Do cheaper gym memberships make people more fit?

Research shows they don’t. If anything, owning a gym membership has almost zero correlation to your fitness.

Access to fitness equipment clearly doesn’t improve fitness (just ask your bike or ab-circle pro hiding out in the garage).

My goal in life is to improve the quality and longevity of lives in the Hutt Valley. We have SO much to be grateful for: born in a wonderful country, with natural opportunity and beauty surrounding us. Born in the coolest little capital in the world (or near as damn it) with amazing, wind-free seasons and, for the most part, happy people.

The main thing is to be able to stick around to enjoy it. I want to lessen the demand on hospitals, and put responsibility into our own control. I want you to take care of yourself, be happy and live a long life. If hawking cheap gym memberships were the best way to do that, I would, in a heartbeat.

It’s certainly the easiest route: set-it-and-forget-it, just focus on selling contracts to the gym holiday fund. Instead, in the run-up to our 5th anniversary, we’re still teaching people how to squat properly. We’re still using barbells and push-ups because those things work best.

I don’t sell access; I sell coaching.

I spend all day helping people succeed. Whether it’s my members or my staff. And the crazy reality is that owning a 24-hour, all-access, machine-based, fire and forget gym without coaching is INFINITELY easier than owning a gym like CrossFit Hutt Valley.

If I were to start from scratch tomorrow and look at the methodology as “How can I make the most money in fitness?” that’s how I’d do it: fill a space with a lot of equipment and sell access. I wouldn’t have to worry about training my coaches, or making sure clients get results. It makes a lot of logical sense.

But my business practice is “Help First” because I truly believe in that method. I don’t think I’ve once asked for a prospective clients credit card details so I can make their life better, or their friends think more of them.  In other words, what can I do to help MOST? It’s coaching.

It’s calling you when we haven’t seen you for a day or two. It’s partnering you with other like-minded members who will challenge and support you in the gym, and a community that will support you in life. It’s coaching you how to do perform for optimal effect and then holding you to those standards when the chips are down.

It’s coaching, fist-bumping and caring way too much.

From a business standpoint, we’re never going to compete with $15 per week.

No thanks.

Rather, we’re going to focus on what actually CHANGES lives: coaching.

I’m going to provide an opportunity for my friendly, caring coaches to make meaningful careers.

And a place for clients to grow in their health and fitness, move better and live longer.

Thanks for reading these emails! Paul