Branded Small Group Training Programs Can Breathe Life and Revenue into Group Exercise Departments

The age-old conundrum for operators of many traditional fitness facilities has been how to make money off their group exercise department, which often has operated as a retention tool that generated little to no revenue. With the growing popularity of small group training, some club operators are taking small group training out of the personal training department and are moving it into the group exercise department as a fee-based program, a move that is breathing new life into group exercise.

Personal training has transformed the industry by allowing clubs to charge for programming and pay to attract expert staff, says Phillip Mills, CEO of licensed group program company Les Mills, but only 5 percent of members do personal training. Small group training allows club owners to offer the strong trainer-client relationship to a wider group of people.

"The industry is looking for the ability to give a more intense one-on-one service and to derive secondary income from it," Mills says, adding that small group training also creates social bonds among members and between members and staff that help with retention.

For the past five years, small group training has been the "holy grail" in the industry because of the bonding it creates and because clubs can charge for it, Mills says. Alternative clubs, such as CrossFit, are evidence that small group training can work. 

However, traditional big-box clubs have had less success integrating small group training into their programming, partially because they have created obstacles to its success such as charging six to 12 weeks in advance and forcing members to come at fixed times, Mills says. Plus, developing high-quality small group training can be difficult for some clubs and can result in programs that are too tough and boring, Mills says.

That is where branded pre-choreographed companies such as Les Mills are stepping in. Les Mills developed its Grit program, which is its first licensed program for small group and team training, to be similar to exercises done in a personal training session but set to motivating music that makes it fun, Mills says.

Grit is a series of three small group training or team training programs that Les Mills recently introduced to the fitness facility market in the United States. Photo courtesy of Les Mills.