classes are an important component for your gym to offer. From your perspective as a gym owner, they add to your gym’s list of services and amenities that bring in new members and keep current ones happy. There are also many benefits of fitness classes for your members, including exercise motivation, a range of exercise style options, social support, and accountability. You can maximize your gym’s offerings by keeping these points in mind when you create your fitness class schedule.
#1: Keep Practical Considerations in Mind
Your fitness class schedule is not only about which time slot is best for which class. You also need to take into account practical considerations such as how many instructors you have, how many classes your fitness class budget will allow for and instructor availability.
On top of that, look at data your gym management software offers such as popular times, class participation rates and gaps in the schedule. You will need to make adjustments as these factors change. For example, instructor availability and class participation rates can change in time, which will impact your schedule.
#2: Focus on Variety
Filling time slots is not the only factor that’s important within gym scheduling. You also want to look at the types of classes you’re offering. With a broad enough variety of class types, you’ll be able to interest new members and keep current members satisfied enough to stick around. Toward this end, offer a variety of intensity and skill levels, so you can target beginner, intermediate and expert exercisers.
Keep in mind that even those who like intense workouts may want balance through a gentle class. Also, offer a variety of styles, such as spinning, dance, yoga, HIIT, resistance training, general aerobics, targeted goals and more. This way, you’ll provide something for everyone’s tastes and keep exercise interesting. Also, stay on top of popular class trends so you can adjust your schedule to include the up-to-date classes everyone is looking for.
#3: You Can Change It
You might find it crippling if you feel like you have to make your class schedule perfect the first time around. Let go of that expectation and realize that you can adjust the schedule as you track the classes and see how they’re working. By using gym management software that maintains a real-time schedule on your website, your members and staff will be updated on any changes as they happen. Simply encourage members to check the schedule before coming. And consider getting member and staff feedback in addition to data from tracking to help you make decisions on the best schedule.
In the beginning, start with a mock schedule based on classes you want to offer, strategy on the order of classes, member feedback and previous data on what has worked, what hasn’t, busiest times, etc. Add instructors to the classes based on the available times they have given you. When you have the mock schedule, get feedback from your instructors and make adjustments based on the feedback you think makes sense. Then, follow this schedule, see how it works with members and make additional adjustments as needed.
Keep in mind that gym management software can help immensely with your fitness class schedule. It can play roles in tracking scheduling data, creating and adjusting the schedule and maintaining an updated schedule on the website that provides classes in real-time and allows members to sign up online.
