Somerset Sports and Fitness
The Friendliest Gym Around | November 2019
By Maria Landry
“We’re a really open, friendly gym,” says Kelly Coughlin, manager of operations at Somerset Sports and Fitness (SSF). In fact, the SSF brochure touts the facility, located at 6 Commerce Drive just off Route 201, as the “friendliest gym around.”
“When a new member comes here, we totally understand that they might not know what they’re doing. We have trainers—there’s no extra charge—and they sit down with you, feel out what your goals are, and then help you attain them.”
With nearly 800 members ranging from age 6 to 90+, SSF has something for everyone, according to Coughlin.
The gym offers free weights and weight machines, medicine balls, rowers, ellipticals, treadmills, a spinning room, weighted hula hoops, a stretching room, a boxing area, battle ropes, a quiet upstairs area for those who want to be by themselves, an aerobic room that was recently updated, and more.
For those who want a guided experience, SSF features about 50 classes a week. “We try to give a huge variety,” Coughlin said, including yoga, spinning, Zumba, weight classes, aerobics, rowing, and more.
“A fitness class really draws people in,” she noted, adding that some people like the accountability of attending a class at a specific time. “If somebody has it in their heart that they need to be proactive in their health, that works for them.”
Spinning, she says, is an ever-popular class option. “We light up the LED lights around the room, we turn on music, we shut the doors. It becomes sound-proof. It’s really hot, it’s really sweaty, it’s really loud, and it’s wicked fun. We were the first place to have spinning in the state of Maine when we opened 22 years ago.”
Aside from those who enjoy attending classes, there are also plenty of people who come on their own time and “do their own thing,” according to Coughlin.
What about those who might be nervous about hitting the gym?
“Everybody’s scared to go to a gym the first time,” Coughlin said. “Come in for a tour. If I can just show you one thing you might be interested in, that’s a step forward toward becoming more active. We have a Fit for Life class every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 8 a.m. Try that class for free. Come on in, you get a free visit, we’ll take you around to the rest of the gym. It gives you a taste of the kind of real people that are in here.”
Coughlin added that the SSF crew of 16 instructors and four full-time staff is not only qualified but also friendly and personable.
“We pull from the community, and we have these incredible instructors that are all certified and teach these bang-up classes. We have real people that know their stuff and that can help people. There’s a quality of service that our members have come to expect—and we’re going to provide it.”
In order to ensure top-notch customer service, Coughlin has comment boxes all over the gym.
“I read all of [the comments],” she said, ‘and the ones that I agree with, I’ll do what they say.”
A recent example is updating the locker rooms. “We just cleaned, painted, put new saunas in. The other saunas were working, but the new ones are so much more economical. It’s such nice radiant heat.” The locker rooms also have steam rooms. Sweat towels are available as well as refreshing eucalyptus cooling towels—a clever idea Coughlin got from a hotel stay.
There are some suggestions in the comment boxes that Coughlin can’t feasibly act on, like adding a pool.
“The only thing we don’t have is swimming, but the hospital has a pool at Rehab & Fitness,” Coughlin said. SSF members receive a reduced rate to use that pool since SSF is under the umbrella of Redington-Fairview General Hospital.
“They believe in us for the community,” Coughlin said. “All of their employees get free memberships—all they have to do is sign up. We get a lot of people from Redington-Fairview, which is nice, but we’re not just for them. It’s for the community as well.”
SSF offers flexible options for memberships including one month, three months, six months, or a year. There are special rates for seniors, full-time students of all ages, and families. Gift cards are available, as are passes for one day/class, one week, or 10 visits.
“We’ve seen a big uptick in family memberships in the past year,” Coughlin noted. She said she enjoys seeing young people and families take control of their health.
For Coughlin, it all comes down to helping others.
“I love helping people,” she proclaims. ”Love it. I love to see people’s results. I love to work out. I love to motivate people. I like the kind of people that come here. They’re surrounding themselves with other people that want to make their lives better.”
Learn more about Somerset Sports and Fitness on their website.
