Fitness Lab – going the extra mile to stand out

The property changed hands in February, 2016 and, after four months of extensive, internal renovations, the gym was again ready to re-open its doors under new management, with a new name – Fitness Lab.

The gym, which is one of four businesses that comprise the group which trades as Skye Investments, also experienced some personnel changes but, as general manager Tamra Antrobus explains, there was a deliberate move to leave the hours of operation unchanged.

“We tried to mimic the times from before, because persons had already gotten into that routine where ‘okay, I come into the gym 4, 5 in the morning’; we [didn’t] want to change that,” she told SEARCHLIGHT, regarding the Villa-based facility.

The spacious gym occupies the first floor of the three-storey building, whose ground floor is used by private operators for other fitness activities, including karate and zumba aerobic/dance sessions.

A first wave of members is usually up before the birds to begin their daily exercise workout when the doors open at 4 a.m., while others are on hand when business ends for the day at 9:30 p.m. weekdays.

On Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, the gym operates from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Antrobus points out that there is a package for virtually everyone, ranging from a one day offer which costs $15, to two weeks, standard monthly, seniors, family, corporate, and groups of six persons or more, the latter two being among those which are offered a special rate.

Over the past year under its new owners and management, the gym has seen an increase in membership, which currently stands at 1,400, though regulars are around 850 and the age demographic has remained wide – from adolescents to senior citizens.

“Traditionally the two peak [times] were early morning and evenings after work,” explains Charicia Taylor, commercial manager for Skye Investments.

With an apparent increase in awareness by the public and corresponding action on matters of health and fitness “we realize that even throughout the day that were traditionally slow periods you have persons taking advantage of those off periods to get maximize use of the gym around that time …so we have a more evenly distributed schedule in attendance.”

There is never a time when the gym does not have persons who are working out simply to keep fit, tone up, build muscle or to attain a combination of these three goals.

Nine members of staff, three of whom are gym assistants, provide support to persons working out as needed. However, the gym also facilitates trainers who work with private clients.

With such constant usage of the facilities, maintenance, safety and the highest standards of hygiene are emphasized.

“It’s actually one of the things we boast of at Fitness Lab, that we offer a very clean facility with modern equipment; we offer equipment that you may not necessarily find at other gyms, because we like to stay ahead of technology,” Taylor stresses.

That forward thinking also extends to the use of social media as a customer service vehicle for communication with the gym at any time of the day.

And, a consignment of new state of the art equipment is on order and should be ready for installation early in the New Year.

The public has shared the conclusion of operators of Fitness Lab that it is the gym of choice, by voting it the Best Gym in the 2017 Best of SVG Awards.

“It was overwhelming,” says Taylor.

“But it is something that we use to basically remain humble and use it in a way to harness other services that customers or members may want… we look forward to giving them that extra service and going the extra mile so that we will always stand out.”

Fitness Lab gym may be reached by telephone at: 458-0004

via email at : info@fitnesslab.vc; on instagram at: fitnesslabsvg or on face book at: fitnesslabgym