Should we give our members what they want or what they need?
Many of us as owners, managers or program coordinators have considerable control over what forms of exercise are offered in our fitness facilities. Is it our job to simply identify our demographic and offer them what they want or do we have a more important role than that?
As informed industry professionals should we be guiding members into forms of exercise and ways of exercising that we know to be most beneficial to them?
- Who is the judge of what they need? Us or them?
- How do we determine that?
- How do we guide and encourage them to do what we, as fitness industry professionals know will be of benefit to them?
I would argue that we need to be more proactive in our choices about exercise options for members. We need to educate them more on the benefits of particular exercises and particular ways of exercising e.g. Tabata, as an alternative to steady state training, Pilates instead of traditional core training exercises.
What a great challenge it would be for 2016 to present as many fresh new inspiring forms of exercise as we can to our members, in order to keep them inspired and excited about exercising regularly. In turn this keeps them in our clubs, builds member loyalty and satisfaction, and increases our member retention.
Leisl is the Group Exercise Manager at Virgin Active Norwest. 2017 winner of the prestigious Virgin Star Award which sent her to London to meet with Richard Branson. Leisl writes regularly for industry publications and is a Group Exercise Management Consultant for clubs needing analysis and advise on maximising their GEX potential.