Well…….it’s not. Right now you are thinking, “Yes. Yes it is.” Other gym memberships are only $40 or so per month. And that is a fair response, but let’s actually analyze this.
Let’s look at your most basic gym membership, Anytime Fitness. The cost of their membership is cleverly stated as $29.99 (biweekly). So what does biweekly mean? Every two weeks…..and no, that doesn’t mean monthly. So let’s do the math: $30 x 26 weeks = $65 per month. Definitely not a terrible price, if you are a highly self-motivated individual with a strong understanding of exercise science.
So what if you aren’t well versed in exercise science and some days you need a kick in the but? Well you pay for that. 1 hour with a personal trainer is typically $75 per hour. So….after 1 hour, just to get a couple basic instructions, your membership went from $65 per month to $140 per month. And, in 60 minutes, your “cheap” membership is not so cheap anymore. Even if that is all you spend that month you are also saddled with Sales Tax….you know why? At Anytime Fitness you are “renting” the equipment from them; this isn’t the case with CrossFit. And why, might you ask? Because with CrossFit you are paying for a service, not equipment.
And here is the big difference, the standard gym model is as follows: Step 1- Collect membership fees and Step 2- Hope people never show up. This is the opposite of the CrossFit model, we are here only because of you. Our job is you, not the bottom line. If you don’t come we don’t want your money.
If the actual cost comparison isn’t enough let’s do another calc. What if we calculated the cost per visit?
Our members typically show up 5 times per week; compare that to the industry average of 1 visit per week (we’ll cover why our rate is so much higher a little later).
So in a given month our members attend 22 classes / workouts. Whereas your “cheap” membership gym-goer shows up about 5 times per month (probably sounds familiar). Let’s stop there and think about that…..how much fitter, leaner, stronger, toned, etc. would you be if you were at a gym that got you in the door 18 MORE TIMES per month? Over the course of a year we are talking about HUGE differences in strength, body fat, you name it!
Back to the math, $175 per month / 22 visits = $8 per visit. Versus: $65 per month / 5 visits = $13 per visit. So the cost per visit is, on average, much cheaper at a CrossFit gym than your “cheap” gym.
So we’ve looked at the cost breakdown and maybe you still aren’t convinced. Fair. What about the effectiveness of what you are paying for? Here’s the analogy I think of, you can buy one of two cars: Car A is expensive, but everything about the car works exactly as it should. It snows, 4 wheel drive kicks in, it always starts, it never breaks down, you only have to fill the tank every 2 weeks because the gas mileage is so amazing. Car B is cheap, but the battery dies once a week, it guzzles gas, always needs repairs, it’s loud, uncomfortable to drive….but it’s CHEAP!
Which car do you choose? We sort of live in a throw away society, buy something cheap, it breaks and then go buy another one. Personally I think we just like buying stuff. But why deal with the hassle of buying things that don’t deliver on their promises?
Gyms are the same, you get what you pay for. You can pick a gym because it’s cheap and never reach any goal, never see any meaningful change…..or you can achieve more than you ever thought possible by investing in yourself! Health is everything and we at LiftBridge CrossFit are in the business of making fit and healthy people. Working out, exercising, staying in shape, is NOT hard. You’ve just been led to believe it is. You only need a few things: 1) a group of people who support you (our coaches and members become your family); 2) an understanding of how to use your body the way it was intended (our job is to share our knowledge) and 3) to consistently try hard (we make this easy, if you show up it’s impossible not to be motivated).
I’ve owned this business for a long time, in all those years I have never, not even once, had someone tell me it was too expensive after they joined. The value we provide far exceeds the cost of the membership.
