Resolutions, resolutions, resolutions…

Do they last? Following on from the piece on men’s beer bellies, another poll shows that more than two-thirds of Britons feel fat, flabby or fed-up and have resolved to change their ways. This poll, by Dare to Care, found that 68 per cent of respondents said they were concerned about either their level of fitness, the size of their waist or their personal happiness – and resolved to do something about it.

A survey of attitudes, revealed that almost a third of respondents said getting fit was their top New Year goal. Just under a quarter said their main aim was to be happier, while 15 per cent wanted to eat healthier food.

It’s the same old story…

January: Fitness centres look forward to the annual boom in membership sparked by post-indulgence guilt.

February: Countless wannabe fitness fanatics revert to their usual lazy routine while continuing to pay up to £80 a month for a gym membership they will rarely, if ever, use again.

The psychology is simple: It’s the New Year – time for a New You. You feel a bit fat and unfit so you join a gym in the belief that paying all that money will make your exercise regime doubly effective. You don’t go very often, so you feel guilty (as well as fat and unfit). Yet you can’t cancel the membership - thus saving hundreds of pounds a year – Oh No! That would be to admit defeat, after which there’s nothing for it but to accept life as an unfit bloater. Or the opportunity to embrace your body as it is – big and beautiful (well you can pretend).

If this all sounds oh so familiar, you are not alone. A sizeable proportion of new members lose the will to sweat within weeks of joining up. Not even the thought of boosting the gym’s coffers for free provides much incentive. I worked for a gym for a while and knew that every January only about 10 per cent (at most) of those I assessed would still be going to the gym in February…

New gyms are cropping all the time throughout the year – look how many we’ve got in Wrexham – luring us in with many with a growing emphasis on mind as well as body in the form of yoga classes, cyber cafés, stress management courses and low-calorie menus.

So do they work? Well for the gyms yes – they can be a very profitable venture – especially in January. But for the members? Probably only worthwhile for those who are fit already and needing to maintain their levels, with a tiny percentage of the fat and flabby brigade sticking it out and getting their dream beach body in time for the summer.

This entry was posted on 11/01/2008 at 10:23 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.