Sports club furniture could have an important role to play in keeping older people comfortable before, during and after a session of exercise, following the publication of figures showing how the retirement 'Class of 2014' intend to keep in shape during their autumn years.
Prudential surveyed almost 8,000 UK adults below retirement age, around 1,000 of whom are due to reach retirement age by the end of 2014, and found many are not planning to spend their pensionable years in a sedentary state.
In fact, the majority (53%) will be increasing the amount of exercise they do, once they leave work, and 37% hope to spend more time socialising with friends; 29% of those surveyed said they don't have any worries about retiring at all, and are very much looking forwards to it.
"For many people retirement is now a gradual process rather than a watershed where you simply stop working one day and become retired the next," said Stan Russell, retirement income expert at Prudential.
"Increased life expectancy and improvements in general health are changing how we think about retirement."
With Britons increasingly self-aware when it comes to general fitness and maintaining good health and physical condition for the long term, many of those reaching retirement are likely to continue their existing fitness regime, or even spend more time in the gym.
And as they reach their senior years, it could be wise to cater for the Class of 2014 with more areas for relaxation - perhaps including a separate lounge for use before or after a gym session, with vending machines or a serving area for snacks and drinks if appropriate.
You might even choose to place more comfortable sports club furniture in the gym area itself, to allow those older members using your equipment to take regular short breaks in between their sessions of exercise.
The ageing population is posing challenges and opportunities in equal measure for many industries; making sure you cater for their unique and evolving needs is one relatively simple way to differentiate yourself from other operators, and tap into this new and growing market.