The franchisor credits ABC Fitness’ management platform with supplying the back-office infrastructure it needs to maintain quality and consistency at scale.
One of the main advantages of the franchise model is how quickly it allows fitness and wellness brands to scale. But rapid growth without a solid infrastructure to support it could mean the beginning of the end for even the most innovative concepts.
Xtreme Fitness Gyms recognized both the promise and perils of expansion. At 100 locations across Poland, the company was already one of the most successful gym businesses in the country. The vision, though, was much bigger.
Xtreme Fitness Gyms began 2025 with the goal of opening at least 60 new locations this calendar year—in addition to establishing a complementary children’s gym concept. To execute on that lofty vision, the company recognized it was time to address some of the stressors already challenging the business. The idea wasn’t just to support the scale of the franchise by year end but to find a solution that would allow it to grow to its full potential: 700 locations by 2030.
“We knew our biggest challenge would be maintaining quality at such a large scale. That’s why we devoted enormous attention to building procedures that are scalable and resilient,” said James Cotton, CEO of Xtreme Fitness Gyms.
Recognizing the challenges
Xtreme Fitness Gyms is positioned to capitalize on a turning point in the local culture. In part due to the pandemic, Polish citizens are embracing fitness and putting more of an emphasis on healthy lifestyles. That shift has democratized the gym experience, bringing in members across age groups—as a lifestyle choice and source of community for the young and an investment in longevity for older demographics. With high demand in an otherwise young market, Xtreme Fitness Gyms recognized the potential for growth as well as its responsibility to get it right.
“When we talk about scale, these are not just statistics. The locations represent a story of building Poland’s largest fitness and active-leisure community, based on a franchise-centric model that gives entrepreneurs the tools for success and clients the experience they expect from a modern network,” Cotton said.
In addition to maintaining quality across all locations, Xtreme Fitness Gyms wanted to ensure the company was able to offer the support franchisees require to be successful. That meant systemizing everything from onboarding to marketing training.
Additionally, to lay the groundwork for such an ambitious network, the franchisor recognized the need to digitize its back office more fully. Up to that point, the company had been operating with what Cotton described as “a patchwork of different systems.” While this approach had served the business well in its earlier stages—supporting membership management and enabling growth—other functions such as class scheduling, client communication and payments were still handled manually or through separate processes. This setup was practical and effective for a time, but as the network prepared for rapid expansion, it became clear that a more comprehensive, integrated solution would be essential to sustain growth and efficiency in the long term.
“At a dozen clubs you can still manage processes semi-manually; at a hundred or two hundred, it becomes impossible. Our criteria were clear: the system had to be flexible, intuitive, scalable and genuinely helpful for both head office and franchisees,” Cotton said. “That’s why our partnership with ABC Fitness was so crucial – it enabled us to centralize everything from membership management and class schedules to real-time data analytics.”
While ABC Fitness’ Glofox fitness management platform stood out from the beginning, what ultimately convinced Xtreme Fitness Gyms was the combination of advanced technology and practical support the company offered. Together, it provided the right formula for the eventual 700-location fitness giant, while enabling the franchise to maintain its high quality and consistency standards.
Creating a winning partnership
When it came to onboarding the new system, Xtreme Fitness Gyms was also very intentional. The franchisor first implemented the software at corporate, following a series of online and in-person training sessions. Once executives there were confident in how it was integrated into the organization, only then did the company roll it out to franchise locations.
Cotton said “simplicity and clarity were crucial” at this stage, which he characterized as an ongoing process. In addition to training sessions, ABC Fitness provided franchisees with educational materials, tutorials and step-by-step documentation, so that every manager or staff member could master the system.
“Looking back, onboarding not only improved the rollout but also strengthened relationships across the network – franchisees felt that HQ and our tech partner were genuinely on their side,” Cotton said.
Since onboarding with ABC Fitness, Xtreme Fitness Gyms has opened 25 locations with 40 more planned by year end. The company has also successfully launched the Xtreme KiDS play and activity center concept, which currently boasts five locations with 10 more on the horizon for 2025.
Cotton attributes these successes to the ways in which ABC Glofox made club management simpler and smarter.
“For HQ, the biggest value is data,” Cotton said. “We can track individual club performance, compare results across the network, spot trends and respond swiftly to market changes. That gives us a huge advantage – making strategic decisions based on reliable, consistent data, which at our scale is absolutely essential.”
At the franchisee level, Cotton said managers are no longer bogged down by paperwork, administrative tasks and communications. It’s all much more streamlined and intuitive. This frees them up to spend more time engaging with members on the training floor and building relations that translate directly to satisfaction and retention.
“In short, ABC Fitness has given us what we were looking for – efficiency, consistency and scalability,” Cotton said.
“Xtreme Fitness is a powerful example of how the right digital foundation fuels sustainable hypergrowth. At ABC Fitness, our mission is to equip operators with scalable, intuitive tools that remove complexity so they can focus on their members,” Conor O’Loughlin, chief revenue officer. “With ABC Glofox, franchisors like Xtreme Fitness can expand with confidence, knowing they have the infrastructure, data insights, and partner support needed to deliver consistency across every location while never losing sight of the member experience.”
With the infrastructure to support the growing company in place, Xtreme Fitness Gyms is now confident it can achieve its expansion goals in a way that protects the brand and reflects its “franchise-centricity” philosophy. Ultimately, Cotton said building partnerships with tech players and the entrepreneurs operating each location is the roadmap to derisking hypergrowth.
“My number one piece of advice is: get your foundations in place before you start scaling. Rapid expansion is exciting, but if your processes aren’t solid and your model untested, growth turns from an opportunity into chaos,” Cotton said.
Additionally, Cotton always keeps Xtreme Fitness Gyms’ members top of mind, even as the company achieves each milestone toward its ultimate goal. For him, each new location represents a community and hundreds of individuals looking for a space for training, motivation and healthy living.
“In fitness, members don’t just buy a pass; they choose a place they’ll return to several times a week,” he said. “They choose the atmosphere, the community and the experience you provide. So, no matter how fast you grow, make sure every club remains a place where people feel good and want to stay.”
