THE BLOG

By offering unattended or 24/7 access, you can boost member satisfaction, trim down staffing costs, and tap into new revenue streams, all while setting your facility apart in a crowded fitness market.

English HybridAF Helps Build Community, Increase Client Retention for William Tirado After seven years of gym ownership, William Tirado decided it was time to add more value to his clients, to grow his business at Los De La Isla CrossFit in Puerto Rico. “I wanted to grow the community and provide more access in a secure way that would work for me as an owner and for the clients,” he said. That’s when, in 2022, Tirado turned to HybridAF for a solution. Three years later, HybridAF has done more than just “grow the community.” Tirado is such a fan that he is teaming up with HybridAF to host an event for 40-plus gym owners in the area to introduce them to unattended access. The details and date are still being sorted out , but the day will begin with a workout, and then Tirado and HybridAF founders Phil Tabor and Albert Steed will walk attendees through how the HybridAF system works and the various benefits to offering unattended access, especially in a place like Puerto Rico Why HybridAF is Perfect in Puerto Rico Puerto Rico has long been a popular tourist destination, one that attracts millions each year. For the consistent gym-goer or CrossFit enthusiast , traveling usually means looking for a gym to workout at while on vacation. This is what makes HybridAF especially useful in a place like Puerto Rico, as the potential for adding hands-off, passive revenue through drop-ins to the gym is especially high. Case in point: Joe Tepe, the owner of The Strip Barbell in Las Vegas, a city that makes its living on visitors, saw 3,844 drop-ins in 18 months in 2024 and 2025, each of whom pay $25 for access to the facility for one workout.

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HybridAF Adds Revenue, Reduces Payroll Costs for Five Alarm Fitness Prior to 2022, Leah Wheeler’s gym, Five Alarm Fitness in Bloomington, Illinois, offered six hours a day of open gym time. This meant, each day, from 7-9 am, from 10 am-1 pm and from 3-4 pm , Wheeler had to pay to staff the gym. That all changed in 2022 when Wheeler saw a Black Friday special HybridAF had put out on Facebook. She and her husband quickly decided it would be a great solution for her business and her now close to 100 members. And just like that, Wheeler was immediately able to save 120 hours on payroll hours each month, as she no longer needed to staff the gym. Three Other HybridAF Benefits for Five Alarm Fitness

Boost Your Merchandise Sales With Unattended Access Via HybridAF For small gym owners, every dollar counts. Membership dues make up the bulk of revenue, but any additional income stream—especially one that doesn’t require extra staff or time—is a huge win. Enter merchandise sales. From water and recovery drinks, to protein, to apparel, gym owners who advocate for pro shops explain it can be a great passive revenue stream for any small gym owner. Case in point : Josh Grennel, the owner of CrossFit Progression in Rochester, MN generates between $3,500 and $6,000 a month in pro shop revenue – $1,500 to $3,000 of that being profit – selling drinks and snacks alone. Similarly, Zia Rohrbaugh, the owner of CrossFit Counter Culture in Encinitas, CA, does $5,000 and $8,000 in merchandise sales per month selling supplements, protein powder, electrolyte drinks, collagen, MCT, and coffee. And Jade Jenny, the owner of Champlain Valley CrossFit in VT, generates $3,000 a month in retail sales, from drinks to protein bars. (Jenny did $10,000 last year in LMNT sales alone, a product where he gets a 100 percent mark up). How HybridAF Unlocks More Sales Opportunities Without unattended access, members are limited to shopping during staffed class times. But with HybridAF, your store is open when your gym is open, which, for many facilities, is 24/7.  That means:

Four Ways HybridAF Makes Summer Easier (and More Profitable) for Gym Owners Everyone loves summer. Except gym owners. It’s generally a slow time in the gym, and it feels like you’re constantly putting someone’s membership on hold until September. And while others are vacationing, you find yourself stuck in the gym when the sun is shining, unable to take that week or two off that your mind and body are so desperately craving. …And to rub salt in the wound, there you are coaching classes of just two or three people, hoping, praying things will pick up again when the summer ends.  What if we told you HybridAF’s 24/7 unattended access can make all those problems disappear.

How HybridAF is Helping Gym Owners Accommodate Those Training for HYROX In case you missed it, HYROX is sort of the biggest talked about thing in the fitness space right now. More than 500,000 people participated in HYROX races in 2025, and this number is expected to hit well over one million in 2026.  As a result, HYROX Training Centers are popping up all over the place to accommodate the tens of thousands of people training for an upcoming HYROX race.