where is everyone?

Sept, 10th.

strength training circa 1911

"Loneliness does not come from having no people about one, but from being unable to communicate the things that seem important to oneself, or from holding certain views which others find inadmissible.
-Carl Gustav Jung

WO du jour:

22 mile bike ride on flat trail. 19MPH pace on cool morning. Great ride.

Later in the day:
3-4 min set of 16 kg long cycle cleans only
2-5 min sets of 16g swings (500)
2-10 reps sets of 24kg see saw press.
38 burpees today.
Yesterday one of my friends was telling me about how he joined a "big box" gym a year ago when it first opened. There was a lot of original excitement and large rapid enrollment to the 10,000 member level. He would say there was a waiting line for cardo machines and the place was rocking. Fast forward and now you see only 20 % of the early membership attendance you see now. Why the reduction of attendance is only speculation. Poor economy, high gas prices, back to school etc. However, the IHRSA( International health racket and sportsclub association) predict a 30-40% attrition rate for its member clubs, so there is a mission to constantly recruit new members to replace the ones leaving.

I belong to a "small box" gym as well as having my own, and 75% of the original members still workout in the same gym for the last 20 years. The cost of this gym was close to nothing to set up as each member made a contribution of equipment or labor and the building was owned by one of the members so the only cost was to pay for the utilities of a 2,000 square foot room. The equipment was basic but more than adequate for people training for competition and no one ever complained.

What keeps those people even though the membership numbers are minuscule compared to a "'globo gym"? I can only speculate that the primary reason for retention is that each member is more connected to their fitness as a group and their success is linked by each others success. In essence, success begets success and becomes contagious.