Engaging women in strength training could be the key to attracting and retaining female gym members, according to Pete Borchert, Precor’s senior product manager, strength.
This strength of conviction led Precor to commission a white paper, Enticing female exercisers: increasing engagement in your facility, specifically looking at ways to encourage women to include resistance in their workouts.
“Our research had some surprising results, showing that 68 per cent of women aged 35–54 felt strength training was very or extremely important – higher than the number of 18- to 34-year-old males. It seems that, as women get older, the messages around the health benefits are starting to seep through,” explains Borchert.
“But unfortunately interest doesn’t equal action, as people in this group allocate less than a third (29 per cent) of their workout time to strength training. Sadly misconceptions – such as the belief that strength training will make them look like a bodybuilder – still play a big part in this. Given how many female members cite weight loss and toning as their goals, it’s imperative that we work harder to arm them with the truth about how strength training can aid their success.”
Also among the top five reasons for skipping weights were “it’s boring”, “no-one has shown me how to use the equipment” and “I’m happy doing cardio”. These findings are backed up by an IHRSA survey of women aged 18 to 55+, which found that while 72 per cent of female gym members participate in group exercise, only 47 per cent make use of weights and resistance equipment.
Precor maintains that initial orientation, on-the-spot guidance and drop-in workshops – along with demonstration videos and easy-to-understand instruction placards on the equipment – will all help to build women’s knowledge and confidence about using strength equipment.
“Sadly interest is not currently leading to behaviour change, and this represents a huge opportunity for the industry, from programming and the gym environment to the equipment they use,” continues Borchert. “So much science backs up the benefits of strength training, particularly as we age, and members’ understanding of these connections will ultimately lead to greater retention.”
We take a look at a number of clubs that are successfully engaging female members in strength programmes.
