The F45 franchise is still on the rise, but with names like Mark Wahlberg behind it, and with dedicated owners, it’s no wonder the Murrieta location has become so popular. While their location didn’t crack the Top 20 of California’s highest rated commercial gyms just yet, quite a few locations did. But, as their popularity rises, it’s only a matter of time before Murrieta owners Brad and Cara Coonradt will add their location to the list.
As an actor, producer and entrepreneur, Wahlberg is the chief brand officer for the fledgling company and has visited locally a number of times. Prior to the Temecula location closing last year, which happened due to personal reasons from the site’s previous owners, Wahlberg would pop in at announced and unannounced times, in order to get a workout in before attending local equestrian events his daughter would participate in.
As for the F45 Training facility in Culver City, that location was found to be California’s highest rated commercial gym, achieving a five-star Google rating across 425 reviews. 24 Hour Fitness achieved the lowest user rating of 3.51 stars on average across 281 locations.
Whether an individual is just starting out on their fitness journey, or is a long-time gym goer, the quality of the gym experience is likely to influence a person’s fitness goals over the long term. Online fitness resource Total Shape crunched the numbers to see how 13 of the largest commercial gym franchises stack up against one another in terms of user ratings.
“Commercial gyms are a great way for both novice and seasoned gym goers to stay fit, as they are often more conveniently located and offer more affordable payment plans than privately owned gyms,” says Isaac Robertson, Co-Founder and Chief Editor of Total Shape.
They looked at the ratings of each commercial gym location to find the average user experience for each major fitness franchise, as well as the 20 highest rated gyms in different states.
California’s 20 highest rated commercial gyms is a long one, so here, the focus will be on the Top 5. When looking at 1,010 commercial gym locations in California across 13 major franchises, these were found to be the highest rated gyms with a minimum of 100 reviews.
- F45 Fitness
Securing the top spot is F45 Fitness, which achieved a near perfect Google review score of 4.94 out of 5 on average, across 742 of its locations.
F45 fitness centers take their members through a series of functional high intensity interval training (HIIT) exercises and circuits focused on everyday movement. The ‘F’ in F45 stands for functional, while ‘45’ refers to the number of minutes it takes to perform any given workout.
Membership prices vary from location to location and are likely to be out of most people’s price range, with members paying upwards of $300 dollars per month to join the F45 community.
The majority of F45 gym locations were found to be in Texas, with 107 locations (14.4%), followed by California with 103 locations (13.9%) and Florida with 87 locations (11.7%).
- Orangetheory Fitness
In second place is Orangetheory Fitness which achieves an average Google rating of 4.81 out of 5 across the 1,329 locations analyzed.
Similar to F45, Orangetheory offers more of a workout class than a standalone gym, with sessions revolving around group HIIT training. During each hour session, members alternate between three main exercise groups: rowing, running and strength training exercises.
Prices are charged based on the number of classes you wish to attend per month. Their once-a-week Basic membership costs around $59 per month, while the Premier membership will set members back a cool $159 per month if they want access to unlimited classes.
Despite being established in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Orangetheory has most of its franchises located in California (12%), followed by Texas (9.4%) with Florida taking the third spot (9.3%).
- Snap Fitness
Coming in third is Snap Fitness which scores an average Google rating of 4.44 out of 5, across 546 locations in the US. Offering a selection of free weight and cardio equipment, Snap Fitness is open to members 24 hours a day and memberships can be purchased for $39.95 per month in a number of locations.
The majority of Snap Fitness gyms can be found in Minnesota, which offers 78 locations (14.3%), followed by Texas with 49 locations (9%) and Ohio with 33 locations (6%).
- Planet Fitness
Taking the fourth spot is Planet Fitness, which achieves an average Google rating of 4.38 out of 5 across a staggering 2,322 locations. With its recognizable purple branding, Planet Fitness promotes a judgement free zone that encourages people of all ages and ability to get fit, with many easy-to-use resistance machines.
It offers one of the cheaper pricing options, with users picking up a basic membership for just $10 per month or the option of upgrading to a Black Card to unlock unlimited location access for $24.99 per month.
The majority of Planet Fitness gyms in the US can be found in California, Texas and Florida respectively.
- Anytime Fitness
Rounding off the top five is Anytime Fitness which achieves an average Google rating of 4.37 out of 5 across 2,339 locations in America.
The 24-hour health and fitness club founded in Minnesota, offers each new member a free personalized training plan when they sign up, and memberships average around $41 per month according to their website.
The largest number of Anytime Fitness gyms can be found in Texas, which has 267 locations (11.4%), followed by Florida with 144 locations (6.2%) and Minnesota with 140 locations (6%).
“While the analysis did not include an exhaustive list of every gym in America, it does provide a level of transparency as to which gym chains are the highest rated among its members,” added Robertson. “User experience plays an important role in the longevity of your fitness goals, so if your workout environment isn’t up to scratch or is poorly managed, you are unlikely to want to return.”
Article contributions and research conducted by Total Shape, which is a fitness resource site providing information about workouts, supplements and fitness to help reach your goals. The locations of individual gyms for 13 major gym franchises were scraped from each website’s location directory. The latitude and longitude of each gym location was then sent to Google Maps nearby search API, returning the rating and total review count for each gym.
More information can be found at www.totalshape.com.
JP Raineri can be reached by email at sports@reedermedia.com.
