The gym industry in 2017 (and beyond...)

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Re: The gym industry in 2017 (and beyond...)

#61

Post by asdf » Mon Oct 08, 2018 11:45 pm

KyleSchuant wrote: Mon Oct 08, 2018 5:38 pmAnd this kid will have problems with that knee for the rest of his life, whether he's sedentary or active.
Maybe not.
KyleSchuant wrote: Mon Oct 08, 2018 5:38 pmPhysiotherapy and guided training will be necessary;
Probably not.
KyleSchuant wrote: Mon Oct 08, 2018 5:38 pmif he chooses not to bother with those things, then further surgeries will be necessary.
Almost certainly not.

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Re: The gym industry in 2017 (and beyond...)

#62

Post by mbasic » Tue Oct 09, 2018 6:27 am

asdf wrote: Mon Oct 08, 2018 11:45 pm
KyleSchuant wrote: Mon Oct 08, 2018 5:38 pmAnd this kid will have problems with that knee for the rest of his life, whether he's sedentary or active.
Maybe not.
KyleSchuant wrote: Mon Oct 08, 2018 5:38 pmPhysiotherapy and guided training will be necessary;
Probably not.
KyleSchuant wrote: Mon Oct 08, 2018 5:38 pmif he chooses not to bother with those things, then further surgeries will be necessary.
Almost certainly not.
maybe KS was being sarcastic?

... or that "the industry" are going to profit on selling him (insurance co) that he needs "this" for the rest of his life.

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Re: The gym industry in 2017 (and beyond...)

#63

Post by asdf » Tue Oct 09, 2018 7:09 am

mbasic wrote: Tue Oct 09, 2018 6:27 am maybe KS was being sarcastic?
Ah. Maybe.
mbasic wrote: Tue Oct 09, 2018 6:27 am ... or that "the industry" are going to profit on selling him (insurance co) that he needs "this" for the rest of his life.
That's definitely true.

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Re: The gym industry in 2017 (and beyond...)

#64

Post by KyleSchuant » Tue Oct 09, 2018 7:00 pm

I am describing what we commonly see happen, not what I think is good and proper.

The point in this thread is that a generation of early specialising children injuring themselves, combined with an ageing and sedentary population, mean that rehab assistance will be a growing part of the gym industry.

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Re: The gym industry in 2017 (and beyond...)

#65

Post by mbasic » Fri Mar 01, 2019 5:48 am

Flying around yesterday overheard two separate conversations about people who owned gyms/franchises in multiple cities.

- one convo on my departing flight: sounded like "fitness studios" (boutique gym thing?) ....in multiple cities/states

- 2nd convo on my return flight: sounded like they owned multiple Orange Theory franchises.

Gym business is really taking off!.....the next bubble?....like FroYo stores?

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Re: The gym industry in 2017 (and beyond...)

#66

Post by KyleSchuant » Fri Mar 01, 2019 2:23 pm

I think it's plateaued (or the beginning of that), and during a plateau in an industry there's some heavy churn among the participants and their businesses, and people try lots of different things to try to keep it going.

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Re: The gym industry in 2017 (and beyond...)

#67

Post by asdf » Fri Mar 01, 2019 3:16 pm

Orange Theory is for people who wish their CrossFit gym only programmed metcons and never strength days. I think they'll continue to grow.

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Re: The gym industry in 2017 (and beyond...)

#68

Post by KyleSchuant » Mon May 06, 2019 12:04 am

I stumbled into this old Andy Baker thread talking about "a typical week at KSC", the sort of clientele he gets at his black iron gym. Interesting for those considering becoming trainers or opening their own gym business.

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Re: The gym industry in 2017 (and beyond...)

#69

Post by mgil » Mon May 06, 2019 6:33 am

KyleSchuant wrote: Mon May 06, 2019 12:04 am I stumbled into this old Andy Baker thread talking about "a typical week at KSC", the sort of clientele he gets at his black iron gym. Interesting for those considering becoming trainers or opening their own gym business.
Also illustrates the hours you’ll have to maintain. Roughly 0500-1000 and 1500-2000. 70 hours a week if you’re the only person. If you are booked and getting $70 an hour, then that’s almost $5k a week. Not bad once you pay the bills, but you’ll be a miserable person.

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Re: The gym industry in 2017 (and beyond...)

#70

Post by SeanHerbison » Mon May 06, 2019 8:43 am

mgil wrote: Mon May 06, 2019 6:33 amNot bad once you pay the bills, but you’ll be a miserable person.
I don't know. It obviously depends largely on the people you're interacting with, but that doesn't sound too bad to me.

Edit: I don't spend my time doing much besides my job, lifting, and trying to learn new stuff by book/Youtube/Podcast/etc, so it's not like this would affect my nearly non-existent social life. I realize I'm outside the norm there.

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Re: The gym industry in 2017 (and beyond...)

#71

Post by mgil » Mon May 06, 2019 9:04 am

Yeah, 70 hours a week is going to cut into my fun time.

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Re: The gym industry in 2017 (and beyond...)

#72

Post by iamsmu » Mon May 06, 2019 9:25 am

SeanHerbison wrote: Mon May 06, 2019 8:43 am
mgil wrote: Mon May 06, 2019 6:33 amNot bad once you pay the bills, but you’ll be a miserable person.
I don't know. It obviously depends largely on the people you're interacting with, but that doesn't sound too bad to me.

Edit: I don't spend my time doing much besides my job, lifting, and trying to learn new stuff by book/Youtube/Podcast/etc, so it's not like this would affect my nearly non-existent social life. I realize I'm outside the norm there.
And you get to take a mid day siesta.

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Re: The gym industry in 2017 (and beyond...)

#73

Post by SeanHerbison » Mon May 06, 2019 9:38 am

KyleSchuant wrote: Mon May 06, 2019 12:04 am I stumbled into this old Andy Baker thread
Kyle Schuant wrote:Yes, dear readers, I think that being unable to squat or deadlift is as bad as being unable to read.
You still stand by that, or have you changed your mind?

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Re: The gym industry in 2017 (and beyond...)

#74

Post by KyleSchuant » Mon May 06, 2019 2:37 pm

Yes.

One of my first clients was a woman on a walking frame. Had she squattted since youth, she would never have needed that. And nowadays I get people in their 40s in debilitating pain which could have been avoided had they been active.

Low muscle mass and strength is connected with so much disease and misery. I'm with the good Dr Sullivan on this one. Compression of morbidity.

Note: this does not mean low-bar back squat with 400lbs. I mean... a squat. Honestly, most people's health needs could be achieved with three kettlebells and a pull-up bar. Start that in your teens, do it for life and you're good. Half an hour, couple times a week. Basic movement literacy. PhD not needed, just basic literacy such as most people get by year 9 or so.

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Re: The gym industry in 2017 (and beyond...)

#75

Post by asdf » Mon May 06, 2019 3:15 pm

KyleSchuant wrote: Mon May 06, 2019 2:37 pm Low muscle mass and strength is connected with so much disease and misery.
About a month ago, Austin Baraki uploaded a lecture he gave to doctors regarding sarcopenia.

As is always the case with Austin's stuff, it was excellent. Check it out if you haven't already.

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Re: The gym industry in 2017 (and beyond...)

#76

Post by iamsmu » Mon May 06, 2019 4:41 pm

asdf wrote: Fri Mar 01, 2019 3:16 pm Orange Theory is for people who wish their CrossFit gym only programmed metcons and never strength days. I think they'll continue to grow.
Interesting. They recently opened one next to a WholeFoods near me. It seems very popular. From what I've seen, it's mostly women.

Do they even use barbells? Looked like rowing, treadmill, body weight stuff, trx, and maybe dumbbells.

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Re: The gym industry in 2017 (and beyond...)

#77

Post by KyleSchuant » Mon May 06, 2019 5:30 pm

A good presentation from Austin, asdf. He puts academically and medically what we have seen in the gym, though of course a medical professional sees even more messed-up people than even a trainer specialising in older beat-up folk does.

Further to what I said above, Sean, a lack of reading literacy ability makes itself felt early on and throughout life. But a lack of movement literacy takes a while to hurt someone, because the natural activity we do as children (toddlers squat, young kids jump and run and swing off monkey bars, older kids throw balls and wrestle each-other and so on) builds a base, and a young person's natural resilience can make up for all sorts of shitty sedentary behaviours.

But by the time they're 40 their youthful resilience has faded away to an extent leaving them weak, sick and in pain. Reading illiteracy they would have been in trouble from 12 years old or so, movement illiteracy they can get away with until they're 40.

I know of no large population studies of who can perform this or that movement, except gait and grip strength. But we have them for diet. Only 4% of adults in Australia have the recommended 5-6 serves (2.5-3 cups chopped) vegetables daily. And it's 0.4% in 15-25yo males. 20 year old males aren't getting bowel cancer due to lack of fibre, but 60 year old males do. If only 4% of adults are eating a few cups of vegies a day, how many do you think are physically strong and mobile enough to squat down below parallel and get back up again... once?

Boris Bachmann made his Squat RC series of instructional videos inspired, he said, in part by seeing so many people do it badly in the gym, but also because he saw his father die of emphysema. He said "towards the end, getting in and out of a chair was a metabolic conditioning workout for him." It need not be so.

The work we do is important, and growing in importance as the proportion of older folk in the population increases, and as the Western world becomes more electronic and sedentary. This is why I was disgusted you were excluded by SS, Sean. This shit is more important than branding. We need to grow things.

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Re: The gym industry in 2017 (and beyond...)

#78

Post by SeanHerbison » Mon May 06, 2019 5:40 pm

KyleSchuant wrote: Mon May 06, 2019 2:37 pm Yes.
...
Note: this does not mean low-bar back squat with 400lbs. I mean... a squat.
Cool, you answered my follow-on questions before I asked it.

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Re: The gym industry in 2017 (and beyond...)

#79

Post by asdf » Mon May 06, 2019 10:21 pm

iamsmu wrote: Mon May 06, 2019 4:41 pm [Does Orange Theory] even use barbells? Looked like rowing, treadmill, body weight stuff, trx, and maybe dumbbells.
Not sure, but I don't think so. Strength isn't really their thing. They're all about fat burning, spending a certain amount of time in a high-intensity heart-rate zone, EPOC, etc. At least that was the case several years ago. Also, I've never done one of their workouts.

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Re: The gym industry in 2017 (and beyond...)

#80

Post by mgil » Tue May 07, 2019 4:13 am

asdf wrote: Mon May 06, 2019 10:21 pm
iamsmu wrote: Mon May 06, 2019 4:41 pm [Does Orange Theory] even use barbells? Looked like rowing, treadmill, body weight stuff, trx, and maybe dumbbells.
Not sure, but I don't think so. Strength isn't really their thing. They're all about fat burning, spending a certain amount of time in a high-intensity heart-rate zone, EPOC, etc. At least that was the case several years ago. Also, I've never done one of their workouts.
Yeah, I think it is a more “TRX/HIIT boutique” than anything else. Short (30 m) sessions with high volitional effort and lots of calories burned. It’s a fairly smart business model in that most of the equipment is cheaper than the normal globogym cardio stuff and the effectively cycle clients through in an orderly fashion. Demand is managed via the programming. They can get a lot of throughput for not a lot of square footage.

Plus it’s also got some sort of culture marketing attached to it like CrossFit. If it works, that keeps people paying and doing that free word-of-mouth marketing that works very well.

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