Global Franchise 10.3

With renewed demand for strength-driven fitness, Gold’s Gym offers franchise partners a new elevated experience built on 60 years of strength Serious strength, serious growth or 60 years, Gold’s Gym has shaped what serious fitness looks like. Long before strength training became mainstream, the iconic fitness brand laid the foundation for a global movement that began in Venice Beach, California and spread across six continents. Today, as weightlifting experiences a resurgence driven by science and consumer demand, Gold’s Gym is building its next chapter with the same clarity and conviction that defined its first. SCIENCE + INDUSTRY GROWTH = OPPORTUNITY Research continues to link resistance training to a wide range of health benefits, from boosting bone density, mood, and brain function to lowering risks of premature death, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Meanwhile, participation has notably increased: nearly 60% of exercisers worldwide now incorporate weight training into their routines, according to MindBody, as the worldwide health and fitness club market is projected to nearly double to US $202.8 billion by 2030. Few companies align with these shifts as naturally as Gold’s Gym because the organization did not pivot to strength. It started there. “Strength training is the one discipline that improves every aspect of your life – health, longevity, performance, confidence,” says Jörg Fockenberg, VP of Strategy, Franchise & Expansion and CDO at Gold’s Gym . “The world is finally coming back to what we have always known: strength training is the most effective, empowering form of fitness.” A LEGACY THAT NEEDS NO EXPLANATION Every Gold’s Gym franchise opens with something few brands can offer: legacy. Founded in 1965 by legendary bodybuilder Joe Gold as a no-frills training space for serious lifters, the original Venice Beach location became the epicenter of modern bodybuilding. Drawing champion athletes like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dave Draper, and Lou Ferrigno, Gold’s Gym soon earned its reputation as the “Mecca of Bodybuilding.” The 1977 release of the Schwarzenegger-led docudrama, “Pumping Iron,” further cemented the brand – and its iconic logo – on the world stage. As the company expanded domestically and internationally, its sense of community wasn’t built on hype or marketing buzzwords, but on reputation earned on the training floor, member by member, year after year. “Gold’s Gym isn’t just a franchise – it’s a cultural institution,” says Fockenberg. “When someone becomes a franchise owner, they’re inheriting 60 years of history. That’s bigger than business, it’s identity.” For franchisees, that identity translates into real advantages: stronger member acquisition, deeper loyalty, local credibility and pricing power built on trust. It’s why Gold’s Gym has long attracted owner- operators willing to put in the work and why H E A L T H & F I T N E S S F INVESTMENT RANGE: US $1.7 million to US $4.4 million 14 GLOBAL FRANCHISE Issue 10.3 Behind the Brand | PARTNER CONTENT