Jess and I have been giving a lot of thought to our beliefs when it comes to exercise. One of the major differentiators between fitness facilities is what they believe to be true when it comes to exercise. This will influence everything that happens inside of a gym. The member experience comes from the belief system of the leadership in the gym.
By sharing with others the guiding principles that we have used as we build The Rep it will help people to better understand how we view fitness and the reasonings for our approach.
We have always felt that it is important to explain to others the reasons for why we make the choices that we do. This allows for better understanding of the rationale behind decisions. If we are clear about what we do and what we believe, it will make it easier for those have similar beliefs to find us and contribute to the amazing community we continue to build.
Physical Activity is Important!
There is no debate as to the critical role that regular physical activity plays in both our physical and mental health. The WHO organization lists physical inactivity as the fourth leading global health risk factor.
The top four influences on global health are:
- High Blood Pressure – 13% (7.5 mil)
- Tobacco Use – 6% (5.1 mil)
- Elevated Blood sugar – 3% (3.4 mil)
- Physical Inactivity – 3% (3.2 mil)
Physical activity plays a major role in long term health and wellness. So why is it such a challenge to get people to take part in exercise? Why is it that less then 25% of the population belong to a gym, with an even lower percentage attending?
Why Aren’t People More Active?
The over aching value proposition from the majority of the fitness industry is that by engaging in exercise or some type of nutritional protocol you will, in some way become less. Weigh less, have less body fat, take up less space.
Less is a negative mindset and yet it’s the pervasive one in the fitness industry.
Occasionally the messaging is about becoming more. Building bigger arms, bigger chest, bigger bum. The opposite of becoming less but for many, still a daunting and unattractive task.
How We Think About Exercise
Over the years we have come to learn that coached exercise does so much more for people then simply allow them to change the way their body looks. We have identified 5 key domains that have had significant influence on our thinking process and served to shape our approach to exercise.
These are the 5 areas we think about about when it comes to exercise:
- Mindset – how are you approaching fitness? Are you playing an infinite or a finite game? Which game your playing will massively change your approach
- Strain – what is strain and why understanding it is critical to success.
- Recovery – what influences your recovery?
- Nutrition – a massive and severely overly confusing topic that doesn’t have to be so.
- Focus – when you begin to exercise are you trying to change the machine or how the computer controls the machine? It makes a big difference.
Thinking about how to approach fitness from this perspective has created a positive mindset. The focus becomes on what can you add to your body. Adding strength, adding endurance, adding nutrients adding recovery, add, add, add.
Striving to become more instead of wishing to be less is how we approach exercise. It has a tremendous influence on consistency. Consistency is what leads to the types of changes that everyone wants, but few know how to achieve.
In the next series of articles we will explore each of the 5 fundamental principles that guide us as we continue to developed and grow The Rep Room.