Cardio is usually the single biggest cost driver on a commercial equipment list. Yet most projects have zero tactic for “how many do we actually need, and will anyone use them?”
Treadmills alone can run $10,000 to $18,000 each, and in commercial use you almost never need just one. Guessing “3” because you have budget bias isn’t a strategy.
If you’re planning a new gym or amenity space, ask these 3 questions before you lock your cardio allocation:
- How many units, rooms, or members will this gym actually serve?
- What is projected peak footfall on the floor?
- Given that peak, how many people will realistically be on cardio at once?
As a rule of thumb, if you have 30 people on the gym floor at peak, about 20% to 30% of them will be on cardio. That’s 6 to 9 people.
There is no one-size-fits-all standard for cardio. Be very careful with the default of “5 treadmills, 3 ellipticals, 2 stairclimbers, 2 bikes, 2 rowers, 1 recumbent bike.” That’s buying what you think the perception should be, not what will get used. With most non-budget vendors, that default mix can easily hit ~$130k.
Here’s a real example. A 200-key luxury hotel in a coastal city, anticipating a younger, more active crowd:
- 3 slat treadmills
- 2 belt treadmills (do you absolutely need all slat? Mixing is often how you hit the target)
- 2 stairclimbers
- 1 elliptical
- 2 bikes
- 1 rower
Total: ~$100k instead of ~$130k, with better alignment to how guests actually train.
Was this a $30,000 email? For someone, yes.
My team finds inefficiencies like this all day, and honestly this is a small one.
