During COVID we got into the habit (or not) of working out at home. Here are 3 reasons you need to go back to the (actual) gym. STAT.
One of 2 things happened when gyms closed at the height of COVID:
- You didn’t skip a beat and continued your exercise regime at home. Who are you?
- Like a normal person you cried for 2 days straight and your exercise regime became but a distant memory.
And since, one of 3 things have happened:
- You raced back to the gym with the vigour of a rabid-banshee.
- You continued your exercise regime at home. I’m not even playing, who are you?
- You now consider heaving sobs your cardio. Because, same.
But now, it’s time. It’s been 2 years. You need to go back to the (actual gym). STAT. Here’s why:
Because it feels so goooooood
Without fail, every single person that has bravely emerged from lockdown and back into the gym has expressed after (they survive) their first session just how good it feels to be back. This feeling could be attributed to the post-exercise endorphin rush, the euphoria of surviving a near death experience, or the nostalgia of what life used to look like before the dumpster-fire of the past 2 years.
Because experts
It’s one thing to be in the routine of exercising at home (honestly, I’m impressed) but it’s quite another to exercise with intent, safety and efficacy. Are your sessions structured to balance methods of training? Are you doing strength, cardio and flexibility training? Are you balancing out the muscle groups you’re working and are you sure that the repetition range is the most effective for what you’re trying to achieve? How long are you resting in between your sets? Are you performing the exercise correctly? Are you working hard enough? Are you working too hard? HOW MUCH LONGER CAN YOU SERIOUSLY TOLERATE YOUR RUSTY DUMBBELL SET AND SHREDDED YOGA MAT IN YOUR ITCHY BACKYARD???
Anyway. Experts. Actual qualified experts in a gym that can personalise workouts based on what you are trying to achieve so you don’t die (including of boredom).
Because small business
When we think of small businesses affected by COVID our mind goes directly to retail and hospitality – but I’m here to definitely tell you: gyms are not ok. When COVID was sparkly and new and we emerged from the very first lock-down way back when, gyms were never busier. People were desperate to fraternise anywhere but their musty one-bedroom units barely equipped to cope with one bed, let alone workstations and gym set-ups.
Then, something happened: we went into snap-lockdowns, that turned into significant lock-downs, that turned into you can open the doors to your business, but you can only let in some people. But we don’t want those same people going into the office to work. But now we do. But now we don’t. Monitor for symptoms. Get a PCR. Get a RAT. Fuck it, just isolate for the rest of your natural life. It’s easier.
So anyway. We’re fucked. We’re fucked in a special way no other industry is fucked (apologies for using the word fuck three times, four times in a single sentence): the ultimate success of fitness businesses comes down to the lasting habits of paying members. A member that is in a habit of visiting their gym at least 3 times per week is less likely to cancel their membership. That habit (used to) look something like this:
work-gym-home
gym-work-home
work-gym-work-home
Chuck in school drop-offs and other routine-esque tasks, but you get the gist. Routine in our industry is the best indicator of our future success.
But as soon as working from home became a thing (then wasn’t a thing, then was a thing again) – BOOM – routine gone. And that change of routine has been a disaster for fitness businesses. A member that attends their gym sporadically at best, is a member on the brink of cancelling their membership. During the last lockdown we easily lost a third of our membership base overnight and we are struggling to get them back. We need them. We need you. And hopefully you can see how you need us too.
It’s now up to you. It’s now up to you to consider the above compelling reasons to go back to the (actual) gym STAT…because seriously? You’re still voluntarily exercising at home? That’s so 2020…
Wretched 