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One-on-one trainers are making fitness personal
By Kathleen Dayton
Staff Writer
It isn’t every trend that gets to Charleston in a timely manner, but some say the city and its nearest suburbs are leading the region in personal fitness facilities, where no more than three people work out at one time with their own personal fitness trainers.
The concept is much different than commercial health clubs, which may also offer personal training but usually not in a private environment.
Apparently, Charlestonians like their privacy as they pump iron, flex arms and stretch muscles.
“I think the trend is really growing here in the Charleston area. It’s growing tremendously,” said Kevin Pitts, a personal trainer at Top Shape in Mount Pleasant who recently worked in Atlanta.
“When I relocated here in Mount Pleasant, I was really amazed at the number of personal training facilities in Mount Pleasant alone. There’s a greater number of personal training studios in this area than in Columbia and the Upstate area, I think.”
Jeff Johnson, owner of Wellspring Fitness on East Bay Street, said personal fitness centers have been a growing trend here for the past five years.
“As far as fitness trends, Charleston is usually behind, except for one trend: personal training,” Johnson said. “There are more one-on-one training facilities within five miles of downtown Charleston than there are in metro Atlanta and Charlotte (N.C.).”
Johnson has done his homework because he is planning to open a second facility in Charlotte. He said one fitness studio is enough for him in Charleston.
“It’s definitely grown, but it hasn’t grown enough to expand out of the downtown location,” Johnson said. “It’s definitely sustainable to keep us there. Our programs have grown and the scope of our operations have grown significantly.”
When Johnson opened Wellspring in 2002, there was only one other one-on-one fitness studio in town, Faster Fitness.
When he first got the idea for Wellspring, private fitness studios were not even available at commercial health clubs.
“There was nothing of the sort anywhere, except maybe California,” he said.
At Wellspring, certified trainers work with clients on fitness, nutrition, massage and rehabilitation. There is a maximum of three clients in the studio at one time, each working with a personal trainer. Some clients prefer the one-on-one aspect and don’t belong to other fitness clubs, while others augment their personal training sessions with workouts at more high-energy membership clubs.
Doug Warner has memberships at two Charleston fitness clubs and began personal training sessions at Wellspring in July.
“I’ve been working out for 20 years and had gotten to a place in my workout routine where I was not getting any results,” Warner said. “I’ve been able to tell a big difference in the way I look and feel. The waist is looser and the shirt is tighter in the chest.”
Warner lifts weights at Wellspring, but when it comes to a cardiovascular workout, he heads to Eco Fitness on Wentworth Street.
“Weightlifting requires a little more one-on-one attention,” Warner said. “When it comes to cardio, I need a little higher energy, so going to another club where there are a lot of people working out makes it a little easier.”
There are other reasons why people choose personal fitness centers.
“It’s just more intimate for people, especially women,” said Courtney McCleod, owner of Fitness Together, which opened in Summerville last October. The franchise has another location in Mount Pleasant and offers totally private workouts between only one client and one trainer at a time.
“A lot of times women, and men too, who are really overweight don’t want to be in a big gym setting,” McCleod said. “We’re not a big place. We’ve got two private rooms, so people are not exercising in front of anybody else, and that’s what they like.”
Another advantage of one-on-one training, McCleod said, is that people feel more obligated to stick to their exercise routines if they have appointments.
“We really hold them accountable,” she said. “If they join a gym, if they don’t show up, nobody cares. If they don’t show up here, we’re calling them to find out where they are.”
The cost of personal training is comparable to personal training in a gym without membership and initiation fees, McCleod said. Sessions at Fitness Together average about $50 for 45 minutes and are sold in packages. McCleod said 75% of her clients are women between the ages of 35 and 65, while men in the same age range make up 20% of her clientele.
Most of Wellspring’s clients also are between ages 35 and 65, with substantial household income, and many are business owners. Clients pay by the month, calculated on a certain number of weekly visits, and are not under contract, Johnson said.
Michelle Jorge, a police officer from West Ashley, said she feels more comfortable in the one-on-one setting.
“You don’t have all the people watching,” she said. “I’m not a very shy person, but I just like that one-on-one attention. It’s more personal.”
Charleston artist John Doyle trains at Wellspring three times a week. He had been a member of The Firm, a downtown fitness club that is no longer in business, for about 15 years.
“This one I’m sold on,” Doyle said of Wellspring. “It has more of a family feel, a little bit more personal, a classy feel. Like, there are plants, there are photos on the wall. You could live here.”
While Wellspring has been able to withstand increasing competition in the personal fitness industry, Johnson said opening a personal fitness studio is not a venture he would recommend to most people.
“It is extremely difficult, it is highly competitive and the profit margin is not as high as most people think it would be,” he said “For someone to be successful, you have to have a whole lot of business knowledge, and you have to be a fantastic personal trainer. If you don’t have one or the other, you won’t make it.”
Starting a similar business would cost anywhere from $90,000 to $150,000, Johnson said, with marketing, reserve funding and equipment among the major expenses. He has nine employees, including exercise physiologists, licensed massage therapists and a chiropractor.
“Marketing is probably the most expensive part of the business next to payroll,” he said.
Johnson has seen many similar businesses fail within the first year, and pointed out some common mistakes he thinks people make when entering the industry.
“Some people may not have the marketing knowledge, and some people don’t have the management abilities to be able to manage other trainers and staff members,” Johnson said. “Under-capitalization is the biggest thing I see, because it is pretty expensive to start an upscale facility. You do have to have knowledge and run it like a business.”
Kathleen Dayton is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail her at kdayton@charlestonbusiness.com.
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