Fitness Facility Management
The practical guide to building stronger facilities, teams, and operations.
Too many good people struggle at running a facility because nobody handed them the education and the tools. Steven Trotter and Chris Stevenson wrote the book they wish they'd had: fifty-plus years of combined experience owning, operating, and consulting for fitness facilities, written for the industry as it is now.
Get the Book
216
PAGES
13
CHAPTERS IN FOUR PARTS
11
TYPES OF FACILITY COVERED
50+
YEARS OF COMBINED EXPERIENCE
Written across the whole industry, not one corner of it.
A boutique studio owner and a campus rec director think they have nothing in common until payroll, retention, and a broken piece of cardio equipment say otherwise. Chapter 4 walks the business model of every one of these, and the rest of the book applies to all of them.
FOR-PROFIT
- Budget, midmarket, and premium clubs
- Boutique studios
- Franchises and independently owned clubs
EITHER MODEL
- Corporate wellness centers
- Medical fitness facilities
- Golf and resort facilities
NONPROFIT
- Campus recreation
- YMCAs and JCCs
- Military MWR and federal facilities
- Community and parks recreation
Four parts, thirteen chapters, in the order the job happens.
PART I
Profile
Designing the organization. Where the industry stands after COVID-19, mission and values, market and competitive analysis, buyer personas, business plans, funding, and budgeting.
Chapters 1 to 4
PART II
People
Building rock star teams. The whole employee journey, from the brand recognition that starts recruiting through hiring, onboarding, engagement, feedback, and performance, plus a full chapter on offboarding, which the authors call the most neglected step of the lot.
Chapters 5 to 7
PART III
Products
Delivering the work. Facility design and standards, the ADA, front and back of house, signage, standard operating procedures, equipment selection, layout and maintenance, plus group fitness, small group and large team training, personal training, health coaching, and spa services.
Chapters 8 to 10
PART IV
Profitability
Creating systems for success. The member journey from prospect to offboarding, sales funnels, behavior change models, lead generation, emergency preparedness and risk management, and the business strategy and marketing to hold it together.
Chapters 11 to 13
A reference, not a read-once.
Checklists and templates
Contributed by colleagues across the industry, not invented at a desk.
Real case studies
Drawn from working facilities, including the ones that went badly.
Learning objectives
Opening every chapter, so you know what you are getting before you commit the hour.
Think It Through
Reflective questions closing every chapter. Written for a classroom, useful in a staff meeting.
Available now in paperback, loose-leaf, and ebook.
Get the BookWritten by two people who have run the place.
Fifty-plus years of combined hands-on experience owning, operating, and consulting for fitness facilities.
Steven A. Trotter, MS
Steven A. Trotter, MS, is the Principal & CEO of Globetrotter Wellness Solutions and has more than 20 years of experience in fitness, wellness, higher education, and facility leadership. He has managed and supported fitness facilities across multiple settings and brings nearly two decades of college teaching experience to his work. His approach blends practical operations, leadership, and education to help fitness professionals build stronger facilities, teams, and systems.
Meet Steven
Chris Stevenson, BA, CSCS
Chris spent over 25 years in the industry, from the training floor to owning and operating a full-service health club. He founded The Empower Group, which advises facilities worldwide on business planning, culture, staffing, and member experience. He sits on the board of directors of the Health and Fitness Association, is a regular columnist for Athletic Business, and has presented in more than a dozen countries.
Meet ChrisFEATURED IN
TEACHING THIS COURSE?
Built for upper-level fitness and sport management courses.
Fitness Facility Management is written for upper-level undergraduates in fitness management and related business courses, and Steven teaches from it himself. Adopting instructors get the full HKPropel instructor collection free from Human Kinetics.
Get the Book- Instructor guide with a suggested syllabus, chapter slide decks, in-class activities, case studies, and templates
- Test package in true or false, fill-in-the-blank, essay, short answer, and multiple choice, ready to load into your LMS
- Chapter quizzes, nine to ten questions each, assignable and auto-graded
- Presentation package of slides covering text, artwork, and tables from the book
- Image bank of figures, photos, and tables sorted by chapter
The details
- Authors Steven A. Trotter and Chris Stevenson
- Publisher Human Kinetics, 2025
- Pages 216
- Paperback ISBN 978-1-7182-2125-3
- Loose-leaf ISBN 978-1-7182-2126-0
- Ebook, epub ISBN 978-1-7182-2127-7
- Ebook, PDF ISBN 978-1-7182-2128-4
Get your copy
Order directly from Human Kinetics in paperback, loose-leaf, or ebook.
Browsing for more? See the full Human Kinetics catalog of fitness and health titles.
Get the BookFREE MONTHLY EMAIL
The Fitness Facility Playbook
One email a month, built around a single thing you can put to work.
We will not send spam. Unsubscribe at any time.
