Welcome, or welcome back to our series of articles looking into how independent gym and fitness club owners can better appeal to the younger generations, specifically those we’ve come to know as Generation Z and Millenials.
In the last article we opened up the subject, talked about the fundamentals of appealing to these two younger generations and the relationship they have with both independent gyms and also larger corporate chains.
We also talked about why any gym or fitness club owner that doesn’t try to directly appeal to these generations and the specific market trends they respond well to, do so at their own peril.
As we will cover, these generations now represent a significant chunk of the gym-going population and their prevalence and spending power will only increase in the years to come. The corporate, budget and national chains are well aware of this fact and know how to appeal. But as ever, independent gym and fitness club owners have some key advantages that they can leverage for success.
And so today we will be looking at the how and why these generations have become the premier fitness focus in a way that hasn’t been seen before.
What will we cover in this article?
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Generation Gym: “Generation Active” and “Gym-Obsessed”
These generations were always going to be known as fitness-focused generations. Growing up surrounded by warnings about smoking, obesity, drinking, and being sedentary set the tone.
Even before the Covid-19 Pandemic, there were identifiable signs and trends. These generations were drinking less, smoking less, and they were interested in living better for longer.
After the pandemic, Covid-19, and the lockdowns, this trend has been supercharged and shows no sign of abating.
Now this fitness-focused generation has lived through a significant event that will impact how many of them live their lives.
Not only that, but many are shifting away from the home workouts that they did in their student accommodation and flats and into gyms and fitness clubs.
In May this year, it was reported that the surge of Gen Z and Millennial members back into gyms and clubs had catapulted the number well beyond pre-pandemic levels. These generations are not just the future of the fitness industry, they are the present.
These are generations that have consistently broken records when it comes to not drinking alcohol. Record-low uptake for smoking. And all that time and purchasing power has to go somewhere. For many of them, that somewhere is a gym or a fitness club. There is a large focus on ‘the third space’ for these generations, an area that is neither their place of work nor their home. They are intensely social generations and that sociality is not solely (or even mostly) based on drinking establishments as they were in the past.
Independent gyms and fitness clubs find themselves at a pivotal junction where, with the right approach and facilities, they can build their services into a core part of the Gen Z and Millennial lifestyle pattern. For those gyms and fitness clubs that can pull it off, it will be a very lucrative and stable part of the market to occupy.
Why Aim for Generation Z and Millennials aka “Generation Gym”?
These observations aren’t new. As early as 2016 and 2017, around the time that the ‘oldest’ members of ‘Gen-Z’ were around 20 to 21, there were studies about the significant impact they were going to have in the fitness industry.
Obviously, these studies couldn’t have known about the seismic, economy-altering impact that the Pandemic would have only a few short years later. There is a compelling argument that the disruption of the lockdowns is one of the reasons that some gyms and clubs are out of sync with generational trends.
But if it was predictable in 2017, at this point it is simply inevitable. As with any turning point in an industry, for the fitness industry, the numbers are quickly becoming undeniable. Between the Millennial generation and the comparatively new Gen Z, it was estimated there is, on average, at least 80% of the gym-going population.
And we say it was because that was a statistic from just before the pandemic. Four years on from that moment, the trend has only deepened. These generations have asserted themselves in the marketplace more and more. And their generational requirements will become more and more important for any independent gym or fitness club that wants to guarantee longevity in the fitness industry.
Many independent gyms and fitness clubs we see are still trying to ‘play the game the old way’. Using techniques, whether it is for marketing, facility management or technology, that were firmly based on trends from the 2000s. This happens in a lot of industries and is to be expected. This sort of rubber-banding effect governs the ebb and flow of trends in many sectors, including the fitness industry. But it will be the independent gyms and fitness clubs that can get ahead of this rubber-banding effect that will see the most success in appealing to the younger generations.
We aren’t advocating complete abandonment of the tried and tested techniques. Many of them can either be adapted or kept wholesale. But it is important to understand, especially when it comes to areas influenced by digital technology such as membership management, access controls, and app support, that change will be vital and necessary. The fitness industry is a competitive and dynamic place and in our experience, no-one knows that better than independent gyms and fitness clubs.
Our objective in these articles is to help independent gym owners understand what techniques work best. Whether it is regarding the level of customer service these generations expect, the level of technological and software sophistication or their preferred marketing preferences.
Independent gyms and fitness clubs will have several advantages in this process, advantages we are eager to make sure they capitalise on. Not only are they often more agile and adaptable than their chain counterparts, there is also a unique social advantage when appealing to Gen Z and millennials. On a cultural level, many members of these generations put great value on ‘local’ and ‘independent’ business. It was a movement that saw a great resurgence before Covid-19 and has only been compounded in the last few years.
So now we have covered the why, in our next article we will begin to look at the ‘how’ of how independent gyms and fitness clubs can best target and increase their appeal to the younger generations.
If you are in the fitness industry, whether a gym owner or management and our article has got you looking for new ways to improve and future-proof your gym or fitness club, perhaps you are still in the right place.
Get your club in shape.
Want to discover how? Let us show you.
Simply select your preferred timeslot and we’ll be in touch to have a chat about your health club,
the goals you want to achieve, and how our system can help you.
the goals you want to achieve, and how our system can help you.
Get your club in shape.
Want to discover how? Let us show you.
Simply select your preferred timeslot and we’ll be in touch to have a chat about your health club, the goals you want to achieve, and how our system can help you.
Get your club in shape.
Want to discover how? Let us show you.
Simply select your preferred timeslot and we’ll be in touch to have a chat about your health club, the goals you want to achieve, and how our system can help you.
