What a gym is
A gym is a genuine retail-category business in Big Ambitions — but a service business, not a goods store. The official business entry lists exactly two staff roles, Gym Trainer and Security, one service, the Gym Cover Charge, and just two sellable products: Energy Drink and Soda Can. Nobody browses shelves at a gym; members pay to enter and work out, and the drinks fridge catches the after-workout sale.
That structure is why community 1.0 guides rank gyms among the best starting businesses: many neighborhoods have little or no gym competition, and the footprint needed is modest. In one 1.0 playthrough the neighborhood survey showed five fast food competitors but only two other gyms, so the gym won the slot.
How a gym earns
Income comes from three streams:
- Cover charge — every member pays to enter; this is the gym's core revenue line.
- Drinks — energy drinks and soda cans from a drinks fridge are the official product list, and real gyms in community saves run standing orders for them (one save ordered energy drinks for its gym while explicitly zeroing out soda cans it did not want).
- Volume through trainers — one 1.0 community guide estimates a trainer can handle about 20 customers each per hour, so trainer count and skill set how much of your building capacity you can actually serve. Treat that figure as a community estimate, not an official value.
Because members queue for trainers rather than checkout counters, a gym's bottleneck is staffed capacity, not shelving. Watch the Insight tab the same way you would for any store, and if customers complain about waits, the fix is trainers and hours rather than the checkout queue fixes that goods stores need.
Equipment and the fit-out
A gym floor is built from fitness fixtures rather than display shelving. Community playthroughs outfit gyms with:
| Fixture | Role |
|---|---|
| Workout Bench | Strength training station |
| Treadmill | Cardio station |
| Boxing Bag | Heavy training station |
| Fit Ball | Light training / variety |
| Fitness Planning Board | Training organization |
| Drinks Fridge | Energy drinks and soda sales |
| Cleaning Station | Cleaner's post — hygiene matters in a gym |
| Loudspeakers | Music — customers dislike silent rooms |
Loudspeakers come from furniture stores such as Aika and are one of the cheapest satisfaction boosts in the game. The furniture guide covers where to buy fixtures, and the where to buy guide maps every supplier.
Location, hours, and staffing
Location rules match any retail start: traffic index 30+ is workable, 39+ is excellent, but long-term customer capacity matters more than raw traffic. For a service business, capacity converts through trainers, so a mid-size room plus two skilled trainers can out-earn a bigger room with one.
Community saves tend to schedule gyms for long hours, all week, with the schedule copy-pasted across days. Your staffing needs are small by design: Gym Trainers to serve members, a cleaner on the cleaning station, and security if the neighborhood warrants it — the official entry includes a Security role, and gyms that sell nothing shelf-based still post one when foot traffic gets rough.
Hiring requires the Basic HR course first, and trained-to-100% trainers visibly lift member satisfaction. The employees guide walks through training, and the automation guide covers keeping the drinks fridge stocked without manual runs.
Gym opening checklist
- Survey the neighborhood — count existing gyms before committing; low competition is the gym's main edge.
- Rent a retail unit with solid customer capacity.
- Fit training stations, a drinks fridge, loudspeakers, and a cleaning station.
- Complete the Basic HR course, then hire and train Gym Trainers.
- Set the cover charge and schedule long, consistent hours.
- Keep energy drinks stocked via a standing order or warehouse delivery.
What is not yet confirmed
The cover charge amounts, the trainer-per-hour capacity figure, and exact daily profit numbers are not officially documented for 1.0 — the ~20 customers per trainer figure is a single community estimate and should be verified against your own Insight tab. Equipment lists above reflect community gameplay footage rather than an official catalog. For sibling businesses, see the business types guide and the night club guide, the other service business that runs on cover charges.