By Erin Phelan
Fitness Industry Council of Canada
Walk into almost any gym at 6:00 p.m. and you’ll see it.
A busy floor. Members moving. Equipment in use.
And in the midst of it all lies opportunity.
Look closer.
Many of your members are guessing.
Repeating the same workouts.
Starting strong… and slowly fading out. Or worse, not showing up.
Not because they aren’t trying—but because no one is guiding them.
That gap is the heart of your business growth.
It’s also a lens through which Chris Smith, CEO of Fitness World, sees the industry clearly.
Before he was leading Fitness World through one of the most ambitious expansion phases in the country, he was on that floor—as a personal trainer, working 12-hour days, six days a week. Building relationships. Coaching clients. Learning, in real time, what actually keeps people coming back.
He didn’t inherit the model.
He lived it.
Or, to paraphrase Drake—he started from the bottom, now he’s here.
Fitness World has committed $50 million to expansion, with plans to open 25 new clubs and launch a national franchise model—moving from regional strength to a coast-to-coast growth strategy built on accessibility, affordability, and operational discipline.
And that perspective matters, because it leads to a very different conclusion about growth:
Personal training isn’t struggling because demand isn’t there.
It’s struggling because it hasn’t been built into the way many gyms operate today.
Join the Fitness Industry Council of Canada on Wednesday, April 28 at 1 PM for a conversation with Chris Smith about business growth, opportunities, and how you can expand your personal training business.
The Demand Is There. What About Delivery?
Demand for coaching has never been higher.
It’s coming from:
- Older adults who have never strength trained but know they need to
- Members navigating injuries or returning after time off
- People who need structure and accountability—not just access
- Members who have joined…but aren’t visiting
- A growing number of GLP-1 users who need guidance to preserve muscle and build strength the right way
These members are walking into your club looking for direction. But too often, they’re just given access.
They’re wary of being upsold hard up front, so they hesitate.
They say they’ll think about it.
They aren’t thinking about it.
They’re losing momentum.
And eventually, they leave—not because they didn’t join, but because they were never met where they are.
If You Want to Grow, This Is the Lever
For years, growth in fitness meant more memberships.
More people. More volume. More access.
But that model comes with limits:
- Price sensitivity
- High churn
- Constant pressure to replace lost members
The operators who are evolving are doing something different: they’re increasing value per member. And nothing drives that like coaching.
Because when someone is guided, they see results, become part of your community, and stay.
Service Is the Strategy
This is where Smith’s perspective cuts through.
“You don’t have to sell, sell, sell—you have to service, service, service. The amount you service is directly proportional to what you will sell,” Smith said on a recent episode of Smittyville.
It’s simple.
And it’s often missed.
Because it shifts the focus away from conversion…to consistency.
When service is strong:
- Trust builds
- Relationships deepen
- Retention improves
- Revenue follows
And when it’s not?
You feel it on the floor. That’s not a small breakdown—that’s the business model stumbling.
Selling Starts in the First Five Seconds
There’s another truth we don’t always say out loud.
Personal training is sold not in the solution or the promise…but in the connection.
“Let’s look at the science of meeting someone. How long does it take for someone to decide if they like someone? It can take one second, or maybe five seconds. The first five seconds of meeting someone are critical—because people buy training from someone they like. In those first five seconds, you have to be, authentically, the best version of who you are,” says Smith.
That’s the moment.
You aren’t selling a product.
You are selling a relationship.
Where the Model Is Evolving
Now layer in what’s changing.
Coaching is no longer confined to a one-hour session. AI and a myriad of technology solutions have changed the game.
Operators are expanding through:
- Ongoing communication
- Digital programming
- AI-supported touchpoints
But the principle stays the same.
“If done well and done right, AI and tech can be a positive—more touchpoints. There is a certain level of automation you can do, but you can’t lose the genuineness in your communication. If someone feels like they are talking to a bot, that’s not going to build rapport and trust. It isn’t a good experience. If you use tech the right way, it can be positive,” says Smith.
Technology scales access. But it’s still service that builds loyalty.
What Growth Really Looks Like Now
If you step back, the pattern is clear: the businesses that are growing aren’t winning on price, scale, or square footage. They’re winning on how well they guide their members.
They bring coaching in early. They deliver it consistently. And they build systems around it so it’s not dependent on a single trainer or moment in time.
Because once coaching becomes the expectation—not the exception—everything shifts.
Members stay longer. Results improve. Revenue becomes more predictable.
That’s not theory.
It’s what’s working.
Learn From Someone Who Built It From the Floor Up
This is exactly what we’ll explore on April 28 at 1 PM in our upcoming webinar with Chris Smith.
From starting as a personal trainer to now leading a company in the midst of major national expansion, Smith brings a perspective grounded in experience, not theory.
His focus is clear: make fitness more accessible, more affordable, and more effective by delivering real value to members—not just access.
This isn’t a conversation about selling more sessions.
It’s a conversation about building a better business.
Register for the April 28 webinar, learn what’s actually working—and rethink your model.
Fitness Industry Council of Canada (FIC) is the not-for profit trade association that represents the voice of fitness facility operators across Canada. Representing more than 6,000 facilities with more than six-million members nationwide, FIC pursues a legislative agenda in the hope of bettering the fitness industry for both consumers and operators. FIC aims to work with both industry and government to improve the health and physical activity levels of Canadians.
