Are you more of a gym or a fitness studio person?
Although they may be confused, a gym and a studio have a distinct characteristic and generally offer two completely different types of training experience.
The Gym
The term gym is short for gymnasium and is defined by Wikipedia as an establishment, or premises, set up for the practice of body exercises and certain indoor sports. Not so long ago, they were the place to be for fitness enthusiasts, and then athletes went there to train on strength and cardiovascular equipment. Nowadays, gyms are accessible to anyone who wants to improve their health through physical activity.
Free access
A gym is generally a place where the customer pays a sum of money in exchange for access to the room and equipment. Customers can then work out as they wish during the day using the gym’s equipment. Prices may vary according to the quality of the facilities and service, but ultimately you are paying for access to equipment. Traditional gyms therefore have a business model where a very large number of customers will be necessary for their survival. The survival of their business model is also based on the premise that a large majority of their members will pay for a service that they will not use. If all the members of a gym turned up on the same day, it goes without saying that their experience would be greatly reduced by the amount of traffic involved.
Training equipment
Since the service you’re paying for is access to equipment, the gym has to deliver on this aspect. That’s why traditional gyms generally offer a wide range of cardio equipment (treadmills, elliptical trainers, stationary bikes, etc.) and strength equipment. As far as muscular equipment is concerned, we often find a lot of training machines used to train a single movement (bicep curl machine, shoulder press, etc.) These machines, which are not very versatile or functional, take up the vast majority of space. In recent years, there has been a trend in large commercial chains to include a space for functional training. However, the extent to which this is being done remains rather limited.
Training space
A gym is usually a place with a very large training area. Firstly, the gym must be able to store all those bulky cardio and muscle machines. Secondly, it has to provide a suitable space for its members to practise their activities. As a general rule, gyms will have large changing rooms and sometimes even related facilities, such as dry saunas or tanning stations.
The fitness studio
The fitness studio is also a popular place for fitness enthusiasts. By definition, it’s a place where the training area is smaller than in a gym. However, they stand out for their specialisation and the quality of the services they offer.
Services
Compared to gyms, the added value of fitness studios is the services they offer. Although some studios offer free access to their facilities, as a general rule you need to purchase a supervision service. These services take the form of group or private supervision by an instructor/trainer qualified in his or her field. These instructors/coaches will guide you in your practice, to help you progress and develop. The offer is therefore very different from what is offered in a gym. A studio offers you guidance and direction, in direct contrast to simple access to equipment. It’s great to have access to lots of equipment, but you still need to know how to use it!
Specialisation
Because they are smaller than gyms, training studios will usually offer a more specialised service. For example, a yoga studio or HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) studio will exclusively offer their own style of training. When a studio offers a limited number of training styles, you tend to concentrate on doing them better. If you want to do HIIT training, where do you think you’ll find the best coaching? In a studio that offers this type of session exclusively, or in a large gym that offers HIIT, CrossFit, running, boxing and Pilates? We’ll leave you to ponder…
Personalised service
Whatever the business, when you serve fewer clients, you generally serve them better. This is true of training studios, which have fewer clients than gyms. There’s a much greater chance that the person at the front desk, as well as the trainer, will remember your name and preferences. We’re not suggesting that all gyms offer terrible service and that studios offer outstanding service. What we are saying is that getting personalised service in a gym with 3000 members is less than in a studio with 300 members. By being smaller, you also get more privacy during your workouts.
The OBJECTIV difference
At OBJECTIV, we’re somewhere between a gym and a studio, although we’re closer to the latter. Our aim is to offer our customers the best of both worlds. Our aim is to offer our customers the best of both worlds, so we aim to provide high-quality, added-value coaching services (group classes, private training), while offering our members the best selection of training equipment. Every training studio has its own speciality, ours being the achievement of health goals. Our equipment has been carefully selected to help you achieve your goals quickly and effectively. We are therefore convinced that the OBJECTIV gym studio is the ideal place for anyone who wants to achieve results and maintain them for good.