50-DEAD?
Age groups are typically defined in five-to-ten-year increments. That is until you hit 50. Suddenly it’s 50+ or 50 and older. “Older” populations. Do you see the pattern? It’s as if suddenly, once someone hits 50, they are indistinguishable from someone who is 90.
FIFNESS FITNESS
People currently in their 50s and early 60s were part of the first generation of people to join the fitness revolution.
With people like Jim Fixx pioneering running for your health, Richard Simmons encouraging people to “sweat to the oldies”, and movies like “Perfect” hitting the theaters, fitness for the average person rahter than just athletes came to national attention. People were beginning to move their fitness activities from their living room with Jack LaLanne, to shiny new fitness centers – the GYM.
Many people that started their fitness journeys at that time are still working out today.
But is that what fitness marketing would have you believe?
50 IS THE NEW 90
Most current gym marketing is targeted at the 20s-30s crowd, getting that six-pack of abs, and becoming a gymfluencer.
The reality is, that age group is working out, for sure, but most gyms have an equal number of participants (31%) in the 35-54 age range.
Then there is a sharp drop off in gym attendance. Why?
Do people suddenly lose interest in the gym when they hit 55?
Or does the gym suddenly lose interest in them?
The marketing targeted at that age group is filled with images of silver-haired ladies hefting their 1 lb. pink weights. Or perhaps bouncing around in a pool with other octagenarians. While these may be some of the participants in that age group, the vast majority, those gym goers since the dawn of the industry, cannot relate to that image at all.
They want to sweat. They want to lift. They just don’t want to do it like they are 25 and can bounce back tomorrow from a hard-core workout.
IT IS TIME TO FILL THE GAP
More and more people of all ages are starting to come to the realization that they need recovery between workouts. They want to address physical and mental well-being. And they want support in making fitness something they participate in to facilitate that, no matter what their age is.
When you look at the programming at many facilities, they are filled with more HIIT, more boot camp, and more “let me crush your soul” classes than ever before. Trainers continue to create routines that are about pushing someone to their limit.
While there is a modest sprinkling of Yoga classes or some recovery tools for sale, there isn’t a lot available to support long-term wellness. That crowd that wants support for their Fifness, is being largely ignored.
They want the hard stuff, just not the joint jolting stuff. They want to take care of their bodies, so their bodies can continue to take of them. They want the merging of fitness and wellness, especially if they can get it in a meaningful way at the place they have been going to for years.
The gym.