January’s promise of a fresh start can make joining a gym feel like the beginning of a different life.
Maintaining that commitment through work deadlines, family responsibilities, and disappointing weeks is a harder proposition.
As the fitness industry prepares for another season of resolutions, I believe it should reconsider what it offers people beyond the prospect of a different body.
The Health & Fitness Association’s 2025 benchmarking report found an average annual member retention of 66.4 percent among participating operators. Its sample covered 175 companies across 27 countries. That figure does not establish why people leave or measure January dropouts, but it gives operators reason to look beyond membership sales and consider what encourages people to stay.
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My concern is that when fitness is presented primarily through appearance and rapid transformation, participation can become conditional on visible results.
Someone may be building a useful routine yet feel disappointed because the mirror has not delivered what they expected. The industry should give that person more reasons to return.
I believe building supportive communities should be central to that effort. Wanting to change one’s appearance is a legitimate personal goal. But it should not be the only measure of progress, or the price of feeling welcomed.
My experience as a former NCAA D1 college soccer player and personal trainer has shaped how I think about this distinction.
Fitness Should Support Lifestyles
Rather than beginning with how quickly someone can achieve a six-pack, I would begin with the kind of life they want their fitness to support. Running with a child or joining a sibling for soccer gives exercise a purpose beyond comparison.
That shifts the conversation toward identity, but identity must leave room for ordinary life. Being someone who values movement should not require organizing every day around the gym.
I would rather help someone plan two or three manageable weekly visits than encourage a schedule they already doubt they can maintain. The appropriate routine will differ, but the expectation should be realistic.
I take the same view of food. I enjoy pizza, cheeseburgers, and ice cream, and I do not want fitness culture to turn every meal into a test of character.
My argument is for moderation rather than perfection. Someone who misses a planned workout or eats differently than intended should feel able to resume their routine without treating the interruption as a personal failure.
Support can make that approach more practical. The Community Preventive Services Task Force recommends community-based social support to increase physical activity, including buddy systems and walking groups.
Its recommendation rests on an older review of nine studies, so it should not be presented as new evidence about gym retention. It nevertheless supports taking relationships seriously when designing opportunities to be active.
For a gym, that could mean introducing a newcomer to a regular group, offering an optional training partner, or checking in supportively after an absence. These are practices operators can test and improve. Calling a customer base a community is not enough; people need opportunities to develop relationships within it.
Nor should community become another obligation. Some people prefer exercising alone. Others face costs, inconvenient hours, or caregiving responsibilities that friendliness cannot resolve.
A credible commitment to participation should include asking what stands in someone’s way and making adjustments where possible. Belonging should expand people’s choices.
Help Gymgoers Choose What Suits Them
If the industry continues to make physical transformation its dominant promise, I worry it will overlook members whose progress is less visible.
A more inclusive approach could recognize returning after a difficult month, learning an unfamiliar movement, or establishing a workable routine. Those achievements deserve encouragement even when there is no dramatic photograph to share.
Before the next January enrollment campaign, gym leaders should pair every introductory offer with an optional support plan. Ask new members what they want to do more comfortably in daily life, help them choose a realistic schedule, and offer a group or partner if they want one.
Follow up about barriers and assess continued participation alongside new sign-ups.
The standard should be whether people can keep returning through imperfect weeks. This is the future I want fitness to build.
Jimmy Barrios is the founder of DUVA, a former NCAA Division I soccer player and an experienced personal trainer. The views expressed in this article are his own.