A few weeks ago I went to a seminar about gym management in Västerås. The main speaker was Per Sundström, the owner of one of the most successful boxes in Sweden called Factor. He shared so many great ideas and tips on what to think about not only to run a successful gym but also several ideas and concepts that I can use in the success of my personal training company. During his seminar, Per made a statement that really stuck with me. He said that research shows that people who spend more money on their training are much more satisfied with their progress. Eighty percent of swedish people who have memberships at a gym do not go to the gym on a consistent basis. He also said that gyms count on this statistic and this is why they can sell hundreds more memberships than the gym can legally hold at one time because they know that most people that buy a membership will not come in to use them. These people are rarely satisfied with their improvements in their health because they never go in on their own to train. Whether the reasons for this is lack of time or motivation, it really doesn’t matter. They are not happy with their results. So who are the ones that are most happy with their results, and what are they doing differently? They are quite frankly spending more money. Many of the satisfied people are paying to train with personal trainers. Makes sense right? If you paid 800kr a session with a PT and would lose the money if you didn’t show up, don’t you think you would get to the gym for that booked session? The more sessions booked, the more training gets done, and the client reaches their training goals faster. Other satisfied people are paying extra money for quality gyms that offer well-coached, and well-designed classes around the clock. They find it worth paying extra money a month for the freedom to go to great classes when it fits their schedule.
I have been a personal trainer for 15 years, and I can’t even count how often I have heard people who really need help to improve their health say, “training with a PT is so expensive.” Yes. Training with a PT is expensive. But how is it that people who are obese, and people with diseases related to lack of exercise don’t feel that their quality of life is worth it? Many of these people choose to spend money on so many other things, while quality of life doesn’t seem to be on their list of priorities. Continue buying material items, food and drinks that aren’t necessary, without prioritizing training, and soon you will get to a point where you won’t be able to enjoy them anyway.
So what can people change in their lives in order to be able to spend more money on training? They have to set aside money for training first and then only spend money on things that are necessary. First and foremost, stop living to eat, and start eating to live. Buy only the basic essentials for food. For instance, a bag of oatmeal for breakfast, eggs, vegetables, chicken, rice, and fruit. Don’t buy anything to drink. Drink only water, which is adundantly free and healthy for you. Is the food going to taste fantastic? Probably not. Is it going to give you everything you need to be healthy and survive? Yes it is. If you are overweight or obese, you need to feel hungry, or you aren’t ever in a calorie deficit. You have plenty of reserve to burn, so trust me, you won’t starve. Secondly, stop driving your car, and take public transportation, or better yet, walk or bike to where you are going. Paying for gas, parking, and tolls is much more expensive than paying for public transportation. If you are close enough to walk or bike to work, do it and save a ton of money on transportation. A 30min to an hour walk to work each day could be exactly what you need to kick start your road to being healthy. Everyone’s lives looks different of course, but people can change their lives in different ways in order to make it economically feasible to spend more money on training.
The simple truth is this. Most people do not have the motivation or the discipline to exercise on their own, and exercising is the most important thing that your body needs in order to be healthy. If you are one of these people, then just buying a gym membership will never be enough to help you reach any type of training progress. Stop spending money on things you don’t absolutely need so that you can spend money on that one thing you do need: help to get you to exercise! Reprioritize your daily routines and habits so that your health can be the cornerstone of your life. All other aspects in your life will benefit once you finally make the choice to focus on your health.
