Why 80% of Beginners Quit (And the 5 Things That Actually Fix It) | Mind Pump 2927

The stick rate with workouts is dismal, but 80 to 90% of people lose consistency with their workouts within a year. We have the solution. Today we're going to talk about why most beginners quit and how to actually stick with fitness. Let's get to it. >> Whenever we talk about this, it always reminds me of the the January rush. >> Yeah, best example. >> Yeah, yeah. >> Best example. Managing big box All of us uh started in fitness in big box gyms and uh if you've ever worked in a big box gym for over a year, you've seen the cycle and the numbers are pretty consistent. You get about a like a 50 to 60% increase >> Mhm. >> in uh traffic, meaning you know, people coming in to work out, uh 50% increase in revenue, people buying memberships, signing up. And that stays up till probably February, March. >> Just a wave of motivation. >> And then after March, uh it's a very quick decline and by the time you get to like April, May, you're back to normal. >> Yeah. So it's like >> three months of >> Machines are free again. >> It's wild. Um and it was super consistent. Uh like this was predictable. This is so predictable. Uh gyms uh will organize their schedules and their budgets around uh the January wave and the inevitable uh drop-off. >> Yeah, yeah. >> Yeah, January is um what Black Friday is to the retail market. >> Mhm. >> So what the retail market is familiar with in November and Black Friday and that whole month uh for retail sales, uh that's what the gym industry uh experiences in January and February and all the way into March, I'd say, is when it starts to peak and then it starts to Then it's a pretty sharp decline. It's such a sharp decline that it goes from January, the highest, by the time July hits, it's It's the lowest. >> The lowest. >> Yeah. >> So it's like so July July is always a rough month. >> In >> fact, July in gyms is similar to the end of the year, which is the slowest time of the year in gyms. We have holidays and stuff. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> And this again, if you look at the data, um most people stop. Most people, the vast majority. Like if you're listening to this, you've probably done this. Uh where you get going, you're motivated, you're you're doing your workout, you're consistent in the beginning. Um and then it it declines and then you're done. Um and that happens within a year. That's what the data shows. In our experience, it's within months. And so, what we want to talk about is how to fix that. Because here's the real problem. The real issue with fitness is is consistency. That's what we're talking about. Consistently working out even if your workout is not perfect, right? So long as you don't hurt yourself and super overdo it, you get great results over time. Uh you get the benefits of fitness. Uh you'll get the muscle, you'll get some fat loss. Now, of course, there's better ways to do it, but consistency's the problem to solve. Uh now, what's interesting about this data is when you look at the consistency of people who work out when they work out with, let's say, a trainer, um how long they stick around, it's uh triple, quadruple, um and with really good coaches, consistency's the norm. Long-term consistency's the norm. So, it's like, "Okay, what's going on here? Why are people uh stopping? Uh Why Why do they get so motivated and why do they stop? And how do we remedy that?" >> Yeah, I think the part that's really interesting about that is that we're talking about millions of people across the country that uh typically fall off, right? That they they fall into that category of the 80-90% that lose consistency, typically fall in four or five buckets or a or collectively, like a couple of those, right? That reasons for why. >> A multitude of factors. >> Yeah, super um super super common to see see this. I mean there's always exceptions to the rule, but a vast majority of them uh fall into one of these four or five categories. >> Yeah, and so let's talk about those here uh for a little bit. Like what is it that that's getting people to lose their consistency? And then how do we remedy that? So the first thing I think that we'll cover is that the workout needs to work. Okay? So one of the reasons why one reason, cuz there's many, but one reason why clients that work with a really good trainer stick around is because they actually see results. There's nothing more frustrating One of the most frustrating things on Earth is putting a ton of effort into something and getting what you perceive to be very little in return. That sucks. I don't care what you do. It's like you could go work your butt off. You could put time into and effort into a relationship. Or you could go to the gym, you know, three days a week or four days a week consistently and you see some results and then it stop and then you're like, "Why am I doing this? Why am I doing so much sacrifice and I have barely any results to show for the effort that I've put into?" Um and that's the number one reason that people stop is they just don't get the results that they think that they should, especially for the effort that they put in. The solution to that is a good workout plan. >> Yeah. And like you mentioned, a trainer can really tailor that to an appropriate level of workout. I think a lot of times because of the nature of it being so hype driven and so much motivation going in, um the intensity really ramps up and what they take on is usually too much. Uh and so the workout itself isn't appropriate and then they are working that hard. They're working really hard and now they're burned out. They're not seeing the results, so it the frustration there is definitely a a big driver. >> That's a good point. >> The the 24 had really good stats around this. It was really fascinating to see um in fact it was so powerful that they they would give away personal training on the front end because they knew how much longer they would keep people on the back end. Uh they they had a membership that was called the Key Fit Plus where you you basically prepaid a year, which was already the best deal, and then they would include at different times depending on what decade you worked there, was between four and six personal training sessions. >> Which is not a lot. >> a lot, but it was enough. What they found was the average member that didn't get a personal trainer when they started would fall off after about 3 months. And then the average member that got a personal trainer for just four to six visits would last over 3 years. And so they would bet on okay, we we lose out on the money that we're spending on the personal trainer to train these people for four to six sessions up front, but the consistency that they will keep paying every single month for the next two to three years outpays it by quite a bit. And so it's And And really what that speaks to cuz obviously a personal trainer in five to six sessions is not taking a majority of people to their ultimate physique or goals. >> No, you can't. No. >> But what they are doing is putting them on a much better plan and path. And I think a lot of people don't know that they don't know. >> That's right. >> I think that uh exercise as as simple as it can be, it's also a bit complicated. Um you know, body composition change uh is a science. And I think sometimes we oversimplify. We can overcomplicate it, too. Uh but we also oversimplify it sometimes with oh, just eat less and move more. >> Mhm. >> And so people go in with this okay, I'm going to stop eating all those bad foods, and I'm going to work my ass off. And And like most other things in their life, the harder they work towards it, the more return they expect to get from it. And that just doesn't play out when you're doing this on your own is you're you're busting your ass, you're restricting like crazy, and the results are minimal to none at all, which results in most of these people quitting. >> Well, the average person, I'm glad you said people don't know what they don't know. So, what's the what's the magic? What's happening here in this particular scenario? So, here's the deal. The average person, when they think of a workout or an effective workout or what makes up an effective workout, there's two things that they think. Knowing exercises and hard. >> Mhm. >> That's it. If I know exercises and I work hard, and the way they determine if they're working hard is like how sore I get, how hard it is, how hard I'm breathing, then I should get phenomenal results. Now, here's the the the crazy part. That's that's not workout programming. Now, exercises done properly make up part of the workout programming. Intensity is part of the formula that that makes up workout programming, but so are reps, sets, rest periods, and how the whole thing is organized on a weekly, monthly, and then quarterly and yearly basis. There's actually a lot more that goes into workout program programming that people realize. This is why there's a, you know, strength and conditioning science. >> Mhm. >> This is why workout programming, this is why strength athletes, you know, athletes that compete in sports to see who can lift the most weight, let's just say. The difference between them is the programming, and you'll have schools or clubs that become famous for producing champions, and it's not because they're attracting the most genetically gifted or they have some special drug that they're giving people. It's their workout programming, and they get so good at it that people start to learn what that programming is or what they're doing, and start injecting it and implementing it into other workout programs. So, workout programming is a science, and here's what it looks like when you do it right. It feels like the results you get don't match the effort that you put in, and I mean that in a good way. I don't mean it in the in the bad way. So, the bad way is I am putting so much effort into this, and I'm getting so little in return. And often times you'll hear people say that, "Man, I'm working so hard, I don't even look like I work out." >> Mhm. >> When workout programming is done well, the opposite is what people say. >> Yep. >> Man, I feel like I'm barely doing anything, >> Right. >> and I'm getting such crazy results. This is wild. What's going on? And the difference is you have a good workout. So, one of the number one things you can do to help with your consistency is follow a good plan. One that is written and created by people who understand workout programming. One that actually uh has science behind it, and one that also has experience behind it. That makes such a big difference in terms of in terms of your consistency. Hey, what's up, everybody? Our top trainer, one of our top trainers, Corrine, created a hybrid workout program, and it's free. You get it for free for 7 days. It's in the Muscle Mommy School community. Now, it's hybrid because it's about building muscle and building stamina. You get your cardio, you get your strength training, and it's the kind of program a lot of the women that are in our group have been asking for. And again, Corrine designed it. You can get it for free for 7 days. It's available as soon as you get started. It comes in three phases. So, it helps you progress your strength training and running. So, phase one, muscle building focus. Then there's an intro to running. Phase two, low reps, heavy weight, intro to plyos. That's fun. Phase three, balance training plus power plus running. It's awesome. Maintain your shape, get better conditioning, get stamina, and get strength. Uh and again, it's for free for 7 days. Here's what you got to do if you want to take advantage of this program. Go to musclemommymovement.com to start your 7-day free trial and get access to the Muscle Mommy Hybrid Workout Program. Get to it. By the way, with this episode, here's what we did to help people out. If this is you, if you're a beginner, and you don't want to quit, here's what we have. We have two workout programs designed for the beginner that require minimal to no equipment. You can do them at home. They give you great results, and you can buy one and get the other one for free. It's a bo- it's a bogo going on right now for both workout programs. By the way, you can buy them both. It's going to give you about 8 weeks to 10 weeks of workout programming all covered. If you're interested, go to mapsbogo.com. The programs are starter and anywhere. All right, real quick, if you love us like we love you, why not show it by rocking one of our shirts, hats, mugs, or training gear over at mypumpstore.com. I'm talking right now. Hit pause, head on over to mypumpstore.com. That's it. Enjoy the rest of the show. >> Well, the the truth is I mean, this is what I meant by body composition is a science. Um, if anybody if anybody just goes in and and does exercises, right, that they've seen on TV or they downloaded from Google, and they just perform those, there's a there's a bit of return you'll get from those. You'll get better at those exercises, right? >> Yeah, and it's better than nothing. Um, but most people come in to the gym because they want to make a change. They want to make a body composition change. Or they got some bad news from the doctor that says, "Hey, there's there's these health indicators that your your health is poor, cholesterol's high." Whatever the thing is. We need to go fix this thing. And so, most people come in to make like change like that. And more often than not, it's physical and aesthetic change. And making physical and aesthetic change, uh, in the positive direction, there's there's science involved. There's a balance of the appropriate amount of macronutrients that your body needs. There's a certain amount of stress that you want to apply to the body related to how much recovery that you get. >> Which is determined so much by your lifestyle. >> Right. There's a There's a certain level at which you want to start and then slowly progress. Uh This like giving it all at once as much as you possibly can while also restricting from all these things that you think you shouldn't be eating approach is a failing strategy that most people go to the gym thinking is the best strategy. And the unfortunate part to the point you're making is uh if they only knew that uh it would take less effort to get more results. >> key. >> They would be more likely to stick around. But the reason why they don't is because and I wouldn't either. It's like showing up to a job you bust your your ass off for 8 hours a day and you get the paycheck and it's they didn't even pay you minimum wage. How long are you going to do that for? Just like this is ridiculous. This is I I work my tail off. >> Yeah, no way. I don't want to do this. And so but what what if you could work a fraction of the hours and get paid 10 times the money? >> I like I mean >> No-brainer. >> Yeah, no-brainer. And so I I think that's uh what happens to so many people is >> And I want to be clear, effectiveness does not mean hardest workout. >> No. >> It means best most effective workout. Smart smart workout. >> The uh you know, our producer here at Mind Pump Doug who's been you know, we've all been doing this together since the very beginning. I met Doug uh when he hired me as a personal trainer. And Doug had an extensive fitness history history. He was not some guy that never worked out before. He'd worked out many many times before. He'd followed many routines before. He'd done bodybuilding routines and fitness routines. He'd run. He'd do play tennis. And I remember when he came to hire me uh it took me a second to convince him that we were only going to work out twice a week. He actually kind of didn't believe me. And thankfully I'm very convincing. So I I I got a little trust from him to try it. By week three, there was no convincing required because Doug was seeing and feeling results by week three that were blowing him away. And I remember him telling me like, "This is weird. How am I progressing the way I am with just two days a week?" And the difference was the programming. That was all the difference in the world. There was nothing else that was different. He was doing everything else the same as he'd always done. The difference was we're working out in an effective way. Which takes us to the second point. And when you look at polls as to why people stop their workouts, one of the top reason one of the top five reasons is it's taking up too much time or I don't have the time. Which actually kind of communicates to what we just talked about, which is when you're doing something so ineffectively, it takes a lot of time to see a little bit of movement. And so when you're going to the gym and you're working out four days a week consistently or three days a week consistently, but which by the way, I got to be clear here cuz we tend to get a little distorted here. When people talk about working out uh right out the gates, in the conversation is every day for some reason. We got to do work out every day. That's not true. You should be active every day, but working out, no. Very few people uh very very few people need to work out every single day. The vast majority of people, if you were working out three days a week, you're working out a lot. That's a lot of scheduled consistent workouts. Most people less than that would be perfectly fine. So, the problem is I don't have the time to do this ineffective crappy workout. Cuz I'm I'm putting so much time in, I'm getting so little. I got a family, I got a job, I got these things like I'm not going to This this just isn't worth it. So, the second point at helping you with consistency is the workout itself should not take a ton of time. Period, end of story. If you you can be super motivated getting into something, making your decisions based off of that motivated state of mind, but eventually that motivated state of mind will fade because it does. Nobody can stay motivated all the time. That just doesn't happen. And now you've committed yourself to I don't know how many days a week you're not motivated and going to the gym four days a week, five days a week, six days a week. It's like, "Ugh, I'm not a fitness fanatic. I don't love this. I don't want to live in the gym. This sucks. I'm going to stop." >> It's overwhelming. I mean, it has to be effective, it has to be efficient. And I mean, that's the number one barrier for a lot of people. It's It's that time uh you know, being able to Yeah, commitment. Being able to fit that in. Uh everybody's busy. Everybody has something they could fill their day with and their time. Um and so, the biggest hurdle is to really like condense that and make that time itself like as effective as possible. And to do that, you really have to structure it in a way uh where you're selecting, you know, the best exercises. You're, you know, applying the best um you know, methods for you to actually see some substantial gain. >> This is also how you can tell when you're talking to like an experienced trainer. Cuz many times when when the client comes in and they're either just getting started in the gym or they're speaking to a personal trainer for the first time, they're highly motivated and ready to go. And you when you ask the question of, you know, "How many days a week can you commit to working out?" Uh almost always they commit to an amount that's not realistic. >> Mhm. >> And a a really seasoned personal trainer knows this and no matter what the number they say to them, >> they talk them down. >> Every time. >> It's like, I don't care the person says six, five, three, it doesn't matter. Whatever they they they say, >> "Why don't we just start with this?" And that's when you know you've got somebody who's probably been doing this for a really long time because they know if they were doing nothing before, >> Yeah. >> and I get you started making better decisions around your eating, better decisions around your sleep and stress management, and getting you working out just one day a week, I can make positive change right away. Start moving you in the right direction. And then I've got plenty more levers and time to play with, especially if you told me mean, could do three or four days a week. And so, a really seasoned trainer knows this and will go, "Let's commit with this. Let's start here. Let's build on that and then we'll go there." And that is the difference versus admittedly what the young personal trainer or what I did when I first started was somebody was like tell me they can only do 3 days a week. I'm trying to convince them to do four or five. You know, can we do more? >> to capitalize on it. >> Yeah, I'm trying to I'm trying I'm thinking in my head I'm trying to move the needle as fast as I possibly can so this person will continue personal training with me and every day that I have control of them, I have a better shot at that and it was such a failing strategy thinking thinking that way instead of thinking I'm showing this person to be consistent. >> And this is because the experienced trainer has lost many clients over the years of doing it the wrong way. They're like, "No, no, no, that's not going to work. Let's do this the right way." You know, type of deal. Here's the next one and by the way, gyms know this cuz they have good data on this these days. One of the number one reasons why someone will cancel a gym membership is it's inconvenient. By the way, the numbers are are astounding. It's like you if you don't live or work within a few miles of the gym, then your odds of being of canceling go through the roof. >> Yeah. >> Through the It's literally like the neighborhood gym. So, unless you work there or you live by there, it's probably not going to work. The only people that drive 20 or 30 minutes to a gym are fitness fanatics. These are people that you don't need to motivate. They're just going to no matter what, they're going to go to the gym. They'll drive as long as they need to to get there. But the average person, like if it takes longer than 10 minutes to get there consistently, that is a barrier that starts to become a larger barrier when motivation fades, life starts to become challenging, and then it's like, "Yeah, I'm not going to do this." So, convenience is very important and there's two ways to tackle this. One, which I just said, have a gym that's very close by. Here's the second one. This is a big one. This is understated but it's very powerful, very important. Have a workout you could do at home without much equipment. This is This was a game-changer for my clients. Now, my clients were motivated. They loved coming in. They loved seeing me. They loved training with me. But, when I had clients that were didn't live nearby, which sometimes which started to happen towards the end of my career cuz I would have clients referred from friends and they would speak very highly of me, so they were willing to drive 30 minutes or whatever. When they wanted to do extra workouts, I would give it give them things they could do at home. And the ones that they could do at home or the clients that did stuff at home and then train with me here and there were the most consistent people I have. >> This is one of the ones that you guys have shifted me on completely. I remember when we first started this podcast, I was a only go in the gym guy, and now I I can't tell you the last time I was in a gym cuz I train from home. It's just and I get it now, the convenience of it. And I I always knew it with training clients because there that was a lot of times the reason why it was hard for me to get the client to come to the gym consistently multiple times a week cuz because it wasn't right on the way home from work, and that was the perfect time for them, getting back in their car and coming to the gym, even if it was close, was crazy how what a barrier that was. It so it was, you know, then when I figured out as a trainer like, oh, I need to put together and I always did this was I always had routines that my client could do if they didn't make it to the gym. And so I think having a strategy or a plan like that and not and also understanding too that you're it's not lesser or you're not losing because you didn't go. Like that there's this myth that if you don't have all the latest greatest machines inside the gym or you don't have 500 lbs worth of weights in there that you can't get this incredible workout. Especially for beginners. Especially for beginners. >> Like a pair of dumbbells, a physioball, or maybe some bands, or your body weight done properly, you've got yourself a phenomenal workout. >> Do anything. >> Weights, especially heavy weights, don't really start to become a factor until you've been consistent for a while. >> for a while. >> You've already progressed for a while, but especially if you're beginner. Um, it's not only is it not necessary, but if you push it too hard um, and get get that person to do the inconvenient thing, your odd the odds of them stopping uh, make it just totally not worth it, which kind of takes us to the next one, which is um, the workout needs to be safe. Okay, so injury will stop any fitness program. I don't care how advanced you are or consistent you are, um, it'll stop you. An injury happens for a couple different reasons. One, very obvious, bad technique. Mhm. Bad form. When you start to treat exercises like as a means to an end. In other words, I'm doing this exercise to get my legs really tired and sore, or I'm doing this exercise to make my shoulders really tired and sore. >> Mhm. >> Versus this is an this is a skill that I need to learn. >> Right. >> This is an exercise I need to learn how to perform. Um, that's the approach. The approach is here are the skills I'm going to practice and perform today. Not I'm going to make my legs tired. I'm going to make my back tired. I'm going to make my chest tired, but rather I'm going to get good at this exercise and the skill. That's one of the best things you can do to reduce risk of injury. It's also one of the best things you can do >> Such a good mentality to to take on and it's so so important. And along those lines too, where it gets distorted a lot is in the group setting. >> Mhm. >> Uh, and so we see this a lot with that motivation too. In the beginning, it's like, well, I don't really know necessarily some of these movements. I'm going to join a class. I'm going to you know, get motivated and kind of feed off of that. Uh, a lot of times, you know, it's really hard to as an instructor even to to pay attention to everybody's form and and correctness and you get hyped up by it. You go a little more intense than you probably would have otherwise. So, it's just one of those things to consider uh, in that setting, you know, it has a propensity to kind of push you a little too far. >> You know, I have a a new found perspective on this point um, in my mid 40s now. You know, this I've known this stat for a really long time that this is one of the number one reasons why people we've known this in the gym industry for a long time of why people quit is cuz of injury. Through my 20s and even 30s, I assumed always was because bad form and technique. I just figured like there's a lot of people that just don't know how to exercise properly. They do >> And And there's some truth to that. >> Right, right. And there is. And that's why I thought of it first I thought that for so long. My new found perspective in my mid-40s is I actually think a lot of this happens from people maybe even people that know how to work out that are just overzealous. >> Yeah. They overdo it. >> And I and and I I feel that I have this new found perspective cuz I know all this stuff. I'm aware of it and yet I still have done this to myself coming back after a layoff and it makes me go, "Wow, I wonder how many of these people of that that fall in that injury category that we're all aware of that is one of the large categories of why people fall off early on is actually not just people that don't know how to work out and haven't lifted ever, but actually people that have and they just haven't trained for 10 years or haven't haven't been to the gym. They start working out, they get excited and they progress really they they start doing things that their body isn't ready for, but their mind goes, "Oh, I used to do this when I was in my >> They know what they were capable of and so they think that they're going to get there pretty quickly when in fact it's too much. >> And I have to think since I've watched myself do this with all of my experience around this that I can't be alone that this is probably happening that that's probably a greater percentage of those people than I thought before. Before I assumed it was just mostly really bad technique and form and people that don't know what they're doing is hurting themselves. It's like actually this is probably a lot of middle-aged people that are coming back to working out who have had a you know, years of laid off, put on some body fat, coming back in deconditioned and starting to feel good and momentum and I should be able to do this. Probably not. I mean, listen, I know all these things yet I didn't properly progressively load myself and actually scale appropriately. I should have scaled back and been following one of our beginner like type of programs even as advanced as I am until my body was ready to progress. Instead, what did I do? Oh man, good week. Oh, PR week, PR week, PR week. Oh, injury. And so, you know, this probably happening to a lot of people and cannot highlight enough how important it is that just because you deadlifted or did a bunch of weight or were strong 10 years ago and you're feeling in a rhythm and good right now, probably should follow some appropriate programming to get you to that place again before you just jump to it. >> Yeah, if number one, if the number one cause of injury is poor technique, the close second is overtraining. In fact, one of the hallmarks of doing too much, right? Too much can be too long, it can be too hard, right? An inappropriate amount of stress for your body and what's what determines an inappropriate amount of stress? Your your your current fitness level, your lifestyle, your sleep, your diet, right? All those things play a a role in that, right? One of the hallmarks of overtraining is injury. It's actually one of the number one things like the the coaches know like, oh, repeated injury, maybe we're overtraining. And so, you don't want to overdo it. You want to have good technique. And then the last point that always comes up in every poll and every every time you look this up like, why do people stop? Why do It's it's it's typically number five, which is the cost. Like the cost of the thing that I'm doing especially when you combine with all the other things, I'm paying this money, I'm also not getting great results and I'm also spending all this time doing it. I think I'm just going to save my money. So, here's what we did. Here's what we're going to do to help solve this for people. We have two programs that are perfect for beginners. Both of them can be done at home. Both of them have expert workout programming. Both of them are are safe because the exercises and techniques in there you can watch, you can follow and are appropriate for the beginner. And then to cover costs or to make it less of an issue, you're going to buy one and you get the other one for free. So, that's what we're going to do right now. So, we have a combo here. It's MAPS Starter and MAPS Anywhere, but you're only paying for one of them and they require minimal to no equipment so you could do them at home. You could do them at the gym as well, but you can also just do them at home. So, it's MAPS Starter, MAPS Anywhere, buy one get the other one for free. And if you're interested, you go to maps bundle go.com. You can also find Mind Pump on Instagram. Just look up Mind Pump Media. We'll see you there. All right, I know you liked that episode. If you did, check this one out. Stop doing three sets of 12 to build muscle and do this instead. You guys want to guess? >> Stop doing the three sets of 12 and do this instead. Uh with that intro, my guess is you're going to tell people to change the rep range up to Yeah, 5 by 5 or low rep range. >> remember when Yeah, so um often times we get stuck in like a set count and a rep count or a range that's