What Is an Unmanned Gym?
An unmanned gym, also known as a cold gym, operates either fully or partially without staff presence.
Pros and Cons of an unmanned gym
An unmanned gym allows for reduced staffing costs and extended opening hours. Reducing or completely eliminating staff significantly lowers expenses, while longer opening hours attract a wider customer base. Many people prefer to work out very early in the morning, while others prefer midnight sessions. If the gym doesn’t accommodate these times, they will go elsewhere to train.
An unmanned gym also comes with its own challenges and drawbacks.
Challenges to be addressed include implementing an entry system that ensures paying customers can access the gym while others cannot. If this is not properly executed, the legitimate and appropriate use of the gym is left to the customers’ free will – and unfortunately, this cannot be reliably trusted, not even in Finland (Read the article XXX) – although it is generally better in smaller towns than in larger cities. There are several ways to prevent misuse, and it’s worth evaluating the options based on the available budget and specific needs.
An unmanned gym must also consider the registration process for new customers. Options include: doing this entirely online, providing a paid door-opening option via a phone call or message at the entrance, or having reception open for a few hours a day. It’s important to make customers’ gym visits as easy as possible, despite the lack of staff.
What to do and how to respond if something is stolen from the gym or if someone gets injured. An emergency exit is required by law in the gym. For example, if it’s an emergency exit door, what happens if someone uses it in the middle of the night? What if it’s left open? How to keep noise under control if there are residential apartments in the same building?
Although the list of challenges for unmanned gyms may seem long, the financial benefits are often much more significant.
As I mentioned, there are several types of unmanned gyms, which means that these potential issues can all be solved in one way or another.
Different options for implementing an unmanned gym
In the absence of staff, one of the most significant challenges is preventing misuse, meaning there must be a reliable way to block non-paying individuals from accessing the gym. Financial savings are often the first and most important motivator for planning the proper implementation. However, the importance of security should not be underestimated. If outsiders can access the gym and something unfortunate happens, it becomes much harder, and sometimes impossible, to identify the culprit.
There are several ways to create an unmanned gym and sufficiently reduce the risk of misuse. I say "sufficiently" because completely preventing misuse may not be financially viable or even necessary for a gym.
Full-height turnstile + camera surveillance
The turnstile completely prevents the possibility of jumping over, and very reliably also prevents tailgating. The gate consists of three blades. The gap between the blades is reasonably narrow, but it can still fit two people at the same time if they really try to squeeze in. This is also something that cannot be fixed with a smaller gap (e.g., a four-blade gate), because that would make it uncomfortable for larger customers to enter, especially with a gym bag.
Another form of misuse is handing over a pass card through the turnstile to the person coming behind. In this case, camera surveillance is a good addition alongside the turnstile, as it allows for monitoring any irregular events, such as the same card being used consecutively.
A sign indicating Camera surveillance often serves as a sufficient deterrent to prevent two people from attempting to squeeze into the turnstile at the same time.
Waist-height turnstile + Camera surveillance
A wing gate or waist-height speed gate does not prevent jumping over as effectively as full-height turnstiles, but it has still proven to be a sufficient deterrent in many cases to prevent misuse.
Tailgating is more difficult in wing gates than jumping over, so it is less likely to occur. In speed gates, tailgating is easier to achieve.
A waist-height turnstile and a sign indicating Camera surveillance often work as a combination that discourages more determined free riders.
High-wing speed gate + Camera surveillance
A high-wing speed gate follows closely behind the waist-height speed gate.
This effectively prevents jumping over, just like a full-height turnstile, and doesn’t cost much more than a waist-height turnstile.
Speed gates often have very fast opening and closing times, but tailgating is still practically possible, just like with waist-height turnstiles.
However, high speed gates are slightly less popular than waist-height versions in gyms. We assume the reason is that the added height is not expected to provide significant additional security benefits, as they can still be climbed over. Another reason could be that tall panels visually divide the lobby and gym area, as one has to look through them rather than over them. In some cases, this visual separation could even be seen as a positive feature.
Security airlocks
Security airlocks are the most effective way to prevent unauthorized access to the gym. Due to their height, they completely block any attempt to jump over, and with advanced sensor technology, they almost perfectly prevent tailgating. However, they are also the most expensive option among the alternatives and make passage less seamless, as each user takes several seconds to pass through.
Nevertheless, many gyms, especially larger chains, use security airlocks because preventing all forms of misuse is important to them. These systems also pay for themselves over time, even though the initial investment may seem high.
Security airlocks don’t necessarily benefit from additional camera surveillance, as misuse is only possible for those who understand the sensor technology and know how to bypass it.
Camera surveillance without a gate
Camera surveillance alone deters some abusers if it is clearly indicated. However, besides the psychological barrier, it doesn't create any physical obstacle, and many people nowadays know that camera footage is not actively monitored.
A cap pulled low, and they can walk past the camera to train for free.
If you assume that misuse will be minimal and believe that investing in a gate isn't necessary, camera surveillance is a very cost-effective way to raise the barrier against unauthorized access.
Scaring off with camera surveillance without actual cameras
We do not recommend using the threat of camera surveillance as the only method to prevent misuse. We believe this approach will quickly become more expensive than any of the other options.
The threat raises the psychological barrier, but if misuse occurs, there will be no record of it anywhere.
The threat of camera surveillance is a good addition when using gates, even if you don't want to have actual surveillance cameras.
If you don't yet have a sign about camera surveillance in your gym, we recommend that you order one.
A gym doesn't need the same level of security as the parliament building
It must be remembered that if someone really wants to get into the gym without paying, they will almost always find a way, regardless of the implementation. Against this, it should be evaluated how strictly you want to prevent it. If the gym doesn't have gold bars or the fountain of youth readily available, few will bother going to great lengths to avoid paying.
But isn’t the gym precisely where wealth and the fountain of youth are on offer?
True, but not easily accessible.
I managed to sneak in a piece of life wisdom into this article as well. Thank you, I think that's it!
