Every year between  January to March, Krav Maga Bristol (My Bristol based School), is bombarded by enquiries about training. The leisure industry has become highly cynical about theses new year enquiries seeking to cash in on what is viewed as a cash cow and maximise profits. Contracts are pushed, membership fees increased and advertising budgets are spent.

The major Gym chains are well aware that over 80% of these new year members will have stopped training within 12 weeks.  A staggering 59% will have stopped training within just 4 weeks.

In the new year, a lot of people commit to action. The choose to actually want to do something about  training. This is an unparalleled opportunity as coaches for us to get more people involved and engaged with training. Unfortunately the commercial gym chains have a vested interest in having large numbers of ‘contracted in’ members who do not turn up. In fact there business model is based on it.

The most frustrating thing about the whole cycle is that people leave the Gyms as machine based training doesn’t work. Its a great way to maximise profit by minimising coaching input  and increasing the density of customers in the building.  Its just not a very effective training regieme in terms of either performance or real world sustainable change. It’s all promises and no substance.

Unsurprisingly 4 out of 5 new members cease training in the gym within the first 12 weeks, they leave disappointed and worse off financially. Their engagement with the fitness industry is tarnished and training is seen as something that does not work. In part they are right, Gyms dont work for the majority of the population as machines don’t work for the majority of the population.  Machines lack human interaction and typically create poor functioning individuals due to the  way the work (how many of our ancestors would sit down and then push a heavy object).

For those participating in Krav Maga the situation is very different.

At Weston Super Mare Krav Maga this is not the kind of business we want. We are committed to coaching people to a high standard, so regular attendance is an essential for us. The question we are interested in is not why do so many people start at this time of year, but why do they stop. It’s down to lack of interaction, lack of results and lack a meaningful coaching.

The Gyms don’t care if you don’t chisel that physique, lose the love handles or drop a dress size, as long as you sign the contract they are happy. We do as we have a relationship with our athletes.  And because of this we don’t really get this phenomena at Weston Super Mare Krav Maga.

Over 90% of new Krav Maga members are still training after 4 months, compared to just 41% of gym members still training after only 4 weeks

The drop out rate at of new year starters is slightly higher than our normal drop out rate but that’s probably explained by the fact more people join us than at any other time of the year. Of our members, almost 90% are still training after 4 months and almost 60% after 9 months.

Just take a moment to think about this, only 41% are still training at a gym after 4 weeks, yet nearly 90% are still with us after 4 months…

Whilst I’d love to believe the these statistics could be attributed to my sunny personality, the real reason people stay with us is simple.
Gyms offer access to machines, we offer professional coaching. It’s like comparing steak to hamburger. In theory the content is the same but the outcome is very different.  Some gyms offer 24 hr access to machines, we offer personal challenge, high expectations and a dynamic changing sessions and a great community of people.

So why did I share this?  The reason is simple. If you are serious about getting fit, learning self defence skills or wanting healthier life style,  try Krav Maga.

Compared to gym membership, the odds reaching your goal are 5 x higher with Krav Maga. Don’t believe me – try it – I dare you…

Got a thought on this – share your comment below…

Interesting links

Wasted Gym Memberships: Daily Mail – wasted gym memberships
What % of gym members stop training after January: Article Wasted Gym memberships
Consumers squander £500 a year – Which Which Magazine – Unused Gym memberships