US-based franchise operator Anytime Fitness has this month opened its 4,000th club.

The company reached the milestone with the launch of a site in Shanghai, China on 16 March – its 11th club in a country where it is currently the only operating US-based fitness franchise.

Since its launch in 2002, Anytime Fitness has grown exponentially and last year the company revealed plans to have 500 clubs in China by 2020.

According to CEO and co-founder Chuck Runyon, the firm is also formalising agreements with master franchisees to open 75 clubs in Morocco over the next 10 years.

If successful, the deal will mark the group’s entry into the African fitness market – and secure the sixth continent for Anytime operations.

Runyon, however, has his sights on one more and has revealed ambitious – if somewhat quirky – plans to pursue the opportunity to open a club in Antarctica, with the view of becoming the first franchised business in history to operate on all seven continents.

“We’ve already begun exploring options for Antarctica,” he said. “It’s going to happen – and sooner than you might think.

“It may sound like an audacious goal, but we’re very serious about it. We’ll soon have 4,000 clubs open in more than 30 countries on all seven continents.”