Equipment choice, room size, program offerings — a lot of consideration has to go into creating a fitness facility that pays off for members.

By Shane Reynolds

With beautiful windows and doors facing east and looking across the 18 green, the Fitness Center at The Clubs of Cordillera Ranch is being renovated to update the space and equipment. When the facility opened in 2009, there were fewer members. The Fitness Center has served The Club well for the past decade, but with our membership growing, the need to update the space was evident, and a renovation plan that will provide new equipment and facility changes was developed. 

This spring, The Club plans to renovate the Fitness Center by replacing the flooring, slightly reconfiguring the space and updating the paint in the facility. The center will gain some workout space with the reconfiguration and all the strength and cardio equipment will be replaced. 

The Club has had a great vendor partner in Marathon Fitness for the past 12 years and that relationship will continue into the future. They are the local Precor^® dealer, and after a thorough review of exercise and equipment companies, we have decided to go with Precor again for their strength and cardio equipment. Marathon has earned a reputation for consulting with its commercial customers to assess their needs from all facets and angles, including usage patterns, safety, security, demographics and competitive analysis.

Precor equipment delivers the quality, reliability and diversity fitness facilities need to attract and retain members. The company offers the finest high-end cardio and strength-building equipment and the market’s most advanced networked fitness software and entertainment systems which feature touch screen consoles and Bluetooth compatibility to help exercisers enjoy their workouts and better meet their fitness goals.

The renovated Fitness Center will offer six Precor treadmills, four Precor AMT’s, three Precor ellipticals, three Precor recumbent bikes, one Precor upright bike, two Peloton^® upright bikes, one Intenza Escalante stairclimber, ten pieces of Precor selectorized strength equipment, a Precor Smith machine, a Precor FTS glide multi-functional trainer, a Power Plate^®, a Scifit^® upper body machine, a Precor rower and the biggest piece of equipment that will probably become a favorite — the Precor Queenax^®, a unique functional and suspended bodyweight training system. The center will also feature a free weight area with multiple benches and mirrored walls, dumbbell racks, an arc stretch trainer, an InBody body composition analyzer and several additional wall-mounted TV’s. Speaking of TV’s: we are overhauling the cabling and infrastructure to allow all of the equipment with TV monitors to broadcast in HD, presenting a much better display during your workout.

One piece of equipment that seemed to be a popular request was the Peloton bike, which we are also adding. The Peloton bike brings a convenient and immersive indoor cycling experience, streaming daily live classes from their NYC studio directly into our Fitness Center. 

A well-designed fitness center should have a space set aside for functional training — exercises that allow individuals to perform the activities of daily life more easily and without injuries. Functional training is a hot trend for both young adults and those over 50. Millennials gravitate toward vigorous activities using gear such as infinity ropes, heavy bags, pull-up bars and jump targets. For seniors, functional training means lighter activity using dumbbells, stability balls, balance boards and the like. People 60 and over are not into the fad aspect of fitness and wellness. They’re looking for functionality, ease of use, safety and time efficiency. The Precor Queenax provides this functional training space. 

The old goal of designing a fitness facility used to be to throw a lot of equipment into the center, but now it’s more about the functionality and diversity of the offering. It’s important to have not only enough equipment but also the right mix of equipment so as to minimize waits. 

We look forward to opening the new space for our 

members in late spring, and believe the newly renovated Fitness Center is another example of providing outstanding amenities for our members. 

Shane Reynolds is the Director of Recreation for The Clubs of Cordillera Ranch. He can be reached at outfitter@cordilleraranch.com or 210.616.6051. 

Fitness Center renovation at The Clubs of Cordillera Ranch from Shane Reynolds on Vimeo.