Three Considerations For A Five-star Studio Fitness Space
Starting a fitness studio? There are three categories you should be thinking about to make sure your studio space is suited to your facility and exercisers:
- Application
- Space
- Product
APPLICATION
When visualizing your ideal studio, the first question should be: What is my goal? What kind of training will my exercisers be doing? How do I get the most variety out of these programs?
We define application as evaluating the safety, variety and efficiency of your equipment within a given space.
For example, Studio Collection accessories offer progression in the form of barbells, dumbbells and kettlebells. They are more difficult as you progress. There’s more activation in balancing dumbbells than barbells—increasing the muscles engaged during exercise—and similarly with kettlebells compared to dumbbells. Progression is extremely important for keeping exercisers motivated to accomplish their goals.
Studio Collection decks are multi-functional tools that vastly improve training variety. Decks bring inspiration from the weight floor to the hardwood studio floor. By adjusting the incline, exercisers are able to position their bodies in a variety of ways.
Step and risers are from the heart-pumping cardio family. They offer bodyweight training aimed to get your heart rate up and to vigorously burn off calories. Their application, like the deck, also greatly improves variety. Exercisers can use as many or as few risers as they need to suit their goals. They can also use risers independently from the step in several training varieties.
Barbell Packs. Traditional strength training. Less variance because the bar limits restricts independent motion.
Dumbbell Packs. Used to isolate muscle groups. Independent paths of motion give more variance than barbells.
Kettlebell Packs. Total-body functional training. Exercisers engage their muscles from the ground up.
Decks. Give exercisers a feel for weight training and variety from the gym floor in a boutique studio environment.
Step and Risers. Training variety and a high-intensity cardio for people who need to get their heart rate up.
SPACE
Your studio space dictates the atmosphere you’re trying to create. If you’re using weights and decks, make sure that you’re able to quickly and easily set up and organize your accessories. If your studio space looks messy or becomes difficult to maneuver, exercisers won’t want to come. Organization is paramount—if your products do not properly align with your space, or do not allow users to move around freely, it reflects poorly on your facility. To provide a premium boutique experience, you have to treat your hardwood floors like red carpets. The Life Fitness Studio Collection was made to keep your facility organized, while being designed to blend into your unique space for a premium boutique experience.
PRODUCT
The Studio Collection has been designed with boutique studios in mind. It acts as a modern parallel to weight rooms. The design nuances give it a family look and feel. The colored weights follow the psychology of users and industry trends, e.g., the colors of our weight plates correspond to the resistance of resistance bands. Warmer colors are generally lighter or less resistant. Darker colors are heavier or provide more resistance.
The racking systems are the most nuanced design feature of the entire collection. They were built to borrow from methods we employ in everyday life. A vending machine, a toolbox and a tool shed all inspired different elements of Studio Collection racks. These design elements allow exercisers to quickly and easily identify what they’re looking for. After workouts are over, the Studio Collection racks guide exercisers in putting away their accessories.
Product shapes also play a large in the overall usage of your accessories. The Studio Collection weight plates and dumbbells have cleverly designed anti-roll heads that keep your accessories from rolling away, but can still be pushed out of the way to quickly clear the area. And the kettlebells dispel the belief that functional training accessories are only for veteran exercisers. They are designed with a concave curvature to snugly fit against an exercisers forearm while doing overhead lifts—something previously overlooked in all other kettlebells.
Simple products like the deck, step and risers have features that not only add variety, but make exercise—which may be intimidating for some—more inviting and intuitive. The decks have notches built in to attach resistance bands for more training variety. The steps, decks and risers all have hand/foot targets to guide correct techniques during use.
To make a stellar studio space, keep in mind what kind of application, space and products you are putting to use. Exercisers are looking to reap the benefits of traditional weight training on the hardwood floor with music and motivation. They need to be comfortable. They need to be inspired. And they need the right tools to achieve their personal goals.