Why your New Year’s resolution to join the gym is doomed to fail

Anyone planning on making a beeline for the auld lang syne-up sheet at your local gym this week, don’t bother, experts say — you’re just wasting your money.

A 2020 study of 1,700 people found that the new year, new me crowd — the group that rushes back to the gym as an annual resolution in the wake of so much holiday excess — are far less likely to stick with a regular fitness regime, compared to those who join in the spring or fall.

Winter gym joiners only went on average 2.9 times per month, as opposed to the Spring or Fall people, who went an average 4.5 times per month.

“There is a strong message at this time of the year of the ‘new me’ and ‘new start’ which could trigger people to take out a gym membership,” Lead researcher Dr. Matthew Rand of the University of Sheffield, told the Daily Mail.

“But this motivation, from social pressure and start-of-the-year feelings, may not be as strong as the motivation from signing up at another time of the year, because you have individually decided you need to become fitter and healthier.”

He added that some may lose the ambition to join a gym after January, so in that case, it’s best to strike while the treadmill is hot with a winter signup

“But for many, joining in the spring could mean they go more often and are more likely to stick to it, because it is not just a New Year’s resolution,” Dr. Rand added, suggesting that people start their fitness habits prior to January so that they’re already in rhythm after the ball drops on Jan. 1.

“Ideally we want people to go to the gym simply because that is what they normally do on a certain day at a certain time, like before work…Repeating the same activity at the same time may make the habit more likely to stick, so it becomes an automatic behavior.”

Attendance numbers were higher for those in a devout routine, according to the study.

Researchers also found that only about a fifth of people stick out fitness goals for more than a year after joining a gym. In addition, the amount of time committed each week will typically drop dramatically between months one and two.

“We saw that many people, despite having decided to become fitter, were essentially paying not to go to the gym,” Dr. Rand said.