I remember when I moved into a new area and into my first home. What a great experience. I was out on my own, master of my domain and the captain of my ship! It was not all rainbows and golden charms by any means but the freedom I felt was truly liberating and full of unchartered territories and adventures like the first time I opened up my fridge on a Saturday morning to see nothing in there other than grass-fed butter and a couple eggs! Oh the learning curve was priceless and has left me with valuable lessons I can only hope to share. One of those lessons that struck me that I actually had to learn about was how to select a new gym to go to since my usual gym was just too far away now and I couldn’t manage the trek their anymore. I knew it was coming and I did have my “see ya later” and my “ciao for now” discussions with all my gym buddies at the time. It wasn’t fun because we truly developed great friendships and solid relationships over the many hours of intense workouts throughout the years. We learned from each other, leaned on one another and helped each other through great and tough times. There is nothing like a gym crew or some gym buddies that you can learn from and aspire to be and/or help because only the ones at the gym know what you really go through to reach your fitness goals. The people in the office or on the work sites all talked about working out but were never there with me as I went through the pain, pleasure and relief of hitting my gym goals. It really is a journey of self-development and self-improvement. Your gym buddies are really tried and true friends that have witnessed the gains in all areas of your physical and mental improvements. Unfortunately it was time to say “see ya later” and “ciao for now” to many of them. Not forever just for now. So here I am now in a new land filled with many of the same amenities and the gym was one of them. One day after work I realized I was so accustomed to going to the same gym day in and day out that I have no idea which gym to go to now and how to figure out which best fits me best. For a minute I assumed all gyms would be the same but I realized how wrong I was. Even though gyms have different locations, most things about a gym are completely different such as equipment, demographic, personal trainers, the staff and most importantly the members. Gyms all have nuances that either make or break the experience for everyone including myself.  What should I and what do most people do when they just move into a new area and want to figure out which gym to go to? How does someone figure out what type of equipment a gym has, what is the staff like, what do the personal trainers specialize in, what type of members go to the gym? Will I fit in? Would I be comfortable working out and sharing change rooms with this possibly new demographic? Is the gym full of youngsters or more experienced members? I realized this was going to be a long process and it actually took 2 or 3 nights after work of going to each gym location and speaking with a membership coordinator to ask my questions and try to gauge the gym and members to determine if I could fit in. Since the websites of each gym are not specific to each gym location and the websites are essentially corporate websites for the gym as a whole, how was I or anyone else, to identify if I could work out at a gym location comfortably and what each gym in particular could offer me? I couldn’t believe I literally had to visit each gym, one after another, which took so much time to do in order to see the gym, see the staff, get a glimpse of the members and facilities. Isn’t there a better way? Now there is. No longer does someone have to take a chance and settle on a gym based on casual assumptions. No longer does someone have to lose control over which gym they select based on standard and usual norms. Now using Spotlight, you can get customized information based on each gym location to determine which gym in particular fits you best. With Spotlight you can take all the guess work out of selecting a gym and actually take control to choose a gym that fits all your needs and wants and not just settle for a gym based on standard and accepted norms.  Imagine logging into your Spotlight account and selecting a Goodlife gym 5 minutes away from you. With Spotlight giving you much more information such as biographies of all staff members and personal trainers you can select a gym that meets your standards of excellence you expect from professionals within the health and fitness industry that meet your expectations. Prior to Spotlight, gym members went to that Goodlife gym 5 minutes away and had to settle for the staff and personal trainers working there because members had no choice or power in choosing a gym that they can truly benefit from. Some may find those staff members or personal trainers great and some may not but now with Spotlight you have the choice and power to make an informed decision based on your needs. Spotlight provides detailed information on all staff members and personal trainers to promote the ones who really do love their job and care about their clients so everyone at the gym can use the knowledge and experience at each gym in their own way. Other gym members may say, “the staff and personal trainers aren’t that important to me. I just sign in and hit the gym based on my workouts”. That’s great but just like me trying to determine which gym was best for me, prior to Spotlight, I couldn’t even get a good picture of what the gym looked like and what equipment they had. So what did I do? I had to go to each gym which took way more time than expected to make an informed decision based on my needs. I really like lifting heavy weights and when I went to some gyms I noticed the weight section and the benches there were smaller and outdated compared to other gyms I went to in the past. This was very important to me and my workout goals and since we all have workout goals why would anyone of us go to a gym that would actually prevent or slow down the process for you to reach those goals due to the equipment there? I wanted to go to a gym that had a massive weight section with multiple weight racks and new and modern benches which would motivate and propel me to lift my weights and reach my goals faster. After visiting and searching through many gym locations I did find one that was satisfactory to me in terms of the weight section and benches but it was at the expense of several trips in my car during winter months and many hours away from actually working out. Lifting heavy weights may not be your thing but what about if cardio is? If on your must have list at the gym you need a certain piece or selection of cardio equipment, why would you just settle for gyms that have something good enough even though there are gyms near-by that have exactly what you want. Now with Spotlight, you can get updated and real-time information and a detailed listing of all the equipment at a gym. You can choose to workout at a gym that has the equipment you need and want to use. You can get a better idea of what a particular gym is geared towards or focused on based on how much square footage and equipment is being utilized for cardio, weights, cross-fit or any other type of work out. Spotlight is changing the way we select gyms and gives us more control over which gym we go to based on our needs and fitness goals. Now something that truly is one of the biggest determinants when selecting a gym that in the past, has been more difficult to quantify is who is actually going to each gym. Who is at the gym? This has been the age-old question that can also make or break a workout experience.   Would you change your gym location or workout at a different gym based on who or what demographic was at the gym? I think I would. If you could see gym participants in real-time would you stay on course and go to that gym even though you knew the cardio section or weight section would be totally in use, or would you drive to a different gym because you can now see in real-time with Spotlight that a different gym has less people in it that would be using the equipment that you want to use? How many times have you arrived in a gym totally pumped up and ready to work out and then realized all these people here are going to slow down your workout because now you’ll be waiting for all the equipment you want to use? What if you could see who is at the gym and how busy a gym was from the comfort of your home and select a gym to go to based on who is there? This is the evolution in the fitness and gym industry brought to you by Spotlight and all the great changes we are making to the fitness community. The advantages are endless now that you are able to see who is at the gym and some of them include the fact that you can request some gym members to be on our friends list and get to know them to hopefully create some new gym buddies, you can avoid busy times at the gym and only go when the gym is not packed if that is not ideal for you, you can go to the gym when certain people are there for networking purposes, you can read the profile of gym members and can grow your network based on similarities and common interests of gym members, you can request to add to your friends list certain gym members who have captured your attention, when at the gym you notice people working out alone you can request to be work out buddies so you can learn and grow your fitness knowledge together and you can always identify yourself and your brand to be able to help others who may be searching for things that you can help with adding tremendous value to your gym community. The gym is a community full of people with similar interests and goals. Use Spotlight to get to know people at your gym and learn how you can help and how they can help you in and outside the gym. We all can benefit from people on other platforms but what about the people in your own community? These are the people who can add real and lasting value to your life. Shouldn’t we make every attempt to try and learn from and help others in our communities that we interact with every time we are at the gym? I think now is the time to grow our networks and using the gym as a point to learn from and help others is a great place to start. Not only can Spotlight be the best method to determine which gym to go to based on the added information and value it provides, it can also give you more insight in terms of who is at the gym and which members go there often making choosing your workout decision easier. Spotlight allows members the opportunity to search for the best gym in their area and be a part of a gym that really meets their personalized criteria.  Find out what the gym is about prior to signing up. Get a sneak peek into the gym, members and staff to understand if this gym will suit your needs and offer what you need to do great. Check out the equipment, recreational activities and facilities that are offered at the gym, then make up your mind while at home and not under the pressure of sales staff. Are you single and want to meet someone with the same mindset and goals you have? Search gym profiles to possible find workout dates! These benefits and more are all available when joining Spotlight.     

It’s time to be someone at the gym and it’s time to use Spotlight to help improve your workout experience.