Pop-Up Portable Fitness Studios for Rural Areas

Being able to meet your clients where they are can be a real boon if you work with lots of rural clients. Folks who live and work in the countryside don’t want to drive into town to work up a sweat and often have enough land for you to set up your studio on-site. 

However, before you buy a horse box and fill it with barbells, you may want to consider investing in a more long-term solution like a modular build. This can increase your credibility as a trainer and draw larger classes to your group sessions. 

Investing in a pop-up portable fitness studio can help you connect with traditionally underserved communities, too. This is crucial, as those in rural areas tend to have a higher risk of obesity than their city-bound peers. 

Understanding the Rural Market 

In general, folks who live in rural areas experience better health outcomes than those who live in urban areas. This is reflected in government data, which shows that life expectancy is slightly higher in the countryside and that those who live in rural areas have fewer years of life lost due to mortality of any kind. 

However, those who live in rural areas tend to have worse access to support services like gyms or healthcare centres. This will present a growing challenge in the coming years when more people migrate to villages due to the rise of remote work. 

As a trainer, you can fill this need by adapting to the needs and schedules of people who live in hamlets, farmsteads, and villages if you want your pop-up studio to be a success. While every rural community is different, this may mean you want to make changes like: 

• Shifting your working schedule to appeal to farmers who work during the daylight hours
• Using surveys and intake forms to better understand the health goals of rural clients 
• Pivoting towards training techniques that support popular rural hobbies like walking, cycling, or hiking
• Researching hireable public spaces for your fitness studio that are relatively close to rural populations

It's worth bearing in mind that you may be able to use rural residents' home gyms, too. This is crucial if you want to drive a pop-up portable fitness studio to people’s homes but can’t tow the necessary weights and equipment. This can diversify your offering and help people make the most of their equipment. 

Design Options

Finding the right style of the studio is crucial if you want to build your appeal amongst your countryside clientele. While some folks won’t mind working out in an old shed or caravan, most will be drawn to your space if you offer a professional, sleek alternative to fitness classes in muddy fields. If you decide that a pop-up fitness studio is right for you, you should consider modular design. Modular design offers benefits like: 

• Reduced Waste: Modular designs are more sustainable and produce less waste as they are made to spec. This can be a real boon if you’re trying to appeal to eco-friendly, climate-conscious fitness enthusiasts. 
• Shorter Turnaround: If you’re a busy professional, you can’t wait for months for a new studio to be fabricated. Modular construction removes this issue by cutting down on delays. 
• Fewer Choices: You’re a personal trainer, not an architect. By choosing a modular design, you remove the guesswork and know that you’ll get a studio that will serve your needs. 

Of course, modular designs tend to lack variety. This is why you should plan a blueprint within something like a prefabricated, transportable metal building. Your studio should be small enough to be easily moved around but should be expansive enough to give you options based on who you are training that day. 

Remember to take advantage of outdoor space when drawing up your blueprints. Awnings and extensions can give your clients extra room to train and will bring a positive vibe to your fitness classes. Offering safe outdoor workout areas can help you expand operations and allow you to book more people into your fitness classes. 

Security

Running a pop-up portable fitness studio can be great for business and can help you connect with your clientele. However, if you decide to take your gym on the road, you will need to improve your security. This will prevent burglars from stealing your expensive bumper plates and will give you peace of mind when you have to leave your studio on-site at a rural location overnight. 

You can invest in your studio and improve your security by installing cloud-based video surveillance. Cloud-based video surveillance offers remote access that allows you to watch your space from a distance while controlling safety measures like locks and alarms. Cloud-based tech is also cost-effective and easily scalable, making it the perfect option for a growing personal fitness studio. 

However, you’ll need to be aware of connectivity issues for rural and remote businesses. About 40% of rural businesses lose work time due to connectivity outages. You can’t maintain 24/7 security via the cloud if your internet connection is spotty. Therefore, you may need to consider services such as Starlink. Do your research to find an ISP that will be reliable. 

Conclusion

Setting up your portable fitness studio is ideal if you live and work in rural areas. Finding ways to connect with clients who are far from the city and still want to get a great workout can be lucrative and rewarding, too. However, you’ll need to invest in a professional, comfortable workout space if you want your studio to serve your needs. When you do put together a studio, be sure to follow up with cloud-based security to ensure that your bar, plates, dumbbells, and rowing machines are kept safe and secure at all times.