Pricing power in the fitness industry
Cult today is cheaper, inflation-adjusted, than Talwalkars was in 2008 — what that says about pricing power, where gym money actually goes, and the pizza business.
Posts tagged industry
The terrible economics of gyms
Where gyms overspend and screw up — AC bills, all-day hours, wasted floor space, discounting, and treating coaches as a cost rather than the product — and the one number our space is built around.
Patenting the obvious
Eleiko patented an obvious way to balance an open-back trap bar — an idea that wasn't theirs, and one we'd already solved in 2018. On patents, pricing, and protecting the obvious.
The talent dilemma
A country of 1.4 billion has a potential Wimbledon champion within its borders. The problem is they don't know who they are.
I cannot run my gym for ₹18,000 a year
The business of gyms rewards absentees. The business of coaching needs you to show up. They are not the same.
Why gyms quietly die
Rents, poor retention, coaches who leave with clients. Why I'll never open a second space, and the model we flipped.
Brands, methods, activities, outcomes
Most people start with the brand and never ask the right question. Start with the outcome and work your way up.
Make in India, not mimic in India
A real reason for a subcontinent equipment brand: design for the bodies it actually serves, not the ones it copies.
Lifting in the gym vs. lifting in the real world
There is a glaring difference between objects designed for lifting in the gym and those found in the real world which makes "functional training" inside a gym a bit of a farce.
Pay for experiences. Not for spaces.
It’s an exciting time to be a gym-goer with coaches around the country opening small, boutique spaces. Find a coach and style that works for you.
Visiting cards
A coach who walks the talk, trains and eats as they ask you to, will be a more empathetic coach who will be able to put themselves in your shoes more comfortably.
What’s happening to your muscles
As our understanding of how muscles work grows, fundamental questions and their nuanced answers can become the key to making sound coaching choices.
Let's wait for a study to try something?
Working with clients in the real world sometimes means embracing cues, exercises and protocols that might not be dogmatic, yet. As long as clients respond positively, this is fine.
The margins for getting it right are tiny
Grip thickness, bar width, plate diameter. The details mass-market gym gear quietly decides don't matter.
The pandering coach
The single most counter-productive figure in the fitness industry — the coach who tells clients only what they want to hear.
Literal product-market fit
Copy-pasting equipment dimensions builds uncomfortable tools. The safety squat bar, resized for Indian frames.
Do you want to be healthy, fit or a sports whiz? Its not all the same.
Health, fitness and sports skill are three distinct capabilities. Be crystal clear about why you are undertaking a certain regimen.