Lighting, when used correctly, has the power to create specific moods, trigger deep emotional responses, improve physical comfort and enhance mental wellbeing. Today’s fitness culture is tapping into this psychological dimension, combining illumination techniques to create flow and develop the right mood within each space and class.

“Brightness, colour and texture can mark pivotal moments in a workout; it’s hugely powerful when lighting and sound work in harmony”

When instructors need a high-energy vibe to get the party started, a dazzle of kinetic lighting surrounding sweaty bodies can be a euphoric experience. But when a song or its lyrics need to shine through for inward reflection, flashing colours become a distraction; calm, subdued lighting is more effective for contemplation.

Like a musical performance, changes in brightness, colour and texture can also be used to mark pivotal moments in a workout, creating lasting memories; it’s hugely powerful when lighting and sound work in harmony during a class. Note, however, that there’s a thin line between entertainment and exercise. If lighting is used only to glorify the instructor, it becomes a superficial show and often defeats the purpose.

Brand-specific lighting

At Barbara Chancey Design, our approach to fitness lighting starts with understanding the brand’s core beliefs and determining how lighting can help elevate its messaging: while soft candlelight is effective for some fitness brands, others require immersive and glamorous nightclub vibes. We peel back the layers to discover what makes a workout experience deserve a place in the hearts of members. 

We also do a lot of behavioural thinking to design versatile, reliable, easy-to-operate systems that provide instructors with tools for unlimited creativity. It requires an enormous amount of thought during the design phase to create a hardwired system where instructors can unleash their creative talent at the push of a button, and where future needs have also been brainstormed upfront to maximise investment. 

Our team includes British-born Daryl Vaughan, an international lighting designer who toured with legendary rock musicians including Genesis, Paul McCartney, Pink Floyd and the Rolling Stones. In the fitness sector, he now works exclusively for clients of Barbara Chancey Design.

Vaughan explains: “When it comes to lighting, you obviously need to know the shape, form and dimensions of the area to be illuminated. You need to understand the class formats offered and the moods of each. Most importantly, you must study the client’s logo, brand guidelines, colour palettes and graphics.

“But what’s really crucial to understand is that lighting is not an afterthought: it’s designed into the overall floor plan. We work directly with the architect and audio provider to incorporate illumination into the construction drawings, fully integrating the lighting into the structure at the earliest stage and weaving it into the very fabric of the building.

“Careful selection of wall colours, surface textures, flooring and fixtures can maximise lighting effects: walls painted in dark hues absorb light and reduce reflection, for example, while walls in pale matte shades serve as canvases for painting with light.”

“Lighting is not an afterthought. We work with the architect and audio provider to incorporate illumination into the construction drawings.”

A science & an art

Light Partners’ Daryl Vaughan, Chancey’s go-to light specialist, outlines some of the technical considerations of feature lighting

#1

Creative illumination can be divided into two principal categories: reflected view and direct view. In the former, light from the fixtures is bounced off walls, floors and ceilings. When they’re exceptionally smooth, these surfaces effectively disappear, taking on a translucent, glowing appearance. To maximise the immersive effect, the light source should be artfully concealed. By contrast, direct view light sources are deliberately on display and part of the class experience, creating a sense of drama and energy.

#2

Modern LED light fixtures feature light-emitting diodes in the three primary colours: red, green and blue (RGB). By combining and varying the intensity of these three colours, almost any colour of visible light can be created. However, the white light created by combining 100% R, G and B can be cold and unflattering, so LED manufacturers are increasingly incorporating dedicated white (warm, neutral and cool) and amber LEDs – a much better colour palette for sensual, skin-flattering effects.

#3

Will you opt for plug-and-play or custom hardwired? The former describes a basic lighting system that can be installed rapidly and operated simply, but where a limited number of effects become predictable over time. A hardwired, custom-designed lighting system allows the true power of lighting to be unleashed. Tailored to suit a specific space, it’s designed as part of the build, with electrical drawings included in the architect’s set of plans.

#4

Ultra-violet (otherwise known as black lights) can be exciting, but don’t forget: materials in dental crowns and veneers will react differently under these lights, and unflattering images are nobody’s friend. If black lights are used, limit them to specific moments in a class. Strobe lights, multi-faceted projectors and laser effects should be used equally sparingly, if at all, as strobes can sometimes cause epileptic seizures.

#5

Some set-ups use Bluetooth-connected apps to control lighting via an iPad, laptop or standalone DMX controller. We favour a solution where a simple push-button interface delivers instantaneous light changes without the instructor ever having to lose eye contact with the class. Limited only by imagination, light shows can range from slow colour cross-fades and gentle washes to fast-paced kinetic sequences, all carefully crafted to suit a particular mood or style of music.

The post The power of light appeared first on Ride High Magazine.

We launched Holy Ride in April of this year, inside our first Saints & Stars club in Amsterdam Oud-West – a club that originally opened in 2018.

The ‘why’ is interesting, because when we went back to our original drawings for the club, it included a Ride studio; even before we launched Saints & Stars, we had always planned to offer indoor cycling.

At the time, though, I thought it might be tough to execute three distinct group exercise formats really well, all at the same time. So instead of group cycling, we created our Personal Training offering – something I felt really comfortable with having worked in clubs for years – alongside boxing concept Holy Box and cardio HIIT bootcamp Holy Shred.

Now I realise we should have done Holy Ride from the beginning! Because it’s what our members want, and that’s how we make all our decisions.

We did an in-depth survey of our members and our former members to understand what more they wanted from us and why they had left. The findings were very clear: people loved our brand but we didn’t have all the concepts they wanted. Specifically, we lacked indoor cycling and reformer pilates – with cycling far and away the number one request – and people were going elsewhere for these two disciplines. The decision to create Holy Ride was therefore a very easy one.

How would you describe Holy Ride?

Indoor cycling is the #1 group exercise format in the Netherlands, and in Amsterdam, boutique cycling is incredibly competitive. We knew we needed to do something very different to stand out in a mature market.

At the same time, though, we felt there was an opportunity to raise standards. Looking across the market, we saw too little focus on performance. Yes, a ride has to be fun and a great experience, but we believe the output is important too. We saw strength tracks that we didn’t think were particularly good. We saw immersive environments poorly executed. We saw inconsistencies in quality within brands.

We therefore talk about Holy Ride as ‘Redefining the Standards’, because we’ve taken all of this and turned it on its head in our concept.

We use bikes where you can track all your data and we deliberately make our workouts a little tougher. It’s OK not to be for everyone. We format all our classes, minute by minute, because we believe a strong brand comes from providing the same experience and quality across every class. And we’ve spent €100,000 on the Holy Ride audiovisual system alone, for an immersive experience like no other.

That makes it the most expensive AV system we’ve ever installed, but we had the luxury of the new studio being the conversion of a pre-existing space. The club also already had members, so Ride classes were full the moment the studio opened. We expect to achieve ROI in three months.

Over and above all that, you only have one chance to make a good first impression, especially in a mature market. We were never going to cut corners or skimp on the investment.

“Holy Ride classes were full the moment the studio opened. We expect to achieve ROI in three months.”

Tell us more about the AV.

We knew we wanted to create something really special, so we went outside the fitness sector and spoke to Awakenings Festival – the best festival producer in the Netherlands. It had previously used our studios for smaller events, so we’d seen the incredible lighting and sound effects they could create just from their laptops – far better than anything we’d ever done! We were therefore really keen to work with them, and they were excited by the chance to think outside the box and work on a brand new, small-space concept.

The result is exceptional. We have lasers and LEDs. We have ‘moving heads’ – the tool we use most, which allows us to create all sorts of shapes and effects with our lighting, flooding the space with light and movement.

We have water-based smoke, which is really cool. In a cycle studio, you’re part of a pack, but you also want your own space to focus on yourself. The smoke helps create that sense of personal space, which is impressive given we have 60 bikes in 130sq m of floorspace. I’ve never put so many people in a room

And because our classes are formatted, we know exactly what’s coming, so the sound and light all comes together perfectly with the class content. In a climb, for example, we use music and beams of light to build the ‘scenery’ of a climb. In a sprint, the lighting is suddenly very quick, with lots of colour and lots of white, culminating in a blinding flash of light at the end – done! – and then a sudden plunge into total darkness and silence before slowly building back up again.

The instructor also has the best seat in the house when it comes to the sound. This isn’t the standard approach, but it ensures they’re absolutely on-point in their delivery

Are your stars OK with formatting?

A lot of people say formatting kills creativity, but I disagree. All our classes are formatted, not just Holy Ride, and I believe it’s a real strength for us.

It certainly doesn’t mean the experience is repetitive. Our members typically do around three classes a week, and we change formats regularly enough that you’d be unlucky to do the same class twice. This isn’t hard to do, either, because there are moves in indoor cycling that you always do in every class. If you move sections around to be in a different order, change the music and the lighting, it’s instantly a very different experience. Even just changing 15–20 per cent of a cycling class makes it feel totally different.

Then consider that even good instructors elsewhere might use the same playlist multiple times… I don’t think it’s formatting that makes the experience boring!

The challenge was persuading star instructors of this –because as with all our concepts, I wanted the absolute top indoor cycling instructors in Amsterdam to come onboard and deliver Holy Ride.

We’d done our research and we knew who we wanted, but getting them onboard was the toughest part of the whole project. The secret – other than paying them well and continually training them, which is something we’ve always prided ourselves on – was to get them involved early. We invited them to help develop the concept and the formatting, creating the product they would deliver, and we got the instructors we wanted.

“Our member base grows each time we add a new concept, so it makes sense to make our products as ‘whole’ as possible”

So, you have seven concepts now?

Yes, we have Holy Ride, Holy Shred, Holy Box, Holy Booty, Holy Build – a small group technique-based workout for members only, not those on class packs – Personal Training and our Open Gym.

Holy Shred is the only concept that’s currently on offer at both our locations, because our clubs only about 10 minutes’ cycle ride apart. It’s easy for people to use both of them, depending on which workout they want to do that day.

Our members typically each do three or four of our seven concepts. There’s one cluster who veer towards Personal Training, Open Gym and Holy Build – typically members who like gym workouts but who want a more experiential environment. The other cluster is more group exercise-focused, whereby people mix and match between Holy Ride, Holy Shred, Holy Box and Holy Booty.

When we first set out, I feared that if we offered too much – too many concepts – we might dilute the brand. I no longer worry about that, though, and in large part that’s because our marketing is higher level, focusing on our overarching purpose at Saints & Stars. Particularly for an audience of Millennials and Gen Zs, that’s really important. They want to know why you do what you do.

It’s also the case that our member base grows each time we add a new concept, so it makes sense to make our product as ‘whole’ as possible.

Will you launch more Holy Rides?

We won’t retrofit Ride into our other existing club in Amsterdam Oud-Zuid. The club is large enough to house another studio, but our members spend lots of time in our communal areas and we don’t want to detract from the experience by cramping the space, especially since the 30 per cent growth in membership.

We are, however, opening a new club in Amsterdam in early 2023. If Ride is still in our top three concepts when we design it, it will probably have a Ride studio!

As I say, we respond to what our members want, so in any new club we’ll put in the most popular concepts. We might even introduce an eighth concept in the next one, which at this stage would most likely be reformer pilates. But we’ll always have flexibility in space and mindset to change things in the future if needed. The Gen Z mindset changes all the time. You have to be ready to change with them.

“We respond to what our members want. The Gen Z mindset changes all the time. You have to be ready to change with them.”

Any other plans you can share?

The boutique sector remains challenging, with studios sadly still going out of business since the pandemic; I imagine there may be opportunities to grow further by acquiring and converting existing studios. I’d also love to take Saints & Stars beyond Amsterdam.

The pandemic changed my outlook in other ways, too. For example, I always said we would never do digital content, but in lockdown it was one of the many things we did to keep our community and our instructors engaged with our brand. The content was free to use at that point, and accessible to everyone, and it was great for brand awareness.

Moving forward, although I’m still not 100 per cent sold on digital, I have to recognise that hybrid lifestyles have embedded themselves. It won’t be this year, but at some point in the future I can see us doing some sort of paid-for digital offering.

What’s the future of indoor cycling?

In Amsterdam, which is the market I know, I believe indoor cycling will become increasingly immersive and experiential. There are still a lot of dark boxes at the moment!

We’ll see the technology that customers experience at festivals, for example, becoming affordable for smaller-scale delivery in fitness studios. Operators will need to keep their fingers on the pulse to find the next exciting thing that will engage people in their studio experiences.

We looked at holograms for Holy Ride, for example. In the end, the technology was still too expensive for our business model – for now anyway – but things like this will continue to come through and we need to be ready to embrace it.

“I believe indoor cycling will become increasingly experiential. There are still a lot of dark boxes at the moment!”

What drives you in all of this?

A business like ours isn’t based on spreadsheets or business models or trying make the most money possible. The only way to build a business like this is to do what you love, focus on what you can be really good at, add your own flavour – because a copy job will never, ever work – and then put your whole soul into it.

I love fitness – I train every day – and I love looking for new trends and creating new things. This is my passion and I love the fact that it’s also my job.

The post Tom Moos appeared first on Ride High Magazine.

In 2005 – aged 35 and not having exercised since my teens – a friend got me into group exercise at a big box gym. I loved it. By 2007, I’d qualified as a Body Pump instructor, and by 2009 I was instructing RPM too.

By 2010, I was looking for more of a creative outlet and got into freestyle classes, then in 2012 I decided to break away from the big box gym environment. I wanted more of a connection with the people in my classes: to know names and stories, not just faces.

I joined forces with a few friends – in fact, there were 15 of us when we started! – to create Integrity. The name is inspired by the word ‘integer’, which means a whole number, undivided, a thing that’s complete in itself. That’s how we see group exercise: a strong community where you all come together as one. A real club.

We launched in 2012 with some pre-choreographed classes – we were the first in the state of Victoria to offer Les Mills GRIT and SPRINT – and then, in 2017, started getting more creative, adding in things like TRX, yoga and MMA.

By 2018 – although we do still offer barbell and conditioning classes to meet member demand – we’d reined it back in to focus on cycling as our bread and butter, including another first: we were the first club in Australia to launch Intelligent Cycling.

We’d also begun to offer more experiences, including rooftop rides and member road trips where we check out other studios and classes further afield. It’s all about building that sense of involvement, belonging and community.

What programmes do you offer now?

We run around 20 classes a week; if they sell out, we add more. Of these 20-ish classes, around 80 per cent are cycling, which I’ve recently categorised into four groups.

The first is Rhythm, which spans all our ‘intervals choreographed to music’ formats. We’re all qualified Spinning instructors, so that shapes some of these classes. But we’ve also signed up to A STATE OF RIDE (ASOR) which, although pre-choreographed, offers a reasonable level of flexibility.

The second category is Immersive, which includes Intelligent Cycling’s The Journey – where you cycle through a virtual world on the big screen – and our LIT! class, which I’ll tell you more about in a minute.

Thirdly, we have HIIT, which at the moment tends to be either intervals or time trials. We often use Intelligent Cycling here, too, putting the timer or performance stats on-screen. People love knowing what’s coming up next so they know how hard to push, plus we’ve found younger members in particular really engage with anything that involves a screen.

“Our members are hugely loyal. If you think about watching the soccer, with the home fans going mad behind the goal, that’s our members”

And finally, there’s a category I’m calling Competitive, which we’re still developing. We’ll definitely be bringing Zwift into the studio, though, creating an experience that uses our big screen as well as members’ phones. It could be power profile training – something we might even charge a premium for – or it could be more about social Zwift races. I don’t know yet. I don’t tend to design something and then build exactly that. My creative process is more like painting, where you start putting things down and then keep experimenting and building on what you’ve done until it’s finished.

Which are your most popular classes?

Around 80 per cent of our cycling classes fall into the Rhythm category. We offer the other stuff too – scattered throughout the week to hit different day parts and different members – because if you do group exercise for long enough, you will get bored and you’ll want some variety. But I think Rhythm formats – and, for that matter, cardio in general – have had a bad rap over recent years. It’s actually a really nice, low-tech disconnect – away from measurement and numbers and visual overload – and it’s still our main focus.

Our rooftop rides are especially popular, selling out every time. We only do them once a year though, at the beginning of spring, because taking bikes to the top of the tallest building in town is no small task!

Why aren’t all your classes freestyle?

You need experience to deliver a great freestyle class, and there are only three of us original founders left. For any new instructor coming in to the business, it’s great to have pre-choreographed content – ASOR – to learn the ropes. You can then move on to Intelligent Cycling, where you get to choreograph but don’t have to remember it all as the system prompts you, before progressing to freestyle.

Intelligent Cycling, to me, is almost perfect, not least because you choose your own music. I carefully match music to the virtual world we’re cycling through. For the aerial world with the dragons, for example, I choose very cinematic music mixed with rap for contrast. For space, I pick space-themed songs mixed with futuristic techno music. For the dinosaur-filled jungles, I choose world music, bongos, digeridoos.

I’d like a bit more scope to dictate the content of the virtual worlds themselves, but the Intelligent Cycling team tells me I’m more creative than the average customer! Some of my ideas have landed, though – the road now sets on fire when you’re in the highest zone, for example, which was my suggestion – so I’m going to keep chipping away!

Your members also influence your music choice. How?

I’ve created something I call ‘Algorhythm’, which allows members to influence the music in class without directly asking me to play a specific track, which likely wouldn’t be right for a cycling workout.

Any member who uses Spotify gives me the playlists it suggests for them based on what they’ve listened to – Discover Weekly, for example. Algorhythm then puts all these tracks through an algorithm I’ve set up – a ‘what I think works for indoor cycling’ filter – which uses information Spotify can tell us about each track: its energy, dance-ability, how acoustic it is, how instrumental, how happy…

Off the back of this, Algorhythm automatically gives me a weekly shortlist of 100 songs in Spotify – songs that will appeal to members and that will work for indoor cycling. I listen to them and hit ‘like’ on the ones I want to use; I normally keep around 10 per cent. In this way, our members contribute to the music at the club just by listening to Spotify.

Over time, the AI behind Algorhythm also builds up libraries of my ‘liked’ songs that match specific criteria: high-energy, instrumental, 80 RPM intervals and so on. It means I can easily find exactly what I need, knowing the members have also recommended it and I like it.

It’s transformed our approach to music and our younger members in particular love it – good news, as attracting younger members was a key driver. Older members are 50/50, but only because they miss tunes that have become familiar. They’ll get new favourites soon though – we only launched Algorhythm this year – because older tracks still get through. It’s purely about how a song feels. It’s nothing to do with genre, era or artist.

I can see us commercialising this system in the future. The filter would probably just need to be set up differently for each club, as everyone will have a different view on what makes for perfect indoor cycling music.

You’ve created your own AV system too. Tell us more.

I’ve always found lighting systems to be a backdrop or even a distraction in-class, but felt they could be so much more. I then had a dream about a class with fantastic lighting and I started looking into what I’d need to do to make it happen.

Most lights cost around A$600 each, but I found some for A$30 each on one of those bargain websites and bought 60 of them! I had them all on my kitchen table, trying to figure out how to use them, and found some equipment that allowed me to synchronise the lights to music.

I also found a guy in the US – a lighting director in a church where they regularly had Christian rockbands with thousands attending – and he’d written his own software for the lighting. I bought it, and it allows me to send specific instructions to each individual light for every split-second of every song: when to pulse, strobe, what colour to turn and so on. We have around 5,000 data points flying around the studio for every split-second of music.

We created the whole system for A$3,000, plus A$2,000 for a new computer, with members funding it entirely with donations just because they knew it would be great. The tradespeople among our membership then helped me build it into the studio.

“It takes around 15 hours per song to choreograph the lights to the music, so we only do this for our LIT! class, which we treat more like an event than a normal class”

It takes around 15 hours per song to choreograph the lights to the music, by the time you’ve worked out what you want the lights to do, then programmed them to do that. So we only do this for our LIT! class, which we treat more like an event than a normal class, running it about once a month. We use the same soundtrack and lighting choreography for about six months, putting LIT! in different places on the timetable so different members get to experience it.

I deliberately pick songs with lots of interesting elements I can attach lighting to – drops, fade and explode, cool sound effects, strong snare drum and so on – so the lighting becomes almost as important as the music. It’s a really immersive experience.

Tell us more about your community.

We’re tiny. We have 150–200 members visiting our 200sq m studio in the basement of a building, with classes typically catering for 15–20 people. But our members are hugely loyal. The way I talk about them: if you think about watching the soccer, with the home fans going mad behind the goal, that’s our members!

Most sign up to an unlimited class package, which at A$40 a week places us in the mid-market. And they get really into it. Some people come a couple of times a week, some six or seven, but our average is around four weekly visits per member.

Ballarat is hugely competitive for fitness, so it’s hard to get new people in, but we fill lower performing classes using a pay as you go model. Many of these customers ultimately convert to membership.

If people are new to cycling, I’ll spend some time one-to-one with them, getting them to sit on the bike and pedal while they chat to me. We’ll then talk about riding to a rhythm, standing in the pedals and so on, and I’ll tell them when they’re ready for class. Ours isn’t a huge club, so I don’t spend too many hours a week doing this, but if you throw someone straight into a class and they have a bad experience, they’ll never come back. You have to look at the potential lifetime value of each member. You have to invest in their future membership.

In the process, I get to know all about them, their families, their dogs! It builds community and is a good model for a small club like ours.

And when we’re in class together, it really is a community. Old or young, we’re in it together. Actually, I think our older members enjoy the energy the younger ones bring.

And we have managed to get younger people in. This generation is so swayed by Instagram, they feel they have to look perfect. We focus on providing a ‘pressure off’ experience – we’re clear you don’t have to be superhuman at Integrity – and we’ve gained a few what I call ‘refugees’ escaping that pressure they felt at other clubs.

How have you fared during COVID?

We’ve had five lockdowns now: one big one and then a series of shorter ones. The fifth ended today [interview conducted 27 July 2021] so we’re back to class tomorrow.

So far, though, we’ve been OK financially. All our members have carried on paying throughout – they’ve wanted to do whatever they could to support us – and we’ve had some assistance too.

On day one, we sent equipment out to everyone who wanted it, from bikes to barbells. Others were happy doing yoga, so only needed mats. And some wanted to buy their own bikes; I got them a good deal with BODY BIKE and put the bikes together for them, delivering them to their houses.

Days two to four, we set ourselves up to live-stream using a platform called dacast.com, where you can live-stream to a schedule in a password-protected area behind your website. That allowed us to take advantage of a six-month music streaming licence from OneMusic Australia, so we didn’t fall foul of any music rights – one of the biggest headaches with online provision. We’ve live-streamed our way through every lockdown.

“We’re clear you don’t have to be superhuman at Integrity and we’ve gained a few what I call ‘refugees’ escaping that pressure they felt at other clubs”

Then each time we’ve re-opened, members have come straight back, even when all we could offer were classes in the car park. Honestly, I think they’d come back even if we were just doing runs up and down the street! And when we were able to move back indoors, we were pretty much back to normal: our classes have always been small, so our capacity has been unaffected by COVID restrictions.

What are your plans for Integrity moving forward?

Everything we do works, but it’s bootstrapped. I’d love to streamline our AV so the systems are easy for everyone to use, not just me.

I’m looking into video mapping, potentially putting 3D objects – big spheres and things – into the studio to project video onto.

And I’d love to get a bigger, high definition screen. We have a 4m projection system at the moment – the projector we got for free from a local school that was closing down – but I’d love to upgrade that system to make it even more immersive.

I also want to see how far we can take the immersive side of things. Each bike has a spotlight above it, so what if we could link our lighting to individual cyclists’ wattage or cadence? If we can, it paves the way for games during class where performance data controls the lights in a fun, competitive way.

We could have red versus green teams in a sprint, for example, where you have to sprint when the light above you turns white; your turn ends when your wattage drops too low and your light turns back to red or green. Or we could do ‘tug of war’, where if you aren’t pedalling hard enough you’re lost to the other side and your light changes colour to bring you into their team.

There’s so much I want to explore. I just have to find the time! And I’d love to see the rest of the indoor cycling sector follow suit. Why should everything be controlled by a few big global organisations? Let’s get creative as a community, trying new things out and seeing what flowers.

The post Tim Graham appeared first on Ride High Magazine.

And just as the world’s religions have their distinct stories to tell, so fitness studios have diversified and created their own philosophies to set themselves apart.

When working with new clients, our first question is always: ‘What do you believe?’

Where previously, indoor cycling looked similar the world over – go-getting, fitness-focused, push hard and then push harder – now distinct models are emerging to appeal to a multi-generational group of devotees. Amid messages of diversity and inclusion, new styles and formats have recast indoor cycling as ‘moving meditation’, spawning a new generation of studios where the focus is less on physical appearance and more on a lasting state of happiness and fulfilment.

It is the belief system, the ethos, the brand story that now distinguishes one cycling studio from another.

Design around the nuances
So, what does all this mean from a design perspective?

Just as architecture differs in form and function across houses of worship, so indoor cycling studios should also be designed based on the brand’s belief.

The studio design for a rhythm cycling class should be very different from the design for a performance class; trying to blend the needs of outdoor cyclists with those of choreography-based rhythm riders, all in one space, is where many studios fail.

IT’S NO ACCIDENT THATFLYWHEEL AND SOULCYCLEHAVE STARK CONTRASTSIN THEIR STUDIO DESIGN

But it isn’t impossible. With keen observation, meticulous planning and great creativity, we’ve been very successful in blending a variety of indoor cycling styles, delivering waitlisted classes and industry-crushing growth for our clients around the world.

Identify the contradictions
Think about the differences between SoulCycle and Flywheel. Before their division, all three founders had the same beliefs and philosophy. But now? Fly has screens and TorqBoards, Soul has candles and choreography. Soul distributes shoes from behind the front desk, Fly is a self-serve system with shoes in cubbies that correspond to the bike number. Sidebars and bikes on one level or stadium seating? There are reasons behind every decision, and it’s no accident that Flywheel and SoulCycle have stark contrasts in their studio design.

TVs and projection screens can be intrusive in a rhythm class, while the performance crowd enjoys friendly competition and checking stats on a leaderboard. Screens can also be useful for charity events, bride rides, birthday celebrations – yet they are considered “clutter” that contradict the digital detox offered by rhythm studios.

Ceiling or wall fans are mandatory for some studio owners, yet others believe fans cause arguments among instructors and members.

The true roadies and performance cyclists would be mortified to ride with a set of pink hand weights behind the saddle, yet others believe they are essential to the class format.

Even within the rhythm religion, there are contradictions: some teach freestyle with little resistance and an RPM over 120; others adhere to traditional form as certified by the likes of Mad Dogg or Schwinn.

WHY USE THE SAME DESIGN AND LANGUAGE AS YOUR COMPETITOR TO CLAIM HOW UNIQUE YOU ARE?

Chilled, scented towels after the finish line? Some believe in passing them out as a sweet reward – an integral part of a signature class. These studios require a discrete, flush-mounted small refrigerator inside the studio. Others believe towels are a waste of time and money and eliminate them all together. Problems arise when inconsistency creeps in and it’s a hit or miss amenity.

Many studio owners believe clients should come early and stay late. They need studios designed with generous social spaces to create a welcoming community – a home away from home. Others insist on small common areas to allow space for more bikes, which means getting people in and out quickly.

Ask yourself this…
Technical concerns such as sound mitigation, humidity control and reducing slippage will always be a top priority. However, when working with new clients, our first question is always: “What do you believe?”

We then design studios to reflect that belief, asking questions such as:

• Do you believe an instructor should help a client on the third row who comes unclipped or needs assistance during class? If yes, include extra space between rows so the instructor (or assistant) can quickly attend the need.
• Do you believe in occasional team rides with multiple instructors, or do you prefer to showcase only one instructor? The answer will determine the size and weight load of your podium/stage. It will also determine the number of microphones and channels your sound system requires.
• Do you believe instructors should control ceiling fans and dictate when (or if) they come on? If you’re eliminating ceiling fans altogether, know the logic behind this decision. If you’re installing fans, remember to allocate a no-fan zone so clients can reserve a bike away from, or directly under, the fans depending on their preference.

KNOW THE ‘WHY’ BEHIND EVERY DESIGN DECISION AND FIERCELY UPHOLD WHAT YOU BELIEVE

• Do you believe all bodies are the same shape and size? If yes, then place bikes with equal spacing between them. However, I would encourage you to think of an aeroplane, where different classes of seat have different spacing between them. The reasons are different in cycling studios, but there is arguably a similar need for variances in spacing. I’ve noticed that larger people and first-timers tend to take a place on the back row, so space bikes on this row further apart – it will make the lone wolves, and/or those who crave more space, feel more comfortable.
• To meet current social distancing requirements, why not remove the seat post of selected bikes rather than removing the bikes themselves? This keeps mass in the room for better sound; bikes can be rotated to receive equal usage.
• During check-in at the reception desk, do you believe the first thing a client should see is the back of a computer screen or a smiling face?
• Do you believe cycling shoes should be complimentary or rented from you? This determines the best delivery system and location.
• How often will your studio turn the room for classes? If every 15 minutes, is your ventilation system designed to remove humidity and infuse fresh air, reducing odour and moisture? These are the questions you have to ask yourself in ‘normal’ times. Right now, of course, ventilation is even more critical – and complex – impacting not only riders’ comfort but also virus control. This is an area in which you must not cut corners.
• Do you believe clients should struggle to walk in cycling shoes? Slippage continues to be a cause of falls and potential lawsuits; sweat mixed with body lotion is a recipe for disaster on polished concrete floors.
• Does your brand have a signature scent? From grapefruit to lemon verbena, infuse a subtle yet memorable aroma into your studio space through a timed release in the ventilation system, for effective scent marketing.

There are no right or wrong answers to the above questions, but it is important to think about these details. You’d be surprised by how many people don’t. If you want your brand to inspire loyalty and ignite imagination, why would you use the same design style and brand language as your competitor to claim how unique you are?

Before hiring an architect or selecting a location, you must know the ‘why’ behind every design decision and fiercely uphold what you believe.

About the Barbara Chancey Design Group
“Unlike many traditional design firms, my entire team teaches, takes or observes classes relentlessly,” says Barbara Chancey, founder of the Barbara Chancey Design Group. “Our strength comes in designing beautifully functional spaces, approaching every brief through the eyes of instructors.

“Always mindful of the enormous effort it takes to fill a class, we include thoughtful features for instructors, with meticulous details to help them deliver a superior experience. This results in creative classes, increased retention, waitlists and industry-crushing growth for our clients.”

She continues: “When working with new clients, our first question is always: ‘What do you believe?’ We then create studio designs to reflect that belief – designs that reflect your brand and that are able to grow with you.

“In the words of Simon Sinek from his TED Talk on great leaders: ‘Hire people who believe what you believe, and you’ll never fail.’

“Studio owners, what do you believe?”

The post Studio design: Know the WHY behind every decision appeared first on Ride High Magazine.

The first is ventilation. These systems don’t cool the air. They can warm it, so they’re good for the winter, but they can’t cool it. They basically replace ‘old’ air with ‘new’, sucking in air from outside and blowing it into the studio. Whatever volume of air these systems blow in, they also suck back out of the studio, in the process removing moisture and CO2 from the room.

The second option is a climate control system, which is the same as a ventilation system except it does include an option to cool the air. These systems are able to maintain your ideal studio temperature year-round.

And then, finally, there’s air conditioning. These systems recirculate the air that’s in the studio, so although they do allow you to change the temperature, they can’t prevent build-up of CO2 or moisture. They don’t introduce any fresh air to the room. I personally don’t tend to work much with air conditioning.

Ventilation systems are the most cost-effective. I therefore recommend studios either have just ventilation or, if you feel you have to cool the air, that you have two systems installed: ventilation, and then either air con or climate control. That way, you can switch between the two as required.

The room might not be cold, but as long as you feel air moving over your body, you’re OK

If you’re relying on ventilation, do cyclists not get too hot?
There will, of course, be times and places when the outside air is so hot that your climate or air conditioning system has to kick in. While it’s down to personal preference, you’re probably aiming for a studio temperature of 18–20°C; if the air outside is significantly higher, then yes, I would probably recommend having two systems installed.

However, picture this scene. You’re out road cycling on a hot summer’s day, the sun is beating down, but while you’re moving along there’s always air flowing against you and you feel, if not cool, then certainly comfortable temperature-wise. Then you stop at a traffic light and all of a sudden you’re sweating, you feel uncomfortably hot. It’s unpleasant. Finally the lights turn green, you start cycling again, the air circulates around your body and you’re back to feeling good.

It’s similar in a cycling studio. The room might not be cold, but as long as you feel the air moving over your body – even if that air isn’t freezing cold – you’re OK. I’m not saying you should let the room get really hot, but what really matters is that feeling of air on you while you’re exercising. It’s one of the reasons why I always suggest a cycle studio includes a ventilation system. In fact, one of our clients had a bit of an ‘a-ha’ moment in this respect.

We changed the air system at one of its clubs, putting the installation in the ceiling rather than on the walls: a very simple, round tube that blew air down on the participants below. The temperature in the studio was able to go up, but there was lots of air in the studio and they had great feedback from members – as well as saving money on their energy bills.

So, is the ceiling the best place to put a ventilation system?
It’s certainly my recommendation. There’s nothing worse than sitting there and not feeling any air, which can happen to those in the middle of the room if the air is coming in from the side, or even the sides.

Ventilation and air con systems can be a little noisy, admittedly, but in a cycling studio – where the music is up loud and the bikes whirring – that doesn’t matter. So, my advice: put the units where they will have the best effect for people. And for me, that means letting the air blow down over people.

The size of the room will dictate how many ventilation units you need, but if you do it right, even with say two units in the room, you can still have numerous nozzles across the ceiling which blow an ‘air curtain’ down over people.

How often do you need to change the air in a cycling studio?
If you calculate it properly using a measure called MET – Metabolic Equivalent for Task, which estimates the amount of energy and oxygen used by the body during physical activity, as compared to resting metabolism – you come up with a really, really high number.

Start from zero: when people step into the studio before class, it can’t already be full of CO2 and moisture

If you’re sitting still in an office, then you have a MET of 1. If you’re elite athlete training hard, you might have a MET of 15. For indoor cycling, I would say it’s about 10.

I’ve tried to do the sums to translate that into CO2 emission and I make it about 280 cubic metres per hour, per person. Then you look at the typical size of a cycling studio: maybe 50sq m with a ceiling height of, say, 3 metres. That’s 150 cubic metres, which would mean we’d have to ventilate the room twice an hour for every person in there. Multiply that by even just 20 people in a class and it’s a huge number.

I don’t think that’s necessary though. I would say 14–16 times an hour is fine. But you do need to make sure you’re starting from zero, by which I mean when people step into the room before class, the room can’t already be full of CO2 and moisture. They need to be stepping into a room where the air is ‘fully powered’ with the right level of oxygen.

How can clubs ‘fully power’ their studios before each class?
There is no doubt that, for a well-ventilated room, it helps to have half an hour between classes. Ideally, ventilation should then start automatically in advance of the class starting, either on a timer or using a sensor. You will usually have a good 10–15 minutes between the first person coming in and the class actually starting, so you could set the ventilation to start at 10 per cent of its maximum flow as soon as the sensor detects movement in the room.

Incidentally, I also recommend having CO2 and temperature sensors in the room. At the beginning of the class, the air flow can be lower – the 10 per cent flow I mention – rising as the CO2 levels and room temperature rise. Once again, this helps you save money, avoiding the need to have the system set to max for the full duration of the class.

However, not many health clubs and cycling studios have these sensors. It’s often the instructor who turns on the ventilation just before the class starts. If you don’t have sensors, I would recommend the ventilation is set at 10 per cent of its maximum flow throughout the club’s opening hours – turned up, of course, during classes – so the studio is always ready to go.

Ventilation isn’t just about the experience. It’s about keeping equipment in good working order

In terms of temperature, if you want to cool the room from 28 to 20 degrees as an example, you need to allow 30 minutes between setting the temperature and the start of the class. Because it’s not only the air which has to cool down, but also floor, walls and bikes.

Any other advice for cycle studio operators?
Ventilation isn’t just about the experience for cyclists. It’s also about keeping the equipment in good working order. A well-ventilated environment helps control moisture levels, which in turn helps prevent rusting of the bikes and the malfunction of any electronics in the room, such as the music system.

However, moisture isn’t the only problem. Sweat contains salt too, which can also cause bikes to rust. I therefore strongly advise, alongside a good ventilation system, that operators clean the surfaces after every class to remove salt.

Meanwhile, we recommend you have your ventilation systems serviced at least once a year. And if you have a system with coolant, I’d suggest a minimum of two services a year to ensure the coolant doesn’t escape the system.

One other thing that might be worth noting: I have seen some places where they have propellers in the ceiling, which somewhat support the theory of air over the body. However, they don’t remove the C02 or moisture. Without a proper ventilation unit, operators have to be able to open a window, which I personally don’t recommend as a solution.

Finally, you can infuse scent into the air if you wish: it can help make the room smell pleasant rather than sweaty, of course, but it can also positively impact people’s mindset. Citrus is a particularly good choice for cycling studios: it encourages members to work harder because they feel fresh.

The post Something in the air appeared first on Ride High Magazine.

The member experience is something everyone talks about nowadays, yet many operators fall short of delivering a true experience – something members will want to tell their friends about.

While there are, of course, many different elements that combine to create the perfect member experience, I believe three are particularly important. Firstly, always try to tell a story rather than selling a product. Secondly, engage passionate instructors who genuinely love to teach. And third, try to surprise your participants in every class they join.

2. Focus on the group cycling product

Further to tip #1, although it isn’t about selling a product, it’s nevertheless vitally important that the product hits the mark, delivering results as well as a share-worthy experience.

An obvious point here, but use great equipment – and by that, I don’t only mean equipment that’s high quality, but that also feels high quality. Member perceptions are important. Minimise opportunities for distraction too, so riders are immersed at the moment and fully focused on their training. Use large format displays or projection to present stats like heart rate or other performance metrics. Last but not least, create a sense of competition between participants to ensure they push themselves to their limits – and beyond.

3. Maximise the impact of your studio

If your cycle studio looks like someone put bikes onto a squash court, it will always feel like someone put bikes onto a squash court.

Make the most of your studio space – for example, maximising the impact of any unusual architectural features to create unique interior design concepts. And make the most of what’s outside too: if your club is located amid beautiful scenery, consider installing large panoramic windows in your studio. Do, however, ensure it’s a view that will motivate and inspire rather than distract – as noted in tip #2 – and remember there may be a need for blackout blinds over the windows if, for some classes, you want to create a cinematic experience via a big screen.

4. Change the look of your cycle studio as often as possible

Don’t allow your studio to feel the same throughout the duration of a class, as this does little for motivation. Mix it up to keep riders stimulated and engaged.

Opt for a lighting system that supports the training being delivered, with different lighting to sync with the different phases of the workout. And use video projection to further immerse participants in the story your instructor is telling – the journey they are being taken on.

5. Deliver crystal-clear audio at every bike

A great sound system is vital to every group cycling class. Use an audio system that delivers perfect audio – including clarity and intelligibility of speech – wherever you may be in the studio, at whichever bike. Reduce the risk of any disturbance in sound – reverberation, for example – by incorporating features such as hidden absorption material behind graphics on the walls.

The post Five steps to a perfect cycle studio appeared first on Ride High Magazine.

Boutiques in particular have really captured the millennial taste and this is key to their success, not least because millennials now account for a huge proportion of the fitness market: Les Mills recently commissioned a new study from Qualtrix – surveying 18,000 people across 22 countries – which found that 79 per cent of people doing gym-type activities are either millennials (those aged up to 37 years) or post-millennials (those aged up to 23 years).

Clubs absolutely have to embrace this market if they want to survive, and that means adapt-ing their offering. Millennials are very different from Baby Boomers and Gen X. In fact, they very consciously don’t want to do what their parents did. Many millennials are therefore bypassing traditional clubs in favour of the boutiques, and it’s vitally important that health club operators realise and respond to this.

Why? Because not only do millennials represent a huge segment of the market, but this is also the age at which habits are formed. The average age of a health club member might be around 40 years old, but our research has found the vast majority of people first join clubs in their 20s; 24 years old is the biggest joining point. Very few people join for the first time after 35 years old, and after the age of 40 the numbers are statistically almost non-existent.

So, you have to get people when they’re in their 20s, or at a push their early 30s – and this is the age group that’s currently being drawn to the boutiques. Our research shows a 5 per cent growth in the number of people doing gym-type activities between 2013 and 2018 – from 28 per cent of the population to 33 per cent – and it’s the boutiques and low-cost club that are benefiting the most.

Only 49 per cent of the market now uses traditional health clubs; the remaining 51 per cent are split across low-cost clubs, boutiques, small local clubs – the Anytime Fitnesses, Jetts and Snaps of this world – and other niches like university and corporate clubs.

And while not all the boutiques are successful – anecdotal evidence suggests around a third are struggling financially – this is still a sector that’s booming. There are now hundreds of thousands of boutique studios around the world and they’re enjoying share of wallet as well as share of market: the average monthly expenditure per member at a traditional club is US$52; at a boutique studio, that figure rises to US$111.

Understandably, then, there’s been growing concern among operators that traditional clubs could become an anachronism. I don’t accept this. For me, all it means is that traditional clubs have to evolve.

And have traditional clubs evolved?
They have started to, yes, with a number of operators creating boutique-style spaces in their clubs. In the UK, for example, David Lloyd Leisure has launched Blaze, while the Brazilian mar-ket leader – the BioRitmo/Smartfit group – has created a few different styles of in-club boutique. Meanwhile, in New Zealand – following the pre-vious launch of our millennial-targeted, in-club cycling studio Chain – our Les Mills clubs have a couple of millennial-style innovations set to come out this year: a boxing/running class and a functional circuit similar to the F45 model.

OUR RESEARCH SHOWS 83 PER CENT OF THOSE WHO HAVE GYM MEMBERSHIPS ALSO EXERCISE AT HOME

It’s these styles of class – in-club boutique offer-ings – that will help traditional clubs to compete with the boutiques. But they have to be done well. It needs to be an authentic environment: a small area with a community feel. Crucially, the programming and the teachers have to be real-ly great. If you look at the successful boutiques – Barry’s Bootcamp, SoulCycle and Flywheel, for example – they’ve created some really cool class-es which are also incredible workouts, and they’re led by amazing instructors.

This is a key point, because it’s in this area – instructors – that traditional clubs have done badly over recent times. Clubs have been allowed to age in this respect: US$22 is still the average instructor fee paid per class in a traditional club, which is pretty much the same as it was in the 1980s. Why would any good instructor settle for that when the average fee for teaching a boutique class is US$50–$100?

Of course, there are some really good hobbyist in-structors out there – people who are doing it for love and who are great at what they do. But this isn’t a model that will bring a new generation of rockstar instructors into traditional clubs. These operators have to start paying instructors more. They need great instructors to deliver great classes if they’re to stand any chance of compet-ing with the boutiques – and the low-cost clubs for that matter.

And there’s no point saying you’ll rely on virtual group exercise. It’s true that the leading virtual classes are taught by great instructors, and it can be a very powerful tool for traditional clubs in off-peak times. But it’s live classes that build a sense of community. It’s instructors who build relationships and drive retention. Plus, most of the low-cost clubs offer virtual classes now. Traditional clubs need to up their game when it comes to live group exercise.

What’s the best place for clubs to start?
Clubs need to look at how and where to create cool boutique areas within their facilities, and the cycling studio is the easiest place to start. Cycle classes deliver the highest profit per square foot

– the number of people you can fit into an area is higher than for any other activity – and most clubs have a cycling studio already. However, in many cases they’ve been allowed to die, running just two or three classes a day.

Meanwhile, cycling is a huge – and growing – category in boutiques; even in traditional clubs, where cycling is done well, anything up to 30 per cent of members will include it in their routines.

And that’s because anyone can do it, it’s a high motivation activity, and it offers great results. There’s also a growing body of research coming out of the big global research institutes show-ing how interval training on a bike can boost metabolism and weight loss, change our DNA to make muscles fitter and healthier, and even im-prove the cellular health and functionality of our muscles as we age.

So, while running, boxing, HIIT, yoga and so on are all opportunities for traditional clubs when it comes to in-house boutique spaces, definitely the most logical place to start would be upgrading existing cycling studios: upgrading the décor, the AV, the programming, the instructor quality by paying for rockstars… If you have great content, great teachers and a great space, you become competitive again.

Can you offer a few examples of great cycling studios that might act as inspiration?
There are lots of great examples out there. Décor-wise SoulCycle is great, and it has some very good instructors. The workout isn’t for me though, with too much high-speed stuff out of the saddle. In terms of the workout, I love Flywheel – it’s more athletic, more about interval training. Space Cycle in Shanghai is very cool too, as are some of the immersive studios we’ve worked with around the world: TMPL in New York City and Pure Fitness in Hong Kong, for example.

But in terms of overall experience, my two current favourites are London’s 1Rebel Victoria and the new TRIP studio in our Les Mills Auckland club. 1Rebel Victoria has done something incredible. It’s the single best group exercise studio in the world – a truly amazing experience – and it’s setting the standard for clubs around the globe. [Read more about 1Rebel Victoria in our interview with 1Rebel co-founder James Balfour.]

Meanwhile, in Auckland, we have 100 bikes in a theatre-style studio that’s been designed by some hot young architects. The studio is dark, illuminated from the front by a concave screen – 20m wide by 3m high – on which we run our immersive cycling classes, THE TRIP. We’re now on the 16th release of THE TRIP, with US$500,000 investment going into the production of each class, and it’s a truly addictive experience. I do it three times a week!

Tell us a bit more about THE TRIP…
When we first launched THE TRIP, we were adamant that the screens had to be huge, but re-cently we’ve realised it can still work on smaller screens. If you have a 4×3 mosaic screen – that is, 12 smaller screens joined together – the experience can still be immersive for up to 35 people. Even on regular 3m-wide virtual screens, it’s great.

This has helped THE TRIP to explode: since we launched these new formats and virtual TRIP three months ago, we’ve gone from just a handful of studios around the world to over 100 installations sold. I have absolute confi-dence that it’s going to be the next big thing, available in thousands of clubs over the next few years. It leapfrogs any club’s studio ahead of even the best boutiques.

Finally, let’s chat about Peloton and the impact this has had on the market…
The at-home fitness market is a huge category and always has been, right back to the days of Jane Fonda workout videos. Our research shows that 83 per cent of those who have gym mem-berships also exercise at home.

What’s happening now is simply that the technology is evolving, facilitating products like Peloton and Zwift. There’s a lot of content streamed online too, although here it’s often a case of quantity over quality – there’s a lot of rubbish out there. But overall, the range of at-home exercise options is growing fast.

In terms of Peloton specifically, it’s doing very well as a business and I love what it’s doing for cycling as a whole. But it is quite a simple prod-uct in terms of its content, simply streaming live classes out of a studio. Some of its teachers are quite good, but generally, I’d have to be honest and say the classes aren’t fabulous compared to other virtual classes that have been well choreo-graphed, filmed in great locations using multiple camera angles and top cameramen. You can get bored after a while

PELOTON IS DOING VERY WELL AS A BUSINESS AND I LOVE WHAT IT’S DOING FOR CYCLING AS A WHOLE – PHILLIP MILLS

So, what’s driving Peloton’s success? The tech is good, but it isn’t the live streaming that’s ultimately driving its appeal: only a small proportion of Peloton users take part in these classes, with most going back into the pre-recorded library to pick their favourites. Lots of people just use the Peloton app on their own bikes.

What Peloton has done absolutely brilliantly – and the same goes for SoulCycle – is an amazing marketing job. Both these brands have succeed-ed in bringing bikes back to the fore, so I really want to see them do well. They’ve done great things for the category. Really, the whole indus-try can now benefit from what they’ve done.

The post Phillip Mills appeared first on Ride High Magazine.

“I’d gone out to New York to look at the cycling scene there and was immediately hooked. I loved what the studios gave me: the energy of working out as a group rather than one-to-one.

“I had previously worked as a personal trainer, operating at the top of my profession for two decades, but the time had come where I no longer felt I had the energy to get up at 4.00am and go to bed at 1.00am every day. I felt opening a cycling studio might be a good next step for me.

“I had already started mulling over how I might do this when I found myself watching an incredible sunrise over New York through a huge window in my hotel lobby. I thought to myself: ‘How incredible would it be to run a group cycling class right here, with this view?’ That was the beginning of FirstLight.

“This was back in 2014, so it’s taken time to come to fruition – I’ve had to find the right technology to recreate that solar experience, as well as finding the right location. Really, the property market in London is a bidding war nowadays, and it’s taken us a long time to find the right space.

“But we’re here now, we have a strong vision, we’re clear what we stand for, and I believe we can become a key player in the boutique market over the coming years.”

Journey of the sun

He continues: “The concept of FirstLight is centred on harnessing the combined power of light and exercise, both of which have huge benefits for our body and our soul.

“Studio 1 houses our signature cycling concept, which revolves around the journey of the sun: from first light through high noon to sunset. There’s a 30ft screen filling the front wall of the studio, so you find yourself immersed in a landscape over which the sun rises, moves across the sky and then sets. This simulated sunshine is designed to boost participants’ energy levels and mood – sunshine makes us happy.

“The screen is also a mirror, so our instructors – we call them our maestros – can switch between the two to suit their class structure. We create threads they have to follow in their programming – we dictate the high points based on the phases of the sun, which is reflected in the prescribed BPM of the music – but they choose their own tracks and do their own choreography around these threads. In this way, they can create their own signature workouts, each of which we review and approve before they’re allowed to use them in the studio.

“We also put our maestros, all of whom are employed by us rather than freelance, through eight weeks of training at our academy, so they absolutely understand our concept and our expectation of robust, credible workouts.”

Box and ride

“But we have 9,000sq ft of space here, which is large for a boutique. It means that, in addition to our 58-bike studio 1, we’ve been able to create two further studios.

“Studios 2 and 3 will open in January: a 40-capacity boxing studio, where the sun will gradually work its way from east to west above your head, rather than across a screen at the front of the cycling studio; and a 21-bike HIIT cycling studio, which will be dark and intense and raw, with tough workouts that last half an hour as opposed to the 45- or 60-minute classes in studio 1.”

He adds: “My uncle used to be heavyweight boxing champion of Asia, so I’ve grown up with boxing. Meanwhile, my personal expertise is strength training. We’ve combined both of these elements to create a unique twist on a boxing class, combining free weights with punchbags where you ‘punch by number’ – the bags are marked up to show exactly where to hit them.

WE DICTATE THE HIGH POINTS BASED ON THE PHASES OF THE SUN, WHICH IS REFLECTED IN THE BPM OF THE MUSIC – Mark Anthony

“We’ll also be introducing some more challenging cycling workouts into the timetable over the coming weeks, even in studio 1. At the moment, it’s a fairly comfortable ride. We’ll still offer that – our audience is mostly 35- to 60-year-olds and we don’t want to alienate anyone – but younger riders tend to want something a bit tougher, so we’ll be addressing that.”

The future is live

Anthony continues: “The other thing we’re launching in January is home streaming, and this will be central to our whole business model moving forward. I firmly believe people are
increasingly leaning towards home fitness, so all three of our studios have been built with this technology embedded.

“Our boxing studio has two cameras, so the maestro can switch between them and talk directly to people taking part from home; they’ll be shadow boxing rather than using a bag, so all they need is a bench and some dumbbells, which we can sell to them. We’re still working out how to fully convey the journey of the sun when we live stream our boxing classes, because people will be streaming it to their TVs.

“However, for the cycling classes we have a really exciting innovation: we’ll be unveiling our own Peloton-style home fitness bike in January.
FirstLight classes will be live streamed to its 22-inch screen – the maestro will be able to see exactly who’s tuning in, so they can give them a shout out – but there will also be a frame around the screen. This will emit light throughout the class, in line with the phases of the sun, so at-home exercisers experience all the feelgood benefits of our studio-based workouts.”

A unisex model

“We had originally planned to launch a second studio in London, but we aren’t doing that any more. We may eventually open other studios if we move into Europe and the US, but there will be no more in the UK,” adds Anthony.

“That’s because I believe the future of indoor cycling – in fact, the future of all genres of exercise – is streaming. We’re gearing our whole set-up around this, which is why I’ve invested in bringing the very best technology to this 9,000sq ft studio. This will be our hub.

“In fact, I also believe streaming is the way to get men involved in group exercise. They don’t want to come into a studio environment – 85 per cent of our customers at FirstLight are women – but being able to train from home makes all the difference. In addition, whereas our studio classes are all about the experience, the FirstLight at-home bike will also offer stats and performance data – something we believe will further extend our appeal among men.”

He concludes: “I do think you need a strong
story to make live streaming work, but I believe our light-centred classes have what it takes. As we build our brand and extend our reach, I
believe FirstLight will become a brand that people love to follow.”

FirstLight Cycle – vital statistics

• Location: Westfield London shopping centre
• Opened: Late September 2018
• Investment: £1.5m
• Size: 9,000sq ft
• Studios: 3
• Total capacity: 120
• Break-even: 35% capacity
• Studio class prices: £20 per class, up to £125 monthly unlimited; packages also available
• Home fitness prices: £19 a month per discipline, or £35 for both cycling and boxing
• Supplier: Schwinn

The post See the light appeared first on Ride High Magazine.

“We’ve created three distinct types of class at 1Rebel,” explains James Balfour, co-founder of the London-based boutique operation. “We have cycling concept Ride, bootcamp-based Reshape, and boxing-focused Rumble.

“Our first four clubs are dual-discipline, with the line-up shaped by the location of the club and the interior design opportunities within each building: we have three Ride / Reshape clubs and one Reshape / Rumble club.

“But at 1Rebel Victoria – our latest club, which opened in the newly-constructed Nova building in June of this year – we knew we had an opportunity to do something really different.”

BALFOUR: I believe what we’ve created is the best cycling studio in London – possibly the world – setting a new bar for the sector.

The Experience Economy
Balfour continues: “At 6,500sq ft, 1Rebel Victoria is a good size: our five clubs range from 4,500sq ft to 8,500sq ft. However, the space in Victoria lent itself to the creation of an amazing cycling studio, so we opted to make it our first single discipline club.

“I believe what we’ve created is the best cycling studio in London – possibly the world – setting a new bar for the sector.”

He continues: “The building has amazing ceiling heights, so we were able to put horseshoe balconies into the studio: the riders above look down on the activity below. We hadn’t seen it done anywhere before and it was a big risk. We weren’t sure how it would work with Ride choreography – would people like being up on a balcony, looking down on the instructor? Right up to the last minute of the huge £2m fit-out project, we weren’t sure if we were going to do it. But we did and it works brilliantly, creating the sense of a cycling amphitheatre.”

Of course, if you have a space this huge, with so many cyclists – the studio features 83 Technogym bikes – you need to create an experience that’s big enough to fill it… and 1Rebel has proved it’s more than up to the challenge.

“As a business, we see ourselves as operating in the Experience Economy, and this new Ride studio absolutely delivers on that,” says Balfour.

“We have a 3D sound and AV system that’s currently only used in one other place in the world: the Sydney Opera House. We have laser shows, smoke machines, a huge LED screen, a sensory shower system that creates incredible special effects and lighting, and a remote-controlled scissor lift that raises and lowers the instructor platform throughout the class.
“Crucially, we also have amazing instructors who bring the whole thing to life. The music and overall choreography are set by 1Rebel, but our instructors are encouraged to inject their personality into every class, giving everything a sprinkle of their individual brand of fairy dust.

“We don’t want to rely on tech to motivate riders in our clubs: we believe the words that are spoken to you in class are as important as anything else. With our best instructors, the performance is akin to that of a rock star on-stage at Glastonbury.

“We therefore we look after them. Our pay is very competitive – that may well be why instructors come to us in the first place – but they stay because it’s a great place to work. It’s really fun, really social, with a great sense of team. In fact, 30 per cent of our instructors are home-grown – they might previously have been on reception, for example. It’s just a great place to work.”

our instructors are encouraged to inject their personality into every class, giving everything a sprinkle of their individual brand of fairy dust.

Continual evolution
Balfour continues: “Across all 1Rebel clubs, we ensure the experience extends beyond the studio too – and it has to constantly evolve so there’s always something new on offer for the demanding, Experience Economy audience. You can’t just put in eucalyptus-scented towels and a Smeg fridge when you first open and hope that will be enough.

“We have live music events, we take members on adventures, we have Prosecco Fridays – free, drink-all-you-can prosecco for a bit of Retox, because life isn’t all about training. The social spaces at our clubs are very important.

“Less exciting but equally important, we’ve also addressed some of the pressure points you commonly find in boutiques. For example, people in the UK expect all gyms, including boutiques, to offer showers. The Rebel Army – our loyal customer base – is 70 per cent female, so at Victoria we have 15 ladies’ showers. There’s a light outside each that shines red or white to show which are available.”

He adds: “We constantly reinvest in the business too. I believe, when you set out to open a boutique, you should double the budget you think you’re going to need. You have to constantly reinvent yourself.”

Ride again?
Design-wise, too, the club is equally eye-catching outside the studio as in it. “Studio C102, the architect we use across all our clubs, is great at adapting to the space and the location of each club,” says Balfour.

“For example, 1Rebel Southbank takes its inspiration from the Tate Modern, while 1Rebel Victoria takes its inspiration from the theatres that surround it – the whole design of the club is very dramatic. It’s quickly gained the nickname of ‘The Spaceship’ thanks to its modern design: its reflective reception desk, galvanised steel staircase, wall of light and exposed white lacquered brickwork.”

So, will 1Rebel open more standalone Ride studios? “At the moment, we’re looking at three new sites for London next year. These will all be standalone clubs, but they’ll be Rumble or Reshape,” says Balfour.

“In London, the challenge is always finding the right locations – we want ground floor retail frontage in iconic locations, with great landlords – so we have to adapt the offering to the building.

“However, if the right site were to come up, we’d absolutely do another standalone Ride club.”

The spaceship is flying

Prices at 1Rebel Victoria – nicknamed The Spaceship – are the same as at all 1Rebel clubs: £20 for a one-off class, down to £16 per class on a package, and with membership options also available.

“We currently run around 25 Ride classes a week at 1Rebel Victoria, but that’s because we always start lower and build up the timetable in response to occupancy,” explains Balfour. “We’ll ultimately offer around 50 classes a week.”

If the performance to date is anything to go by, things may need to be ramped up quite quickly. “The club only launched a couple of months ago, but our peak classes are already full,” confirms Balfour. “If I look at this week, for example, all 83 bikes for Friday’s 6.30pm class were booked up by Monday. I believe this will be our most profitable club.”

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