The New Modern - Reshaping the fitness industry with Alex Cibiri

In conversation with the long-time entrepreneur and founder of Element CrossFit, one of the first CrossFit Affiliates, Alex Cibiri, on reshaping the fitness industry.

1. What one aspect of the fitness industry will see the longest-lasting repercussions of the global health pandemic?
I believe there will be many significant long lasting changes in the fitness industry as a result of this pandemic. However the one that stands out the most to me is the need for the industry to address the customers’ new found discernment of a facility’s cleanliness and sanitization standards and spacing of equipment. The onus is now on facilities to not only set but enforce cleanliness standards that until a few months ago were often perceived more as guidelines than standards.

More thought will need to be placed into space requirements for equipment and restructuring programs to allow people to feel like they are able to easily maintain adequate distance between themselves and other patrons even once the government relaxes social distancing guidelines. 

Cleaner and more spacious gyms won’t be something that will be easy to back down from even post-pandemic. 

“Of course this has revenue implications, growth implications and is a challenge as small businesses are far less likely to have a war chest of cash on hand to ride out storms of this magnitude.”

2. Is there a future for fitness in tomorrow's world?
Definitely. With the increase in working from home and a preview of what that might look like in the future, it’s clear more now than ever before that fitness is going to be increasingly important to both our physical and mental health as a species and society.

Fitness will probably, however, look and be delivered differently than in the past. This pandemic has sped up the evolution and acceptance of virtual fitness offerings as viable additions, even substitutes in some instances, for products that prior to this were believed to be only feasibly delivered in person. I believe the desire for more unique and personalized offerings will grow as customers of different abilities will be looking to supplement their fitness with a variety of services that are more customized to them and their specific needs. 

“We see the need to take what we have spent over a decade refining and excelling at within our facility and making it accessible beyond our walls. ”

3. You've been diligent in consistently posting at home workouts on your Facebook page.
Was that something that had a long decision process?
We have been posting workouts on our website everyday since we opened in 2008, so the decision to take this to Facebook and start posting HomeWOD’s (Home Workout of the Day’s) daily was driven by the fact that we knew we had something valuable to share that would help a lot of people. 

As we were all simultaneously thrust into the same situation, to workout at home, with limited to no equipment available, our goal was to help people with fun and effective workouts that can be done in atypical fitness environments and sometimes more confined spaces without needing to modify the movements or routines too much.

4. How is Element CrossFit adapting to the new world?
We’re lucky to have a great team of professional coaches who put in a lot of work both before and after the shutdown started. They developed an entirely new suite of Interactive Virtual programs for Fitness Coaching as well as custom Group Fitness programs for schools and corporations. All of our interactive programs are designed to allow coaches to be able to motivate you, provide feedback and correct your form in real time while maintaining the peak moments of an in-person fitness experience whether group or one-on-one. 

We’ve been able to continue to give our clients daily workouts they can complete on their own or live with a coach and a class as well as deliver our personalized coaching to ensure our clients receive individualized workouts that supplement the daily ones that we post, and are specifically catered to their specific goals and situations.

Lastly we’ve probably produced and created more media in the last 8 weeks than we have in the last 4 years and there’s even more in the pipeline that you’ll see coming soon. We see the need to take what we have spent over a decade refining and excelling at within our facility and making it accessible beyond our walls. 

5. Will this pandemic see the rise of new independent fitness companies? 
I think this will redefine independent fitness companies as what we’ve seen are they are the ones best positioned to pivot and serve their client base despite outside forces and changes in the environment. Large fitness companies had no choice but to close, some provided workout recordings, but none that I know of were able to truly personalize their offering and take care of their clients in a personal way. 

Typically large fitness companies compete on equipment and amenities and I think this has allowed clients to see the value of personalized coaching which is where independent companies thrive and compete well. 

“Prior to March we had never live streamed a workout before; now we’ve streamed over 250 hours of interactive live classes.”

6. Many smaller companies double as their own marketing/advertising company.
In addition to what you had already done for self promotion, what other skills have you had to learn during this adapting phase?
Prior to March we had never live streamed a workout before; now we’ve streamed over 250 hours of interactive live classes. All of our additional programs have been developed to be produced and delivered remotely - interactive cooking classes, social aspects like game nights and wine tasting nights. All things that serve our community in ways that go beyond just a daily workout. 

We’ve also shot and produced more video content than ever before. Most importantly though our team has been great at working together remotely which has really taken our communication skills as a group to the next level. 

7. How have you specifically been impacted by this?
Probably the same as any small service based business, we’ve lost the ability to deliver the product in the manner in which we built the business - this is far from business as usual. Of course this has revenue implications, growth implications and is a challenge as small businesses are far less likely to have a war chest of cash on hand to ride out storms of this magnitude.

That being said we’re blessed to have an awesome membership base, the vast majority of which has stuck with us as we’ve developed a wide variety of offerings to meet their needs and is helping us fulfill our goal of keeping our payroll going during this time. 

“The ability to put customers first will be more and more important now than ever before.”

8. How will medium and large sized fitness/health companies be affected?
The ability to put customers first will be more and more important now than ever before.

Customers will be more discerning both with where they choose to spend their money, and what it takes to make them feel safe in a given environment. Companies that are able to effectively become more customer-centric will thrive. Those that will be slow to pivot either because of business model or entrenched beliefs will struggle. 

9. Have you noticed an influx of entrepreneurs and business ideas during the quarantine period?
I feel like with any large scale change there’s always people with new ideas that pop up. Change is good and new ideas are the catalyst that drive needed change through industries, however I believe so many people lose focus on the customer and look solely at ‘opportunity’. 

The most frustrating has been the increased surge of business and fitness guru’s - people who have a ‘proven solution’ to save your business during this time or new ‘12 day diet and workout’ plan that will get you abs. 

This situation, like the virus, is novel to us all as such there are no proven solutions beyond helping people. As an industry I wish we’d all make a conscious effort to move away from gimmicks and spend our time and energy genuinely helping people.

“Responsibility has been what’s kept me grounded.
The responsibility I feel to my employees to keep them employed.
The responsibility I feel to my clients to ensure they are getting the best workouts.”

10. With the huge influx of virtual "everything’s" (music/teaching/meetings/etc.) how will you keep and grow your digital audience?
I think if anything this experience has taught me that the sentiment that virtual is materially different from in-person is incorrect. People want to connect for a variety of reasons, and the best way to engage and grow with them is to try new things, see what resonates and give them more of what they want. More of what is giving them value. Connection is what it’s all about.

Preferences and tastes might change when we’re spending more time commuting back and forth, and interacting in other social ways again but that will just be another opportunity for us to pivot and adjust accordingly again.

Right now we’re focusing on depth of engagement with our community rather than growing the audience outright. We’ve had tremendous success with our ancillary community focused virtual offerings like a nightly ‘Sip N’ Stretch’ class, cooking classes and games nights. 

It’s my belief that the ability to spend more time interacting with our clients is actually a blessing in disguise from both a business and a branding perspective, I wish that more people saw it that way. 

11. What's helped keep you grounded from a personal standpoint?
To be honest, responsibility has been what’s kept me grounded. The responsibility I feel to my employees to keep them employed. The responsibility I feel to my clients to ensure they are getting the best workouts they can despite not being able to leave the house and that after all this there is a facility for them to come back to. That combined with the knowledge that the playing field for the industry is completely level across the board right now has helped me maintain focus on what’s really important.

12. What positives can come out of this for the fitness industry?
I think as a whole this experience will be a net positive for the fitness industry as a whole. Clients will be more discerning when it comes to choosing a service provider.  

Independent fitness companies that have an ability to provide a top notch service experience are better positioned now than ever before to compete with the big names as clients’ focus shifts to things that transcend amenities and price. 

“Just like Spotify doesn’t replace the experience of going to a concert, rather it adds to it; virtual workouts will add to the in-person fitness experience and will likely be an important consideration when clients are making new membership decisions. ”

13. Can this be the end of physical locations for fitness companies with the rise in popularity of virtual workouts?
There will always be a need for humans to be social, and for a significant portion of the population the gym is one of their staple places for community interactions. Virtual workouts I think will be here to stay but I don’t think they will ever replace the in-person experience. Just like Spotify doesn’t replace the experience of going to a concert, rather it adds to it; virtual workouts will add to the in-person fitness experience and will likely be an important consideration when clients are making new membership decisions. 

14. With many of us having been at home for the past several weeks, many of us have learned/enhanced our digital skills.
Will there be an influx of tech-savvy teachers/instructors/photographers/videographers in the new world?
I think this has just accelerated the growth of those individuals and organizations that already saw the value and the future in technology and media. This has provided immense opportunities for those who were already on the curve, but many people that I’ve spoken to are mostly using tech and media as a stop-gap measure until ‘things go back to normal’. 

There will definitely be growth in the crossover between fitness and tech as clients and corporations alike realize that how you deliver a service is transcendent to the manner in which it’s delivered because at the end of the day our industries goal is to improve our client’s lives through fitness. 

The digital component of their lives will never ‘go back’ to normal. If we truly care about our clients and our responsibility as an industry, we will evolve and grow to serve our clients in the best way we can - and as this pandemic has proven digital will forever be an indelible component of that. To not follow along and evolve our offerings as digital continues to grow in importance would be a disservice to both our clients and industry.

Passionately improving the lives of those around him through an uncannily relatable approach to health and wellness since he was a teenager, Alex left the corporate world in 2008 to found Element CrossFit. One of the first CrossFit Affiliates, Element has been a hub in the growth of both CrossFit and the micro-gym industry in Canada. With a focus on creating lasting change through the pursuit of fitness and other meaningful life experiences, Element’s offerings include group and personal training, competitive fitness events and most recently a robust menu of interactive virtual programs.

Connect with Alex here.