Tough Mudder has made a significant step toward extending the brand beyond races and challenges with the opening of its first franchise gym location, Tough Mudder Bootcamp.
The inspiration behind the brand’s expansion into the training market began with the conundrum that 10 percent of those who registered for a Tough Mudder challenge never showed up to compete.
Through an extensive survey initiative, Tough Mudder determined that the majority of registrants who flaked on their race did so because they felt they had not trained adequately and were underprepared.
Tough Mudder further determined that the challenge completion rate was much higher among those who trained and competed as a team, and so the brand based its new gym concept on team work and positive motivation.
Designed by Tough Mudder mascot Eric Botsford, TM Bootcamp workout classes are a fun and enthusiastic take on high-intensity interval training. Similar to CrossFit, TM Bootcamp focusses on functional fitness with minimal equipment.
As a team, participants rotate twice through six activity stations, where they work together to complete targeted functional fitness challenges for 45 minutes. “Between the exercises, many encouraging high fives are exchanged,” said TM athlete Christopher Stephens, writing for ORM.
During initial testing, Tough Mudder invited a diverse cross section of athletes — from World’s Toughest Mudder competitors to new faces who had never participated in an obstacle race. From an initial prototype workout, the brand gathered feedback to guide further expansion.
Looking forward, Tough Mudder has its sights set on developing franchise locations in smaller cities. The brand hopes to open 10 new gyms in 2017, then expand to 150 in 2018 and 350 in 2019.
