Even before we look to new audiences, there’s so much more we can do to attract people who have already bought into exercise

The UK fitness sector has reached a plateau in its product lifecycle: after the rapid growth of the noughties, it’s been stuck at roughly the same level of market penetration – 12 per cent – for years, with only the arrival of the budget clubs nudging it up a meagre half point (State of the UK Fitness Industry Report).

There are signs the sector can push beyond this, from the green shoots of interest from the medical sector to the involvement of increasingly influential partners such as Tesco, which has partnered with Xercise 4 Less to build gyms in supermarkets – a move that will ensure a far higher profile with the public (see p15). 

However, if we want to see a dramatic uplift, there needs to be an equally dramatic shift in approach. In our panel feature on page 30, ukactive’s David Stalker talks about moving from fitness delivery to health delivery, while TLDC’s David Minton identifies older and deconditioned people as key prospects to drive penetration and Mintel’s Michael Oliver picks out young singles. But YouGov’s James McCoy highlights the importance of targeting lapsed members, and this is key. Even before we look to new audiences, there’s so much more we can do to attract people who have already bought into the idea of exercise.

Mintel research shows almost 40 per cent of UK adults have, at some point, been gym members, but well over half have lapsed. Meanwhile figures based on TLDC data and new retention research from Dr Paul Bedford suggest up to 3.5 million members lapse each year (more details in HCM Sept). 

That’s a huge number who at best feel the gym isn’t “for them”, and who at worst have been alienated by clubs’ behaviour. 

Rather than comforting ourselves that penetration remains steady around 12 per cent, we should be analysing the situation more thoughtfully in relation to churn. 

The 23 per cent of adults who are lapsed members present an opportunity to boost membership – but only if we deliver what they want, where and how they want it. London-based pop-up operator Move shows how this can be done: its Facebook page asks “What would you like to do, and where?” with suggestions acknowledged and delivered on – a contrast to the model that insists people come to the same facility with the same timetable all the time. It’s about helping people create their own routine – something that suits, motivates and engages them.

It’s also about fitting into routines people have already created for themselves: the last thing we should do is undermine existing fitness habits in order to implant new ones.

Equipment manufacturers are recognising this, partnering with third party apps to ensure those already engaged in tracking activity – via the likes of Nike+ or Runkeeper – can stick with this routine while drawing gym equipment-based data into the mix (see p60). These people may not use gyms all the time: they’re likely to enjoy a variety of activities. However, if clubs position themselves as hubs that offer goal-setting (see p52), guidance and data interpretation, they could attract more exercise converts – and that’s surely the easiest target of all to take us beyond 12 per cent.