Community Recreation Fitness: Build Community by Design

As community recreation fitness centers look for ways to attract new members and offer their existing members the best fitness experience, they must evaluate their overall gym design. Smart gym design with exercise guidance, and a selection of great gym equipment come together to create an experience that can bring together community members, give them a sense of belonging, and improve their health. According to an article in Community Rec Magazine, being an active part of a community in itself can improve health outcomes for many individuals.

Keep these three tips in mind when designing a fitness experience for your community recreation gym:

Keep it Functional

Functional training is not only a continuing trend in exercise but it’s also a fun and effective form of healthy movement. Functional exercise can be defined in many ways, but it often consists of multi-joint exercises, at varying intensities, with stability, strength, and aerobic challenges.

Designing a functional fitness facility with the right storage, equipment, and usable space lends to the experience and logistics of a functional workout. For example, medicine balls, resistance bands, dumbbells and kettlebells can all be made accessible, and stored properly, with the right storage solutions. Smart functional gym design makes it easy for any type of personal or group workout, with the ability to meet fellow community members and make potential new friends.

Follow the Trends

Working with changing trends in wellness and fitness, like functional training mentioned above, allows for a community rec center to constantly meet the needs of its members. This can include equipment trends, workout modality trends, or even omnichannel offerings.

Again, smart gym design goes a long way to make it easier to adjust as those trends change. Finding storage and rigging that does not need to be bolted to the ground, such as GYM RAX® makes it easier to adjust floor space to meet the needs of the current equipment and modality trends.

Regularly updating exercise classes and modalities to meet the changing trends can keep your community engaged as well. A variety of dance, strength, mind-body, and other forms of exercise create a space for more community members to find what works for them. Make sure that the layout of your facility matches this multi-use concept.

Live or Digital Coaching Support

Take the guesswork out of exercise by providing live instruction or digital exercise guidance at your facility. The rise in demand for boutique fitness studios is an indication that programming is what members and fitness consumers want. Live instruction, whether personal or group, gives members the option to learn more about proper form and explore what modalities they like best. If you need programming at your facility, TRIBE Team Training offers effective community-driven small-group training programming for any fitness facility.

Platforms like AktivTV allow for a simple, yet effective, digital way to guide safe exercises and workouts even when fitness professionals are not present. AktivTV can be programmed to play any exercise or workout at any time, reducing any confusion from members and promoting more efficient movement, and better outcomes for community members.

Many studies and research have proven that people who work out together get far greater results than those working out individually. It’s imperative that your community rec center gym supports communal interaction and delivers an experience that meets consumer demand. Create incredible fitness experiences at your facility by focusing on smart design catered to building community.