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Behind the Numbers: How to Optimize Your Fitness Class Schedule

March 31, 2022 by

Wodify is a leading all-in-one fitness management software, trusted by over 5,000 of the world’s top businesses. With one of the largest & most accurate datasets in the industry, we decided to create this blog series in order to share specific metrics that are proven to drive results, insights from the most successful gyms, and how Wodify customers can track their progress. 

Intro

As the end of 2021 nears closer, so does the beginning of 2022, and, as Semisonic says, “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end”. The onset of the new year often comes with new goals, a membership influx, and therefore, a need for a change of schedule. In this blog, we will uncover what Wodify data from over 5000 fitness businesses tells us about fitness class schedule optimization and how you can perfect your schedule to satisfy all of your members and their goals. 

We have shared how to use gym management software to optimize your schedule, which explains why having a modernized gym management system is the most important tool for determining your clients’ scheduling needs. However, it’s your lucky day because instead of spending time analyzing your own data, this blog will tell you exactly how to optimize your schedule… we told you Wodify would save you time.

The Most Popular Class Days and Times

Method For Determining Class Value

In order to determine fitness class attendance trends (which we’ll tell you all about in the next section), Wodify looks at something we call “class value”. This value is derived from how much revenue a specific class brings to the business, which is dependent on which members attend which class. As a business owner, it’s crucial to know the days and times that drive the most revenue, so you can create a schedule designed to meet your business needs. 

Let’s break down member value since that is what our class value is dependent on. Say Max and Rosa are members of the same gym. They each pay the same $1000 in annual membership fees. For the entire year, Max only goes to the kickboxing class at 9am every Saturday. If there are 52 Saturdays in a year, that makes Max’s membership value $19 per class. In Rosa’s case, she goes to 3 classes per week: strength on Mondays, conditioning on Tuesdays, and kickboxing on Saturdays. Since Rosa is attending 3 classes for 52 weeks a year, this makes her membership value per class $6.

This membership value is extremely important to determining which classes drive the most revenue to your business because this indicates which classes the most infrequent gym members attend (but like we said...we did the math for you, so read on to find out). We can think of classes with really high class value, as those that are so special that everyone wants to attend them. This indicates that the higher value classes are at the most accessible times for people who have busier lives and can’t make fitness their #1 priority.

Top 5 Class Days and Times

  1. 5:00 PM Monday
  2. 5:00 PM Tuesday
  3. 4:00 PM Monday
  4. 6:00 PM Monday
  5. 5:00 AM Monday

This calendar heat map serves as a visual representation of which days and times are the most popular. The brighter yellow classes are the most valuable. The orange are the next most valuable, and the darker purple are the lower value classes. 

To summarize what the heat map shows is that

  • Evening classes are the most valuable
  • Early morning classes are the second most valuable
  • Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays drive the most revenue
  • Saturday morning classes are valuable
  • Sundays drive the least value

The Impact to Business Owners’ Bottom Line

1. Optimizing Your Fitness Class Calendar

Another important statistic that the heat map above depicts is that, on average, 35% of classes drive 75% of revenue. This serves as significant information for business owners because it can indicate which classes would be best to eliminate if you are trying to save money. For example, it is best to focus on weekday evenings and Saturday mornings. 

2. Getting New Members Confident & Excited

Once you are aware of your classes that drive the most revenue, and therefore, attract the most valuable clients, you can recommend those classes to leads or new members to increase their chances of conversion. The most valuable classes are often the classes that are well known amongst your members and attract a tight knit community, which makes these classes perfect for introducing new clients to your fitness community. Now that you are aware of which classes are most valuable, you can increase your conversion rate and annual revenue.

We hope you found these insights & advice useful for your business! Keep an eye out for more posts in this series as we continue to explore the data in Wodify. 

If you aren’t using Wodify yet, you can book a free consultation here

Want to keep learning? Check out our other Behind The Numbers posts:

The Surprising Impact of COVID-19 on Gym Memberships

Why Every Gym Needs Client Performance Tracking 

90 Day Client Retention

Lead Conversion Rate & Attendance

Impact of the Pandemic and the Cost of Membership Holds

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