Carrick Fitness Centre: Building a community that lifts each other higher

For more than 30 years, Carrick Fitness Centre has been a cornerstone of its local fitness community. When Barry took over a decade ago, the gym looked very different - rows of machines and solo workouts filled the floor. Ten years later, he’s completely transformed it into a thriving small-group and personal training hub where community, education, and accountability drive real results.

At the heart of Carrick Fitness Centre’s ethos are three core values: challenge, educate, and motivate. Barry and his team focus on helping members grow at their own pace, explaining the “why” behind every session, and creating an environment where everyone feels part of something bigger. 

“It’s a big family. Everyone pushes everyone on - whether that’s through a fist bump, a bit of craic, or just showing up for each other.”

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The Challenge: 

Before switching to LegitFit, Barry was using Glofox to manage his bookings and memberships. But what started well soon became a major source of frustration.

“It started off well but as time went on, every update made things harder. Even simple things like booking someone in or applying for a membership became awkward. It was taking more time than it was saving.”

The system’s complexity caused confusion for both the team and members. Clients couldn’t easily book, reschedule, or manage their sessions, which meant Barry was constantly fielding messages and fixing errors that shouldn’t have happened in the first place. At the same time, Carrick Fitness Centre was evolving from a commercial gym model into a coaching-led community and it needed software that could grow with it.

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The Solution: 

When Barry heard about LegitFit from other gym owners, he decided to take a look. The timing couldn’t have been better. During COVID, Barry was rebuilding the business from the ground up, redefining his offering, and streamlining how things ran. LegitFit became a key part of that shift.

“A few people recommended it, so I booked a call. Within two days, everything was moved over and I was off to the races. From the first demo, I knew it was a no-brainer. Everything that had been complicated before was suddenly easy. Booking, memberships, payments - all straightforward. And any question I had was answered on that first call.”

With LegitFit, both Barry and his members gained real control and visibility. Members could now book or cancel sessions, manage their memberships, and even purchase new packages - all without having to message the gym. On Barry’s side, LegitFit’s clean reporting tools gave him the data to make smarter business decisions and track monthly recurring revenue with ease.

Since making the switch, Carrick Fitness Centre has tripled its revenue and grown to nearly 90 full-time members, with a further 15-18 participating in challenges. 

“LegitFit makes it so easy to keep track of everything. I can see exactly where our revenue’s going up or down. It’s helped us build for the next 100 members, not just the ones we had before.”

The new LegitFit features like programming tools, automated emails, and push notifications  have already boosted member engagement and retention significantly - around 70% of challenge participants go on to buy a membership.

“We’ve seen a big uplift in people reaching out and booking in again after getting reminder emails.”

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What's next?

Barry’s next big goal is clear - reach 100 active members while continuing to improve the product and member experience.

“We want to keep getting people's results and maintain that small-group, family feel. If we can keep doing that - and LegitFit keeps helping us do it - the future’s bright.”

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