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Discover the impact of group exercise on club member retention and personal health.
In the last five years, one in every three deaths in the USA was attributed to Cardiovascular Disease (CVD). The latest statistics have also revealed that 60% of Americans don’t take part in regular physical activity and 25% are not physically active at all. This problem is not unique to the USA. Unfortunately we’re seeing similar patterns and statistics worldwide.
On a positive note, research tells us that statistics like these could be significantly improved if more people simply started exercising on a regular basis.
The American College of Sport and the United States Department of Health and Human Services has developed what’s now known as the ‘Physical Activity Guidelines’. These recommend that adults should be engaging in:
The guidelines also recommend that people introduce some strength and flexibility training to their workouts. These include:
A Nielsen survey1 of over 3000 participants of group fitness classes around the world highlighted that more than 85% of class members visit their club twice a week, specifically to engage in group classes. 43% of members visit their clubs four times per week for this purpose.
‘‘ As a result of this carefully-managed group fitness program, all participants had become regular exercisers. ’’
-Nielsen Survey
Les Mills believe that group fitness classes help enable your members to fall in love with fitness and want to exercise regularly. The result of this change in attitude towards exercise - from feeling they have to exercise to wanting to exercise - means they are much less likely to leave your gym if they are participating in these types of activities.
Download the infographic - PDF
To find out what impact group fitness has on exercisers, a study by Dr Jinger Gottschall of Penn State University involved developing a group fitness regime which mimicked the Physical Activity Guidelines for Fitness. At the heart of the research was a desire to draw a conclusion on the effectiveness of group exercise as a programming tool to help on-board members.
Twenty five sedentary (but otherwise healthy) adults (15 women and 10 men) between the ages of 25-40 completed a 30-week group exercise program. This involved participants undertaking:
A 6-week familiarisation period (where fitness classes were introduced gradually and time spent exercising increased progressively to reduce injury risks as well as to optimize adhesion to the program)
A 12-week block of 6 group fitness classes every week (3 cardiovascular, 2 strength, and 1 flexibility)
A 12-week block of 7 group fitness classes per week (4 cardiovascular, 2 strength, and 1 flexibility)
The participants were assessed both prior to, mid-way through, and after the 30-week exercise program. At the end of the program, each study participant showed significant reductions in areas such as body mass, fat mass, and cholesterol. A gradual introduction to group exercise classes also enabled the participants’ confidence and capability to increase week on week.
As a result of this carefully-managed group fitness program, all participants had become regular exercisers.
If gaining and /or maintaining member numbers is important to you, group fitness is an ideal way to engage with and retain your members. As a global industry we often focus on those members that want to work out versus those that need some help to fall in love with fitness and become regular exercisers.
To introduce or to improve your group classes, you can:
Provide your details below to download our Les Mills Get Fit Together Toolkit.