It’s true: There are about 4,000 Anytime Fitness owners, staff, and members around the world with a tattoo of the brand’s Runningman logo. These tattoos are on all kinds of members, franchisees, and employees, from all kinds of different activities, sports and means of exercise. You won’t believe the places you’ll find our Anytime Fitness brand tattoo. Just ask Instagram!
A lot of men and women have brand logo tattoos – Apple is a popular one. If you’re wondering why so many people have our logo tattooed on their skin, read on! Anytime Fitness was founded in Minnesota in 2002, by our CEO Chuck Runyon and president Dave Mortensen. As a company, we grew fast and despite global offices and destinations, Chuck kept the company headquartered in Minnesota. At our headquarters today, you’ll find people who love their jobs, a full gym complete with treadmills, dumbbells, kettlebell, barbells and, maybe most uniquely, a running tattoo parlor where our employees and franchisees can rock our colors as art, permanently!
Now, why would anyone get a tattoo of the Anytime Fitness logo, much less of a gym’s logo in general? Some people want to commemorate an obstacle they overcame or a peak moment in their fitness journey, like miles cycled in a race or a weight lifting record that they couldn’t have reached without their coach’s help. Others get inked to celebrate the relationships they’ve made at the gym, or the mood their gym puts them in. For some, the tattoo idea is simply about sharing their passion and experience for the sport, and for others, the design is a visual cue to keep up their activity, month after month.
While a tattoo of your gym’s logo may seem extreme, if you consider the impact a gym has on someone’s life and wellness, overall—it becomes more understandable. The subtle reminder it provides is the perfect inspiration you might need to continue making health happen day in and day out.
Thinking About Getting a Tattoo of Your Own?
Feeling inspired to get a tattoo of your own? If you’re not ready to make the jump to our logo just yet, there are a lot of gorgeous fitness-themed tattoos out there. Many people get creative tattoos as a testament to their fit lifestyle, or as a permanent reminder of their passion for working out. They may get tattoos to remind themselves of obstacles they’ve overcome, cool workouts they’ve completed, peaks in their fitness journey, marathon mileage, beautiful running trails, or other illustrations of their fitness experience. Just a quick search on Instagram brings up tons of high-quality pictures and interesting posts of dumbbell tattoos, yoga tattoos, runner tattoos, minimalist small tattoos, large tattoos, in all designs, prints, images and illustrations. Whatever your fitness program, whether you’re a runner or prefer to lift weights, we guarantee there’s someone out there with a permanent reminder of your passion on their sleeve (or leg, or ankle, or bicep)!
If you’re stuck thinking of a design, Instagram is a great place to look for examples, but your tattoo artist can work with most high-quality pictures or art prints you find, too. Of course, as great as technology can be, make sure you don’t bring them a video or movie – they’ll need a still image for an example of the tattoo you want. Make sure you research your tattoo parlor and artist to see what information they’ll require before your visit.
Want a tattoo, but hesitant to book an appointment for something so permanent? If that’s the case, there are lots of great temporary tattoos that you can order. We recommend shopping brands like Inkbox, which has temporary tattoos in a variety of sizes that last 1-2 weeks. That sounds crazy, but it’s a fact: These aren’t the temporary tattoos of your childhood! They’re easy to apply by hand, and ordering one can help give you a sense of the physical shape, space, size in inches and style you’d like for your tattoo. And hey, if you want to go super low-tech, try a sticker! If you’re really unsure of your tattoo’s destination, but know the kind of tattoo you want, a sticker might be the way to go. Unlike a temporary tattoo, you can move a sticker around every day!
What we absolutely love about the Runningman tattoo is that he doesn’t have to be a runner! “He” doesn’t even need to be a “he!” While most people get the standard logo, many others will adopt it to their favorite activity or means of exercise. You can get a Runningman who dances, cycles, races, lifts – whatever pose best represents your sport! You can also add text to it like a mileage number; just remember to bring a text font example for your tattoo artist. Your tattoo can be minimalist or massive; Instagram-worthy or completely private; doing a cool workout, dancing, or frozen in place. Because ultimately, what matters most of is all is what the tattoo means to you and how it inspires you to continue reaching your goals!
