Strikingly Similar

Our weekly newsletter is here.

Below is TJ’s Blog for the week:

After the housing crisis in 2008, our business grew by leaps and bounds .

There’s a lot of talk around a “Black Swan” event of a recession looming now, with high inflation and now mass layoffs in the tech space.

I was asked today if I’ve seen an effect of these economic markers around the gym. My response was that I’ve heard rumblings, but not much impact on our members so far.

Of interest to me: one of the biggest factors in our growth 15 years ago was an uptick in women.

For the first time in the history of the fitness industry, women were choosing strength-training for their workouts.

While riding the biggest economic spiral since the Depression, women thought it best to become stronger human beings.

The indicators for our next pending downturn have been around for months now, or even longer.

Here are three quick stories I see as barometers of sorts.

  1. A long-time member latched onto the concept of consistency when the pandemic hit.

She begrudgingly took on the project of building a meek home gym and logged onto our Zoom classes 3-4 times per week.

As the months went on ,she slowly acquired more and more gear, and when restrictions lifted, she realized that this set up worked well for her, even though she missed her friends and the more personal coaching that comes along with in-person attendance.

2 and 1/2 years later, she is still as consistent as ever.

Over coffee, she told me that while she was at her kid’s soccer game recently, a woman aggressively approached her: “Ok, how did we do this,” the woman asked while outlining our member’s arms and shoulders with her hands.

Our member smiled and responded very simply: “I lift weights.”

What a novel concept.

2. Another virtual member who has been coming to TJ’s for almost ten years recently had a simple request. as I plan to sell Mill Valley equipment: “I need more ten-pound plates…..for my deadlift.”

I’m bringing her more than just the 10-pounders. She’ll need 25-pounders soon enough!

3. This last story highlights something we say we think about, but do we really? Our future selves.

This client needed a hip replacement. It came on rather quickly.

Her hip had bothered her for a while, but then it stared affecting her gait, and eventually she experienced shooting pains while standing up and getting in and out of the car.

An MRI showed that her hip had deteriorated enough that surgery was the best solution.

My client is approaching 80 years old, which made her a little hesitant. But after her initial visit with the surgeon, she was on board. I knew that she was plenty strong enough to tolerate the procedure and the recovery.

She went home five hours after the surgery.

The nurses said they had never released someone so quickly after hip surgery.

She said the physical therapy sessions were “a joke.,” and she was back training with me three weeks later.

I would love to take credit for my client’s success, but the reality is that she has been strength training 3-4 times per week since before I started my career.

Here’s the rub” Consistency over intensity, until intensity can become consistent.

So…will this next economic dark cloud be a bellwether of women committing to strength all over again?

I have no idea, but with the growing number of female athletes/lifters in our Legends, Teen, Personal Training, and Group Classes, I know one thing.

No matter your age, gender, or circumstance, being strong is better than the alternative.

See you at the gym!

~TJ

Allison Belger