How to Manage Multi-Week Fitness Programs? 

Running a multi-week Program — a Tennis Clinic, a Swim Lesson series, a monthly Pilates subscription, a Summer Camp — involves more moving parts than a Group Ex class. Most fitness facilities are managing all of it without a system built for it.

The result is a set of problems, such as manual rosters, waitlists managed on spreadsheets, and no way to book programs from a phone.

In this blog, we cover four problems related to running programs and how fitness facilities are fixing them with SHC:

1. Members can’t book Programs on their own without the help of the Front Desk
2. The Front Desk has to manage Program bookings manually 
3. Instructors Can’t View Their Roster or Mark Attendance From Their Phone
4. Non-Members can’t sign up or pay for Programs without the Front Desk

Throughout this blog, we reference examples and data from Montana Athletic Club, Wisconsin Athletic Club, Recovery Lab, etc — fitness facilities that have already made this shift. Let’s start.

1. Members can’t Book Programs on Their Own Without the Help of the Front Desk

A. Pain Points Experienced by Members 

1. No way to book Programs outside business hours
2. Parents can’t book two children into different time slots of the same program
3. No real-time view of which program cohorts have open spots 
4. Waiting lists are managed manually on spreadsheets

B. How SHC Handles This

Pain Point	SHC Workflow
No way to book programs outside business hours	Member self-enrollment on SHC: 1. Member opens the app or web portal and goes to Programs. 2. Browses available programs and batches — morning vs evening, beginner vs intermediate. 3. Selects a time slot, purchases, and is automatically enrolled in all sessions. Confirmation sent instantly. No Front Desk step required.
Parents can’t book two children into different time slots of the same program	Family booking on SHC: 1. Parent selects a child profile from their linked family account. 2. Browses available programs and time slots independently for each child. 3. Completes both enrollments in a single transaction — child profiles include allergies, medications, and emergency contacts visible to instructors.
No real-time view of which program time slots have open spots	Live availability on SHC: 1. Member opens the app and goes to Programs. 2. Sees available spots per time slot in real time — remaining spots or waiting list status shown automatically. 3. No call to Front Desk required.
Waiting lists are managed manually on spreadsheets	Waiting list management on SHC: 1. Member joins the waiting list directly from the app when a program fills up. 2. When a spot opens, SHC notifies waiting members automatically. 3. Gym chooses how the spot is assigned — first to respond, auto-assign, or sequential notification. No staff involvement required.

C. How Fitness Facilities Have Addressed This With SHC?

Montana Athletic Club moved Swim Lesson enrollment entirely to self-serve on SHC. In May 2026, 94.4% of all orders were completed by members without staff help — only 5 out of 89 required Front Desk assistance. 

Doug Mahlum, Founder and CEO of Montana Athletic Club:

“We spent 15 minutes per swim lesson we sold. Now, after using the SHC mobile app, we spend close to 0.”

2. Front Desk Has to Manage Program Bookings Manually

A. Pain Points Experienced by Staff & Front Desk 

1. No single place to see who is booked and waitlisted across a Program
2. Adding or removing a member from a program requires manual roster updates
3. Managing fee-based program bookings requires switching to the billing system
4. No way to book members into a single session of a multi-week Program

B. How SHC Handles This

Pain Point	SHC Workflow
No single place to see who is booked and waitlisted across programs	Waitlist Management on SHC: 1. Front Desk opens Manage Booking under Programs on the mobile or web app. 2. Sees booked and waitlisted members for that program on a single screen.
Adding or removing a member from a program requires manual roster updates	Managing Program Bookings on SHC: 1. Front Desk opens Manage Booking under Programs on the mobile or web app. 2. Clicks Add User and searches for the member by name. 3. Selects the program and time slot — member added to the roster instantly. Single flow, no system switching.
Managing fee-based program bookings requires switching to the billing system	Fee-based booking on SHC: 1. Staff opens Manage Booking and selects the member. 2. Charges through their card on file or sends a payment link — directly from the same screen. 3. Transaction recorded automatically, no separate billing system login.
No way to book members into the remaining sessions of a multi-week program	Partial program booking on SHC: 1. Staff opens Manage Booking for the program. 2. Selects whether to book the member for the full program or remaining sessions only. 3. Charges the full price or a partial price accordingly, directly from the platform.

C. How Fitness Facilities Have Addressed This With SHC?

Wisconsin Athletic Club manages Outdoor Summer Tennis Camps, Swim Lessons, Premium Classes, and Workshops from a single platform via SHC. 82% of all orders are self-serve, saving an estimated 47 hours of staff time and $948–$1,660 in labor costs in one month.

3. Instructors Can’t View Their Roster or Mark Attendance From Their Phone

A. Pain Points Experienced by Instructors 

1. Instructors have no way to see who is enrolled in their session before it starts
2. Attendance is marked on paper and entered into the system manually after the session
3. Instructors have no access to the child’s health information before a Kids Camp session
4. No way to message all participants in a program directly from the app

B. How SHC Handles This

Pain Point	SHC Workflow
Instructors have no way to see who is enrolled in their session before it starts	Program roster on SHC: 1. The instructor opens the mobile app and goes to their program session. 2. Sees the full roster — all enrolled members for that session. 3. No Front Desk check required — roster visible on the app.
Attendance is marked on paper and entered into the system after the session	Attendance marking on SHC: 1. Instructor opens the mobile app, goes to the department calendar, and selects the session. 2. Taps Mark Attendance — sees the full list of booked members with a checkbox next to each name. 3. Checks each member; attendance is recorded instantly.
Instructors have no access to child health information before a Kids Camp session	Child profile and health information on SHC: 1. The instructor opens the program roster on their phone. 2. Selects a child’s profile — allergies, medications, and emergency contacts visible instantly. 3. No separate form or Front Desk check required.
No way to message all participants in a program directly from the app	In-app messaging on SHC: 1. Instructor opens the program on the mobile app. 2. Messages all participants in the program directly from the same screen. 3. No separate email, text, or phone call required — all communication stays within the platform.

C. How Fitness Facilities Have Addressed This With SHC?

One facility running Swim Lessons and youth programs had child health information — allergies, medications, emergency contacts — sitting on paper forms at the Front Desk. Instructors had no way to access it before a session started.

After moving to SHC, child health profiles appear directly on the instructor’s active roster before every session — captured at enrollment, visible on the phone, no Front Desk check required.

The operational impact was measurable. Family booking support emails dropped from 50–75 per enrollment cycle to essentially zero by the fourth cycle, as instructor rosters became accurate, real-time, and accessible from anywhere in the facility.

4. Non-Members Can’t Book or Pay for Programs Without the Front Desk

A. Pain Points Experienced by Non-Members

1. Non-members have no way to book a program online
2. Non-members can only book during business hours
3. Non-member payments go through a different gateway than member payments
4. No way for non-members to pay for a program without going through the Front Desk

B. How SHC Handles This

Pain Point	SHC Workflow
Non-members have no way to book a program online	Non-member self-enrollment on SHC: 1. Non-member opens the web portal or app and goes to Programs. 2. Browses available programs and time slots, selects one, and pays via Stripe. 3. Automatically enrolled in all sessions — confirmation sent instantly. No Front Desk interaction required.
Non-members can only book during business hours	24/7 enrollment on SHC: 1. Non-member opens the web portal or app at any time. 2. Browses programs, selects a time slot, and pays via Stripe. 3. Enrolled instantly — no staff involvement required outside business hours.
Non-member enrollment at the Front Desk requires multiple steps across different systems	Staff-assisted non-member enrollment on SHC: 1. Staff opens Manage Booking under Programs. 2. Creates the account, selects the program and time slot, processes payment — all in one flow. 3. No system switching. Confirmation sent automatically.
No way for non-members to pay for a program without going through the Front Desk	Non-member payment on SHC: 1. Non-member pays via Stripe directly through the app or web portal. 2. Transaction completed and recorded automatically — no separate gateway or manual entry required.

C. How Fitness Facilities Have Addressed This With SHC?

Recovery Lab uses SHC to run its entire service model around non-member bookings. Non-members open the app, browse services, select a time slot, pay through the app, and arrive. No Front Desk step or business hours constraint. 

Interestingly, Recovery Lab has no traditional membership concept — every client pays per service. Everyone is effectively a non-member. SHC handles the full transaction flow for every single booking, every single time.

Conclusion

Multi-week programs are one of the strongest non-dues revenue lines at most fitness facilities. Swim Lessons, Tennis Clinics, Kids Camps, Pilates series, Small Group Training — members and non-members actively want them. Fitness facilities like Montana Athletic Club, Wisconsin Athletic Club, Recovery Lab, etc have put a system behind them and are seeing it in their numbers.