Why Members Lie, But Data Doesn’t. PT 2: Member Behaviours

I’m sure your PT can read their clients like a book, but the only thing more valuable than a book is a mobile. Now that may sound very Millennial of me, and a blasphemy statement for book lovers (I myself am in that category), whilst I don’t actually believe books don’t hold value, often the fiction they are filled with, can be as factually incorrect (and at times, as convincing) as your member’s stories! Humans are complex creatures and whilst we have often the best intentions in the world, these evolve and the habits that are needed to live up to these intentions is often where we fall short.?

Human Vs the Machine?

Now, of course, your trainers have two eyes and two ears (hopefully) and of course, they can make an instant visceral analysis upon arrival of the member, most trainers can spot a hangover or a late-night a mile off right? Sure most of the time you know your members, you have been training them for a while, maybe even consider these clients your friends and can spot their BS at times, or maybe you have them on Instagram, which revealed how they got said hangover. As the session goes on, even if they hid that hangover well to start, you will start to notice peaks and troughs in their performance and soon be able to figure out the condition they came to us in and how they have been living since they last trained with us.

But maybe they are new, or an introvert, or an athlete or harder to read. The famed ‘how are you today?’ phrase which many operators claim unlocks all their member’s secrets and causes the member to instantly confess to, one too many beers the night before, or the skipped cardio sessions you prescribe, is a myth. And we can't work with myths or your member’s BS. Because humans lie, a lot actually, and when it comes to fitness and health (as we discussed in PT1 article) they lie even more. So when you ask them that “and how are you today” Don’t expect an honest answer, a “yeah yeah I’m alright actually” can hide a thousand secrets of bad consumption choices, personal stress or poor sleep, thinly veiled in optimism, delusion or denial. Our trainers are not therapists, though at times I am sure it feels like they are, and whilst they can read their members well, they don’t need to rely on advanced knowledge of their client’s lifestyle choices, a link to their Instagram feed or in-depth psychoanalytic knowledge of these members decisions making processes, to work it out. they just need to look at their phone.?

Now when I say look at their phone I don’t mean, check their alarm time, email outbox, social feeds or calendar, whilst this may be helpful, members can still lie in every area of this outward display of commitment to your program. A missed alarm, a no-show to that 5k, a seemingly clear work diary past 9pm, all of this can be hidden. Now whilst your trainer may be able to spot those dark circles under your client’s eyes or their slower warm-up run, what they can’t tell is the extent of this damage? Let’s take those dark circles- did the client have a late night due to a deadline, or a heavy boozed night, or a disrupted sleep due to stress, which caused them to be restless. Even if you asked, it’s unlikely you will get a straight answer, because even the closest trainer client relationship, still has room for denial, fabrication or straight BS, and even a therapist would find that hard to navigate! But guess what doesn’t lie… ever. The Apple watch/Whoop/FitBit/Garmin, on your member’s wrist.?

Behaviours?

Like most people that work in the fitness industry, I read James Clear Atomic Habits religiously every January (told you, I don’t hate books). In James’ opening use case, he discusses how cycling expert and performance coach, Dave Brailsford, took on a losing GB team and drove them to success. He did this in essence, by tweaking the seemingly smallest areas of his team’s performances and where he could, the environment. An example Clear refers to is changing the paint on the bicycles, to highlight the dust which causing wind resistance. A minuscule tweak, but combined with other minuscule tweaks, makes the difference between success and failure.?

Now what if we suddenly were able to take that approach to our clients, athletes or not, it’s not the huge obvious markers that make the difference, between the two week holiday or the injury, it’s the grey stuff. What if we could work on tiny tweaks in their behaviours which over time snowballed and caused them to start seeing progress and success. This would be great right? But hate to break it to you, you only see your member for at best, a few hours a week, and whilst the gym floor teaches us many things, habits isn’t one of them, the habit of accountability and showing up however is. And even if you achieve nothing else with your member, you have helped them birth, grow and execute that singular habit- caring about their health. And that should be recognized and praised because as habits go, that’s a hard one to start let alone maintain.?

But back to our members, even if they do happen to pick up other habits on the gym floor, improving their form every time they lift or sprinting for that last interval, it’s the habits outside your four walls that are going to make the difference for them. It’s the improved sleep health, which enables them to sprint that last interval, or the increased mental clarity of a better diet that triggers that mental note to recall your teaching about form. And until now, we had very very limited insight into our members lives outside of what they tell us/show us. But now we have an insight into their behaviours so we can help them build better habits, by looking at the trainer that is with them every single day, their Wearables.?

In PT 3 we discuss the power of Wearables, how it can transform your offering and how easy it is to onboard this approach. As always, I want to echo the following sentiment - do not fear embracing Wearables or AI, or the other types of Tech we speak about. Our industry is and will always be a people industry, 'its not humans OR machines, but humans WITH machines, as when you bring both together, your member experience will become elevated forever. Check out PT3 next week, and as always if you have any questions/feedback, do not hesitate to reach out!

L