How many spots should a group class have?
A class's capacity is the smallest of three numbers. The equipment, the floor the widest movement needs, and how many people the coach can correct. Getting it wrong in each direction costs different things, and only one of the two mistakes shows.
The three limits, and which one wins
A class capacity is the SMALLEST of these three numbers, not the largest and not the average:
- 1.The equipment. If you have eight SkiErgs, a class that uses them has eight spots. There is no arguing with this one.
- 2.The room the movement needs. Not the floor area: the area of the widest movement in the class, with space all around it. A snatch needs more floor than a glute bridge.
- 3.What the coach can see. A coach corrects what they can see. Past a certain number they stop seeing everyone, and the class is being supervised rather than coached.
The third one is the hardest to accept, because it is the only one you cannot measure with a tape. It is also the one that decides whether people come back.
The two mistakes cost different things
| Mistake | What happens | What it costs |
|---|---|---|
| Capacity too high | The class fills and the coach corrects less. People who come for the coaching notice, and say nothing. | They leave months later, and never because of that one class. |
| Capacity too low | Someone is turned away from an hour that had room for more. | You see it the same day, on the waitlist, and fix it in a minute. |
That is why capacity is easier to tighten than to loosen. The visible mistake costs you a spot a week. The invisible one costs you a person.
A capacity that gets negotiated at the door is not a capacity. It is a suggestion.
Capacity belongs to the class
A gym does not have a capacity. It has one per class type, and sometimes one per session. The 20:00 beginners class is not the same number as the 18:30, because people who are learning need more eyes on them.
And some hours need a one-off exception: an extra coach, a guest, a room split in two. An exception on one session should not force you to change the rule for the class type.
What to do with whoever is left out
Someone who cannot get a spot has to go on a waitlist, and the waitlist has to move on its own when someone drops. If it only moves when a human remembers it, the spot goes empty anyway.
And it has to tell them. A spot opening at 17:02 for an 18:30 class is only any use if the person hears in time to get there.
Frequently asked
- Can I have different capacities on the same day?
- You should. Capacity belongs to the class, not the gym. A stations session has the capacity of the equipment, and a technique class has the capacity the coach can correct.
- What if I set capacity high and the class rarely fills?
- On the days it does fill, you will have a full class without having decided to have one. A high capacity is a decision you make once and live with on the wrong days.
- Is it worth lowering capacity so classes look full?
- A full room helps the energy of a class, and that is true. But if the waitlist is constant at the same hours, the problem is not capacity: it is a missing class at that hour.
Rummo team
Written by the people who build Rummo, management software for gyms, boxes and studios: classes, bookings, members and payments.
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