Fast Company is wrong about gyms

by Matt McGunagle

Looking back at 2020 Fast Company is making the bold declaration that gym's aren't coming back.

Despite an incredibly challenging 2020 for many this isn't the future that I see for the industry at a high-level. Thanks to science saving the day with an incredibly fast vaccine turnaround gyms are already starting to fill up across the country in states that have reopened. From what we're seeing already I think that the numbers for our customers will largely return to normal by the end of 2021.

That being said, I think this is a good time to bring up an opportunity to improve messaging for gyms/trainers to fitness consumers with the new landscape of the fitness industry.

For years the predominant message from the fitness industry from consumers has been YOU HAVE TO BE IN OUR GYM 2-3X A WEEK WITH MORE OR ELSE IT WONT WORK!!!

We all know that this couldn't be further from the truth. Even worse, it makes it hard for new fitness consumer to get started in the first place! We can do better.

To me the ultimate goal for any fitness or health professional when working with a client is to help them learn the habits and tools they can use for long-term success. Working with a personal trainer in-person is one of the best methods to do that.

But fitness consumers aren't told that by gyms or trainers. They aren't told that if they work with you for 3-6 months that they will have the option to unlock more flexible and cost-effective training services.

What if fitness businesses and trainers clearly communicated the following:

Months 1-6:

  • In-person training: We're going to teach you how to exercise well and build your confidence with health and fitness.

Months 7+:
We have options for you to choose from to best match your needs

  • In-person training: If you want to you can continue working with us in-person.
  • Hybrid or online coaching: Do you need flexibility? Do you have the confidence to exercise on your own with your new skills/habits? If yes, then we have cost-effective and sustainable training options to continue working with us through hybrid or online coaching. If you want to train at our gym, great! If you want to train out at home, great!

Thinking of leaving us?
If you leave our gym or stop working with our training team that's ok! We've worked hard together to set you up for long-term success and couldn't be prouder of you! We wish you the best of luck.

If you need us again in the future, we'll be here.

Now that's a powerful message to hear.

It's easy for a media company like Fast Company to look at national, regional, and local fitness businesess and wonder how they will survive after Covid, dozens of fitness apps being released every day around the world, and new challenges from Silicon Valley at home smart equipment companies funded with hundreds of millions of dollars. To me it's not that complicated. If a fitness business focuses on providing great service, is honest with their customers, and has flexible training services to meet their customers needs they are going to be around for years to come.

At StrengthPortal we're excited to continue to help these businesses continue to grow and scale as the world opens back up.