List Of Gym Equipment Essentials When Planning To Open A Gym

If you are a fitness enthusiast, love inspiring your people to achieve their health and wellness goals, and love to challenge yourself, face obstacles and still keep going, gym business could be your calling! Your motivation and passion for starting a gym will help you keep the focus, clarity, and drive required to run a successful fitness business. But motivation is not everything you will need.

Opening a gym is an exciting but excruciating task. There are many things to do before you get started like insurance, legal issues, staffing, and financing, one of the most exciting components of constructing your gym is stocking it with functional gym equipment. But isn’t it a tough job to find the best  gym equipment from several brands and huge varsity of price ranges? Your solution is here! We've got the gym equipment list with names and photos of the instruments ready for you here.

In this article, we will talk about the prospect of opening a gym in post COVID world, some things you need to take care of before you start buying gym equipment, and a list of gym equipment essential for your gym to save your time.

Skip ahead to :

• The fitness industry in America
• Three things before you begin your journey
• List of gym equipment essentials when planning to open a gym

The fitness industry in America

The American fitness industry is estimated to be nearly $28 billion with one of the highest numbers of a gym membership. In the USA, 39% of citizens are currently registered as gym club members. Though the fitness industry faced a slump during COVID, we cannot deny that the COVID pandemic kind of made everyone more fitness conscious. Now gyms have finally opened and many people are slowly returning to good, old and normal ‘communal’ exercising. Other than that nearly 40% of Americans are obese and many more suffer from lifestyle disorders, hence the fitness industry in the USA has an ever renewing customer base. So there is enough business and space for everyone to co-exist. So, it might be not at all a bad idea to open a gym and ride the new wave of fitness consciousness.

Three things before you begin your journey

Before you make a list of gym equipment or start buying them, you need to look after a few things to make the process more organized and make better well-informed choices.

1. Specify your niche

Before you start shopping for gym equipment, it’s important to decide what kind of gym or fitness studio you are planning to open, for example, if you are opening a boxing studio then the type of gym equipment you would require will be different from that of a HIIT studio. Hence, it’s crucial to decide, work on your vision and make informed decisions. You should also take into consideration your expertise, experience, and market statistics. If you want to start a fitness business, here are a few things you can keep in mind before making your decision.

2. Gym business plan

A gym business plan is a formal document that establishes who you are as a gym and paints a realistic image of where you want to go in the future. The main goal of a gym business plan is to lay out a road map for how your gym, can be helpful in investment acquisition and managing the budget. Thus, before you start buying gym equipment, it’s crucial to have a well-drafted gym business plan. Still have not made yourself a gym business plan? Here is the 8-step easy guide to building a lucrative gym business plan.

3. Research your competitors and market

Finally, before you start buying gym equipment for your gym, it’s important to run a research of your competitors and see what kind of equipment they using, investigate prices and maybe collect customer feedback. Nearly 30% of gyms are known for spending too little on purchasing new equipment. The same study showcases that 65% of studios spend less than $5,000 every year and many customers remain dissatisfied with the quality of gym equipment. Hence, going on the ground and gathering real-time information is important.

List of gym equipment essentials when planning to open a gym

Although some specific fitness equipment may change depending on the type of gym you choose to offer, there are staple pieces of equipment needed to start a gym. Here is the list of nine pieces of fitness equipment needed to start a gym.

01. Rowing Machines

Rowing machines, also known as ergometers or ergs helps in exercising both the upper and lower body on every stroke. It helps in strengthening muscles and improves endurance. Rowing machines can be put in the same category as treadmills, cycles, and ellipticals as ‘cardio gym machines’. In many gyms, rowers have also become a crucial part of other types of programming, such as boot camps and small group training programs. These additional applications give your facilities a sense of exclusivity, allowing you to charge more for those services. If your space permits, purchasing at least two rowing machines can be beneficial to your member's workouts. They are one of machines which find place in gym essentials for beginners.

02. Treadmill

The treadmill is a hugely popular aerobic gym equipment and it can be found in nearly every gym around the world. It is also an important component of HIIT workout and fat-burning programs. In addition to weight loss, cardio activity on a treadmill workout offers many other benefits like improving endurance, controlling blood sugar, increasing HDL (good) cholesterol levels, and hence is very popular among gym clients also. The treadmill is the gym equipment that is universal and extremely popular, so if you are low on budget and have to pick one machine for cardio – treadmill it must be. Treadmills for single and multi-station gyms come in a variety of styles and price ranges. These are primarily intended for heavy-duty and commercial applications. Hence, it’s best to get at least 2 treadmills depending on your customer number and space.

03. Stationary Bike

Biking or cycling is one of the easiest and most fun ways of losing weight. Stationary bikes are an important cardio gym machine and can be found in most gyms. The stationary bike offers a low-impact cardiovascular endurance alternative to a treadmill. If space permits it’s a good idea to have both treadmill and a bike as both are popular among clients. There are three options when it comes to stationary bikes, recumbent, upright, and indoor cycling bikes. Recumbent bikes are great for users who want lower-body exercise. Indoor cycling bikes imitate outdoor bicycles whereas Upright bikes though resemble cycling bikes but are laced with features like a heart-rate monitor, speed, time, distance, and calories burnt. Being able to see real-time progress can help members push themselves and get the most out of their workout.

04. Dumbbell Set

Is it even be a gym if there are no dumbbells set? Well, dumbbells are essential for your gym. They are a must have exercise equipment.  They are part of weight training and body-building exercises. They can range from very light to heavy and vary in type. There are several types of dumbbells available like Dumbbell rod, steel chrome dumbbell, plastic dumbbell, etc. Lightweight is for beginners as well as the higher weights for the experts accordingly. You can get fixed dumbbells or adjustable ones. Fixed dumbbells are the most common type used across the majority of gyms. As they are a fixed weight, they provide additional user safety and can easily be switched during reps. Adjustable dumbbells on the other hand are great for smaller spaces as the weight is adjusted via plates. As the plates need to be manually adjusted and secured by a pin they are more prone to damage.

05. Barbells

The barbells are also another very important piece of gym equipment. It is used in bodybuilding, weight training, powerlifting, and weightlifting. It has a very long bar. At both ends, some weights are attached. If you focusing on weight training, specialized Hex Bars can be purchased. They are ideal for heavier training, designed with bodybuilders and weightlifters in mind. There are many kinds of barbells - the Olympic bar, squat rack, bench press rack, and removable plates if you can afford them, or a set of fixed or easily adjustable barbells with a smaller bar.

06. Exercise Balls

Exercise balls are very useful gym equipment, as a fitness trainer, you can plan many exercises around the equipment like endurance exercises. The exercise or yoga ball is made with very soft elastic that is mainly a diameter of 35 to 85 centimeters. This hollow ball is filled with air. If you remove the valve stem the air pressure will get changed and then you can let the ball deflate or fill it with air. Fitness balls or exercise balls add extra stability challenge to moves like chest presses, bicep curls, dead bugs, or plank knee tucks. So add it to your gym equipment arsenal.

07. Training bench

Another staple gym equipment, the training bench is a basic, multi-purpose training tool that can be used by young and old athletes alike. It has a flat, incline, and decline position which can help customers perform a variety of exercises. You can find a range of benches online but look for a well-constructed and easily adjustable bench. Your fitness studio may need at least three of these.

08. Leg Curl Extension

The Leg Curl extension is mostly used to exercise the hamstrings. It allows you to strengthen both your hip joint and your knees at the same time. It primarily maintains the overall balance of the back and front legs. This balance is crucial in terms of aesthetics, but it may also be effective in terms of injury prevention. Exercising legs properly is key to overall gym workout and hence it might a good idea to have at least 2 of them in your gym. If you have to buy one leg gym equipment - buy this !

09. Machines with pulley

Machines with pulleys are a common sight in nearly every gym. It is one of most common gym machine. In it, the pulley is attached to a machine. It is an easy type of machine & encompasses a wheel on the fixed motion, with the groove and the edges for guiding the cable or rope. All of the Pulleys are utilized for lessening the time & stamina is put up with to lift the weight. It is available in single and multiple stations. You need at least one of them in your gym. It is one of most important things you need in a gym.

Opening a gym takes a lot of planning and effort and gym equipment is pivotal to the start of the journey. Though we tried to add most staple and famous equipment you can make a list of your gym equipment. You can purchase more, especially cable lever machines but they are not essential. Just keep in mind - who will your members be? What kind of gym you are planning to run? Buying gym  equipment according to that will save money and you can slowly increase different types of equipment according to the people that join their gym in the future.

If you are planning to open your gym, it better to start your journey with Bookee app. Bookee is the best fitness management software laced with industry best features and everything your fitness business might need.