They are everywhere, where you least expect it, and their omnipresence is not the result of chance. The Basic Fit backpack, in addition to a complement questioned from the aesthetic point of view that has already given what to speak in other articles, is also a symbol of a phenomenon that has not always been there. Or, at least, not in its current form. The gyms have taken the streets and have become increasingly popular. To achieve this, the sector has crossed a whole revolution that, as a last consequence, has led him to leave behind the stereotypes that were previously associated with him. This revolution has not been one day to another. Rather, he has cooked over low heat. Alberto García, general director of the National Federation of Sports Facilities entrepreneurs (FNEID), explains that a little more than 20 years ago, gyms were small centers in which the force was worked with an audience closely linked to bodybuilding. Then, these centers were governed by independent entrepreneurs who, despite the atomized market, offered more or less the same to their customers: weights, irons, machines … and little more. For years, the situation remained more or less stable, but Garcia places the first great turning point in 2012. That year, with the country still beaten by the financial crisis, the gyms lost the reduced VAT of 8% that they had to go to To support the general of 21%, a tax level that even today supports for generalized complaints of the sector. «He did a lot of damage and there were businessmen who did not endure. From 2012 to 2015 there was a crisis of both users and closing facilities. As of 2015, the sector began to recover,» he recalls. The crisis that led to a good part of the sector was also the seed of its great change. With the price of the premises and the depressed rentals after the burst of the bubble and by the online trade rise, the market was served in a tray to arrive the large low -cost chains that the sector has taken today. The opening of new centers with more affordable prices was attracting new audiences. But, again, another crisis, the pandemic, put the gyms and change them against the strings. His offer attracted more public. The public attracted more gyms chains. The competition intensified. The chains sought to differentiate offering new activities and services. The differentiation of the offer, together with a greater concern for health and the image after the pandemic, attracted people who were not the usual public of this type of center. The Gymbro (the stereotype of a muscular man who trains very regularly) ceased to be alone and went on to live with office workers who leave at eating time and retirees who do body pump. In the heat of this greater diversity and influx was how Basic Fit’s backpacks, the largest fitness chain in Spain with more than 200 centers over the total of 4,800 in the whole country, conquered the street. But not only they did. In fact, another chain dedicated in its case to Fitness boxing, Brooklyn Fitboxing, closely follows Basic Fit by club number, having inaugurated the number 200 at the beginning of September.
Are really different gyms?
Although for someone outside the sector the answer can be a priori a no, in reality, there are differences between some gyms and others. And not a few. In the war unleashed to attract new users, tactics have been sophisticated more and more. First, the most obvious came: price diversification. Jaime Gross and María Luz Campo, CEO and co -founder of Abada Club, say that, from the economic point of view, the offer of gyms in Spain is pigeonholed in three major categories. Low cost, mid -range and luxury. In the low cost, the user pays a reduced fee that goes from 15 to about 25 euros per month. In return, gain access to facilities and little else. In the mid -range, with a price that is around 40 euros, the partner enjoys machines and other services added as saunas or activities organized by its gym. In the high range, with prices that oscillate a lot and that depart from approximately 130 euros per month, customization, non -saturation of the gym and the use of luxury equipment are available to customers. Abada Club is in this last category. Men and women go equally. There are both 20 and 30 -year -old young people and partners over 50. The gym has a recovery zone, coworking room, machines that adapt to each user with approaching a bracelet, tracking with personalized training plans and Boutique Activity Service. Asked about what made them bet on this type of business, they respond that the much lower competence of this segment in Spain made them opt for it. Beyond money, another way of distinguishing was expanding the catalog of services offered and how they are offered. Enrique Iranzo is Anytime Fitness Operations Director. This American origin firm is the largest in the world with 5,500 clubs and has 48 in Spain, but plan to end the year with 53. The secret of its success was based on being the first to give access to the gym 24 hours a day 365 days a year. Iranzo says that Spanish law does not always allow this perpetual opening model, since it is very fragmented in this regard, with norms that vary even within the same town. However, the apostille manager that, whenever they are possible, they do. It also has that they have all kinds of audiences and ensures that, in the gyms that open 24 hours, there are also partners who go even at 2 in the morning. «There are for example taxi drivers, people who work in hospitality and that when they go out they are going to train. There are people who have complicated schedules and our gym gives them that added value,» he reflects. The manager advances that, in the face of the future, his chain will seek to offer greater customization through the use of an application. It is precisely this, personalization, in what Triangle balance has based its reason for being. Putting as focus on a very determined and increasingly numerous audience, that of the elderly and that of those who need rehabilitation after an injury, this gym focused on individual training and group activities of small groups seeks to make a hole. Marco Tulio Barrios, personal coach, and Tiffany Barrios, founder of Balance Triangle, specify that when someone points, the first thing they do is a diagnosis test to see their level of health and physical aptitude, and thus give them a training adjusted to their needs. “When we locate them we do the recommendation. If someone who is very lost comes, with chronic pain… we are sincere and we recommend giving personal classes before. The groups are divided into an initial, intermediate and advanced level. In the beginning we thought of putting the levels depending on the age range. We realized that it did not work. It is by levels, because it is very relative. We have for example an 80 -year Course, because they are training with 60 -year -old people raising the same weights and making the same efforts, «they say. Putting the focus on achieving more health and a better aging thanks to training, they argue that many of their users complain that when they have been to other gyms, they were precisely missing that personalized accompaniment. They claim that they felt lost when doing the exercise for free. Looking ahead, the different experts consulted for this article point to all in the direction that helping users not feel lost in the gym will be one of the key trends. To do this, chains with many partners plan to use technology. They also believe that the catalog of benefits included in the gym share is likely to grow. For example, that nutrition recommendations prepared by professionals in the field are incorporated, but standardized based on the objectives that are to be achieved. They agree that the chains will continue to gain ground and in which the sector will consolidate even more, which does not mean that the centers most niche, such as those specialized in traditional boxing or in Pilates, do remain independent. Regarding what will happen to the number of gyms users, Fneid’s general director believes that he will continue to grow. «All models live together in a very balanced way. We notice that supply is generating demand, which, we continue to grow and is a very positive trend. Not only for clubs, but also, for the whole society,» Valo García values. Said with other words. Bad news for those whom Basic phytos looks look ugly: everything indicates that they will continue to see each other everywhere.