Habitual Fitness & Lifestyle: Running a 24-Hour Gym with WellnessLiving

Habitual Fitness & Lifestyle is one of the longest-independent-running gyms in downtown Mississauga, Ontario. With 24-hour private access, they’re open 365 days a year, allowing a diverse and growing community of gymgoers to reap the benefits of their positive, community-based, and education-focused approach to fitness. This accessibility is core to their values as Habitual Fitness & Lifestyle promotes a comfortable and safe environment for their members. 

Recently, Len Fridman, CEO and co-founder of WellnessLiving visited Habitual Fitness & Lifestyle to experience their positive atmosphere in person. He also learned more about the gym’s personal training team, specialized services, and commitment to education and sustainable healthy habits.  

Read on to discover why this unique gym switched to WellnessLiving and how our features have helped them streamline operations and drive more membership renewals. Plus, book a demo to learn how WellnessLiving can simplify your own gym’s business operations. 

Habitual Fitness & Lifestyle at a Glance  

📍Location: Mississauga, Ontario
📍Business Name: Habitual Fitness & Lifestyle
📍Business Owner & Co-Founder: Adam Trabulsi
📍General Manager: Eric Mathura
📍Website: https://www.habitual.ca/
📍Business Size: Very Large
📍Established: 2011
📍Joined WellnessLiving Date: April 23, 2019
📍Switched From: EZFacility
📍Active Subscriptions: Professional Plan 

Meet Adam Trabulsi, co-founder/owner and Eric Mathura, general manager of Habitual Fitness & Lifestyle 

Passion and expertise are key elements that set Habitual Fitness & Lifestyle apart. Co-founder and owner Adam Trabulsi spent seven years as a personal trainer with an established company. When that company was bought by GoodLife, Adam transitioned to working as a freelance personal trainer. His long-term client saw his potential and partnered with him, leading to the opening of Habitual Fitness & Lifestyle in 2011. With Adam’s training as a medical exercise specialist, it’s no surprise the gym also features an in-house clinic.  

Eric Mathura, the general manager of Habitual Fitness & Lifestyle, brings his own expertise to the team. Eric majored in kinesiology and later completed George Brown College’s sports event marketing program, giving him a solid background in both fitness and business. He began as a trainer at Habitual Fitness & Lifestyle in 2013, progressed to events marketing manager in 2016, and took on the role of general manager in 2023. 

Both Adam and Eric are passionate about Habitual’s education-first approach to fitness. “We try to educate members and help them understand the science behind why we’re asking them to do what we want them to do,” Adam explains. This approach empowers members to make better decisions, build sustainable habits, and achieve their long-term fitness goals.  

What does Habitual Fitness & Lifestyle offer?  

Habitual Fitness & Lifestyle provides a range of classes and services to help members build balanced programs tailored to their needs.  

• 24-Hour Gym Access Memberships 

• Group Training Classes 

• Mat Pilates 

• Circuit Training 

• Athletic Performance 

• Combat Conditioning 

• Personal Training Assessments, Programming, and Monitoring 

• Integrated Health Clinic Services 

• Physiotherapy 

• Chiropractic 

• Osteopathy 

• Massage 

• Acupuncture 

• Kinesiology/Athletic Therapy 

• Psychotherapy  

Unique services and an education-forward approach    

Habitual Fitness & Lifestyle is more than just a gym. “When we originally opened, the plan was to be a boutique, personal training-only studio, but with the larger space we ended up with, we expanded into a membership-based gym with a personal training department,” Adam explains. 

Having worked with many rehab patients throughout his career, Adam incorporated clinical services like physiotherapy, massage, and athletic therapy into the gym’s offerings. This allows Habitual Fitness & Lifestyle to cater to a wider range of client needs, from fitness training to rehabilitation. 

Their personal trainers emphasize personalized attention and exercise science education, helping clients make lasting improvements. “The word ‘habitual’ is right in our name. It’s all about the lifestyle choices and habits you build. If things aren’t going the way you want, it’s a sign your habits may need to change,” Adam says. 

Habitual Fitness & Lifestyle’s commitment to education and individualized care sets them apart from competitors. “We don’t follow fitness fads. We take a personal approach with our clients, using a ‘habitual health system’ to teach new routines, habits, and training methods that improve their lives,” Adam explains. 

Creating an elite client experience 

Despite being open 24/7, Habitual Fitness & Lifestyle has structured its memberships to ensure that every member can enjoy high-quality workouts with access to the space and equipment they need. 

Membership options include 24/7 access, off-peak hours, and weekend-only access. Some clients opt for class-only passes, which allow them to enter the gym just 30 minutes before their scheduled class. “We offer different memberships based on when people prefer to come, which helps us prevent the gym from getting overcrowded,” Adam explains.  

Building a community committed to comfort 

In addition to offering high-quality services and training programs, Habitual Fitness & Lifestyle is dedicated to maintaining a comfortable, cooperative, and ego-free environment. 

“I’ve never seen a more courteous gym floor or members with less ego. Everyone here is incredibly supportive of each other,” Adam says. Eric adds, “It’s a community-based gym where everyone knows each other, and they see this place as their second home.” 

To foster this sense of community, Habitual Fitness & Lifestyle hosts seasonal events nearly every quarter, including networking sessions, free classes, anniversary celebrations, and summer parties. The gym also features a lounge where members can socialize, play chess or video games, and enjoy coffee. Their self-serve kiosk offers gym swag, apparel, protein shakes, bars, and more, reflecting the strong sense of comfort and trust between the gym and its members. 

Eric credits the positive atmosphere to their personal training team, describing them as “extremely friendly” and “not intimidating at all.” Adam agrees, noting, “I’m very selective about who I hire and the personalities we bring into this community. You might not fully understand it until you’re here, but you can definitely see it reflected in our reviews.” 

Why Habitual Fitness & Lifestyle switched to WellnessLiving  

Managing a 24-hour gym with so many unique services is no small task. Habitual Fitness & Lifestyle previously used two other software solutions, including EZFacility, before switching to WellnessLiving. 

The need for a change became clear when they realized they couldn’t effectively leverage their data. “Our previous gym management software didn’t provide accurate data, and it was difficult to make adjustments or changes,” Adam explains. 

After a recommendation from his former business partner, Eric looked into WellnessLiving and found that it offered many of the features they needed.  

“We love the customization options,” Adam says. “We can sell memberships online now, which makes everything so much easier,” Eric adds. “You just send a link, and the person can make their purchase online.” 

Since switching to WellnessLiving in 2019, they’ve been able to better utilize data and reports, boost membership sales and renewals, eliminate paperwork, and keep members engaged with automated emails and SMS notifications at just the right times. 

The WellnessLiving features that drive Habitual Fitness & Lifestyle 

WellnessLiving has been instrumental in helping Habitual Fitness & Lifestyle manage recurring memberships, achieve steady growth, and run day-to-day operations more efficiently. Tasks that used to take multiple steps are now handled quickly and accurately, streamlining many operational processes. 

The fitness gym software’s user-friendliness and smooth onboarding process also made the transition easy. “The switch wasn’t as difficult as I expected. It was pretty straightforward,” Eric says. 

Here are the key features Habitual Fitness & Lifestyle relies on to drive membership renewals and enhance convenience for both clients and the team: 

Automated Marketing Suite: SMS, Email, and Push Notifications  

WellnessLiving’s automated marketing suite—featuring SMS, email, and push notifications—removes the manual effort from client engagement, retention, and converting leads into loyal members. 

Habitual Fitness & Lifestyle uses email and SMS automation to proactively engage and retain more clients, keeping them informed about promotions, events, services, and more. “People are always on their phones. Sometimes they won’t respond to an email, but with SMS, they’ll reply right away. We’ve seen much higher response rates through SMS,” Eric says. 

They also use email campaigns to successfully drive membership renewals, saving time with features like email scheduling, blast capabilities, and the visual editor. WellnessLiving makes it easy to design and schedule emails within the platform, eliminating the need for third-party platforms. 

“The email features help boost sales because we can reach out to prospects or even former members to bring them back,” Eric explains. 

“We no longer have to chase people down to renew their memberships. They’re already contacting us because they receive the renewal email 30 or 45 days before their membership expires,” he adds. 

Forms  

Habitual Fitness & Lifestyle considers WellnessLiving a one-stop shop, especially when it comes to selling memberships. The Forms feature streamlines the process by eliminating paperwork and sending digital contracts and waivers via links and QR codes. 

At the gym, the QR codes have the added benefit of letting Eric and his team track waivers, giving them a better chance of converting leads. Through Forms, the team automatically delivers waivers and contracts for various types of memberships and services. “Before WellnessLiving, I think we had to sell memberships on paper and then enter them into EZFacility,” Eric says. “With WellnessLiving everything is simple and all in one spot.”  

Advanced Reporting 

WellnessLiving’s advanced reporting tools provide powerful insights to help businesses make informed strategic decisions. Eric and Adam rely on customized dashboards and weekly reports to closely monitor the gym’s performance.  

“I really like how WellnessLiving gives us better projections, such as projected revenue numbers,” Adam says. 

Eric also appreciates the user-friendly nature of the reporting tools. “With the visuals, it’s easy to use, even for people who aren’t very tech-savvy,” he explains.  

They regularly check monthly and projected sales, as well as projected revenue, multiple times a week. Eric also tracks prospects to see which leads haven’t converted into members yet, and he uses the expiring purchase feature to view memberships expiring within the month. 

Their use of WellnessLiving’s reporting features highlights how valuable customization can be. 

“For example, on our waiver, we ask people if they’re interested in initial consultations or PT consults. We can then generate a report showing everyone who said yes during a certain time period,” Eric says. 

Monthly reports for different revenue streams are particularly helpful for Habitual Fitness & Lifestyle, as the gym has multiple revenue streams, including memberships, physiotherapy appointments, and self-serve kiosk sales. 

“It gives us peace of mind. We love that it’s always tracking our trends and showing us where we’re at,” Adam adds.  

Message Center 

Habitual Fitness & Lifestyle often uses the Message Center, which enables real-time, two-way SMS conversations with clients. It’s ideal for sending personalized reminders, exclusive offers, or any communications that require a quick response.  

Eric describes the feature as “a game changer” that “makes life easier.” It also fuels membership sales since it allows businesses to send sign-up links to prospects directly through SMS. Habitual Fitness & Lifestyle uses the Message Center in conjunction with various templates for setting up memberships for old members, clients converting from trials to memberships, and new members. 

FitLIVE 

WellnessLiving’s FitLIVE (Zoom integration) made it easy for Habitual Fitness & Lifestyle clients to attend online classes during the pandemic lockdowns. With seamless live streaming, clients could sign up and join virtual classes without any technical issues. 

Setting up virtual services was simple—Adam and Eric only needed to designate which services to make virtual, allowing clients to view the schedule and receive automated confirmations. 

“Early on during stay-at-home orders, we realized we had to pivot quickly. WellnessLiving had the tools we needed, so we started offering online videos, classes, and instructional content for our clients,” Adam explains. 

Although the focus shifted back to in-person services, virtual classes aren’t off the table. “Now that we’re back up to almost 500 members, we’ve been considering using it again—maybe creating a content vault and offering a paid membership for access to it,” Adam says. 

Community Forum 

Through WellnessLiving’s Community Forum, businesses can request new features, find answers to software-related questions, and share feedback. The forum also provides access to the product roadmap, where users can see upcoming features and updates. Eric frequently uses the Community Forum to share his ideas for improving the gym management software. 

“Anytime I have a feature request that could make WellnessLiving easier to use, I go onto the message board and hit ‘request a feature.’ Usually, they respond within a week,” Eric says. 

He also uses the forum to troubleshoot issues, often relying on Isaac, WellnessLiving’s AI assistant, to help him quickly locate the exact forum page with the answers he’s looking for. 

Commissions 

Streamlining operations for staff has a direct impact on the client experience. Specialized tasks like setting and tracking commissions can be time-consuming, difficult to manage, and may even slow down transactions. 

Habitual Fitness & Lifestyle recently started using WellnessLiving to manage commissions, allowing them to set different commission structures for their personal trainers with just a few clicks. 

“It makes life easier with less manual tracking. When a trainer signs someone up, they simply click on the commissions tab and enter their name,” Eric says. 

Staff Management 

WellnessLiving’s staff management tools include a task manager that helps delegate specific duties to individual team members. Habitual Fitness & Lifestyle sets task dates, assigns tasks, and creates flags, alerts, and notes. This helps them complete specific tasks like following up on pending balances and adding notes to profiles.  

It also allows the team to follow through with tasks and better serve clients even when the person who was previously talking to the client may not be in the office. It’s an effective way to keep track of any special requests like offers for specific clients, creating a seamless client experience and demonstrating professionalism. 

Work it out with WellnessLiving   

Habitual Fitness & Lifestyle strategically uses WellnessLiving to maintain a seamless and enhanced client experience. From proactive membership renewals to paperless intake processes, they’ve streamlined their operations with our powerful features. 

“WellnessLiving is much more user-friendly than our old gym management software. It has automated so many tasks and gives us peace of mind,” Adam says. “We also love that we can request fitness gym software improvements. We’re getting much better data now, too.” 

Having robust gym management software features is critical to business success. “Your team is always improving the gym software, and there are always new features being added,” Eric says. 

But beyond features, user-friendliness and reliable customer service are just as important. Both Eric and Adam praise our team’s dedication to problem-solving. 

“Compared to our previous gym management software, it’s like night and day. We can actually speak to someone when we need help. Issues are resolved much more quickly,” Adam says. “The customer service is excellent. That’s the most important part. We can send in tickets, there’s clear communication, and it’s easy to get someone on the phone.” 

 

Ready to boost retention, simplify operations, and get the personalized support your business deserves? Book your free demo today.