A Gym Membership is Like Owning A Car

So, you got a gym membership for Christmas. Or, maybe you gave one. Given or gotten, the idea was a great one: Give health! Get wellness! Give strength! Gain confidence. It’s all the same but as either giver or getter, you have a responsibility. Year after year, the fitness industry watches as well-intending people enter gyms. Fresh-faced and full of hope, membership numbers spike in January, then dramatically drop in March. Why? The intent and the goals haven’t changed but something went awry …

Own That Membership Like You Own a Car!

       

The Learners Permit

When you turned 16 years old, did you just run outside, hop into your mother or father’s car, and zoom away?  Please say ‘no,’ please say ‘no,’ please say ‘no’ …

No!

You took classes. You learned about the rules of the road, how to operate the steering wheel, and manage the brakes and accelerator. Even learning how to work the windshield wipers, hazards, and defrost was important to learn.

After weeks and weeks of study, you were ready for the road and began with a learners permit.

Giving the “Car” Gift

There is no way you would give a car to someone who had no idea how to drive. Not only would they need the experience and the license, they would need insurance. In giving a gym membership to a loved one, you have a little more leeway. While your loved one isn’t driving two tons of metal at high speed, he or she is lifting weights and possibly moving in ways that could be hurtful if done improperly. Every day, instructors and trainers see the most horrifying things that people – however unwittingly – do in the gym in the quest to be fit.

Buy Some Insurance

Make sure that the gym recipient is given at least one introduction to the gym by a qualified staff member and receives at least one session with a trainer. Too often, people come into the gym and are too embarrassed to ask for help. Give that extra insurance so your loved one can better understand how to work the machines, lift weight, and move.

Driving to Success!

By March, as many as 40% of new gym enthusiasts drop off. (Check out this great Top 10 List of “why” people quit)

Remember the first time you drove a car onto the highway? You had a death grip on the steering wheel because suddenly everything changed. Everyone and everything was moving so much faster than the quiet neighborhood streets. One slip up could do a lot of damage and plus … people could totally tell you didn’t know what you were doing!! It was mortifying!

Welcome to the gym! Don’t be the little chicken on the road. Sign up for classes. Ask trainers questions. Buy a few training sessions and learn how and why your muscles work! Once you understand the rules of the gym and how your body works, you can increase your speed to success. Own this and you’ll be amazed by how quickly you grow as an athlete and a student of health!