There’s a good chance most members joined your gym because they want help with their fitness goals. They trust you to tell them what to do in the gym, and how to do it. If you’re tracking fitness performance data, you can greatly increase gym retention, client satisfaction and revenue streams.
Imagine your friend Sam convinces you to go on a road trip, and tells you that you’re the driver. He says he knows where he wants to go but he’s not sure how to get there. You’re an expert driver so you agree and you both hit the road.
Along the way, Sam asks how many miles you’ve covered. “No idea,” you respond. So he inquires about your ETA.
“Not sure,” you tell him.
Confused, he asks about snack stops and bathroom breaks. As he attempts to be prepared and figure out the progress you’re making on the trip, you stop him.
“Don’t worry about it. We’re just going to keep driving until we get there.”
As gym owners, if we’re not tracking our members’ fitness performance data, this is how we’re directing their journey. When someone tells you, “I want to get fit” or “I want to get strong,” you need a more specific goal and a step-by-step plan to show progress.
Numbers Don’t Lie.
It’s hard to argue with data. If you can show your members the hard numbers of their progress at your gym, they can see whether they’re on track or need to step it up.
Here are four ways you can provide them direction with fitness performance data:
1. Workout Scores.
One of the biggest differentiators between CrossFit and other workout styles is the score. Whether a member is working toward a “for time” score or a certain number of rounds and reps, the score is a huge motivator.
Knowing they’ll receive a measurable number to indicate their performance inevitably makes people work harder, if even just a bit. In addition, analyzing workout scores over time allows you to determine where their strengths and weaknesses are.
For instance, if workout movements are categorized into strength, endurance, gymnastics and Olympic lifting, scores over time can indicate which category needs the most improvement.
2. Benchmark Workouts.
CrossFit is notorious for benchmark workouts, which translates into collecting helpful fitness performance data.
Better known as “the girls,” CrossFit benchmarks are workouts that are done once, then repeated at a later date in order to measure progress. Some gyms place a greater emphasis on benchmark scores than others. Boards adorn gym walls, where members can post their scores for Fran, Cindy, Angie and more.
Whether your gym chooses to reward the best benchmark scores or just give people a place to record their score, the girls are a great source of useful, measurable data.
3. Fitness Levels.
Similar to a karate student earning a higher-level belt, fitness levels allow gym members to track progress on their fitness journey.
And just as each gym culture is different, determining levels will be unique to each as well. So in a competition-focused gym, levels might be based on specific skills like ring muscle-ups and handstand walks. On the other hand, a gym catering more toward the general population might have levels like endurance, strength and mobility.
In both cases, outline specific fitness performance data milestones for members to work for. Getting “more strength” shouldn’t advance them to the next level because that’s not measurable, but squatting their bodyweight is.
4. PR Board.
It’s always motivating to achieve something you never thought you would. And although some of your members would never admit it, it’s pretty rad to be able to declare it to everyone in the building.
That’s where a PR board - and the celebration culture - comes in. Anytime a gym member reaches a goal or accomplishes something they’ve been working toward, it’s cause for celebration!
The degree will vary from gym to gym, and usually starts at the top. If the gym owner and coaches are all about the jubilation, the members will adopt that mentality too. This might include a PR bell on the wall or community-wide announcements in the gym social feed app.
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Conversely, if you and your coaches don’t make PRs a big deal, your members won’t either. You can’t place a high emphasis on fitness performance data if an achievement is then met with a, “Meh.” In a world where being healthy and fit isn’t the norm, seek out every opportunity to celebrate these unique physical milestones.
In Summary: Fitness Performance Data Is The Gym GPS.
Measurable data is the best way your members will get from point A to point B. From their first day in the gym to their goal of being “more fit,” provide them a roadmap that includes achievable milestones. Track their daily and benchmark workout scores, design a levels-based system for advancement and throw a PR board on the wall. Celebrate their wins and watch the resulting retention rates skyrocket.
