Anytime Fitness Continues to Grow as Industry Fads Come and Go

Ask any member of the Anytime Fitness family what excites them the most about their gym, and it’s likely you’ll get the same response: the culture. It’s not a coincidence that thousands of members and employees have the brand’s Runningman logo tattooed on their bodies—Anytime Fitness has created an environment that people want to be a part of. And according to the executive team behind the brand, that’s exactly why members keep coming back regardless of the latest fitness fad.

Like any trend, those in health and fitness come and go. There’s always another concept popping up that has the potential to become the next big competition. But even as the industry continues to become more crowded, Anytime Fitness is experiencing consistent and rapid growth. The brand has found a unique combination of innovation and standard fitness principles that fuel its ongoing expansion initiatives.

“The fitness industry is ripe with fads. But at the end of the day, there are three core principles that consumers ultimately care about: convenience, a positive culture, and the ability to produce results. Anytime Fitness excels in all three of those areas, and by continuing to make them a priority, we’ll continue to experience growth,” said Tom Gilles, National Sales Director for Anytime Fitness.

Core principles

That ability to walk the line between the old and the new gives Anytime Fitness franchisees—and members—a competitive advantage. It’s a sweet spot that few concepts have been able to nail down, and according to Anytime Fitness Brand President Stacy Anderson, it’s the deciding factor that will propel the brand ahead of the competition.

“As everyone knows, the fitness industry is in a period of rapid growth, change, and hyper competition. The past five years have seen the emergence of a myriad of studio concepts, the proliferation of wearable technology, functional fitness, high intensity interval training, group training, and widespread integration of digital solutions throughout our personal technology ecosystem. These trends provide traditionally defined gyms with opportunities for immediate growth, and you’ll see us taking advantage of that with the introduction of several new offerings.”

One new offering that Anytime Fitness has introduced at some locations over the past year is AF Group Training, which brings the science of functional fitness together with the expertise of a certified personal trainer to coach members in a group setting. Anderson notes that the brand also re-launched its Anytime Fitness App early this year, which now gives members access to over 1,100 workouts, goal setting to stay on track, and tools to monitor their progress both in and outside of their local gym.

By staying connected with members after their workout ends, Anytime Fitness is tapping into the next big idea in the fitness industry. Members are looking to engage their coaches and communities 24/7, and with the help of Anytime Fitness’ new app, they’re making that dream a reality.

Personal connection

“The importance of coaching is going to continue to become larger as we move forward in the months and years ahead. Our members are looking for a personal connection to their gyms. We already have a leg up on the competition there because our size—our average member base for one gym is 851 members.

That means that our franchisees and their employees can know the people walking through their doors,” said Gilles. “Now, it’s up to us to extend that personal connection outside of our four walls. The majority of our members’ time is spent outside of the gym—even our most dedicated clients are only inside our facilities for a matter of hours on a weekly basis.

But everything that they do before and after their workout influences their results. By staying connected with our members when they’re on the go, we’re able to enhance their results and encourage them to stay on track. That’s what’s going to set us apart.

We can continue our coaching services virtually, outside of our brick and mortar locations.”

At the end of the day, Anytime Fitness recognizes that it’s only as strong as its system. By continuing to encourage innovation while maintaining its convenience level, positive culture, and ability to produce results for members, the brand has created a recipe for success that will enable Anytime Fitness to outlast the many fads that the fitness industry will face going forward.

“We’re careful not to get caught up in the myopia of our own industry. We keep our eye to trends in the macro-environment as well,” said Anderson. “Technology affords us an opportunity to bring experiences to consumers that were never thought to be possible by traditional gym owners.

The trend is toward mass personalization and customization, and we’re actively working on leveraging technology to enable a new era of health and fitness coaching that goes beyond the four walls of a traditional gym. Our goal is to extend our support and services in a personalized way to consumers wherever, whenever, and however they need us."