What really motivates you to exercise today? Are distant goals sufficiently engaging on a day-to-day basis, or will today’s gym visit be more about simply wanting to feel energised and positive about the day?

In the last issue of HCM, we looked at the impact of exercise on mental health. Of particular note was a survey by mental health charity MIND, which found that seven out of 10 gym users with no mental health issues thought their mental wellbeing would suffer if they didn’t exercise.

We’re not even talking about depression here – just a day-to-day feelgood factor that feels both achievable for its immediacy, and desirable across the board. Quite simply, exercise makes you feel good: happier, less stressed, more alive, more energetic. This a very compelling, instant benefit that health clubs should absolutely be harnessing in their marketing.

Yet many operators still persist with appearance-orientated messages. Interesting, then, that new research by Dr Melvyn Hillsdon and The Retention People suggests that, even if members believe they look better as a result of their gym-going, this doesn’t actually improve retention (see p48).

Meanwhile, in spite of a steady stream of ‘exercise is medicine’ stories in the media, there’s also a question mark over the validity of this as a mass market message. Realistically, the average member of the public is unlikely to exercise today in the hope it might one day – 20 years down the line and with no guarantees – help them dodge the bullet of cancer or heart disease.

We therefore need to change perceptions of what exercise delivers, offering tangible reasons to get moving here and now, today – and that means bringing mental wellbeing into the marketing mix. Equally importantly, we must make doing that exercise feel genuinely achievable.

In fact, there is at least one UK operator already focusing on the mental aspect: at cycling microgym Psycle, the emphasis is on a positive mindset above all else, focusing on how people feel mentally during and after class to inspire continued attendance.

But what about making exercise feel achievable? This ties in with my recent editor’s letter on the idea of ‘23½ hours’ – the need to limit our inactivity to just half an hour a day. Surely we can all do that?

But life still gets in the way, and that’s where the notion of ‘precommitment’ comes in (see p8). This is a concept operators could use with both members and prospects, teaching them to curate their environment so they don’t have to resort to willpower to do the things they’ve said they will, like going to the gym. Alternatively, talk to them about the ‘one push-up challenge’, whereby they commit to doing just one push-up a day – except the thing is, once they’ve started, they’ll probably do more. It’s just about talking about exercise in a way that makes it seem do-able.

Let’s not over-complicate things. Make people believe they can be active today, and make them want to be by telling them how great it will make them feel – today.

Kate Cracknell, editor - [email protected] @HealthClubKate