The Off Switch is a simple card and app that helps your members and staff stay in the session instead of in their phones, without losing the parts of their phone they genuinely need for music, tracking or safety.
On this page, you’ll see how it works in gyms and studios, example routines you can roll out, and what operators usually notice after a pilot.
The Off Switch
× Gyms & Fitness Studios
What you’re trying to do
If this sounds like you, you’re in the right place.
1. Increase the number of members who leave feeling they’ve had a proper session, not just a social scroll in sportswear.
2. Protect the atmosphere in studios and class spaces so they feel focused, social and high-energy, not half in the room and half online.
3. Differentiate your club on experience and outcomes, not just price and equipment list.
4. Give PTs and coaches an easy way to keep clients present during sessions.
5. Reduce “phone on the gym floor” complaints without turning staff into full-time phone police.
6. Support staff wellbeing and boundaries when it comes to work chats and member messages out of hours.
Where it starts to go wrong
You’re not imagining it. The attention drain is real; it just hasn’t had a straightforward way to be managed on a busy gym floor.
1. Members unlock their phone “just to change the song” and end up in messages, socials or work emails. Rest periods stretch, intensity drops and the session quietly loses its edge.
2. On the gym floor, you see clusters of people sitting on machines scrolling. High phone use is repeatedly associated with more sedentary time and reduced cardiorespiratory fitness.
3. In classes, phones light up between tracks. The spell breaks, energy drops and the sense of “we’re in this together” is diluted.
4. Staff use their phones for programming and scheduling, but personal notifications creep in, and from a member’s point of view it can look like staff are “on their phones” during shifts.
5. PT clients pay for coaching time, then lose chunks of it to notifications and quick checks that turn into longer distractions.
How The Off Switch helps
Why it makes sense
It lines up with evidence: reducing texting and non-essential phone use during exercise helps maintain intensity, balance, and overall training quality. By shrinking the amount of time members spend sitting and scrolling during sessions, you nudge behaviour away from sedentary patterns that are tied to lower fitness and more aches and pains. You keep the upsides of phones (music, tracking, coaching apps) while curbing the downsides (endless feeds, work chat, notifications that wreck focus). For staff and PTs, it supports the same principles that digital wellbeing research recommends: fewer notifications, more focused blocks, and clearer on/off time.
How it fits into your day
On the gym floor, place Off Switch cards in clear tap points: by strength areas, near lifting platforms, in stretching zones, or on key pillars. Members are invited to tap into a focus mode for the length of their session or block. They still use their phone for music and training apps, while socials, games, and other distractions are temporarily hidden. In studios and classes, at the start of class the instructor invites participants to tap their phones on a card by the door or sound desk. Class becomes a low-phone zone without needing a hard “no phones allowed” rule that some members resist. PTs can build a “Session mode” into their client onboarding: “We tap Off at the start so this 60 minutes is fully yours.” Coaches can also use Off Switch themselves to keep their attention on clients during busy shifts. Front-of-house, management, and instructors can create modes for on-shift focus and off-duty evenings, so work apps don’t follow them home by default.
How it feels over time
Members say the gym feels more like a training space again: fewer people sitting scrolling, more people moving. Classes feel more immersive and social, with people looking at the instructor and each other more rather than at screens. PT sessions feel more like premium time, not time that competes with a client’s inbox. Staff feel more comfortable modelling good phone habits and more respected when they set boundaries on work messages outside their contracted hours.
Routines that work well for gyms & fitness studios
Member strength session focus
When: Any planned strength workout or circuit session.
Apps off: Social media, messaging (personal and work), email, video apps, games.
What stays on: Music, timer or rest-timer app, workout tracker, camera for form checks, emergency contacts.
How it helps: Rest periods stay within a realistic range, more work gets done in the same time and members feel the difference in how “solid” the session was.
Staff “on duty” mode
When: Group classes such as spin, HIIT, circuits, yoga, pilates, dance.
Apps off: Everything non-essential.
What stays on: Calls for emergencies if needed, otherwise nothing.
How it helps: Creates a clear edge to the class: for this 30–60 minutes, people are in the room. That supports enjoyment, perceived value and community feeling.
Member cardio block clarity
When: Treadmill, bike, rower, cross-trainer or outdoor cardio segments.
Apps off: Socials, messaging, email, video apps, games.
What stays on: Music or podcasts, tracking apps, maps and emergency contacts for outdoor sessions.
How it helps: Reduces mid-session texting and scrolling, which research links with lower workout intensity and poorer balance. Members feel more “spent in a good way” afterwards.
PT & coach session mode
When: One-to-one or small group PT, coaching or coaching-based classes.
Apps off for the client: Socials, messaging, work apps, games, non-essential notifications.
Apps off for the coach: Personal socials, non-urgent messaging, personal email.
What stays on: Music, coaching apps, timer, programming notes, emergency contacts.
How it helps: Clients get the full value of their coached time and coaches look and feel fully present, which supports satisfaction, upsells and referrals.
Staff “on shift/off duty” modes
When: All staff-facing roles.
On shift: Staff mute personal apps while on the floor. Work tools stay on.
Off duty: Work email and chat are muted after a set time, personal life stays on.
How it helps: Supports professional standards on the floor and healthier boundaries after hours, which feeds directly into staff wellbeing and retention.
Common questions
Our members use their phones for music and tracking. Will this stop that?
No. Members and staff choose what stays on. The usual pattern is to keep music, timers, tracking apps and safety contacts available, and to mute the apps that usually steal attention. The goal is not to ban phones. It’s to stop them hijacking the session.
Won’t members see this as another rule they have to follow?
You are not confiscating devices or telling people off. You are offering a small ritual that helps their workout feel better and their results come faster. You can frame it as part of your brand promise: “We’re a place for focused, high-quality training, so we make it easy to park the noise for an hour.”
What about PTs and instructors who run their whole business from their phone?
The Off Switch works with that reality. They can keep programming, scheduling and payment apps available, while muting socials and non-urgent chats during sessions and classes. Clients still reach them; they are just not competing with every other app at the same time.
Is this suitable for budget gyms and big-box clubs, or just boutiques?
It works across formats. Boutiques tend to adopt it as part of a premium, high-touch experience. Larger and budget gyms can use it in higher-value zones (strength areas, studios) and in PT offering as a differentiator that costs very little per user but adds clear experiential value.
Is it safe from a safeguarding and emergency point of view?
Yes. In every mode, you control what remains available. Members with children, caring responsibilities or medical needs can keep calls and key contacts open while muting everything else. Staff can keep emergency procedures and numbers live while muting non-urgent apps.