Quitting the Gym is Dumb
Ok, I may be a little biased here as a gym owner.
I’ll be the first to admit it, but hear me out. I’m not here to complain about a shrinking business or anything either, my own gym has a 1-2% attrition rate monthly while continuing to grow month over month. The biggest issue I have with the industry I work in (gym ownership and personal training) is the cancellation of membership or training services for no good reason at all.
Now, I am one to use tons of prerequisites, or early conversations to help make details regarding the relationship very clear, so let’s do that here too. The most common one I have with new people is basically this, “I want to be very clear here that you understand what exactly you are paying for. You are paying for a gym membership and training services, you are not paying for a friendship, they are mutually exclusive and not in condition of one another. Even if you decide to move on one day I will still treat you with love and respect.” That sentence there is the most important thing I started doing in my business, and I will never go back to not using something like it for new members/clients.
Right away I want to make it very clear that I intend to care about this person, who they are, their health, their wellness, and everything else far after we cease working together (for whatever reason). This immediately helps build essential trust between one another, and especially from a personal training perspective this is incredibly important. Individuals who do not trust their trainer will see infinitely less progress in comparison to those that do. This also helps people not feel as stuck in their decisions. When people don’t feel stuck into something, they can freely appreciate it for what it really is more. Since I am fully confident in the training services that I provide, the gym that we have built, and the community we deliver, I do not feel the need (nor would want to) push hard expectations of commitment. I expect people to experience how incredible working with me or my gym is, and those are the things that drive commitment, not forced expectations.
Now, moving back to the original topic. Quitting the gym is stupid. The only people who quit the gym (besides the ones who move) are people who are inconsistent and feel that they are “wasting their money.” Instead of fixing the root of the issue (actually going to the gym and taking care of themselves) they make a quick side-step and focus in on eliminating the money they spend there. This fixes nothing. Often times it will be coupled with self-proclaimed lies regarding a new found commitment to at home fitness, outdoor cardio routines, or whatever else people tell themselves.
I can promise you that every person who has ever quit the gym due to a lack of consistency but expected to be more consistent at home has failed, and failed miserably.
The money is a scapegoat - I can say so because I have had people quit at different businesses I have worked for to save the “wasted money” when it was $30/mo. all the way up to $500/mo. The issue is the lack of consistency, which leads to a lack of progress, which can lead to poor mental and emotional health, and then leads to frustration at one’s self or even the gym/trainer.
No one who has left the gym for these reasons has ended up better off, I promise. The at home fitness craze that spurred from the 2020 pandemic resulted in millions of dollars spent on at home gym equipment and a fatter, sadder, worse-off community as a whole. Turns out that the gym is one of the best places an adult can dedicate some of their weekly routine to.
As I said earlier, I make it a point to express to all of my members that I will care about them even if they eventually go to another gym or even another trainer, it’s really not about that. If that were to happen (which almost never does) it would only drive me to better myself, my training methods, or the gym itself. It’s about the lie that people tell themselves, I can’t stand it.
As a final note, sometimes people will use injuries as a good reason to cancel a gym membership or working out altogether. That’s bullshit too. I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings with that, but someone needs to tell you the truth. If I injure my back, knee, shoulder, whatever, what do you think I do about it? I address the issue, rehab it or get assistance to do so, and train around it. Giving up on fitness because of an injury or restriction is like canceling a road trip with the family in the backseat and bags strapped to the top of the station wagon because of a flat tire. In no world would that stop the trip, not even Granny kicking the bucket could stop the Griswold family vacation, let alone a flat tire (if you didn’t get the reference there, I really don’t know what to tell ya).