Have you thought about what you want your business to ultimately look like?

You might have a vague idea, but ask yourself, do I ever want to sell my club? Or do I want more locations? If the club is really doing amazingly well, should I expand or open more locations?

What does your ultimate exit look like? Have you thought about that? Many have a vision of selling the club for “mega bucks” and retiring into something else.

Did you know that 8 out of 10 businesses for sale, will never sell? It’s true.

Read more: ‘continued’

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❔ Trivia Question

Answer toward bottom of page

What is the oldest “commercial gym” and when did it open?

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Equipment News

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🧠How to Keep Your Members From Leaving

This increases the “Lifetime Value” of your members which always grows your overall revenue.

 The First 100 Days Make or Break: Why the Member’s First 3 Months Are Everything

Nail the onboarding experience and you win half the battle. There’s a moment every gym owner dreads—when a new member starts to fade. You don’t notice it right away. Maybe they skip a Monday, then show up late on Wednesday.

The following week, they miss entirely. Your team sends a “hey, everything okay?” message. No response. By the end of the month, they’re gone. No exit interview. No big blowup. Just… silence. They were smiling when they signed up. Excited. Hopeful. All in.

And now they’re back in the wild, probably telling themselves: “I guess I’m just not a gym person.” What most gym owners don’t realize is that at this moment—this quiet quitting—is preventable. But only if you win one critical window: The first 100 days.

The Big Truth  

The vast majority of gym member churn happens in the first 90 to 100 days. This isn’t a coincidence. It’s not bad luck. It’s the result of missed opportunity. The early days of a member’s journey are fragile. They’re scared. Excited. Unsure. They’re testing the waters, wondering

• “Am I strong enough for this?”

• “Will I fit in?”

• “Can I actually change?”

• “Do I belong here?”

If you leave those questions unanswered—or worse, leave them alone with their doubts—they’ll walk.

But if you guide them, support them, and give them proof that this is the right place? They’ll stay. Not just for a few months—but sometimes for years. And possibly refer several others, who in turn, will do the same!

Stay Tuned for Part 2 Coming Next Issue

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🧠Fitness Facts

We Can and Must Do Better

_{Gym Membership Retention Rates & Churn Statistics}

• The average annual gym member retention rate is around 60%, meaning 40% of members cancel their memberships each year.

• 50% of new gym members quit within the first six months, with most dropping off after just 90 days.

• The average gym loses 50% of its members every year.

• The first 30 days are crucial - studies show that 80% of members who attend the gym less than once a week in their first month will cancel within six months.

• 67% of gym memberships go completely unused.

• Boutique fitness studios tend to have higher gym membership retention rates, averaging 70%-80%, due to their community-driven approach and structured class formats.

• Members who participate in group classes are 56% less likely to cancel than those who only use the gym for solo workouts.

• Gyms with strong onboarding programs see up to 75% higher gym membership retention rates compared to those that leave members to figure things out on their own.

Plugging up the hole of member attrition is the first step to building a thriving membership. This creates incredible “leverage” for you.

With a large membership, you can: control strategic alliance deals; can make great offers to new and existing members; afford to hire and keep great help; create powerful referral systems; and so much more.

You’re in the right place!

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💦Health

For Everyone

The Best Type of Exercise You Can Do to Live & Function Longer

This particular advice is for your members in their 40’s and up

If you want to live a long time, challenge your muscles with at least some tough resistance. Challenge your muscles, apply that stress to the body. Not so heavy that you hurt yourself, and I don’t believe in loading up the spine with heavy squats or deadlifts. Unless of course you’re young and competitive. Otherwise, risks down the road may outweigh the benefits.

Walking is great, probably the most productive, healthy thing you can do. It’s the most underrated exercise in the world. But, if you only had time to do either cardiovascular exercise or resistance exercise, I’d choose some type of resistance exercise, hands down. Even if it’s just bodyweight exercises like performed in some group classes.

Muscle is not only your metabolic currency, but muscle is also the largest organ in the body. Skeletal muscles, which are responsible for movement and posture, are considered organs because they are made up of various tissue, including muscle tissue, connective tissue (tendons and fascia), nerve tissue, and blood vessels. 

The muscular system, which includes all the muscles in the body, is an organ system that works with the skeletal system to enable movement and maintain posture. 

While both cardio and resistance exercise are crucial for overall health, resistance exercise offers unique benefits like increased muscle mass, boosted metabolism, and improved bone density, which can be particularly valuable for long-term health and preventing age-related decline. 

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🟩 Trivia Answer:

What is the oldest commercial gym?

In 1840, Hippolyte Triat, a French vaudevillian strongman, established the first commercial gymnasium in Brussels, in response to the growing interest for physical exercise. In 1847 he opened his Gymnase Triat in Paris, introducing membership fees with varying rates for men, women, and children.

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Mike and the Pulse Team