The health and fitness sector needs innovation to attract the 73% of the population that doesn’t do regular physical activity. Every year, gyms see an increase in enrolments in January, but they soon return to normal, as many new members drop out due to feelings of failure or shame.

Who are the 73%? According to the latest Eurobarometer on sport and physical activity, only 18% of Portuguese people exercise with any regularity, 4% do so regularly and 5% rarely. These figures are worrying, indicating a lack of success in keeping the population regularly active.

These results are in line with research showing that the idealised goals set in New Year’s resolutions often have the opposite effect, making beginners and gym-goers demotivated more quickly and leading them to give up.

Boomerang Effect

To address this, we need to understand the Boomerang Effect.

The idealised goals along with many other popular behaviour change strategies and routines promoted by the fitness industry often lead beginners to give up quickly. People feel briefly motivated to go to the gym and start training, but soon afterwards they give up, distancing themselves even further from physical activity.

The fitness industry has unwittingly perpetuated this pattern. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the fitness industry to rethink its strategies, highlighting the need for profound change. Some gyms barely survived, while others closed their doors. Online options have become a lifesaver for some and even a benefit for others.

But regardless of the business situation, COVID has brought the fitness industry a crucial moment of reflection. It was actually an opportunity, because this new context allowed us to see with fresh eyes what doesn’t work and what has never worked, and to think about how we can act differently to finally start achieving our goals.

Shame Spiral

Avoiding the Shame Spiral is crucial. Many people have negative experiences with exercise, which prevents them from being consistent with it. Shifting the focus from sets and reps to flexible mindsets could be the key. The focus on perfection and pain (“no pain no gain”) can discourage most people, whereas a more flexible approach better promotes engagement and long-term satisfaction.

To make this change, we first need to change our own mentality. We need to adopt flexible strategies and encourage all forms of physical activity, even short or light sessions. We must eliminate the idea that only intense training is valid and replace it with a more inclusive and joyful approach.

The truth is that the way the industry has traditionally communicated exercise and the “right ways” to do it has created an “all or nothing” mentality. This communication doesn’t just happen in the gym, but throughout the entire consumer journey, for example, marketing, integration, gym design, conversations with personal trainers, etc.

This “all or nothing” mentality doesn’t work for the 73%. Worse yet, it disheartens and discourages. Despite the best intentions, the strategies often used – prescribed sets and repetitions, advocacy of perfection-promoting strategies such as new habit formation, SMART goals – set the 73% up for failure. The prevailing industry culture cultivates rigid thinking and unrealistic goals that easily result in shame, self-blame and giving up.

It may seem counterintuitive, but recent research shows that doing less generates better results. Allowing imperfection when it comes to exercise, rather than trying to follow rigid plans or targets, actually predicts better long-term engagement and even maintenance of body weight. This also applies to healthy eating.

“Replacing the all-or-nothing mentality with a flexible one will better prepare the 73% for success.”

Flexible thinking allows people to be quick to adapt to unplanned changes and unforeseen events in their day that clash with planned workouts. It allows them to stay on track by devising an alternative strategy that still brings them some of the benefits of the original planned workout.

Get rid of inflexible language and strategies. We need to promote exactly the opposite type of strategies and messages that work for us and experiment with those that work for the 73%. This means promoting a flexible approach to training, without duties, obligations or absolute target numbers.

• Everything matters. We need to encourage our future members to count all physical activity, no matter how brief or light, as contributing to the sum total of training – whether inside or outside the four walls of the gym. If they can’t go to the gym that day, they can still do some activity.
• Less is always better than nothing. We need to help people understand this basic concept when it comes to exercise. This includes encouraging members to go to the gym and participate, even if they arrive late for class, have to leave a little early or only do seven minutes in the weight room instead of the planned 30. They need to be allowed to be flexible.
• Don’t use weight loss as the goal. We need to help clients and members stop focusing too much on their weight and on physical activity as a means to change it. – this not only cultivates “all or nothing” thinking, but creates a losing proposition for them and for us.
• Permanently abolish “no pain no gain”. Last but not least, we absolutely must replace “no pain no gain” with “do what makes you happy”.