STRONGER in a GROUP

Franchised 󹀼tness operator, Snap Fitness, launched a new set of group exercise classes in January. Andy Carr, Fitness Experience Manager at Snap, spoke to WellNation about how S7 has helped Snap improve retention and member satisfaction rates

What is S7?

It’s our new range of four new total body workouts, designed to power our members through everyday life. They are dynamic group classes focused on the seven “primal movements” – Push, Pull, Squat, Lunge, Rotate, Hinge, and Gait. In short, they mirror the natural motions a human body makes daily.

There are four S7 classes – Strong, Sweat, Strike and Speed.

S7 Strong works on every muscle group and uses benches and moderate weights, combined with a high number of repetitions to build strength and endurance. It isn’t just about building muscle; it’s about building a stronger, more resilient body.

Meanwhile, S7 Sweat is the ultimate metabolic conditioning workout. It combines strength training with explosive cardio to ignite the metabolism and keep members burning calories long after the session ends. With a focus on full-body movements and dynamic exercises, S7 Sweat is perfect for those looking to tone up and enhance their overall fitness.

S7 Strike combine the intensity of boxing moves with high-energy cardio. It has been designed to build strength, improve agility and torch calories.

Last but not least, S7 Speed is a high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workout designed tomaximise calorie burn and boost endurance. It’s a fast-paced class which alternates between explosive exercises and brief recovery periods, keeping the heart rate high. The great thing is that it’s adaptable to fitness levels, so is suitable whether a member is a HIIT newbie or a seasoned athlete.

How successful have the classes been – do you measure that in some way? Yes, we do – and they’ve been transformational.

The classes launched in January and are available at every Snap Fitness site. We now have data from the first six months of the year, which shows that 93% of clubs have increased their occupancy since S7 launched. There has also been a 33% rise in class attendance. What is also hugely encouraging is that member satisfaction is now consistently soaring above 90% across all classes.

For me, that shows that we’ve been successful in giving our members something new within this space, something they haven’t seen before, something exciting. The data clearly shows that members are keen to get involved – our studios now have more members in them, the spaces are getting used more and we’ve got more touch points with our members. S7 has really made a big impact.

S7 has really made a big impact – more members, more energy, more connection

The 33% increase in class attendance is a significant jump. That translates to an increase between 40,000-50,000 in the number of people that have come in and done a class since January, when compared with last year.

How important are group classes for Snap Fitness in general? With S7, we’re looking to make group exercise a bedrock of our offer. We see group classes as an area where we can deliver meaningfully for our members. For one, the industry data suggests that 29% of people who attend classes were previously inactive, so it’s a great way for people to come in and start exercising and then stay exercising.

It’s no secret that group classes also help with member retention. Having structured programming means members are more likely to develop and then stick to a routine. We’ve got data that shows that a third (33%) of our members now exclusively attend group classes.

Also, if you look at the behaviours and habits of Gen Z and Millennials, going to the gym and health club is their version of “going out” and socialising. It’s a very health-conscious population and they are coming into our fitness clubs looking for a community – something that, 30 years ago, they might have looked for in a pub or night club.

As group classes have that community aspect to them, it’s another reason why we think they will increase in importance to us. With this initial success that we’ve seen, we will continue to do more.

Are you planning on refreshing S7 in any way at any point? Yes, in fact, there’ll be a refresh with new programming every quarter. New programming, new playlists, new versions of the workouts that our teams can then deliver.

Also, our vision for the future is to have signature, purpose-built spaces within Snap Fitness gyms so that we can start delivering additional modalities that we haven’t currently got at the moment. For example, we’re looking into introducing reformer training across our clubs.

But S7 will remain fundamental to what we’re doing and with the stats and the results that we’ve seen so far, we’ll continue to add additional programming, enhance those workouts and continue to support our teams and our members in that space.