Planning a multi-family fitness center on your own is a big job. You will want to be sure to have all of your ducks in a row. If you are building a multi-housing fitness center, here are some tips to follow when planning out your multi-family gym.

Fitness Equipment

When it comes to choosing the fitness equipment for your new fitness center you are going to have to take a few things into consideration. First, you will want to think about how many people will be attending your gym during busy hours.

One way to get a handle on this is to check out other residential fitness centers in the area during the morning and the evening. You can get an idea of what your clientele load will look like by comparing the total number of residents to the total number of residents that you will have. Understanding your clientele load will give you an idea of how many treadmills, ellipticals, floor space, and amount of other popular equipment that you should have in your fitness center.

You will also want to go have a look at some of the popular commercial gyms to see what attracts clients to go out of their way to workout at that place. Once you get a good idea of what it is these places offer that others do not, you can model your fitness center space after it. For example, if one gym is famous for fire engine red kettlebells, then you could purchase all bright orange ones.

One important seemingly small piece of gym design is to ask yourself if the space is ADA compliant. Your property likely has some apartments that service the disabled; you will want to be sure that your fitness center will as well.

Fitness Design

There are two critical components to design. One is traffic flow, and the other is grouping.

When thinking about traffic flow, you will want to be sure that there is adequate space for people to use each piece of equipment. You will also want to consider the amount of room that will be needed for people to travel from piece of equipment to piece of equipment. You don’t want to risk free weights being strewn in walking pathways where people can trip and hurt themselves.

Grouping equipment by type of exercise works great for most gyms. This works because it cuts down on the amount of space needed between each piece of similar equipment. Grouping equipment properly also encourages interaction between residents and creates better traffic flow in the whole fitness center space.

Infrastructure

Many people tend to overlook the underlying infrastructure of their fitness center until it is too late. They will get the space all set up, plug everything in and blow a fuse, people complain about lighting, or the place starts to smell like dirty socks right away.

Be sure to have a licensed electrician come in and install all of the proper elements for your gym to run smoothly. Also, the electrical configuration needs to be up to code with the city so that it does not get shut down upon the first inspection.

You will want to have proper lighting; lighting is essential in a fitness center. Most people do not enjoy working out in the dark; they also risk hurting themselves when the lighting is poor. Take the time to be sure each area is adequately lit and use green solutions when you can, such as natural lighting or eco-friendly light bulbs.

The case of the gym that smells like dirty socks is almost always the result of poor ventilation. Your multi-family fitness center is going to have to be well ventilated like the rest of the property. There are many ways to take care of this issue, talk to your HVAC service provider or consider purchasing a standalone air filtration system.

If you are planning to design your own multi-family fitness center in California or Nevada; be sure to do plenty of research. Many points to consider have been listed here. Should you have, more questions contact a Opti-Fit at 888-601-4350 or info@opti-fit.com for a FREE consultation.

When running a gym, it’s easy to feel like having the best workout equipment is the most important part. While good equipment will be key to the performance of your members, even more crucial is having quality gym flooring.

Now it may seem silly to think that the floor could be such a vital piece of your business, but there are a handful of reasons why you need to pay close attention when making this decision. Let’s take a look at four reasons proper flooring for gyms and fitness centers is important.

Customer Safety

The safety of customers should be at or near the top of any gym’s priority list. Unsuitable flooring in the wrong section of the gym or fitness center like tile or wood can become slippery and even crack, causing numerous health and safety concerns. Having the proper flooring for gyms will provide both gym members and gym owners with the peace of mind that they are safe.

Clean Look

The visual appeal of your gym flooring is one of the first things people will see when they come into your fitness center. Having tile or carpet could appear tacky and unprofessional, deterring many of your potential customers. Make sure the flooring for your gym is aesthetically pleasing to ensure everyone who enters will enjoy the atmosphere just as much as the workout equipment.

Reduce Costs

Utilizing the proper gym flooring in the different areas on the gym is paramount to saving money.  For example, using 1/4 inch rubber under squat racks without a platform will wear quickly causing rips and bubbling.  These issues will cause additional safety issues.

Easy Maintenance

Good gym flooring should be easy to clean and maintain on a daily basis. Dirt from shoes and sweat from gym members can cause damage to the floor’s finish, making it slippery and unsafe. It is vital to vacuum and mop flooring for free weight rooms, cardio areas, and entryways of your gym every night before closing up.

Choose Opti-Fit for Your Gym Flooring Needs

With over twenty years of experience, Opti-Fit stands out among the crowd when designing or renovating your fitness space. Whether you need gym flooring, cardio equipment, or strength equipment, our team is here to make sure your gym is successful and looks great in the process.

Contact us today to learn more about the products and services we offer to high schools, multi-family fitness centers, and gyms.

Finding the best equipment and services for your gym should be number one. Not only that, but it should be easy as well. Gym owners, hotel chains and multi-family housing complex managers and other building managers tend to believe that working directly with manufacturers is the best way to go. Most people have the misconception that from end to end things will be less costly when working directly with the manufacturer.

This belief is far from the truth and here is why. When you work directly with an equipment manufacturer, the actual fitness equipment that you order may come with a small discount, but many other factors need to be dealt with when assembling a fitness center for public use. Here are some factors that may not have been considered when ordering from a manufacturer.

• Brand Variety
• Having to Work with Multiple Manufacturers
• Delivery
• Assembly
• Electrical Updating and Wiring
• Overall Design of the Fitness Center
• Installation of Furnishings and Features
• Maintenance

Add all of this up in time and money costs on your end, and you will find that using a full-service fitness center solution will save you. Opti-Fit is a “concept-to-completion fitness center solution” that will work with you to save you money on the full package in the long run.

Opti-Fit offers free consultation for your fitness center planning. Opti-Fit will sit down with you to plan out all of the details for your fitness center and work to make it fit your budget. Here are some of the advantages of working with Opti-Fit:

• Full End-to-End Planning and Execution
• No Hidden Costs
• Work to Stay on Budget
• Choose from the Best Fitness Brands on the Market
• Experienced Designers that Understand the Market you want to Reach

Opti-Fit wants to see your fitness center be a success, whether your goal is to attract new members, tenants or keep your community of people connected and healthy. In addition to fitness equipment, fitness center design, and maintenance, Opti-Fit offers solutions for engaging users in taking charge of their health.

What will you choose to do with your money and your time? Opti-Fit has been the primary fitness center solution company in California and Nevada for over 20 years. Visit the website or give us a call at 888-601-4350 to schedule a free consultation and find out how much money you can be saving on your fitness center today.

Treadmills and Ellipticals

How hard you push yourself determines how many calories you burn either on a treadmill or elliptical machine, or any other exercise machine.  And instead of choosing one machine over the other, smart exercisers know that both of these aerobic-building cardio stations play a major role in helping you lost fat, stay slim and work off those last few pounds.

RX: In between days of strength training and yoga, for instance, do 1-2 days of either machine or try mixing and matching in one innovative session, for 15 minutes each. There are many more options!

Treadmills Blast Body Fat

Yet the activity is fairly tough to maintain at quicker paces. Running outside burns even more calories than running flats on your treadmill, say our fitness experts. On the other hand, elliptical machines with arm handles and resistance allow you to work your upper body along with your lower body, which you cannot do on a treadmill.

If you prefer to run, elliptical workouts can be a great way to reduce boredom and prevent injuries, such as back pain, minor sprains and strains.

Proper Technique Decides the Winner

Same form apply though: Do not hold onto the treadmill bar to help support your body weight as you walk on inclines or run. Similarly, if you grab onto any exercise handles – like the Step Mill or the commercial treadmill – you are cheating yourself out of the biggest calorie burn – and proper posture, which helps prevent overuse injuries.

Commercial Elliptical Machines

The lower impact of the elliptical cross-trainer allows you to zero in on your butt and thigh muscles while pedaling and driving through heels with each rotation. On the safe, fun elliptical machine elliptical your feet are connected to the pedals — and similar to bicycling. Standing elliptical movements are easier on the knees and joints of the body, and require less stabilization, so some may consider it a safer form of cardio.

If you are preparing for any kind of competitive running race, you’re already working on speed, distance and stamina with running. If you have slight pains from al the running, it’s a safer bet to hop onto the elliptical machine and blast calories on that to give your feet a break.

However, not running enough leaves you vulnerable to injury on race day. Your heart may be able to sustain a marathon distance run after training on the elliptical, but your ankles, feet, knees, hips, back, quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes (butt muscles) will not be ready for the continuous pounding.

We think there’s a place for every piece of cardio equipment on a weekly regimen! Don’t get stuck on the same-old machine every day though, or you’ll stop seeing real results, Instead, start experimenting with pace, duration and intensity on several different machines.

Get your heart pumping and reduce stress  on both the treadmill and the elliptical machine.

Which one you choose depends on your potential injuries, race goals and overall fitness level. Try cardio cross training – and get the best of both worlds, and shed a few pound just in time for pool season!

Making Corporate Fitness Accessible

Corporations are getting employees moving with on-site workout facilities and custom fitness programming that pays for itself in employee engagement and worker morale.

If you can build and create an attractive fitness space in or around your office, and schedule exercise time around your employees’ work schedules, business owners actually help make consistent and convenient exercise part of the normal workday – and very much contribute to the health and morale of your employees.

Original fitness centers with personal trainers and a slew of cardio machines had certainly made way for on-site yoga studios, compact weight stations and access to local courts.

Increase Employee Health and Morale

Despite economic challenges, the demand for on-site facility fitness opportunities is continuing to increase, according to Corporate Wellness Magazine. If you’re considering a new exercise space in your office, it probably falls directly on your company’s capital to recreate tight spaces, so budget, footage obstacles and security will contribute to the creation of your ultimate corporate wellness areas.

When regular exercise amenities enter the picture – including personal training and group fitness classes – your office exercise facility may also significantly increase worker performance and concentration with stress relief classes like yoga, tai chi and meditation programming.

Think Exercise Quality, Not Quantity

The ultimate goal is to help make working out convenient and accessible for all of your customers and residents. Design staples typically include an inviting setting, natural light and a variety of equipment options at the hub of your corporate wellness center.

10 Fitness Incentives at Work

When space is at a premium, it pays to invest in fitness perks for your employees, such as personal training and employer-paid gym memberships, while still providing the basics:

1. Access to multiple running trails
2. Yoga and Pilates classes
3. Rock climbing wall
4. Juice bars
5. Healthy bistro fare
6. Pool access at a local YMCA
7. Weight loss competitions
8. Charity walks
9. Resistance bands and balls
10. Company bowling leagues

Opti-Fit offers an innovative suite of consulting and project management services to deliver your vision for office-based facilities and corporate wellness operations, from concept to completion. Contact us for a free site assessment.

The new generation of multi-family fitness centers in our quick-moving modern world becoming more sophisticated every year. Fitness centers are a must-have in any residential or active community, according to the National Apartment Association. 

Residential gyms are the most upgraded community amenity since 2014, and research shows that half of all tenants would be willing to pay a higher premium for multi-family fitness centers that offer weekly exercise classes.

1. Treadmills

Happy July 4th!

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) combines cardio activities – like running – with strength-training moves or lower-intensity exercises (like bench presses) for another interval, and you go back and forth.

In addition to supporting heart and brain health, much research proves that  fast-paced HIIT workouts can help you tone up and prevent exercise boredom.

Keep in mind: The whole point of high-intensity training is to kick up the intensity of your whole workout but especially the cardio elements for additional fat burning before the beach. Too late – it’s here!

HIIT Kickstarts Exercise Intensity

Alternating short bursts of intense activity with longer intervals at a much lower intensity blasts fat and calories, say our fitness experts. Athletes traditionally use interval HIIT training to improve performance – and picking the right moves to bounce between is key.

Bursts of speed and plyometrics can build strength and power by working your fast-twitch muscle fibers (the ones involved in quick, explosive movements), while dynamic moves like power lunges can challenge muscular endurance and perceived exercise exertion.

No Equipment Needed for HIIT

But it is more fun with lots of gym machines and moves thrown in. High-intensity busts in a HIIT workout might include intervals on a rower or stationary bike followed by anything plyometric like jumping lunges or mountain climbers to sharply increase your heart rate and exercise intensity.

Since summer bathing suit season arrived all-too quickly this year, we’ve scoped out the most effective, calorie-torching HIIT workouts across the web. And whether you do most of your physical fitness training at the gym, at your multi-family fitness space or even at the pool, you will get into synch with summer by smashing fat and calories with HIIT training once or twice a week in addition to your regular exercise regimen.

Here are some of our favorite HIIT workouts for a long summer holiday, get ripped!

HIIT Training With Dumbbells

More Fat-Blasting HIIT Workouts

Are You Doing HIIIT Correctly?

Have a happy, healthy and very fit summer season!

The Study of Human Movement

We’ve been a source of commercial strength equipment and top-of-the-line cardio equipment for decades. We specialize in applying our practical knowledge of human movement based on the science of the body’s biomechanics to provide effective solutions to meet every fitness – and business – need you may have.

We are always excited for the chance to help you design a gym or upgrade your current facility’s equipment with professional commercial strength equipment and strength tools targeting functional fitness, such as medicine balls, balance boards and much more.

Functional fitness interest kicks in with aging:  Our bodies naturally lose muscle and flexibility, which in turn can impair the ability to live life to its fullest. Simple tasks such as carrying groceries or putting away dishes can become taxing. 

Many studies show that functional strength exercises mimic everyday movements and tend to focus on targeting multiple muscles groups at once, as well as maximizing core strength.  

Equipment Design: Action in Motion

Here are a few biomechanical concerns that crop up when strength or cardio equipment manufacturers produce new commercial fitness machines:
– Properly positions your back and muscles to engage your muscle groups through full range of motion

– Avoids compression of muscles or joints

– Maintains balanced and controlled friction bilaterally (on both sides) of strength equipment

– Increases resistance levels in minute increments for progression and safety

– Adjusts to accommodate a wide range of sizes, shapes, body types and fitness levels

– Provides a heavy-enough load to accommodate your biggest and strongest members or clients

Over the last 20 years, Opti-fit experts and design staff have partnered with thousands of customers in dozens of cities to plan and design commercial spaces, and supply and maintain fitness equipment all over the United States. We’d love to hear your story!

Contact us for a FREE design consultation or facility assessment.

Maybe a New Home Gym?

The man in your life deserves to stay fit and healthy. FOr dad, the best way to get into shape is by taking his workouts outside this month and using outdoor recreational fitness equipment as often to sustain.

Outdoor fitness equipment and recreational exercises – like basketball courts, mini rock walls and outdoor weight circuits – will get dad and everyone in the family beach-ready in record time.

If you don’t see them already, you are going to start seeing a proliferation of sophisticated outdoor recreational equipment in cities and local playgrounds near you. What’s new? Everything from aquatic centers and new basketball courts to tamper-proof steel ab press machines near a set of adult parallel bars.

 Weatherproof and Tamperproof Equipment

Fitness machines and bolted, steel workout stations are popping up in green spaces in parks to promote wellness in local communities and to help in the fight against child and adult overweight and obesity.

The next time you are in a neighborhood park., take a good hard look around and see if there are grownup playground items adjacent or close to the kids’ areas.  You might find body weight exercises done in a circuit training format or within different cardio and strength stations can provide a complete workout – especially if you finish your playground workout with a brisk walk or run around the park to torch additional fat and calories.

5 Reasons for Dad to Use Recreational Equipment

He trains longer. Studies show exercise participants are likely to work out longer when they are outside in nature, resulting in burning roughly 5-7 percent more calories during outside exercise.

He trains harder. The rugged or varied terrain of a park might be just what your body needs to challenge itself to learn a new skill, like hanging upside down on a set of adult monkey bars. Get crazy, be confident, do more cardio!

He soothes stress. Outdoor exercise battles work stress. According to a report published in Environmental Science and Technology a 30-minute walk in the park made 71 percent of active people in the study feel “significantly less stressed,” while 72 percent of people who exercised inside actually felt more stressed.

He is the best role model.  You serve as instant wellness role model to your kids, your family and your office mates. That’ll keep you sweating and inspiring all season long.

He avoids getting sick. Indoor air is two to five time more polluted than outdoor air, according to a study from the Environmental Protection Agency, so you may just sidestep cold season by perspiring in the park instead of your favorite gym class.

We’ve developed a reputation for tough equipment that provides real workouts to even the fittest of users. At the same time our innovative, built-in assist mechanisms make our equipment accessible to all fitness levels. We work closely with our clients to create and deliver the optimal fitness experience.

We design your space while partnering with your architects, interior designer and contractors to fully optimize your fitness amenity into your building design. With our specialized process, we can provide realistic renderings of your facility while bringing a strong sense of detail and accuracy to your fitness space.

Call today for your facility’s free design assessment.

Thinking Outside the Box

Opti-Fit must be resourceful and flexible when designing and equipping residential fitness spaces that may be small, oddly shaped or poorly lit. Multi-family health club footprints, especially,  are often compressed to accommodate other amenities, so maximizing versatility and usability in residential gym areas is key. And we work within your budget and according to your personalized and customized design goals.

At Opti-Fit we accomplish these goals by utilizing and equipping multifunctional, movable equipment tailored and customized to your gym’s layout. We are fast, flexible and versatile.

Consider Your Target User

We do take into consideration the demographics of your school or residence, your surrounding neighborhood, and much more. Our innovative and flexible approach emphasizes providing for all ages and experience levels to democratize the space and maintain compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Family Fitness: Ambiance and Efficiency

When designing and equipping residential gyms, you must also consider cardio machines and exercise trends for all ages and sizes, such as aquatic programming, yoga and other mind-body exercise routines.

Ten years ago adapting the fitness center to various workout types has historically meant designating certain areas for cardio, stretching and weight training. Today, you likely add (on top of those main three areas) a yoga area, cycling and functional training areas. Segregating these activities prevents injuries caused by too-much equipment in an overly small space.

What About Exercise Beginners?

Designing your new multi-family fitness space must also and imbue novice exercisers with a greater degree of confidence and comfort. We work very closely with our client to create and deliver the optimal exercise and movement experience, whether you require a new aquatic center in your university fitness space, or refurbishing the tiny fitness studio designated for your multi-family fitness space.  

Explore functional fitness opportunities in your commercial fitness space.

With our specialized process, we can provide very realistic renderings of your custom facility while delivering a very strong sense of environment, accuracy and details.

Opti-Fit is the leader in fitness center design and supply. Over the last 20 years, the Opti-Fit team has worked with thousands of clients across the nation in the planning, execution, design and supply of their fitness amenity space.

Opti-Fit also partners with the top suppliers in the fitness industry integrating our process into the optimal user experience. We can help you and your exercise fitness space reach your ultimate potential for customer satisfaction, whether you manage a university exercise space or a commercial multi-family residential gym.