I woke up today and realised that this month marks 26 years in the fitness industry. Walked out of SMB Tafe certificate two qualified!
In August 2026, I will have been a gym owner for 23 years. Who on earth opens a gym with minimal experience outside of circuit and group fitness classes?
What a crazy ride it’s been, I said I would do it for a few years, and that would be it, I only opened to teach BodyJam, someone said you can’t teach it in our centre, so off I went, and yet here I am, the longest job I have ever had. But is it a job?
There’s nothing I haven’t seen or heard in the last 26 years, from the hydraulic circuit equipment of the late 90s, pumping out the gas, turning the dial up, skipping on the spot, all the machines neatly placed in a circle. Circuit was the place to be each class, with some crazy made-up names like ‘FAT BLASTER,’ and BodyPump was launching in gyms. Where do you go, my lovely was on everyone’s lips; the more g-strings you had, the more popular you were. Fluro colours showing off the tanlines of the solourium, leg warmers, headbands and white runners were the go and no such thing as anklet socks. From the circuit room to the ‘aerobics room’, people congregated each day. Some came more than once, and on Friday nights, you had to be there for the 5.30pm workout.
As the years went by, new classes came and went, from boxing with gloves to shadow boxing, grapevines and step touches became the past, and the latest took over.
Water running became the place to be; Billy Blanks and Tai Bo, and rocking up to Body Combat in knee shorts, gloves and a camo top, was all the go. Shake a Tail Feather was a hit, and bottles of Lucozade lined the floor. The fight was on to capture the momentum of the late 2000s; new suppliers entered the group fitness market, and more equipment suppliers followed. Everyone claims to be the best at what they do; the industry becomes a supermarket of choice. Letterbox drops and ads in the local newspaper become part of the past, and the do-not-call register is born! Facebook becomes the go-to. Businesses set up their social platform and get lost in the daily grind of posting, not knowing what they are doing, but posting anyway. SMS is born.
People start their personalised pages and talk constantly about the food they have eaten, the places they have been and their pet dog Charlie.
We all get educated in e-commerce and realise people will click and pay.
EFTPOS machines allow payments over the phone. More gyms pop up, different brands, best equipment and programming is their cry call. Franchise groups come to market and sell the optical dream, mums and dads invest some, do well, and some dont. Throughout all these times, one pattern hasn’t changed: consumers chasing better health to look good and live longer, all before the word “longevity” came into play. I want to live. Supplements became a craze – drink this, lose fat, get skinny, be sexy, all sold with naked people in gym wear – eat this, then drink this, get big, get bigger, run faster, sleep less. People have died from that. Have we all tried it? Of course, we have. I’ve been 16 kg lighter and 40 kg heavier.
We all want perfection. We’ve told ourselves that perfection will give us a sense of belonging and feeling needed, but as the years go by, we realise it’s just a load of rubbish. It’s getting to know what’s inside.
As time goes on, technology becomes a ‘thing’, a little black box running on Windows, creates love hearts on the screen, everyone chases the colour red, and we still haven’t learnt to train correctly. HIIT is everywhere, but what is it? Let’s jump around for a set amount of time, then rest, then go again. As time goes on, and I have no idea how it happened, you become a voice in the industry, you put your thoughts and ideas out there for the world to see, you make yourself vulnerable in an industry that demands perfection, demands you toe the line and wait your turn. You dont want to replicate anyone, and yes, I have heard this. You want to be you, stay true to who you are. You learn that calling out for accountability goes down like a rotten egg in a bottle, but you carry on. My motto has always been If you do right, then you have nothing to worry about. More time floats by, and I’ve had the luck to travel all over the world and teach group fitness on big stages in Argentina, France, and Greece, to crowds of thousands. Yet, I failed my functional strength group fitness accreditation! Sorry, guys, I dont script. Group fitness, performing, and creating an experience are why I’m in this industry; the rest is an accident.
COVID-19 sorted a few out; those who once stood tall ran, those who had too much debt had to close, and those who believed in who we are and what we stand for stood tall and became the voice of our foundation, the voice that we needed. Oh, and a whole lot of people became overnight business-coaching experts.
AFTERPAY IS BORN!
Can I bring more to my time? Hell yeah, but timing is everything, and I’m running out yet ready for more. I’m prepared to take my skills to the next level to benefit the industry. I can’t close the door, and that’s the end. There is so much more to give and teach.
Have I made mistakes? Absolutely, more than once, more than twice, and it’s those moments that will define my future. I believe sometimes, as humans, we get lost in the politics of any industry, we forget our why, we forget we once stood in the circle of a circuit class for the first time, we forget the times we unblocked the toilet or maybe the time you had $3.69 in the bank to pay the wages. We talk about collaboration, but we don’t do it. We talk about leaders and leadership; yet we must remind ourselves that, to lead, one must first learn to understand that being a leader is not about the reflection in the mirror or the title. It’s not about me, it’s about them.
We talk about our communities and fostering a sense of belonging in our clubs, yet, as an industry, do we really do that with our peers? Do we take the time to get to know them, or do we ignore them? As the years float by and I find my self 26 years in and 22.5 as a business owner I look at the trends how they shift, I look at the identitys of the industry both young and old, I look at the humble achievers I look at those with ego using another persons bank account I look at all the technology and the data I look at all the tools and resources we have to make our industry greater. I look at the people, the gifted sidelined, those working harder now than ever. I look at the people in our community, the people who are our why, and I ask myself, have we lost our way a little, have we forgotten our why, have we allowed our P/L and ego to fog what’s in front of us?
We as an industry have never been in a better place to make a real change, to become a legacy so strong that our communities and families will prosper from it.
Timing is everything in life, and life is made up of many moments. The time and the moment are truly now. Be the difference our industry needs. Dont be afraid to challenge the status quo, and dont be afraid of those around you, we all have the same agenda, and most importantly, never forget where you came from.
