Attendance, Adherence, Drop out and Retention

Most members that sign up to join the gym care about how much it's going to cost them. This act of cost benefit analysis makes them investors. If an investor isn't getting a return on their initial investment, they drop out. Industry research shows that there is a dose response relationship between attendance and retention in fitness clubs. Current statistics show that clubs loose on average 30-40% of their members.

http://www.ptdirect.com/training-design/exercise-behaviour-and-adherence/attendance-adherence-drop-out-and-retention-patterns-of-gym-members

People quit because of the following: • The initial “Honeymoon phase” strength that is achieved from exercise is an improvement in neuromuscular connection which is often thought of as increase in strength. What is happening is that the brain becomes more efficient at certain movements due to repetition, and therefore, the movement will be managed by more muscle fibers firing. When this initial feedback levels off for a new member, they often start to feel that they are no longer achieving any results.

• Fat lost is not achieved in most cases by going to the gym and the research clearly demonstrates it. Fat loss is about calorie deficit and the gym can only help. Research on diet vs. exercise has shown that exercise is an effective tool for weight management when combined with a proper diet. We lose approximately 400-600kcal from a workout. If the diet is not creating a deficit and just compensating that calorie burn with more food, then there is no fat loss. The main purpose of exercise is to improve health not lose weight. This is why many people give up or don’t see weight loss results when they workout and don’t modify their diet.

• Muscle strength can be achieved in the gym by proper workouts that focus on both hypertrophy, strength, and power exercises that incorporate progressive overload. Muscle increase is very dependent on the load put on the muscle. If a gym goer is not applying progressive overload, they will notice no results and therefore no feedback for their efforts.

The key to member is that retention is not just through behavioural intervention. It’s a combination of great customer service, EDUCATION, clean club, functioning equipment, behavioural interventions, and regular FITNESS ASSESSMENTS by qualified trainers.

In my opinion, ALL gyms should be doing fitness assessments on their members on a monthly basis to provide them with FEEDBACK.