The Dangerous Mindset We May Have Accidentally Created
Do any of your members miss one workout, then disappear for two weeks?
A new study caught my attention this week, and honestly, it explains a lot about human behaviour in fitness.
Researchers found many people don’t struggle because they hate exercise. They struggle because they think exercise only “counts” if it’s perfect:
- If they can’t do the full hour, they do nothing.
- If they miss Monday, the whole week is blown.
- If they can’t train hard, they convince themselves it’s not worth it.
The study led by Michelle Segar (author of No Sweat) called it all-or-nothing thinking and here’s the part that we need to take notice of: we may have accidentally helped create it.
For years we’ve conditioned people to think workouts only matter if they’re intense, sweaty, long or “serious”. The research even showed people dismissed walking because it didn’t feel hard enough.
Here’s a different way to think about encouraging members to workout, give them permission:
- Permission to do something instead of nothing.
- Permission for movement to still count on messy days.
- Permission to break the perfection mindset.
Weekly Challenge:
Start with your personal trainers. Ask them what language they use around movement, exercise, and workouts. Are they encouraging consistency or unintentionally reinforcing all-or-nothing thinking?
The more I look at enhancing retention, the more I keep coming back to the psychology of our members and helping shape their habits.
Justin is the Managing Director of Active Management, which he began January 2004. He offers coaching to businesses worldwide in everything from start up and design to marketing and sales systems. Justin also facilitates four Australian and New Zealand ‘fitness industry roundtables’ events, which allows him to see a huge cross section of business models.