How gyms gear up for a more active generation

If you study the demographics of people who go to a gym or join a gym, you will find that a majority falls within the age range of 25 to 35 years old. Through the years that statistic has remained steady (adding or subtracting a couple of years from time to time).

However, while the demographic remains steady, the consumer psyche changes as the predominant generation changes as well.

As gyms worldwide bounce back, they realize they have to tweak things to attract the Millennials (born 1981 to 1996) and Gen Zers (born 1997 to 2012). For many years, the focus was on Baby Boomers and Gen X.

This past week, I attended the annual Global Fitness Summit in the Raffles City Convention Center in Singapore where industry leaders from all around the world converged to discuss current and emerging issues.

Many rapid-change paradigm shifts happened while Millennials were growing up. Think AirBnb, Uber, Grab, Twitter, Instagram. There are major shifts in how gyms promote and how communities are formed.

In a recent study, it was reported that 79% of Millennials value family, while 53% value health and wellness. Thirty-nine percent value friends, 31% spirituality, and 27% their career.

Wellness is a daily lifestyle for Millennials who eat healthier and exercise more than previous generations. They smoke less. They use apps and wear technology to monitor and manage their health. A work-life balance is very important to them and 36% said that lack of free time would push them to consider job transfers.

Since they prioritize health and wellness, it isn’t a surprise that millennials expect work-life balance. They are more likely than other generations to view work-life balance (41%) and not enough free time (36%) as major issues that will affect career decisions. Only 29% of Gen X and 20% of Boomers felt the same way.

Les Mills, acknowledging that Millennials and Gen Z make up as much as 80% of current health club membership, dubbed the two generations as “Generation Active” and conducted a massive industry survey to gain important insights.

The key findings: 85% of gym members also do workouts at home, 89% of online or app-based workouts are from Generation Active and they go for substance over style in terms of instructors (prioritizing an “intelligent coach”).

The combination of Millennials and Gen Z called Generation Active has a different perception of fitness. They have fully embraced it as a lifestyle. They go to the gym at least thrice a week, one day more than the average two days for Boomers and Gen X.

Being techies, Generation Active look for a seamless experience aided by technology, whether it’s managing their purchases, booking a class, buying a PT package or accessing digital platforms at home or on the road.

A wonderful surprise is how much Generation Active is working out compared to previous generations! The global average before was 1.9 times a week of gym visit per member. Now, 84% of regular gym goers work out a minimum of three times per week. Almost 90% of Gen Z, in particular, exercise three or more times in a week.

Generation Active is especially fond of fitness and they’ve embraced the real objective, compared to their predecessors who saw gym activity as a mere social event. This doesn’t mean the new generation doesn’t value fitness communities as evidenced by the fast growth of boutique studios.

While technology is important, equally important to Generation Active is the gym staff. The ability of staff members to inspire and motivate is very important.

The quality of the group class instructor is listed by 37% of Generation Active as a top reason for choosing a class. Of course, your gym or studio should be Instagrammable or social media-worthy.

For Generation Active, all choices they make are lifestyle choices. So if it is fitness, this has to be assimilated into their daily routine and become an inextricable part of their lives.

So gyms and studios should refrain from just selling a service or a product. It should be a total lifestyle. Another reason for this is the current generation’s focus on mental health. Faced with a lot of issues and challenges, all attacking at the speed of light, the present generation is indeed bombarded by increased stress and anxiety.

Mental health is a priority for Generation Active and they chose fitness to build up their mental fortitude, resilience and as a means to center themselves.

It gives me extreme hope that this generation is turning to fitness to anchor them and help weather bad circumstances. As someone said, today’s youth run — to sweat, that is; not to run away — when things are bad. They choose to lift weights when the world seems to be placing heavier loads on their shoulders.

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Post me a note at mylenedayrit@gmail.com.