Budgets for a commercial gym go wrong in a predictable way. The equipment list gets costed accurately, then the project runs over because freight, duty, flooring, installation and the test equipment nobody budgeted for were never on the same sheet. Operators who have done it before budget the whole room, not the machines.
This is a framework for doing that — organised by floor area and by zone, with the cost lines that are usually missing.
Start with cost per square metre, not cost per machine
Experienced buyers estimate equipment spend per square metre of training floor before they choose a single model. The figure varies by positioning, but the range is tight enough to plan against:
| Positioning | Equipment per m² | What it buys |
|---|---|---|
| Value / budget club | USD 120–180 | Durable selectorized machines, standard cardio, minimal free weights |
| Mid-market commercial | USD 180–280 | Full selectorized line, plate-loaded stations, commercial cardio, complete free-weight zone |
| Premium / boutique | USD 280–400 | Designer finishes, connected cardio, Pilates and functional zones, body composition testing |
Three sanity checks on those figures. A 500 m² mid-market club at USD 230 per m² implies about USD 115,000 of equipment, which for 45 to 55 machines works out to roughly USD 2,100 per machine — plausible once cardio and racks are averaged in. If your estimate lands far below the range, something is missing from the list. If it lands far above, you are buying brand premium rather than capability.
How the floor divides by zone
Equipment budget follows floor allocation. A workable split for a general commercial club:
- Cardio: 30–35 percent of equipment spend on 30–35 percent of floor area. Treadmills, ellipticals, bikes, rowers, stair climbers.
- Selectorized strength: 25–30 percent of spend. The single-station circuit that most members use.
- Plate-loaded and racks: 15–20 percent of spend on a smaller footprint, because these machines are dense.
- Free weights: 10–15 percent of spend. Dumbbells, benches, barbells, plates, racks.
- Functional and stretching: 8–12 percent. Cable trainers, turf, mats, small tools.
- Testing and reception-adjacent: 2–5 percent. Body composition analyser if you offer testing.
The mistake to avoid is over-allocating cardio because it is visible and easy to specify. Cardio has the highest depreciation and the fastest technology turnover of any zone, while selectorized strength machines last a decade or more.
Space per machine, for planning layouts
These are working figures including the access and safety clearance a machine needs around it, not just its footprint:
- Treadmill: 2.2–2.8 m² per unit including rear clearance
- Elliptical or cross trainer: 2.5–3.0 m²
- Upright or spin bike: 1.5–2.0 m²
- Stair climber: 2.0–2.5 m²
- Selectorized single station: 3.0–3.5 m²
- Plate-loaded station: 4.0–5.0 m² including plate loading space
- Dual adjustable pulley / functional trainer: 6.0–9.0 m²
- Free-weight zone: 40–60 m² for a full dumbbell and bench setup, with floor loading of 300–500 kg per m² under the rack
Floor loading is worth raising with your building engineer early. A free-weight zone on an upper floor is a structural question, not a layout question, and it has stopped more gym projects than equipment lead times ever have.
What a 500 m² club actually contains
A representative mid-market equipment list, using factory-direct pricing at the specification level most importers buy:
| Zone | Quantity | Unit range (USD) | Zone total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial treadmills | 8 | 530–1,500 | 4,200–12,000 |
| Ellipticals / cross trainers | 6 | 300–900 | 1,800–5,400 |
| Upright / spin bikes | 6 | 250–700 | 1,500–4,200 |
| Rowers, stair climbers, skiers | 5 | 300–900 | 1,500–4,500 |
| Selectorized single stations | 16 | 400–800 | 6,400–12,800 |
| Plate-loaded stations | 6 | 800–2,500 | 4,800–15,000 |
| Functional trainers, racks | 4 | 600–1,800 | 2,400–7,200 |
| Free weights, benches, racks | Full set | — | 6,000–18,000 |
| Body composition analyser | 1 | 3,500–6,000 | 3,500–6,000 |
| Equipment subtotal | about 51 machines | — | 32,000–75,000 |
That range is wide because specification dominates price at this volume. The same 51-machine list can cost USD 32,000 or USD 75,000 depending on whether the cardio units are basic or connected, whether the plate-loaded machines are single-function or convertible, and whether free weights are rubber-coated commercial grade or budget sets.
The cost lines that are usually missing
The equipment subtotal is not the project budget. For an imported fit-out, plan on the following on top:
- Ocean freight and insurance: 8–15 percent of equipment value for a 40HQ to Europe or the Americas
- Import duty and VAT: 0–15 percent depending on destination and HS classification — this alone can exceed the freight cost
- Inland delivery and unloading: 2–5 percent, higher if there is no loading dock or the site has stairs
- Installation: 3–8 percent, or a per-day engineering rate if you bring in an installation team
- Spare parts and consumables: 2–3 percent, and this is not optional — see the section below
- Flooring, mirrors, lighting, sound: 8–15 percent of total project cost, and almost never in the equipment sheet
- Body composition consumables and calibration: if testing is offered, budget for electrodes, printer paper and periodic verification
Add these together and a USD 60,000 equipment order becomes a USD 75,000 to 85,000 landed and installed project. That gap is where most first-time budgets fail.
Spare parts are a budget line, not an afterthought
Every commercial floor consumes consumables: upholstery, cables, pulleys, pedal straps, treadmill belts, console overlays, grips. On selectorized strength equipment, cables and pulleys are the highest-wear items and should be stocked before the first failure, not ordered after it.
A workable rule is to include, with the first order, two spare cables per cable machine, one spare pulley set per ten machines, one spare seat pad per twenty, and one spare console per fifteen cardio units. It costs 2 to 3 percent of the equipment value and it removes the single most common reason a machine sits out of service for three weeks waiting for a part.
How the numbers look against revenue
Equipment cost is only meaningful against the revenue the floor can produce. A 500 m² club with 51 machines typically supports 400 to 700 members depending on the model and location. At a USD 40 monthly fee and 500 members, gross monthly revenue is USD 20,000, and a USD 80,000 landed equipment cost represents four months of gross revenue.
That ratio — equipment cost against four to six months of gross revenue — is the healthiest way to judge whether a fit-out is over-specified. A premium build at twelve months of revenue is a design decision, not an equipment decision, and it needs to be justified by pricing power rather than by the machines themselves.
Sequencing the purchase
Very few clubs should buy everything at once. The sensible split is cardio and the selectorized circuit first, because those define the member experience on day one; plate-loaded and free-weight expansion second, once you know what members actually use; and testing or specialised zones third, once the club has a membership base to sell those services to.
If you send us your floor plan and target positioning, we can return a zone-by-zone equipment list with quantities and an indicative landed cost for your destination port, so the whole project number is on one sheet before you commit.