getting qualifications

[Katieh]

Hi Everyone - just joined the forum, and I'm in search of some help and advice...I am a qualified sports therapist and fitness instructor from the UK - I have been out of the industry for a while (7 years!!) and want to re-study Cert III and IV.

I am on the Sunny Coast, QLD and want to go to a reputable training company that will fit in around a full time job and not charge me a fortune - I would rather complete the course in a classroom environment than on line if possible:confused:...anyone have any advice??? (I am not a full Australian citizen (yet!) so TAFE is a very expensive option)

[hammerclub]

hi welcome to the forum depending on if you wish to travel to brisbane the queensland academy of fitness in brisbane is a very affordable and very professional training establishment with your prior experience you could quite easily get a fair bit rpl but it is depending on time and what the curriculum was in the uk.they do courses on weekends ,correspondence cheers karl

[Katieh]

that sounds great - thanks Karl will check out their website!

[fitnation]

Fitlink have recently opened a fitness college at Suncoast Fitness in Maroochydore. I am looking at this myself. Fitnation do correspondence at a very reasonable rate. It is probably best doing it in a classroom. I have passed all my Cert 3 and 4 material through correspondence and am considering doing a classroom course.:)

[Katieh]

Hi thanks for that I heard about the SSC course starting up - although I think I am going to register with fitnation - I have been very impressed with the level of communication from them so far...always very detailed and quick with responses to my queries, do you mind me asking why you are considering doing a classroom course if you have already completed cert III and IV via correspondence - do you not feel that it was comprehensive enough???:confused:

[fitnation]

I thought it was very well delivered and comprehensive. It was also very good value. The problem which I had is that some of my paperwork which was from my work experience component had been misslaid, which resulted in me not getting issued the full Cer 3 and 4, despite having passed all the correspondence work. That is something I am going to follow up. Hopefully I will be able to cross credit. There is another course provider in Kawana which is called Diploma of Fitness. I haven't seen their ad for a while, they have only recently started up. Don't get sucked into AIF. They have a campus near Fernwood in Maroochydore and seem to get a lot of gullable young ones and newbies to fitness sucked in. They charge a lot of money as well. :) The course provider in Kawana sounds quite good. I will send a post when I get more info. Which gym do you go to?

[Katieh]

Any info you get on the Kawana course would be great as I do think a classroom course would be better for me. I did go to AIF and after two hours of waffle finally got the price out of them - OUTRAGEOUS!! I feel really sorry for those that do get sucked in by the big sales pitch...mind you after two hours they probably just sign up so they can get out! I am definitely giving them a miss.
I was training at the Beach House Maroochydore but cancelled my membership as I wasn't using it a huge amount - I have a full gym set up at home. I do miss the environment though and the staff were great, there is a new 24hr gym just opened on brisbane road which I am thinking of checking out as there are no contracts, how about you?:)

[fitnation]

Jetts are very reasonably priced and I'm pretty sure they are going to be everywhere before you know it. They are probably opening another 3 more clubs on the Sunshine Coast. I go to Kawana Fitness, it is very reasonably priced although it can get very crowded on week nights. It is great if you are into Les Mills which I enjoy. They are supposed to be expanding in the not too farseeable future. Beach House Kawana is very nice it has an awesome Rpm studio which I would say is one of the best around. Goodlife in Caloundra is probably the biggest and most modern facility on the Sunshine Coast, like Beach House they do have lock in contracts for membership which can be a bit tricky. I spoke to someone today who said Fitness First are opening in Maroochydore as part of the new Harvey Norman centre, that probably won't be for at least another year. There are lots of exciting things which are happening fitness wise. I have been following what has been going on for a while now in regards to trends etc and have been predicting an explosion of new gyms opening in the next few years. Richard Branson is also opening in Queensland, and Australia wide so it will be interesting to see what happens there while Goodlife are engaged in big expansion.:)

[fitnation]

An article which was in the Sunshine Coast daily recently confirmed that the major chains are actively on the hunt for new sites on the Sunshine Coast, the major hurdle are sites with suitable rents and carparking. Jetts are actively seeking to open in Caloundra, Chancellor Park, Noosa and Maroochydore. Jetts are looking at becoming a major player also. It is reasonable to assume that within the next 3-5 years most major suburbs in Australia will have something like 3 gyms within 500 metres of each other. Anytime health clubs which is a major 24 hour chain in the U.S. has announced an expansion into Australia and New Zealand, it aims to open 350 new clubs within 5 years.:cool::D

[gogetem]

I have been watching Jetts http://www.jetts.com.au grow fo rthe past 6 months and they are onto something big. I met up with the owners to find about about franchising and their approach is different - very commercial - one of the guys (cant remember his name) works with Coles, Bunnings and other big companies and and Brendon who is the main guy has owned gyms his whole life so it seems a good combo. They are opening basically everywhere, competition or not. They actually focus on making members happy, rather than just sales, which is a fresh approach.

I spent a lot of time looking at a P.T franchise and the difference in the business knowledge of these guys at Jetts and their approach was huge. Seems to be more like an investment. Jetts Fills a big gap in the industry at what seems the perfect time - gives trainers a good opportunity to take the next step, although they seems to be attracting people who want to own multiple businesses, but the guys at Jindalee in Brisbane are owner operators, and that seems to work well.

Anytime Fitness are another company that do the 24/7 concept like Jetts, They are American, (this might restrict them in Australia - Golds and World gym are huge in the U.S and they have gone nowhere in Oz) and are coming to Australia through a master franchisee. I think that has been the problem with the US gym chains, you end up dealing with someone who had money to buy the concept but not created it, so they dont really understand the Australian market.

Its all good for us trainers, growing industry = opportunity!

[fitnation]

Interesting also for consumers, who by the looks of things will have a lot of opportunities. Golds and World gyms used to be very popular a number of years ago, during the bodybuilding era as I call it, when gyms emphasised bodybuilding more. The battle between the top 3 fitness chains Fitness First, Beach House and Goodlife has gone a little quiet of late. The 24 hour franchises which are much smaller and compact will sure challenge for market position in a big way. It will be interesting to see how these effect the PT studios which have sprung up everywhere, many of which are small sized miny gyms themselves. I like the Jetts concept it is going back to how gyms used to be without the hype and crap that is around now. Smaller gym and good basic equipment. :):confused:

[gogetem]

The smaller gym concept is definately the way of the future, I think we will see them surround the bigger gyms and pick them off on the edges from a convenience aspect.

[fitnation]

I had a look at some of the various franchise recquirements for the different gyms. Jetts looks the most reasonable starting at upwards of $60,000- $100,000 for a 200 -300 sq,m gym. Beach House gyms are designed for a population catchment of around 45,000 people and are around 1200 -1500 sq.m not sure on price. Anytime looked a bit more pricey than Jetts, at $100,000 -$300,000 to start a franchise. Fernwood only operate in areas with at least 100,000 people. Goodlife have a new magazine which has just come out. I know they have earmarked a number of new gyms to be opening including plans to open in New Zealand and possibly Asia. Fitness First are aiming to hit 100 gyms in the next year or two at the moment they are at least a dozen short. I think these small gyms will spring up rather quickly and one of their selling points will be privacy and convenience. Virgin are the next big player. Watch this space.

[gogetem]

When I spoke to the guys at Jetts, they mentioned a 300-350m2 site would be around 120k, with smaller sites around 80-100k. Quite reasonable for what it is. Beach House seem to be quite erradic, they have clubs that are closing and selling all over the place. Some of their clubs look nice, but their price puts them out of the market against the big players. I have not heard of Virgin doing any small gyms, I know they do big clubs in Europe which are huge. It would not surprise me though if they got into this express market though, I think we will see a few big players get into it fast, grow a footprint and then consolodation will occur in 3-5 years. Survival of the fastest!

[fitnation]

Beach House do have really great staff generally. While I am not particularly fond of lock in contracts, their clubs are very comfortable and friendly to train in. I was talking to an owner/manager of a Beach House club today, he said Anytime are opening their first club in Sydney in 6 weeks time. He didn't rule out new players entering the market. An article about one of the founders of Calgym has said the Sunshine Coast is under serviced in regards to gyms and that it is no secret that the big chains are actively eyeing the Sunshine Coast, the only thing holding them back being a suitable location with carparking and rent. There are a few chains which are also expanding including Genesis, Go health clubs and possibly one or two others. I am expecting some major announcements regarding gym openings on the Sunshine Coast and in other parts of the country in the not too farseeable future.