The Market in the Fitness Industry

Haylee Jared Lambe
Nov 6 · 4 min read

Stephanie Lockhart became passionate about fitness at a young age. She loved how working out made her feel and how other aspects of her life improved when she discovered fitness. She was always fascinated with the human body and was a TA for anatomy at Utah Valley University. She was almost finished with her BA in Exercise Science from Brigham Young University-Provo right before she decided to devote her time and energy into starting a small business. She is well known for her innovation in the fitness industry. Her gym was one of the first to offer programs for seniors and children. She won the nationally recognized IBEA Instructor of the Year Award in 1993. She is certified through ACE, AFAA, and AAA/ISMA. She specializes in Pre/Post Natal, Kickboxing, Yoga, Personal Training, Pilates, and Nutrition. She has 5 beautiful children and family is very important to her. She prides herself on creating a business where she could still find balance in her other roles as a mother, wife, and friend. She has a passion for teaching fitness and loves helping others find fitness to improve their quality of life. I interviewed Stephanie because she created something similar to what I would like to create. I am very inspired that she was able to balance running a business and being a busy mom of 5 without feeling like one was lacking. In this article we discuss the market research in the fitness industry.

How big is your market and what area of the market are you currently focusing on?

The market is very large but also highly competitive. Consistently we target women as our market, especially with fitness classes. I would say 90% of our fitness classes are women. But all demographics from kids to seniors benefit from fitness and we have targeted many different customers. Recently we focused on senior citizens with Silver Sneakers classes. It’s great for us to bring different clientele in and expand our market, it also benefits the community and the seniors in the area to have access to better their health, and the classes are offered in the afternoon which helps us maximize our space.

What do you feel is the most important innovation happening right now for your industry?

Technology is huge! And I don’t see that declining any time soon. There are many apps and user friendly tracking and motivation. Another cool innovation that has recently happened is wearing monitors that tracks your heart rate while you are working out in the fitness class. Your heart rate would display on screens and you could see how hard you were working and compare to others in the class. This helps motivate others to work harder and makes for some fun competition and a way to track progress and improve.

What other products and services are similar to yours and how are you competitive?

It is a very competitive industry and I think the best way to set us apart from the competition is our relationships with our clients. We value them and their fitness journey and goals and desire to help them achieve them. I think our clients can feel that and it makes them choose us and stay with us. I want every client to feel welcomed, included, and loved at our facility. We also ask for regular feedback from clients to see how best we can serve our clients. We base every decision off our clients.

What is your Customer Lifetime Value and how would you maximize the amount of money each customer would spend?

We have maximized customer spending by offering personal training courses, specialty courses like cooking demos, and special health classes offered at the gym. We also have a shop where clients can buy fitness equipment, gear, and nutrition supplements. We also offer certifications at our location through nationally recognized accreditation.

How do you think social media plays a role in your market?

Social media has really blown up and “fit-spos” are one of the most common accounts on Instagram. The trouble is clients getting misguided information and being sold faulty products and supplements. Clients will also have unrealistic expectations for themselves when they see high-light reels and possible photo-shopped photos. We have focused on our social media with relevant, science-based information that will help inspire and motivate. Social media can be a great tool to advertise, give information, offer support and motivation, and answer common questions asked in the gym. Social media is a must for business these days.

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