The No. 1 excuse for people to quit exercising is lack of time. Which is funny, because every advance in technology claims to help us free up time, and instead, we just seem to be losing more of it.
Your diehard members understand they have to make time to workout. The average person, however, is willing to quickly cut this out of their lifestyle in order to fulfill some other obligation. As business owners and managers, we can’t be OK with this. We got involved in this business as a means to help others achieve a higher level of fitness. So instead of simply accepting the notion of people will quit, we need to find a solution to the problem of not enough time.
The solution is to scale down your workout times and offer 30-minute workouts. People that are willing to quickly cancel a membership due to time probably feel that exercising has to be a long, cumbersome activity. In many cases, it can be, as most classes run for an hour. While this may be good for some, it certainly doesn’t fit most. A 30-minute class time is perfect for people with a busy schedule and will help ease the stress of having to squeeze in a workout.
If you’re worried about clients not getting the same results in 30 minutes that they can in 60, stop. You’ll probably find that you’ll have more success stories because people will push themselves for 30 minutes instead of pacing to last through a 60-minute class.
Let’s also take into consideration the age we live in. We have access to information in a matter of seconds. We can order a product online and have it delivered to our house in a matter of hours by a drone (something we all dreamed about as kids). We can order music online and have it instantly. We’ve come to expect speed and efficiency in just about everything in our lives. It’s only natural this would leak over into fitness. The consumer wants what it wants, and they want it ASAP.
We are beginning to see a shift in the way health clubs operate. Many big-box gyms have already begun implementing these shorter classes, offering 30-minute workouts, as have boutique gyms such as 9Round, FitBody Bootcamp, and our facility, The HITFIT Gym. If you’re not adapting to this change, you’ll become extinct.
Don Suarez is the manager of The HitFit Gym. Email him at dons@thehitfitgym.com.
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Don Suarez is the manager of The HitFit Gym. For more information he can be reached at DonS@thehitfitgym.com.
I get it, but.. I find less, if not zero, transformation happens at 30 minute workouts. There are some exceptions like newbies and 80 somethings…