Gold’s Gym is a legacy. Since earning itself a cult following way back in 1965 as a tiny studio in Venice, California – created by former bodybuilder and US Marine, Joe Gold as a place for him and his friends to train – it’s a name that nearly everyone knows, world-over.
But I’m not here to relay the brand’s humble beginnings. It’s a story that has been many times before. Not that it isn’t an interesting one, but I don’t want this to be a history lesson.
Rather, I want to delve into Gold’s Gym’s recent transformation, from this legacy brand that people associate with images of Arnold Schwarzenegger pumping iron in the ’70s, into a modern fitness empire. And also, how it’s taken advantage of technology to completely turn itself around; becoming accessible to all and giving everyone, no matter their fitness level, a tailored service and thus the opportunity to achieve their goals.
Transforming a legacy
Just like its members hope to when they sign up, Gold’s has undergone a major transformation in recent years, part of an initiative to change people’s perceptions that it’s not just an exclusive muscle building studio anymore.
And like the journey its members go on in improving their fitness game, it hasn’t been an easy ride. Gold’s knew it would take a lot of elbow grease to alter the perception of its brand, something that’s deeply rooted in this stereotypical muscle man culture; a place where only serious bodybuilders – usually men – can train.
This wasn’t an overnight realization for the brand, either. As the firm’s VP of Marketing, Dave Reiseman, tells me: “It’s funny; we’ve always been about transformation, but this is the first time in along time that we’ve transformed ourselves.”
But this transformation was properly put into motion when the company promoted former Chairman, Brandon Bean, as its new CEO in 2016. Bean immediately got the ball rolling in completely overhauling the strategy of Gold’s, putting innovation at the forefront, as he knew to keep relevant in a market of fast growing bespoke gyms and boutique exercise studios, things at Gold’s couldn’t stay the same.
“I knew I had to turn things around in order to retain a competitive edge,” Bean reveals. “When we started two years ago, we asked ‘how are we going to continue keep innovating this brand?’.”
“Gold’s has been a leader and pioneer in fitness since 1965 – we started it all – and while we continued to try and stay on the forefront for a number of years, I don’t think the industry innovated as much as it needed to; everybody was building the same clubs with the same equipment at the same price, at least in the US.”
He highlighted how during this time, new commercial gyms were opening by completely different brands and you’d not even be able to tell the difference between them, be it a 24, or an LA Fitness.
“Right now given where we are from a maturing industry perspective you’re seeing a lot of niches develop. In the US, for example, cheaper HVLP (high value low priced), $10 clubs are springing up, as well as unique boutique studios, so it was important for us as a brand to figure out who we are who we serve and how we serve them,” he says.
The gym giant has therefore worked to change that exclusive hard-man perception, and slowly but surely, they’ve made their gyms accessible for anyone looking to improve their level of fitness, no matter what fitness experience they have, and thus making fitness in general more accessible than ever.
So, how exactly have they done this? Where do you start the transformation of such a legacy brand, with roots firmly lodged into the bodybuilding space and giving it that testosterone-filled, exclusive space that you have to be invited to be part of?
Bean notes this was made possible by not just focusing on money, and was more “about helping people achieve their potential through fitness, which is what we’re focused on today”.
As a result, Gold’s transformation has come about with a complete new approach to fitness; creating a community-driven space where anyone feels welcome, integrating personalized transformation plans, state of the art equipment, certified personal trainers, a diverse group exercise program and a supportive, motivating environment for all.
The gym giant has completed this innovation in three main ways, using technology to gain insight and innovate where they knew it was needing, rather than just integrating all the latest tech for the sake of it.
Gold’s Studio: Competing with the boutiques
One of the first things the company did was introduced what they call Gold’s Studio, which gives members access to boutique-style classes like community cardio (Gold’sFit), high-tech and high-energy spinning (Gold’sCycle) and good old circuits and HIIT (Gold’sBurn), all under one roof.
This concept allows members to experience coach-led, community driven and individually adapted boutique-style classes while also be able to take advantage of the full-service gym amenities. While it’s so not available in all Gold’s Gyms, the team says it is planning to invest heavily in developing additional Gold’s Studios over the next year or so.
By offering these unique, boutique-style classes as part of one membership program, it gives members the option to take advantage of the types of experiences they’d have to pay a lot for separately, without the need to own multiple memberships.
Gold’s 3D: Body scan tech encouraging development
To set itself apart from other commercial gyms in the same price bracket, Gold’s has introduced a nifty bit of tech to try and gamify fitness for members who might need a little more guidance in hitting their goals.
And that’s with a free 3D scan when they sign up, which is powered by a new 3D body scanning tech called Styku.
The 3D body scanner accurately recreates your body’s shape, circumferences, and composition and therefore allows members to track their body’s changes in 3D as they progress, allowing them to see their progress in numbers, but also in a more compelling, visual way. They can see exactly where they’re slimming down and by how much thanks to the scan, which takes no more than 30 seconds.
This is a great tool to ensure members are getting closer to where you want to be. And because there’s plenty of information given to them, they can easily make changes to their current training routine to make sure they are being as efficient as possible during their workouts.
Gold’s 3D works via an infrared light beam, which scans your body as you rotate 360 degrees on the Styku platform while an infrared camera in the nearby aluminum stand takes pictures and then relays the information to a connected laptop. It records your measurements and puts them on your virtual body on the screen for you to see and analyze.
“[Our members] get your first scan for free and after 120 days of signing up, they get scanned again, so if someone doesn’t buy training its a great way to have a conversation if they aren’t hitting their goals – as it’s not person telling them but the scan telling them; giving them that detailed frame of reference to see if they’re making any actual changes or not,” says Gold’s VP of Fitness, Aaron Cave.
“The scanner is a way for our company to fulfill one of our promises, to get along side our members and show them the ropes, walking along with them and, if needed, to break it kindly: ‘we don’t want you to was your time and money here – you’re paying every month for this – we want to make sure you’re getting results’.”
Cave explains that this works for most memmber because it’s also a lot less invasive them a trainer coming up to them, doing calipers and taking measurements, or putting tape around them. “You just spin around on the platform with your arms up and the results pop up,” he adds.
“We knew we wanted to go the 3D scanning route, doing research on companies that do it, but we found the best to be Styku as it was very accurate and it was also something we could scale with.”
And he’s right. I had a scan taken and found it super easy to navigate, and within half a minute my measurements were in. Check out my body scan and how it looks, below.
Gold’s Amp: A remote PT app
Last but not least, Gold’s also introduced Gold’s Amp, a new digital personal training app that provides a motivating and results-driven workout experience from where ever you are.
Available to Gold’s Gym members and non-members alike, Gold’s Amp is said to be the first and only digital coaching platform launched by a brick-and-mortar health club brand. And what’s more, it’s only $9.99 a month for non-members (or free for members, depending on the type of membership).
On the app, there’s literally hundreds of coach-led, music-driven indoor and outdoor cardio, body weight and stretching workouts for users at every fitness level. Workouts ranging from 6-60 minutes include treadmill and outdoor walking, jogging and running, as well as elliptical, bike, stair climber, rowing and more, with new workouts added every week. There’s also a full catalog of music on there you can customize depending on the workout you choose.
The app also offers opt-in push notifications to help users stay motivated and get alerts for new workouts. And to make it even more engaging, Amp users can also share results on social media and connect to Apple’s Health app on iOS to make it easy to track progress.
Bean says the company has purposely designed the Amp app without a Gold’s “white plate in sight”. There’s the Gold’s name, of course, but this just offers a more subtle reference to the brand’s legitimacy and experience while looking slick and modern, styling that moves away from the traditional heavy black and yellow colors that conjures those body-building images.
The innovation doesn’t stop there
Gold’s CEO admits that turning the brand around hasn’t been easy, explaining that it was understandably challenging to keep in line with this legacy while innovating to bring Gold’s to modern standards.
“There’s a lot of people who know Gold’s Gym, but we had to get super pin-pointed with our targeting and messaging,” he says.
Nevertheless, it seems to have worked. The brand has been able to remain relevant in an era of fanatical fitness and grow itself as a global icon even further, with a successful franchise business that means it spans over 750 locations, serving 3 million people across six continents each day.
