This weekend, Wilder Zapata - founder of Action Black gyms - sent me a note that was made to him at El Colombianoentitled "Sleeping in the gym? Hotel for athletes is being built in Medellín". In this column they talk about our project Action Livingwhich is in its final stage of construction in Laureles.

The article tells a business story and a phenomenon that is worth analyzing beyond the headlines. Because Action Living was not born out of nowhere, nor as the natural extension of a gym brand, much less as a momentary inspiration of one of the partners. ACTION LIVING was born from a simple, almost obvious observation: if millions of people exercise regularly, why should they give up that routine when they travel?

Fitness as a habit, not a luxury

In every city in the world there are hundreds of gyms. Public, private, in residential units, offices, homes and parks. Their exact number is impossible to calculate, but what is measurable is the trend: according to IHRSA (the global fitness industry association), more than 200 million people in the world belong to some kind of club or training center.

In Colombia, although official figures are scarce, the behavior is visible in any neighborhood: expanding chains, crossfit boxes, personal trainers, routines shared via WhatsApp and a generation that grew up understanding that exercise is a fundamental part of everyday life.

Exercise is not a niche. It is not a fad. It is part of everyday life for millions of people.

And yet, when these people travel, they rarely find a place to train like at home. Traditional hotels have very low-quality gyms: small spaces, with few machines and no soul. For many, that's not enough. In addition, maintaining the routine involves looking for gyms in the area, comparing options, paying monthly fees or inflexible tickets, and taking cab rides or apps. These logistics are, in many cases, a barrier that leads to resignation.

Action Living is born exactly there: in the need to eliminate that friction. Not to turn exercise into a tourist attraction, but to ensure that those who already practice it do not have to stop to travel. It is a response to a behavioral logic, not a trend. It is hospitality thought from the routine, not from the exception.

A new category: the hotel that starts at the gymnasium

It is not a matter of turning all hotels into gyms. It is a question of having at least one in every tourist city that understands this need as a priority and not as an optional extra.

Instead of putting a gym inside the hotel, Action Living puts the hotel inside the gym. And it surrounds it with standards of hospitality, design, nutrition and wellness designed for a guest who is not looking for artificial luxuries, but for continuity in their lifestyle.

The project - developed by MACCA - will have 59 rooms, three floors dedicated to fitness, recovery areas, coworking and a specialized restaurant. But more than the numbers, what is important is what it represents: the validation of a model that understands that for millions of people exercise is a structural part of their daily identity. It is not a complementary activity or something to be delegated to free time. Therefore, rather than offering an alternative, this model proposes a definitive solution: a space where training is as natural as sleeping, working or eating well. Action Living does not respond to a circumstantial demand, but to a way of living that already exists and that, until now, did not have a place designed for it.

Medellín as a laboratory of the inevitable

Medellín is a city with experience in creating categories that did not exist before. Medellín is a city where creativity is not only celebrated, it is executed. Its business and cultural fabric has demonstrated time and again that it can turn intuitions into real proposals, and proposals into new categories. That combination of ingenuity, determination and vision is what allows projects such as Action Living not only possible, but natural.

Action Living is being built in the Laureles-Estadio neighborhood, steps away from the Atanasio Girardot Sports Complex, the heart of the city's sports center. Its location is no coincidence. We want it to become a meeting point for athletes, travelers and nomads who have exercise as an essential part of their daily routine.

The hotel-gym is a logical response to a need that has always existed but has never been seriously addressed. People have been training since ancient times; it is not a trend or a fad. What is new is to have given a structural solution to this practice when traveling. Action Living does not invent anything: it simply recognizes that reality and translates it into a concrete experience. It is an idea that made perfect sense, but until now no one had executed it.

It's not a trend. It's common sense.

Not all travelers are looking to party. Not everyone prioritizes shopping or museums. For a growing part of global tourism, the essential thing is to maintain their wellness routine: sleep well, train well, eat well.

This population is underserved today. Not because there is no demand, but because very few have been able to read it accurately. We did, and we did it not only with the in-depth knowledge of our allies at ACTION BLACK, but also through rigorous observation and strategic design. It was not an intuition; it was an informed decision, based on understanding how millions of people travel, think and train in the real world.

Conclusion

Action Living does not compete with traditional hotels. It does not present itself as "better". It is different. It is for another type of guest. One who doesn't ask if there is a gym, but what kind of gym there is. One who doesn't skip his workouts because he's traveling, but accommodates his travel so he doesn't have to.

It is not a question of replicating this model a hundred times in the same city because, let's be clear, we do not know if there is enough demand to fill 50 such hotels in a single city. But it is reasonable to think that two or three would work well in large cities, and that just one - well located, well operated, and well thought out - may be enough to make a difference. The ambition, therefore, is not to saturate, but to ensure that every tourist city has at least one Action Living as part of their offer. Because not all travelers train, but for those who do, finding a custom-designed venue completely changes the travel experience.

Action Living is the result of a strategic alliance between MACCA and ACTION BLACK. A true co-branding where each party contributes what it does best: the hotel operation will be in charge of Blackroom, and the operation of the gym will be in the hands of Action Black. Two expert brands in their fields collaborating to create an unprecedented category in Colombia: the hotel designed from the need to train, not from the complements. A space designed with the same seriousness as any other fundamental aspect of a quality lodging, designed with the same rigor with which the spaces for sleeping or working are designed, where every square meter is designed so that training is not just another option, but an essential part of the trip.

Alejandro Gonzalez
Founder of Blackroom and MACCA