Courtesy of Crunch Fitness
- Crunch Fitness CEO Jim Rowley said his workday varies whether he's in the office or touring gyms.
- A morning protein shake, exercise, and a desk to focus at are crucial to his routine on the road.
- To wind down, he takes a walk and watches crime dramas or reality competition shows with his wife.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jim Rowley, CEO of Crunch Fitness and United States Marine Corps. veteran. It's been edited for length and clarity.
What's interesting about my day is that it's never really routine.
It's highly dependent on where I'm working from, so if I'm in my main office in Manhattan, the day is quite different than if I'm at home in Lake Tahoe. It's fulfilling to not have the same routine over and over again.
I've been doing this for 34 years, so monotony is a killer for me.
Where my job gets fun is if I'm on the road, I'm in gyms. My team and get to go to our more than 500 gyms, and I love meeting the members.
Lately, we've been spending a lot of time on understanding where AI is going to integrate perfectly with the member experience and the team member experience. We're testing some ideas out in the field.
When I'm feeling like I'm in a rut from a strategy standpoint, creatively, I go to the gyms. I think all the answers are in the gyms. So I talk to my teams about what's working, what's not.
People think I'm kind of a hard guy, but I think I'm pretty relaxed, especially on the road. There are just a few non-negotiables I have in my regular cadence to stay on track.
Mornings are for watching the news and checking in with my family
Typically, I get up at 5:45 a.m. to 6:30 a.m., depending on the day. My morning is like an old grandpa's. I watch the business news, see how the markets are trending. I usually have my one cup of coffee for the day.
Right now, my morning is special — I had a granddaughter born last June, so she's up really early, my daughter's up really early, so I usually get to chat with them via text or FaceTime before everything has started. Once that's done, I start my emails. The majority of my day is set up around Zoom rodeos, performance updates, executive leadership team meetings, or huddles.
This may be funny, but when I'm on the road, I need to have a desk or a sitting area so I have space to think and stretch my legs. I can't just be checking emails from bed.
I also need to get a protein shake in the morning, especially when I'm on the road. I'm not going to sit down and have a hotel breakfast or stop anywhere.
Exercise is essential
I believe fitness is medicine. I'm 58 now, and I'm chasing being happy, healthy, and mobile in my eighties and nineties, so it's really about staying active, keeping moving.
When I was in the Marine Corps., I worked out in the morning. Prior to 2020, I worked out at the end of my day.
I'm finding that the midday routine is best for me now, to block out some time.
At lunchtime, around 1 p.m., I break for exercise. So about 12:45, I wind down my meetings, and I'm either headed to Pilates or the gym.
I can walk to our gym, which is great. It's about a 20-minute walk there and back, so you get 40 minutes of cardio with your weightlifting.
I don't lift for ego anymore. I rarely bench. I used to bench press all the time, and I was very proud of what I could bench press. Now, I don't bench press at all because it's so hard on my shoulders. I do a lot more dumbbell workouts now, a lot more machine lifting.
Courtesy of Crunch Fitness
Having lifted weights since I was 14, I felt like Pilates was an opportunity for me to try to lengthen, strengthen, and activate some of the smaller muscles.
It changed my life, to be honest with you. I became much more limber, a lot less tight. At first, I was the only man in the Pilates class, but I've been telling my neighbors and building a little army of Pilates guys.
I've done both yoga and Pilates, and prefer Pilates because there is a little bit of strength with mobility and balance.
Winding down with a walk and TV time
After the gym, I'll have lunch, and then I'm back at the office for more calls, meetings, and so forth. It's problem-solving, it's answering questions, and then I wrap up my day.
I like to get out of here by 5:30 p.m. to get a walk in, especially this time of year, because it's cold and it's just refreshing.
We eat dinner around 6:30 or 7 p.m.
My wife and I aren't big on sitcom television, but we do like series. She likes anything out of England, the BBC. I'm more into military history, US history, or westerns. We settled in the middle with dramatic crime whodunnit type of series.
I do have a passion for "Survivor" and "The Amazing Race." People laugh at me, but I just love competition.
Then I read a little bit, and I'm in bed usually by 11.