I hate change!
I will always order the same food from a restaurant, because I know it will taste good and I won’t be disappointed (unlike my husband who likes to taste everything on a menu). I have had the same hairstyle for 6 years (Balayage will never go out of style and you heard it here first). I also refuse to change my skin care products. You get the point right, I hate change. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise to you, to know that I have only ever changed fitness centres once and that was simply because I moved states.
You see I jumped on the fitness first bandwagon early on and just stayed put. Why, you ask? It had all the classes and equipment I required to maintain a degree of fitness. There was even a crossfit box next door! Yes, I was just a number to them. None of my programs were individualised, I didn’t know my trainers names and they didn’t know mine. I was always encouraged to work harder, despite the fact I may have been overworked or slightly injured. As we had new trainers every day, there was no way they could keep track of every little thing.
Enter my new fitness centre. To say I noticed a difference is an understatement.
I have never felt so welcomed, I genuinely want to train there, every day, because I know I am more than just a number. Here are my tips for recognising if your fitness centre, crossfit box or personal trainer actually cares about YOU and why I’ll be staying put from now on.
They actually call me
And no not in an annoying way, but they like to know where I am if I haven’t been in a week. They monitor my attendances and ensure I am getting my money’s worth from them. You see even if I don’t attend, they will still make those weekly debits from my account. They could easily just sit back and continue to take my money but they genuinely want me to come in to ensure I am working towards my goals.
Technology is the future
If you fitness centre, box, or personal trainer hasn’t implemented some sort of technology to track attendances, monitor their finances and look into your performances as the gym, chances are they are a little behind. We live in an age of technology, therefore they should be out their implementing it in their day to day practices. It will not only make their lives a lot easier but will show you, the customer, that they truly value you and not your money.
Set a goal and they will push you to keep it
Upon arriving at my new training facility I was asked WHY? I found that quite odd at first, no one had ever asked me why I wanted to exercise. I took a second to answer and said my goal was to become a stronger and fitter version of myself. Ever since that day they have made sure I was working towards that goal. When I stopped during a workout, I am pushed to continue. Even when I fell pregnant, they continued to ensure I was working towards my new goals, within my capabilities of course.
Tracking, monitoring and understanding performances
All of my performances and weights I complete in classes are entered into a platform, where they are recorded and monitored to show growth. It is a great way for me to know exactly where I started and how far I have come. My trainers monitor these graphs and push me to grab the extra weight because based off my recorded information, they know I can do it!
Do they even know what wellness is?
A relatively new concept in the general fitness market, however elite athletes have been monitoring their wellness for years, so why shouldn’t you. Performance monitoring systems like FitBox, Baseline and SportsMed Elite (for those in high performing teams) allow you to monitor more than 20 wellness metrics. Why is this important you ask? It provides trainers with a greater understanding into your performances and your recovery rates. This ensures they can tailor training to suit your individual needs, rather than the needs of the gym as a whole.
So next time you ask yourself, do they even care?
Go through these checkpoints. And at the end of the day, you might enjoy being just a number, hey I did. But I guarantee once you take the plunge into a fitness centre that appreciates you and is willing to take the extra steps to prove it, you won’t look back. And I know I haven’t.
Naomi Wallis
Product Manager
Naomi speaks all things functional movement. She loves it so much, she adopted it into her daily fitness routine. To say sport was ingrained in Naomi is an understatement.
In fact, she loved it so much, she went on to study sports science at university and has worked for some of the best NRL teams in the country.
Her world is revolved around the sport and she brings this enthusiasm to the table every single day.
