As I mentioned last week, Chris and I spent the last couple of days at the annual Mindbody Conference called Bold. We have been attending Mindbody conferences for the past 10 plus years and have found the information to be very helpful in terms of running this big ship we call Body Language. Part of the conference is dedicated to inspirational stories of other individuals or businesses who have overcome great obstacles to land where they are today. Other parts of the conference focus on improving the client experience whether its upgrades in technology, tweaking of our branded app, best practices on connecting with our clients or most importantly, ways to continue to foster that deep sense of community we have all grown to love and appreciate at BL. This year though the conference kicked off with a very interesting segment on industry trends. They gave us much data on how other fitness and yoga studios across the country have navigated this pandemic and the staggering reality is that 30% of businesses like BL have closed over the past 2 years. Mindbody also collected data from those who have survived and across the U.S., fitness & yoga studios are only at 60-70% of pre-covid numbers. (Which is exactly where BL is.) While other industries have survived and even thrived, fitness & yoga studios have been disproportionately impacted because of the option of “substitution.” Many have chosen to “substitute” working out at home for their in studio classes. The stats also show that 30 percent of those who were previously working out pre-covid are just not working out at all any more…perhaps a testament to the fact that those at home workouts are not really a viable “substitution” after all.
Here are the TOP REASONS WHY PEOPLE ARE RETURNING TO IN PERSON WORKOUTS…
1)Motivation: 81 % say they push themselves harder in class than they do on their own
2)Instructor: 74% prefer to have an instructor’s direction when working out
3)Accountability: 67% of people say in studio classes make it easier to work out regularly and keep up a routine
4)Equipment: 67% say access to equipment is one of the main reasons they are heading back into class
So maybe you’ve already come back to BL and you’re looking at these 4 reasons and can identify with one or more of them as the reason you came back to the studio. Maybe you are one of the 30-40% who haven’t found your way back through our doors. Perhaps you’re one of the 30% who stopped working out all together and have gained a few pounds as a result. Maybe you’re one of the handful who are actually working out at home, but you read the reasons people are choosing to come back in studio and it registers with you how much better working out in studio really is. Maybe it’s simply the calmness of the yoga room that you miss or maybe it’s the chatter in the Link between classes.
Regardless…we are here for you!! We know a lot of you have gained weight and let yourself get out of shape. Just know you are NOT alone!! Today is a new day and the only option is to start where you are. We have over 60 classes/week to pick from and we would love for you to trust us once again to help motivate and instruct you towards a healthier and happier you. Sign up for classes on our BL app for that accountability and let’s do this together. There’s a reason we sought out group fitness in the first place and there are lots of great reasons to come back to it!! We have missed you!! Hope to see you on your mat!!
