Conversations to encourage the health and fitness industries to share, collaborate and grow together. Guy Griffiths talks with fitness and health professionals about HealthSeekers. Can we improve the population's health, whilst boosting the fitness industry?
Hosted on The Collective, and in partnership with Why Sports, this series can be found on all good podcast platforms via anchor.fm/healthseekers or YouTube youtube.com/thecollective286
How can the fitness industry identify, attract, and support new demographics, using the resources we already have (staff, knowledge, experience, and equipment) to help people to understand their health better and change lifestyle behaviours to become healthier?
People want to be healthier
A Public Health England survey in January 2021 found that 7 in 10 adults want to make healthier lifestyle changes. Yet only 15% of the UK population has a fitness club membership. The remainder simply cannot or will not join a gym to become healthier.
These are the HealthSeekers. They want or need support with health and lifestyle improvement. But they are anxious about exercise, fearful of fitness, or scared of sport. Even the most welcoming leisure centre or friendliest staff member can be intimidating to them.
They didn’t enjoy PE at school and don’t want to work out. But they would like to eat more healthily (40%), lose weight (39%), and be more active (41%) according to the PHE survey.
How can we support them?
Out of the retention, battleground comes a new way to attract and help the 85% who don't want to exercise at the gym. The HealthCheck is a way to start and nurture relationships with HealthSeekers. Some may become health club members in the future. But many more will be supported with a HealthSeekers subscription model, grow your business, and help to activate the nation.
The HealthCheck involves a measurement, and then a coaching engagement. The measurement can either be a score based on a quick survey, or a non-intrusive body composition analysis, which can be performed in a club or from a mobile phone. The coaching discussion explains the results, then talks through choices for the person, again in-person or remotely. Follow-up appointments and programmes deliver motivation and accountability, along with additional products and services to help people on their journey to a healthier lifestyle.
HealthSeeker projects have been running at various independent gyms, at some BodyStreet EMS studios, and 1Life Leisure Centres. Feedback from attendees has been positive, and the staff delivering the appointments have found renewed purpose and enjoyed developing as coaches.
While we work on new projects and develop the HealthSeeker offering for new clubs, organisations, and settings, this HealthSeeker Stories series will spread the word about the initiatives, and generate new ideas, connections, and products and services.
These conversations will discuss how the fitness industry needs to switch focus from selling memberships, stop marketing to the already active, and make use of our existing technology and fantastic staff to support HealthSeekers with their physical and mental health, and to coach them through changing their behaviour for the better.
About The Collective
The Collective is a community of fitness industry professionals, co-founded by Alina Cooper and Guy Griffiths. Our goal is to provide a platform to collaborate, share and grow. Allowing members to connect with fellow peers, creating a safe space where everyone can network and learn.
We host online and in-person events. Webinars, round table discussions, podcasts and ask-the-expert features are all designed to extend networking opportunities and help more people to connect. We meet face-to-face at industry events and host our golf days and other meetups at sporting events.
Topics will cover all areas of the industry from personal training, group exercise, management training, personal development, business strategy, retention, sales, recruitment, nutrition, and customer service to marketing.
About Guy Griffiths
Guy Griffiths describes himself as a fitness industry revolution consultant. He is best known for his member retention work, helping clubs to get their members to stick around longer. While this adds thousands of pounds to clubs’ bottom lines, Guy’s ultimate goal is to help more people to be healthier and happier.
Guy also hosts the YourDreamGym podcast on The Collective, and authored Stick Around (Strategies to Keep Your Gym Members Motivated) in 2013.
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