NASHUA – Starting Jan. 1, six Gold’s Gym locations in southern New Hampshire are breaking away from the brand to become FITLAB Fitness Clubs, taking the name of the club’s burgeoning personal-training amenity.

Owner Ted Bernson said staff and services will remain the same, but the rebranding will change the aesthetic of the gym, expand FITLAB amenities to all six locations and include an option for a lower monthly price at $10.

The idea took root a year ago with the launch of the first FITLAB in Manchester.

"In the beginning of 2015, we first built (FITLAB) in Manchester as our specialty training room, and we realized how many people really just want all these things under one roof," said Bernson, who has owned the six locations with Chris Jordan for the past 20 years. "This is the future of fitness."

In the Nashua gym, the FITLAB amenity is housed in a separate room and offers rigorously paced group and personal training courses. FITLAB incorporates rowing and climbing equipment and tracks participants’ heart rates on an overhead monitor, according to Bernson. "It helps you keep your heart rate in the right place, and it’s a way to have a little competition with classmates," he said, adding that participants can look online for their FITLAB profile to track past performances.

The impending change affects the Nashua, Merrimack, Manchester, Milford, Goffstown and Hudson locations after years under the iconic Gold’s Gym brand.

"We have six locations, 18,000 members and we employ 300 people," Bernson said. He added that while the Gold’s Gym brand is the second-most recognizable logo in the world "next to Coca Cola," belonging to the franchise has a downside.

"They have restrictions and guidelines on who you can buy from and we don’t want to be confined in what we can offer to our members." Bernson said.

"Being able to offer more options for our members is a big game-changer for us. It just opens the door for us. It becomes a fitness club for everyone," he said.

Re-branding the gym also helps move away from the association of Gold’s Gym with body building, he said. "Body building is not what defines us. We have a mix of things," Bernson said, noting the sites offer a seven-day class schedule, as well as racquetball, basketball and the new FITLAB area.

And then there’s the price. "There are a lot of low-value, low-cost clubs out there, and high-value, high-cost clubs – we want to be the high-value, low-price club," he said. Members won’t automatically belong to the circuit of area gyms, but will have a home gym.

"The problem with health clubs today is that they just cost too much for consumers to afford," he said.

The FITLAB Fitness Club brand and improvements begin Jan.1, and are set to wrap up by August 2016. "We have plans for adding a FITLAB to Merrimack and Milford in the coming months, and major renovations in all clubs start Jan. 1, like painting, lobby upgrades, technology upgrades and new equipment coming in," Bernson said.

None of the locations are scheduled to close during the changeover process, and current members don’t have to do anything to continue their membership, he said. "We’ve made this completely seamless."

Tina Forbes can be reached at 594-6402, tforbes@nashuatelegraph. com or @Telegraph_TinaF.