Now we got problems
And I don't think we can solve them

Taylor Swift - Bad Blood ...

Now it may come as some sort of surprise to many that they go to a gym do not get the results they were looking for. There are many reasons for this, but noticeably the main issue LOM (Lack of Motivation) meaning the buzz fizzles out and you simply get into a rut and end up not training.

Why Gym Sport now?

World Gym Challenge did not create the current gym sport scene. It was made popular by UltraFit Magazine during the 90's , to help combat the lack of variety into training into an expanding gym population. What they didn't count on though, was the gyms industry fight to oppose, what is a lucrative endless very profitable system of the 'fixed contract membership' and the endless loop of not achieving your goal.

Lose weight and Tone Up

Members of gyms generally as a rule want to lose weight and tone up when they join a gym. This firstly is flawed. There is not a shred of evidence to support this and there can't be. It is a myth.

• Lose weight ? That is done at home over a lifestyle approach with differing bodies needing different approaches.
• Tone Up? It is impossible to tone the body (whatever that is) in order to achieve some sort of goal. At best its a endless quest with no conclusion. At worst it's a time bomb to self destruction.
• You do need to exercise - that is the reason to join.

So the very essence of a gym, with its modern approach to engaging its core audience skips the very principles it set out to achieve and that is to improve fitness. It's a gym after all. Yet improved fitness, is often the last on the books that the modern day gym sets out to do.

How can the gym be accountable for improved fitness?

Remember a gym provides the unsuspecting gym member false hope to begin with (Tone up and lose weight) so when neither of these are achieved over time, the will to succeed dwindles, but the fixed contract remains in place to provide the revenue stream to remain healthy and productive for the gym. It was a very healthy business to be in, but the bubble was soon to burst.

What happens when the fixed contract fades?

When you look at the big gyms LA Fitness and Fitness First, a very dangerous trend developed between them both and they recently found themselves in financial difficulty, both encountered financial bail outs or restructuring, with LA Fitness selling 33 of its clubs initially and then the remaining clubs to Pure Gym; a no nonsense - low cost gym membership, taking advantage of the 'disposable equity' that many of the public feel a sense of worth by joining a gym at low cost, and are prepared to off set small value against a sense of worth and belonging and in this case a gym . Fitness First brought in Andy Goslett to turn around a failing gym system , somebody it seemed that actually knew about customer inter action and the benefit of a creating a socially acceptable engaging experience for its member and probably will save the brand.

The sleeping wolf is always hungry and dangerous…

While the fixed contract industry was collapsing, a trend emerged from the US that struck a note with the member. A united feel good atmosphere of a unique fitness experience, totally avoiding the 'Lose weight and tone up' signature of the failing industry. It brought a new approach of fitness and performanc eto the gym door and gave real results to the members who turned up each day - an experience to which many had never been given the opportunity to engage in. They quickly bonded and adapted and grew because word of mouth and social media spread like wild fire about what a amazing experience they were all sharing and how much their fitness had improved and the new skills they were learning and hey .. not a treadmill in sight. Just how is this possible?

CrossFit

Is now a major player in the fitness market.  Many personal trainers opposed it in the beginning (2009 UK era) and have now adapted to its core value of engagement and accountability. While the majority of the 6, 312 gyms are recognising very slowly that there is indeed a market for performance and fitness. This in itself is a very slow trend that is filtering through and still has a mountain to climb, as the 'lose weight and tone up system' that has provided a very profitable industry is still very relevant in today's market.

World Gym Challenge

WGC is a race you compete at your own gym. Its quite simple as it avoids the 'Lose weight and tone up' tired lack lustre approach to fitness, It's approach is simple, find somebody of equal fitness and race them in a gym challenge combining of the equipment you use in a gym and the exercises that support strength and CV combined. Only when the result is complete do not write it on a whiteboard, where the very next day its wiped and all the information lost. No, Record everything and benchmark it for improvement, giving you total evidence of quality of training and a history of improvement at the gym. It is the only way to be sure.

Getting back to saving Fitness First ...

Previous members of Fitness First include Rich Vint the fastest man of the World Gym Challenge who left FF to join CF. Fitness First failed to recognise their own talent and did nothing to create recognition for the athletes that have achieved substantial and significant improvement in fitness - even when Richard won Fit Brit for two years running Fitness First hardly blinked an eye. There was nothing, as was the case when Tracy Davies won Fit Brit. Nothing of note to say we have the fittest members of gyms at our gym, they train here and they got amazing results.

To save yourself you have to first recognise that just by knowing somebody's name as they walk through the door is simply not good enough - you have to appreciate their commitment to training ... the two are vastly different.

Fitness First ... LA Fitness ... was the warning.

While the member of a gym continues to spiral around the never ending circle of failing in their 'tone up and lose weight' plight in gyms; up and down the breadth of the UK, Gyms are failing to recognise the potential they have to engage in a sport for gyms or 'evidence of training'. And taking note of their own members.

The business model that has proven a success by just looking at the increase in revenue for the CrossFit Boxes that are flourishing cannot be ignored and until gyms start looking at fitness and performance as hard evidence to support any type of training that may happen in their gyms, unless they are competing on a national scale against one another in a performance multi-functional outlet of members, proving that they the gyms are producing results for their members and recognisng that the athlete within the gym is more then a credit to their brand or business , they will continue to scratch their heads and watch the increase in membership to the gyms that adapt to the 'performance market' and leave the 'tone up and lose weight' outdated and useless method of training that has been dragging the industry into the gutter for many years to sustain the ‘myth of fitness’ in gyms to support the profitability of the fitness industry.