Alright, if you’re staring at an empty retail unit wondering “should I just open a gym?”, the answer is usually yes.
Trust me, gyms are one of the cleanest, least headache-inducing businesses in the game right now. No complicated stock chains, no cooking timers, no security guards for high-value goods. People walk in, pay the cover charge, use the machines and leave. That’s most of your money.
About Gym:
Why Gyms Are Strong in 1.0
I remember that in Early Access, many players didn’t like gyms because they didn’t see this business as profitable. This mindset had two reasons: they didn’t know how to use the gyms best, and Big Ambitions was still under development, so some aspects of the game weren’t balanced. But now, in 1.0, gyms can be one of the recommended ways to earn a good amount of money.
Gyms are extremely low ongoing costs (the main product is just the cover charge). They have low competition in a lot of neighborhoods.
Super easy logistics is another reason why I love them. You basically only need energy drinks and soda.
And what’s the bonus? You can work out in your own gym for the happiness buff.
Yes, they’re not the absolute highest ceiling business forever, but they’re fantastic starters and excellent chain businesses.
Minimum Requirements to Open a Gym
You need these four things or the game won’t let you open:
- Fitness Planning Board: This is the station your Gym Trainers work at. Buy it from Essentials Appliances, AJ Pederson & Son style stores. ($375)
- Public Shower ($2,600)
- Gym Lockers ($2,350)
And At least one workout machine
Most of these (and the bulk of the machines) come from Essentials Appliances. Some items like the Treadmill also appear at IKA BOHAG. AJ Pederson & Son is another useful stop for related gear.
That’s it for the absolute minimum. In practice you also want a Cleaning Station (and an actual cleaner), a drinks fridge (energy drinks sell really well) and extra showers and lockers once you start pushing capacity.
Workout Machines & Customer Capacity
This is the part a lot of people mess up.
Every workout machine adds 2 customer capacity. The total from all your machines is what matters, the building’s customer capacity is just the ceiling. So if you have a building that can hold 30 customers but you only placed machines that add up to 12 capacity, you’re capped at 12.
Common machines (all add 2 capacity):
- Treadmill ($5,250)
- Turnstile Arm ($4,700)
- Workout Bench ($3,500)
- Decorative Barbell ($250)
- Gym Mat ($150)
- Boxing Bag ($450)
- Fitness Trampoline ($525)
- Bench ($180)
- Fitball ($60)
Buy them from the big appliance stores (they’re usually in the back). Start with 4–6 machines and expand. Don’t decorate early, capacity first.
Staffing Your Big Ambitions Gym
There are two major staff roles in your gym: trainers and cleaners.
Gym Trainers
These are the people who actually run the place. They work at the Fitness Planning Board. Higher skill means better customer service. Hire them through recruitment agencies (Anderson Recruitment etc.) or headhunters later.
Early on, one full-time trainer is fine. Once you want longer hours, hire a second (and eventually a third).
Train them like this: unassign, send to training, reassign when they’re done.
Cleaners
Dirt builds up stupidly fast. A part-time cleaner who comes in at the end of the day is usually enough early. Later you’ll want more coverage, especially if you go 24/7.
Uniforms matter in Big Ambitions. Assign them or your staff will just stand there looking weird.
Opening Hours
Gyms are not 24/7 money printers by default. Demand dies hard after midnight.
Most players start with something like 8–10 hour shifts and expand once they have enough trainers. You can run 24/7 later when you have multiple trainers and cleaners, but don’t force it early or you’ll just burn wages for nothing.
Pricing, Marketing & Drinks
Here are some essential tips:
- Raise the cover charge. Don’t leave it at the default forever.
- Energy drinks sell well. Soda is meh. Some players just run energy drinks.
- Marketing campaigns help a lot, especially the bigger ones once you have the skill.
- Once you have a wholesale contract set up, let the automatic deliveries handle restocking so you’re not driving around every day.
Scaling Gyms (The Fun Part)
One gym is nice. Four or five is where it gets silly.
Because the logistics are so light (just drinks), one warehouse and a couple of drivers and purchasing agents can easily feed a whole chain of gyms. Add pricing managers per district later so they keep the prices optimized for you.
You can also buy out rival gyms when you have the cash. The game will auto-fill a lot of the basic furniture, which is nice.
Personal Happiness Tip
You can use the machines in your own gym (put on workout clothes first). Most equipment gives a solid happiness buff. Great way to keep your character functional without having to go to the public gym.
Why Gyms Are Not Profitable for Some Players
A lot of people open a gym, stick a couple of machines in a random unit, hire one half-asleep trainer and then wonder why the place is barely breaking even.
The biggest killers? Too few workout machines (so your customer capacity is tiny) and letting the place turn into a dirt farm because you never hired a cleaner.
Gyms look simple, but if you treat them like a “set and forget” business from day one without filling the capacity or covering the shifts properly, the wages and rent will eat you alive while the cover charges stay low.
The other classic mistake is trying to run 24/7 way too early or expanding to a second gym before the first one is actually staffed and clean. Once the dirt piles up and customers start leaving bad service scores, the whole thing snowballs. Gyms can print money, but only after you respect the capacity, the cleaning, and the hours. Skip those and you’ll be one of the players who swear gyms are trash.
