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Err... what? Gyms literally live off the customers that just go once in a month or directly never show up. They are dimensioned taking this into account, and they charge factoring this in. If 100% of the customers were body-builders using free weights, they would have to charge them at very least 2x.

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My take is that the gym changed course, and instead of having half ghost customers who only reluctantly pay, they choose to go for heavy users who will take space, but also book coaching sessions, buy products and are more than willing to put the money on the table.

If it's really what happened I'd see that as a pretty great move.

>were body-builders using free weights, they would have to charge them at very least 2x.

At same spaces, yes! Good quality barbells and weights, while expensive, keep for over 30 years. Bodybuilding and powerlifting doesn't take much space, so you don't need a large space, and the customer base is dedicated and can often tolerate their gyms being a bit out of the way. Machines, however, like to break and are incredibly expensive compared to barbells and weights.

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