![]() At least a quarter of people typically make at least one New Year’s resolution, and a large portion of those good intentions end in disappointment.įor those who don’t follow this tradition, the very act of creating a New Year’s resolution can seem illogical. I am far from alone in my determination to start each new year with a plan for self-improvement. According to my weekly screen-time reports, I still spend between two and three hours each day on my phone, much of that time doomscrolling. ![]() In 2021, I mostly kept to my fitness goal of doing one 20-minute HIIT workout each day, but I failed miserably at my aim of quitting social media. The results, predictably, have been variable. "Then they start dropping off.Almost every year of my adult life, I’ve started the New Year with a set of resolutions that I’ve been determined to keep. "Just give it a month, tops," Morris says. Vince Morris, 45, uses the StairMaster a couple of times a week at Results Gym in Washington, D.C., but uses less-popular equipment instead every January. "At the end of the day, the toughest part of working out is getting to the gym," he says.Īt least one group is usually happy to see the crowds die down: gym regulars. David Reiseman, spokesman for Gold's Gym, says about half of gym members walk away, returning, perhaps, to their sedentary lifestyle. Most gyms, however, don't have the same knack for retention. He's expanded the Chicago location to triple in size in preparation for the rush and is offering $25,000 worth of prizes to the folks who slim down the most over the next six months. "Most people who are overweight have a fear of becoming that spectacle in the gym," Hazlett says. He says the club's policy of barring membership to anyone shy of 50 pounds overweight makes new members more comfortable. Not only does it expect to double, if not triple, membership this month, but Vice President Justin Hazlett says member retention is no sweat. New Year's means big business for overweight-only gym Downsize Fitness, in Chicago and Dallas. "They want them to sign up, but they know that after the 15th of January, they won't see 95% of them again." "If gyms operate at more than 5% of their membership at any given time, no one can use the gym," says branding consultant Peter Shankman. Skeptics say gyms take advantage of New Year's resolutions to rope newbies into year-long contracts, knowing full well they'll only use two weeks' worth of them. ![]() "You may not be able to even handle those people all year, but the more you work to keep them satisfied, the more they're going to come back and refer you to their friends," Kufahl says. While readying the gym for a deluge of newbies is no cakewalk, says Pam Kufahl, editor-in-chief of Club Industry magazine, the real challenge is to get them to stay. Gyms have prepared for heavy traffic by ordering the latest new treadmills, scheduling more pilates classes and hiring more staff just to process all the membership applications from optimistic resolutioners. "You've got cold weather, a long month, psychological awareness about achieving goals, and everybody's finally out of vacation mode." "January is the perfect storm," says IHRSA Chairman Bill McBride. According to the International Health, Racquet, & Sportsclub Association or IHRSA, over 12% of new gym members join in January alone. New Year's is Black Friday for the gym industry. ![]()
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