This is going to be the year you get in the best shape of your life. You sign up at the health club for 12 months to get the special rate, and then the automatic bank draft begins. You faithfully go at first, and then you miss a couple of weeks and then a couple of months. You had good intentions to really buckle down this year. However, for most people this never happens. The only certainty is the automatic bank draft.
Canceling the membership involves a large processing fee. You ride it out cringing whenever you see the monthly bank draft for a service you did not use.
Twelve months pass; you send a registered letter stating you do not want to renew. The next month the bank draft is still being charged. The club informs you that they switched you from a yearly contract to a month-to-month membership. This becomes a huge hassle; you end up canceling the credit card to make it stop.
People have high expectations of regular attendance that, for most people, never happens. The renewal rate at health clubs is 30 percent. There are more former members of health clubs than there are current members. That is a lot of dis-satisfied customers.
What good is a program that requires hours in the gym each week even if you don’t go? If you lower the bar a little you might find that that you will stick with a program for the long term. Each week do a little bit more than are used to handling, and over time, you will achieve your optimal health.
Three steps to sticking to a program:
1. Engage in activities you enjoy. You'll more likely stick to things you enjoy doing.
2. Make modest permanent changes in eating habits that you are willing to stick to.
3. Start a strength training program that will produce the largest return for minimal time spent exercising, 30 minutes a week. You’ll have more time to spend outside the gym doing activities you enjoy (See number 1).
At our Austin Fitness Training and New Orleans’s Personal Training facilities we are not out to see how much exercise you can withstand, but how little exercise you can do to produce the most change. There is a long list of health benefits and fitness benefits that will motivate you to stick to it. Over time, the improvements will be life changing. Also, there are no bank drafts or contracts.