For the fitness industry, leadership is essential

Look: If you want to live a healthy, happy and active life, you can’t just exercise for a few months and stop. The long game of personal health and wellness requires consistent effort, even when you don’t feel like it or think it isn’t working.

The health of the fitness industry itself is no different. It requires a long-term commitment of time, resources and collaboration with peers to change minds and build support for the industry and its professionals – many of whom are small business owners.?

So while we’re extremely disappointed that the GYMS Act didn’t secure any financial relief for small business gym and studio owners, Self Esteem Brands remains committed to protecting and promoting the future of this life-changing industry.

More than ever, people need our clubs and studios, our coaches and trainers, and our digital offerings to help them improve their physical and mental wellbeing. However, the industry doesn’t make the laws or shape policy that impacts our industry – and the harsh reality, shown during the 18 months we’ve lobbied for the GYMS Act, is health experts and lawmakers around the world don’t see our services as essential.

They are frankly uninformed and too busy, and if we don’t continue to engage them to build support for fitness as an essential service, they’ll make decisions for us, without us – and just like the past two years, we won’t like the result.

We must keep up the momentum to influence policymakers that our industry provides for physical and mental health – and is therefore essential. More than any other time in our history, industry leadership is essential.

First, we should recognize and applaud recent efforts from industry leaders. Back in December, I joined leadership from IHRSA, IFA and the Community Gyms Coalition in Washington DC to lobby key members of the U.S. Senate for GYMS Act support. Together, we called upon fitness industry leaders to help raise PAC funds on behalf of gym and studios owners around the country. I personally thank each of these leaders and brands for standing with us:

?Gale Landers, Fitness Formula

Josh York, Gym Guyz

Ty Menzies, LIFT Brands

Dave Long, Orange Theory

Brian Smith, Piper Sandler

Brent Knudsen, Partnership Capital Growth

Scott Gillespie, Saco Fitness

Anthony Geisler, Xponential

Jim Crowley, Crunch Fitness

I also thank the leaders, employees and more than 2,000 U.S. franchise owners behind our incredible brands: Anytime Fitness, Basecamp Fitness, The Bar Method (special shout out to Katie Muehlenkamp for joining us in DC!) and Stronger U.

Finally, a big thank you to our industry partners who worked tirelessly to engage Congress with the GYMS Act: International Franchise Association (IFA), IHRSA and the Community Gyms Coalition (CGC).

So where do we go from here? Forward. We must keep up the engagement and momentum, especially at the state and local level.

Here’s one way for every fitness club or studio owner across the U.S., from a single unit operator to the industry’s largest brands, to engage: Project 435 is a new state-level grassroots initiative by IHRSA’s National Health and Fitness Alliance. We’re encouraging all of our U.S. franchise owners to join the project.

You can apply to join Project 435 at this link: https://theatlanticclub.formstack.com/forms/nhfa

We need our industry leaders to lead the industry, to exercise our influence, passion and purpose to help Americans live healthy lives.

Your leadership is essential.

Chuck ?