Gold's Gym - Commercial Recreation by Trent Reed

Introduction:

Gold’s Gym is an international co-ed fitness corporation that provides chains of local gyms to join for membership across the globe. Joe Gold opened his first Gold’s Gym in 1965 in Venice, California. Its popularity grew quickly and by 1977 it had became the premiere fitness gym and was included in the movie Pumping Iron. The first franchised gym was built in San Francisco in 1980, and since then it has become the number one health club franchise in the world. Today, after four decades of service, Gold’s Gym has become the largest co-ed gym chain in the world, hosting 600 facilities in 40 states and 30 countries.



Background:

Gold’s Gym provides a full service health club to meet everyone’s personal fitness need. They provide all of the latest in cardio and strength training equipment along with personal trainers and group exercise instructors. Group fitness programs include yoga, group cycling, mixed martial arts, muscle endurance training and pilates. The larger franchises provide fitness on a much larger scale with facilities for child care, rock climbing walls, basketball courts, indoor surfing, and many other premium fitness opportunities. According to their website, Gold’s Gym’s, “are built to help people realize their goals and find their inner strength. We combine the most diverse amenities in the industry with the best personal training to deliver the ultimate fitness experience.”
This commercial recreation business has clearly made its way to becoming one of the premiere leisure-industry businesses in the world. Gold’s Gym is internationally recognized and has recently been featured in magazines, movies, and shows including VH1’s Celebrity Fit Club, the television series Entourage, and even the Dr Phil’s Show. With these achievements, Gold’s Gym has attained the highest awareness of any brand in the health club industry.





Recent Trends:

The immense growth and success of Gold’s Gym has started the recent trend in this commercial business of providing corporate wellness for companies including American Airlines, the American Cancer Society, and Scottrade. Through corporate wellness programs, Gold’s Gym has begun providing memberships to various company employees, further expanding their membership. As more franchises are opened in locations across the globe, we can expect to see many more companies partner with Gold Gym to provide employee recreation programs.

Employment Opportunities:

Gold’s Gym website shows employee opportunities in areas across the corporation. One of their large goals in employment is to provide the opportunity for people to open up their own Gold’s Gym franchises. They have a whole section of their website that details the benefits of opening up a Gold’s Gym franchise, so clearly this is one of their focal points. They also highlight employment opportunities on a smaller scale for local fitness instructors for yoga, pilates, and other group training.



Definition of Leisure:

I had an opportunity to call the Gold’s Gym in Champaign and speak to one of the managers about his definition of leisure. He said the main concept of his definition was fitness. He continued saying leisure to him was providing fitness support to people of all skills and making them feel comfortable. Whether a person who joins Gold’s Gym is skilled or a beginner, making them feel comfortable is his primary goal.

Synopsis:

Overall, Gold’s Gym has a clear mission. They strive to be more than just a gym with weights and instructors; their goal is to meet every single person’s fitness need. Obviously, being a commercial recreation business, they do everything they can to make a profit, which ties in nicely with some of the benefits and disadvantages of a career in this agency. The biggest advantage I took away from a career in this agency is that your opportunities go from the bottom to the top of the corporation. You can do as little as become a fitness instructor to as much as opening up your own franchise. A big disadvantage of a career with this agency is the never ending task of making a profit. No matter how important meeting everyone’s needs are to employees of this corporation, they have to always keep in mind making a profit. This can definitely takes away from the intrinsic value of a job in this career. At the end of it all, I feel this corporation is an excellent opportunity in the leisure delivery system. Fitness is a booming industry within leisure right now, and Gold’s Gym is an excellent example of this.



Works Used:

www.goldsgym.com