Have you ever given much thought on how a gym arranges their equipment on the floor? Where the equipment is affects the way you workout, according GYMetrix, a data analysis firm.

Many gyms are now analyzing the data and finding surprises.

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A recent article in The Wall Street Journal covered this new push to understand the mix between members and the equipment they use. One such gym found its people were skipping the newer, fancier weight and elliptical machines in favor of simpler ones. Quite often the new equipment is on prominent display in the middle of the room. The data found many people avoid the machines because they find it intimidating to use while everyone else is watching. Moving it to the perimeter allows people to test them out and not having to worry that they look like a klutz.

Another common error gyms make is not paying attention to their members’ sight lines. Cardio equipment often faces out the window. But, it actually gets more use when it faces weight areas because seeing others makes people feel powerful. The person with the view has the power.

The data also uncovered that machines which enable users to save workouts on the machine encourage them to come back to the gym more often. It also encourages them to workout one-third longer than if they didn’t record a workout.

And another interesting data point is that women named treadmills as their favorite piece of equipment. For men, it is dumbbells, with treadmills following a close second.

So the next time you go to your favorite gym, take note of the layout and how the workout feels.