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According to the most recent figures, new fitness centers keep on getting opened.
They have thousands of subscribers, overbook and fuel the obsession with thinness and perfect physique. But do these fitness centers offer really have a health approach?
At certain times of the year, especially in early January, fitness centers are taken over by well-intentioned people looking to get back in shape, lose weight or gain mass muscular.
However, several observers say: persistence is not always there, and the dropout rate is approaching 50% after the first six months of a fitness program, according to kinesiologists and specialists in chronic pain.
The vast majority of fitness center belong to independent owners, sometimes offering very specialized services, while others are linked to well-known chains.
What drives hundreds of people, year after year, to adhere to a formula that is not necessarily suitable for those who wish to return to a healthy lifestyle?
An effective marketing strategy does not explain everything, because flexible hours (some are open 24 hours a day), competitive prices and geographic proximity help attract followers … and keep them loyal.
This is the case of John. “I have no goal, he says, and my motivation is to move, because my job is sedentary. I always do the same routine, I have no coaching, no coach, but I consider sport as a necessity, just like eating, because who can say that he never has time to eat? And it is definitely not a social club: people are in their bubble, me too!”
Long live overbooking!
According to experts of Physical Activity Sciences, some companies adhered to the health model of fitness centers, while other establishments are mainly aimed at making money, and sell derivatives, such as supplements. Several gyms practice overbooking. If their capacity is 300 people, they will subscribe 500, because the statistics prove it: the attendance decreases from the month of February, but the profits return anyway, because people subscribe for one year.
In this logic, several clients are quickly left to their own devices, with little or no supervision, even if some are looking for just that, as evidenced by the growing popularity of low cost centers. This trend marks the return of the arm gym that prevailed until the 1990s, while other strategies remain timeless including, for 30 years, the famous Before/After for weight loss, because people are very sensitive to aesthetic and appearance issues.
Someone who trains a lot, or badly, without worrying about their diet will never have good results.
This obsession with thinness, several centers know how to cultivate it, but some experts in kinesiology, we would be wrong to overwhelm them with all evils. Influencers, social networks, in short, the surrounding culture, all this promotes disinformation. No wonder customers are forced to buy supplements or omega-3s, wanting results quickly.
And many have very specific ideas in mind. For example: “I have a wedding in three weeks and I want to go into my suit!” Nothing bad, but health cannot be assessed in the short term. Unfortunately, some centers sell a product, not a process.
And this process can be demanding, because it takes determination, persistence, and a lot of understanding. It’s the kinesiologist’s responsibility to educate the client that the change they want will not happen in two weeks.
The client must be the agent of his change in the same way as the healthcare professional. And you should avoid pre-chewed solutions, or compare yourself to people who have transformed their bodies dramatically. It is dangerous to take them as models. Another person with the same social, economic and psychological background can achieve completely different results.
Real or pseudo-trainers
Kinesiologists of course plead for their parish, that of a profession still little known, but which is becoming more and more essential in the centers, which was not always the case. There is an interest of the big chains to hire more kinesiologists, but also several graduates prefer to found their own center, and to target clienteles specific: hockey players during the summer season, the elderly, children with posture problems, women after childbirth, etc.
As with restaurants, there is something for everyone, and for all budgets. But we can also decide to cook at home!
The gym is a solution if you like it, and it might work. On the other hand, if it’s a chore … The promotion around weight loss is well articulated, a mirage not specific to gyms, but to a whole industry: that of slimming, protein diets, race programs, etc.
There is the insistence of certain customers to display prominent abs, the famous six packs, but apart from the aesthetic side, what can it be used for?
In front of someone who says they are 20 pounds overweight, you have to find the reasons for the imbalance that has occurred in their life and have the right approach, because each person is different. Some trainers even teach mindful meditation to totally stressed entrepreneurs: their body could not have responded to any training. Easy to do at home, and inexpensive.
This is another aspect: health is not just about exercises and dumbbells. “There are 70-year-old women who have a healthy weight and have never been to a gym in their life: they walk every day and eat well. We overestimate training when at 80%, it is the diet that makes all the difference.
Someone who trains a lot, or badly, without worrying about their diet will never have good results. Let the Muscle gentlemen of this world take it for granted.
