What joy it is to face new pursuits, projects and challenges? There’s nothing quite like something novel to get excited about and immerse ourselves in.
Even scientists now know that novelty itself is something we are hardwired to appreciate. Apparently, a unique part of the brain is activated when we see, do or experience something totally new, marked by a spike in dopamine, a neurotransmitter also associated with reward and pleasure.
So we like new and novel stuff, perhaps some of us more than others, but there’s a problem: novelties by their very nature quickly wear off. It’s only a matter of time before new things are no longer new.
Like an artist in a studio full of unfinished paintings, our incomplete projects can begin to taunt us and make us feel like something that infamously dirty word might describe: a quitter.
But what of fitness novelties? Statistics show that adherence rates for new gym members are not all that great, to say the least.
You basically have about a 50 per cent chance of making it beyond six months of active membership, making significant and lasting results difficult to achieve. So are we all just fitter quitters?
I once attended a seminar addressed by a charismatic and high-ranking manager in a big city fitness company. He quoted a fitness club member who once told him: “I’m your best member! I signed up for a year and only used your facility for a couple of months. No wear and tear on your equipment and more space for your active members.”
“No!” said the energetic manager. “We want active members, happy with our services, enjoying themselves and achieving their goals!” Was he speaking altruistically out of the goodness of his heart? Well, yes and no. Happy members are a win/win situation, good for the members, good for the company.
“The more happy and active members attending a gym, the more people we have out there telling others about our club, the cheapest and most effective form of marketing.” Also, every good gym manager knows that keeping an existing member renewing their membership each year is far more cost-effective than continuously marketing, advertising and striving to attract new recruits.
The two-month member is far from alone. How many times have you attempted to start eating healthier or become more active, only to fall by the wayside long before your sacrifices could pay you dividends? Simply ‘sticking with it’ appears to be the hardest challenge of all. Learning to stick with it therefore could be one of your most valuable investments of time and effort.
Set some concrete goals, avoid novelties, go for subtle lifestyle changes at first
A major fitness gadget manufacturer in the US has also publicly acknowledged this theme. They found that while sales of their fitness trackers that record daily steps and energy expenditure were better than ever, relatively few users would continue to use their products after just a few short months. Market research showed them that their devices were being quickly abandoned once the novelty wore off, a syndrome echoed by so many other fitness industry products, including gym memberships.
Subscription services requiring participants to maintain ongoing memberships to access various services and features were what gave the game away. People weren’t maintaining their subscriptions. The company now plans to develop products that promote adherence over the long term. Exactly how they will achieve this remains to be seen, but it will certainly be interesting to see what they come up with next.
It would seem that novelties continue to taunt and distract us from ‘finishing the painting’.
While our fitness endeavours excited us at first, they now seem like nothing more than a big bother. Perhaps we ought to avoid playing the novelty card in the first place. A fitness regimen isn’t even a novelty after all. It’s a lifestyle change and works best when the adaptations are permanent and not too new or so different from the norm that they are unlikely to last more than a few months or, even worse, weeks.
Anybody can keep up practically anything for a few months, but if it doesn’t become a habit, a routine, part of your everyday lifestyle, then it is surely destined for impermanence. Think about it. Permanent change is the only way to guarantee permanent results. Temporary measures yield temporary results at best.
As big business realises the importance of adherence, we are likely to see more research being conducted in this area. Such information could help all of us to give our efforts towards better health a fighting chance.
So don’t become a fitter quitter and try to maximise what we know already about safeguarding adherence. Set some concrete goals, avoid novelties, go for subtle lifestyle changes at first, pick physical activities you enjoy, and try to make it all a part of your everyday routine.
Don’t start out too extreme. If it’s too hard, you won’t be able to keep it up very long. Avoid routines that are likely to give you problems, like having to travel far to get to the gym, or introducing foods into your eating plan that are not widely and easily available. Perhaps best of all, try not to go it alone. Find someone with the same goals as yours and make a commitment to yourselves and each other towards your evolving healthy routine.
If you can satisfy these basic criteria, then your chances of achieving your goals will certainly rise.
matthew.muscat.inglott@mcast.edu.mt