I am sure you have seen a rise of gym facilities all around you. Some gyms are charging $10 a month, and some allow you key card access to come whenever you like. The industry that I fell in love with at a young age is changing fast. I want to share with you 2 of the issues I have with these recent changes that I've observed recently.
Some Gym Owners Are Fine With You Not Showing Up. Gyms would experience big problems if everyone who purchased gym memberships exercised on a regular basis. The owners are okay with this though. The estimated amount of people to use a membership is around 20%. When I worked at big corporate clubs that percentage was good. Most clubs need about 10 times as many members as they can actually fit in the door to be profitable. So don't expect a phone call if you are lacking motivation or not in the mood to get your workout in.
You Are Less Likely To Cancel A Low Rate. Why are so many clubs charging $10-$20 per month? They know you won't go through the hassle to cancel. Big clubs started freezing gym memberships if you injured yourself some years back. If you were going out of town for a while you could freeze your account. A reduced rate would keep your account active for as long as you would be away. Now we have gyms actually making it the actually monthly rate. There is no way these facilities can make money by charging so little without a hidden agenda. They know the statistics for you keeping your health a priority is slim. They would rather have 5,000 members paying $10 a month and only have 1,000 show up during the week. This gives them less wear and tear on equipment, less likely to have issues with equipment availability, and good class sizes.
Health and fitness clubs were once about the betterment of human life. Quality of life used to be a core value shared amongst all the clubs. It is now about big business. Clubs are now in direct competition, and slam other clubs/gyms through marketing and social media. The lifestyle that I am passionate about is in some ways a disaster. It's unregulated and populated with people who do not have your best interest at heart.
Be careful.