In fact, this is how the gym makes money. You think you are the gym's favorite member because you come regularly? Hahaha, no. They wish you would not show up. So next time you have a complaint, don't come say to the manager "Look, I come here every night and I've noticed.....". You will have much more clout if you say "I have a 24 month membership which i use only once every three months, but when I do, I notice that the showers are dirty"
In fact, this is how the gym makes money. You think you are the gym's favorite member because you come regularly? Hahaha, no. They wish you would not show up.
So next time you have a complaint, don't come say to the manager "Look, I come here every night and I've noticed.....". You will have much more clout if you say "I have a 24 month membership which i use only once every three months, but when I do, I notice that the showers are dirty"
I'm not sure that all gym managers want a bunch of members who don't show up. I worked at 1 company that paid half our membership. We pointed out to the gym manager that some are guarenteed donors, and rather than laugh he pointed out that those members won't tell anyone about it, and will eventually drop.
There is another reason the gym actually wants members who use the gym. If you don't use the gym you aren't likely to renew your membership. Membership retention is key to a gym's survival. It's much harder and costly to attract new members than to keep existing members. Huge misconception that they love the members who don't show up - it's the regular users of the gym who love those members!
Well, we were all resolutions one time, so I tend to cut them some slack. Some will stick with it, many won't, but for those that do, they'll become the elite just like us!
Exactly. I've never belonged to a gym but I'm sure a lot of people snickered at the old chubby me out
there slogging along on the streets at 11 mm.
It's been 13 years now and I have never stopped running. I had no idea I was elite, just thought I was
stubborn.
@runjerseygirl
Exactly. I've never belonged to a gym but I'm sure a lot of people snickered at the old chubby me out there slogging along on the streets at 11 mm. It's been 13 years now and I have never stopped running. I had no idea I was elite, just thought I was stubborn.
Hey, easy on us 11mm'ers.
Do you even run?
sugnim
I don't go to the gym, and I never notice more people out on the running trails after the New Year, so I guess this doesn't affect me in the same way. But, I think it's fine for people to make fitness resolutions, even ones they don't stick with. A little exercise is better than no exercise. And, if they make the same resolution often enough, maybe they will stick with it one day or find a way of exercising that will work for them. If I had a gym membership, I probably wouldn't use it very much either. That's because I hate the gym. But I love running; it took me 32 years to learn that I love running. Some of the resolutioners may find that they love going to the gym, but some may find that they don't enjoy it and will need to keep trying until they find what they will enjoy & stick with. I think it's great that they are even trying.
Are we there, yet?
Hey, take it easy on us. I've been thinking of getting a gym membership so I could use the treadmills or indoor track if they have one.
2024 Races:
03/09 - Livingston Oval Ultra 6-Hour, 22.88 miles
05/11 - D3 50K 05/25 - What the Duck 12-Hour
06/17 - 6 Days in the Dome 12-Hour.
never runs the tangents
Speaking of packed locker rooms, it is that time of the year to encounter the dude that uses the blow dryer. And I don't mean for his luscious head of hair.
Speaking of packed locker rooms, it is that time of the year to encounter the dude that uses the blow dryer.
And I don't mean for his luscious head of hair.
I did NOT want to know that.
For good or ill New Years is when I hit my busy season at work. I always seem to slack off working out during the holidays and think that things will get back to normal once that's all over. Nope, it's going to be mid Jan at the very earliest and possibly Feb before the chaos ebbs. By then the Y is mostly back to normal. Running is less of an issue. I'm out there at 5:30 in the morning and I think that most new runners are out there later in the day.
“Do what I do. Hold tight and pretend it’s a plan!” Doctor Who
My comments were light hearted, as obviously we want to see more people take control of their health. And if asked, we do whatever we can to assist them. Going to the gym for the first time can be intimidating, and for that they should be commended. I know because I was a newbie once myself.
Still, the gym scene can be wacky. I don't go nearly as much now as I did years ago in part because there is a gym at my job. But one of the most bizarre things I've ever seen was an older gentleman who used to stand at the mirror shaving his face, in the buff!
Like clock work, every Mon, Wed, and Fri morning there he was strolling through the locker room butt ass nekked heading over to the mirror.
There's nothing you can say to that, nothing. You just shake your head!
+1
Skirt Runner
Last year at my gym I tried to go to my favorite cardio class the first Saturday in January. I arrived 15 minutes early, because sometimes the class fills up if you arrive right before and I was prepared for the resolutioners. Well not only was the class full ALREADY, but they had hired a security guard as a bouncer to stand outside it and prevent people from sneaking in. Oh well, headed to the cardio room for some elliptical time. There was a 15 person line for 8 ellipticals. I didn't go back to the gym til February.
PRs: 5K- 28:16 (5/5/13) 10K- 1:00:13 (10/27/13) 4M- 41:43 (9/7/13) 15K- 1:34:25 (8/17/13) 10M- 1:56:30 (4/6/14) HM- 2:20:16 (4/13/14) Full- 5:55:33 (11/1/15)
I started a blog about running :) Check it out if you care to
RSX&fitrnr:Good points and also members who do personal training are money makers for the gym.
However, according to statistics I've seen, only 30-40 percent of people with gym memberships even use the gym AT ALL. That means that 60-70 percent never go to the gym.
You can do the math and figure out what it would do to the gym's bottom line if it needed to accommodate triple the number of members with the same amount of revenue from member fees.
I have become a donor at my work gym. Both gyms are cheap, and are costing me less in total than any membership I have had since the 90's, and I like having options. The work gym is 200 yards from my desk, but I got tired of looking at the same wall 50 feet from me, and the same tv station plus no one to talk to until my last 1/2 mile. I will start going back there when the winter gets more intense. The big advantage was never having a rush hour issue because I was already there.
Trail Monster
I had a gym membership earlier this year because it was close to my job at the time. Come January my lunch runs couldn't happen because all of the 20+ treadmills had people walking 2 miles an hour on a 10% incline while clinging to the handrails for dear life. Resolutioners should at least be given a safety and etiquette breakdown on their initial tour. And for the record I was never a resolutioner. I started running in the summer of 2008 with the C25K and never looked back.
2013 races:
3/17 Shamrock Marathon
4/20 North Coast 24 Hour
7/27 Burning RIver 100M
8/24 Baker 50M
10/5 Oil Creek (distance to be determined)
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Brands I Heart:
FitFluential
INKnBURN
Altra Zero Drop
Additionally. has anyone noticed a dramatic increase in fitness equipment/weight loss commercials on the television lately?
That is funny! You're mean.
I didn't resolve to run or workout either. As a matter of fact now that I think about it, I have never made a resolution of any kind. Weird.