Empower the Marginalised, Add Value to a Gym Brand

FROM BODY ACHIEVEMENT TO WELLNESS

In a gym of the 1980s, the Eye of the Tiger played on the radio as wannabe bodybuilders and supermodels screamed and swore their way through a thousand rep workouts. Dressed in spandex body suits with short shorts and leg warmers over the top, gym rats wore aviator shades inside the building and had overly curly hair which was held in place with a can of hairspray.

On a bracket high in the ceiling a small Sony Trinitron TV played a VHS tape of Arnold Schwarzenegger flexing his rhomboid muscles, while, in the background, Jane Fonda did laps of relentless mile-long waist slimming walks. In the fitness culture of the 1980s body achievement, or looking good, was the primary goal.

Pan across to a gym in the twenty-tens and the scene had changed. Now Mom and Pop health clubs exist with personal trainers who have certificates in Gestalt therapy. There are mind-body studios which mix e-meditation with Hindu rituals. In the fitness cultures of the 2010s, wellness, or feeling good, became the primary goal.

GYMS AFTER COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted many aspects of human activity in 2020. As infection numbers mounted and hospitals across the world filled with patients, governments, citizens and businesses alike were asked to reconsider how they behaved. In the re-evaluation, maintaining good physical condition for citizens became a global priority.

“One of the key concepts in wellness is being personally proactive to keep yourself well and to keep illness at bay,” says Beth McGroarty of the?Global Wellness Institute . “COVID-19 has harshly exposed the terrible human cost for not controlling chronic ‘underlying’ conditions, because [these conditions] have made it much more likely for people to get very sick or at worse, die. COVID-19 has immediately strengthened the case for a life of preventative wellness, which traditional medicine has pretty much failed us on.”

Having made the switch from the pursuit of body achievement in the 1980s to the more holistic objective of good mental and physical well being in the 2010s, the gym industry is in a strong position to co-ordinate a boom for healthy living as a means of lessening the effect of the pandemic. Augmenting gym membership will not only be financially lucrative for the industry, it will be a good thing for society as well.

#GYMSFORALL

If gyms are going to be able to expand then they will need to address why certain demographics continue to avoid the fitness industry.

A recent survey detailed the extent of “gymhibition” in the UK – with a third of 18-35 year olds feeling too self-conscious to join a gym, and almost a quarter admitting to being worried they’re “not fit enough” (23 per cent) and that “everyone will look at [them]” (24 per cent). The penetration rate of gyms in the UK is around 14.9 per cent, in the US around 30 per cent, but in some countries such as the UAE only 7 per cent of people have gym membership.

CREATE BRAND LOYALTY: GYMS FOR MARGINALISED COMMUNITIES

One of the reasons why customers are reluctant to go to the gym is because the big business model of the chain gyms which dominates the market ignores the needs of marginalised groups. Chain gyms need to serve the lowest common denominator and give a regular product at a low price.

For small and medium sized providers, boosting membership by tailoring gyms to the needs of the excluded and publicising the inspirational stories of #everydayheroes (members of marginalised communities who have benefitted from the fitness industry) will bring in members from untapped demographics. Moreover, companies create loyalty in existing customers by binding themselves to authentic values. By helping disadvantaged groups get fit, businesses will add a moral code to their brand. This is important. As Howard Schultz (billionaire and former Starbucks CEO) says: “mass advertising can help build brands, but authenticity is what makes them last. If people believe they share values with a company, they will stay loyal to the brand.”

Gyms can’t just be for the fit and healthy. They have to encourage visitors with chronic illnesses. Gyms can’t just be for the abled bodied. They have to welcome those with physical disabilities. Gyms can’t just be for white men. They have to be there for women and the black and minority ethnic community too. Gyms can’t just be for the slim and toned. They must open their doors to people of all shapes and sizes. Gyms can’t just be for the affluent. They can let the poor workout as well.

GYMS FOR THOSE WITH CHRONIC DISEASES

Javaria Malk is a Dubai based transformational coach with a sugary voice and a kind demeanour. She loves making Instagram posts in which she talks directly to the camera about difficult topics such as trauma or abusive partners. Javaria suffers from a medical condition known as spinal muscular atrophy. She loves to go to the gym. “When you’re living with a chronic health condition,” she says. “It can feel hard at times to love your body. But you don’t have to have a perfect body to have a great body image. Body image can be improved when you care for your body, appreciate its capabilities and accept its limitations.”

Despite the benefits on offer, many gyms are not ready to work with people with chronic diseases. They often don’t have the necessary training to differentiate between performance and therapeutic exercise, and there is no infrastructure in place to consult with clients’ physicians.

GYMS FOR THE DISABLED

Write #wheelchairbodybuilding in Instagram, and you’ll find photos with high saturation, loud filters and lots of muscle. In weights rooms all over the world, you’ll see thousands of images of disabled people with unreal muscle mass and tone. “Look at what you got, not what you don’t. Take my legs, I’ll grow wings,” says Bradley Betts in an Instagram post in which he stiffens his shoulders, pushes out his chest and his biceps and forearms explode.

It is not just gruelling high intensity muscle focused activities like body building which have allowed people to transcend the boundaries of their disability. Type #adaptiveyoga into the search bar, and you’ll find countless tiles celebrating the quality of breath control and quiet body postures.

“We have to develop the knowledge that we are good enough. Once we master our psychology and emotions, nobody can steal that love from you, not even yourself,” says Rodrigo Souza a disability advocate who has been studying adaptive yoga.

“Yoga has made me more flexible, stronger. Before yoga, I didn’t think to use my legs to help me transfer out of my wheelchair. Now, I push down on them and transferring is easier,” says Beth Rosenberger an adaptive yoga student.

Whether through body building or yoga, gyms can change disabled people’s lives, but a recent research paper entitled “Fitness Facilities Still Lack Accessibility for People with Disabilities” by James H. Rimmer PhD outlines that people with physical/mobility disabilities continue to have limited access to programmes, equipment and services in the United States (the richest country in the world). If gyms around the world are going to be for everyone, then access for disabled people must be improved.

GYMS FOR WOMEN

In the 21st century, after thousands of years of oppression, women have fought back. Just as with every other aspect of society, gyms have had to respond to this turn of events. Women only gyms have sprung up.?Some gyms have branded themselves as judgement free zones. Mirrors have been removed, phones have been banned, inspirational wall quotes have been provided by local gym goers instead of cancelled celebrities and rules have been made about keeping eyes out of people’s bra and knickers.

In many gyms, however, the hallmarks of toxic masculinity remain.?Alondra Contreras a columnist for Whitman Wire explains: “being at the gym is … hyper-exposing. Whenever I am working on a hard movement, I feel extra eyes on me – it’s a fish bowl. I see other men either looking at my body, my form or making preconceived judgments about my strength. I have caught men staring at my butt as I walk around the gym. This sort of objectification makes me feel small and insignificant and it also distracts me from getting my workout in. I don’t know how or why a guy can enter the gym and feel entitled to inappropriately stare at any woman.”

Gyms can adapt their facilities and respond to the needs of women. Rather than see complaints as a threat, gyms can embrace the possibility that by accepting what women’s activists have to say and remodelling gyms in line with their demands, gym membership numbers might actually rise.

GYMS FOR THE BLACK AND MINORITY ETHNIC COMMUNITY

It is unfortunate to know that in England only 58% of black people and 54% of Asian people are classed as ‘active’.

These ethnic groups are insufficiently represented at senior levels in fitness. So, perhaps the black and minority ethnic community is disinclined to exercise because they don’t feel welcome in the gym industry. Rachel Tran, co-founder of Food & Lycra, believes that gyms need to become more inclusive. “The reality is, if we don’t see people who look like us in these spaces, we won’t feel like we belong there.”

In a recent article in the New York Times, Tunde Oyeneyin, co-founder of Y7, a yoga company with 14 studio locations across the United States, outlined how she wants to combine potent physical exercise with black activism. This culminated recently in a 30-minute spin class which drew 20,000 likes on Instagram. In the video, Tunde, panting heavily and shining with sweat, calls for a “riot of solidarity” before she jumps back on her workout bike.

There is opportunity for the fitness industry to work together with the black and minority ethnic community, but this will only be successful if the community themselves shape outcomes. Black and minority ethnic people need more positions of power, and black activism needs to be incorporated into the broader fitness narrative of gym brands.

GYMS FOR THOSE THAT DON’T CONFORM TO IDEAL BODY TYPES

Tasheon Chillous and Karen Preene are out there to disrupt. They post content online with an aim to liberate society from stereotypes about body shape and size.

“I love everything about movement and exercise, says Tasheon. “I believe in being kind to your body and moving it the way that feels good to you. Both the fitness and outdoor industry was built to exclude folks like me. But myself and many others are here to change that. I personally want to create movement spaces in the gym or on the trail where people feel supported, safe, and encouraged.”

“I can’t say that it was fitness that changed my life. But deconstructing diet culture has,” says Karen who believes there should be more “fat staff” at gyms. “I now have an intuitive relationship with movement that feels supportive rather than toxic. I feel more connected to my body than ever.”

Gyms are starting to react to the needs of those that don’t fit into the body mass index charts and are intimidated by traditional gyms. At Downsize Fitness, based in the US and Canada, for example, members are only accepted if they exceed their goal weight by at least 50lbs.?The aim is to make the gym environment as comfortable as possible for big people who want lose weight. “Getting in shape is a dramatically different journey for someone who is obese; simply climbing a flight of chairs can be a challenge,” says Downsize CEO Kishan Shah. “Standard gym equipment is not suited for larger bodies, which is why at Downsize, equipment and classes are intentionally designed for overweight and obese users.”

Downsize Fitness is a good example of a company that has looked beyond the conventional gym model, noticed a gap in the market and decided to address a societal need.

GYMS FOR THE POOR

There is a well known link between poverty and poor health. A recent study by James Higgerson et al called Gyms for Reducing Inequality suggests that a reduction in user charges at leisure facilities in combination with outreach and marketing activities can help to reduce inequalities within communities. Governments around the world, including the UK, are trialling programmes to work in collaboration with leisure facilities to offer reduced gym membership fees to the unemployed. Such measures can be encouraged by the gym industry which has for some time offered reduced fees and pay-as-you-go contracts to help the economically marginalised.

Psychologists and sociologists have long argued that unemployment harms health and damages the social fabric of society. Losing your job can make you feel socially marginalized, helpless and unsuccessful. Going to a gym and keeping fit can reverse some of the damage of unemployment. Hilary Stout joined a gym after she became unemployed. “Nearly five months later,” she says. “My muscles definitely feel more taut, my psyche is calmer.”

Presently, most gyms have a inflexible pay structure which can exclude the economically disadvantaged, but this doesn't have to be so. Gyms are in a great position to lobby governments as a group and develop pathways which would lead to easier gym membership for the poor.

GYMS FOR THOSE WITH MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS

"I've always been a gym person, but it's different now," Jake Smith says. In the past he was admitted to hospital for clinical depression and tried to take his own life. Part of his recovery plan involved exercise. "I use it as a coping mechanism and somewhere I can go to feel safe," the 24-year-old says. "Going to the gym and reaching the goals I've set really benefits me, probably more than the average person. Going to the gym isn't only about lifting or exercising. It's almost a social place with nobody judging you. And I enjoy being around people when they work out, the sound of weights hitting and people achieving things."

The link between exercise and improved mental health is clear.

"When we engage in moderate levels of exercise, we know we can boost endorphin levels," says Dr Mistry, who is the chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists for Sport and Exercise interests group.

At the end of 2019 the first dedicated mental health gym started accepted members in the UK.

"We fully understand the very fine lines between emotional and physical health and happiness, and our club will deliver an all-encompassing solution to support individuals to take back control and help them by building resilience and self-confidence so they feel ready to take on whatever life throws their way," says Joe Gaunt the chief executive of Hero Training Club in Manchester.

With celebrity champions like Prince William and Bruce Springsteen, mental health has reached the mainstream, so it is surprising that it took until the end of the 2010s for the first tailor made facility which combined mental health and fitness to be opened in the UK.

?ADD VALUE TO YOUR GYM BRAND

All gyms want a large, stable body of subscribers, but only brands with authentic values can attract long term allegiance. By listening to marginalised groups and investing in their demands, gyms can add members from untapped demographics and at the same time prove to existing customers that their brand is a force for good.

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