Fitness and Supplements Industry Missing The Mark

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The Fitness and Supplement Industry an Overview

The other day I saw on Channel  9’s Today Show a story titled, “Lack of Exercise More Deadly Than Obesity”.  In a British study of over 340,000 subjects (that’s a shit load of people in one study by the way) researchers studied these people and tracked them through their life until they died.

The study conclusively showed that lack of exercise was the main reason why the members of the study died, and NOT obesity.  Just a reminder, 340, 000 people were included in this study.  Did I mention that’s a shitload of people?

Did You Miss Something?

• The Fitness and Supplement Industry an Overview
• Health Clubs
• Supplement Industry
• Not Eating Enough Protein?

In 2012 Australia’s peak fitness body, “Fitness Australia” commissioned Deloites to write a report on the state of the fitness industry.  18.3 % of the Australian population participated in organised fitness activities in 2009-2010.  That’s 3.6 million people exercising, which means 16.4 million Australian’s ARE NOT PARTICIPATING IN ORGANISED FITNESS ACTIVITIES.

Health Clubs

When I look around the health clubs, gyms and 24hr fitness centres I see them constantly competing with themselves in order to steal each other’s members.  NO JOINING FEE, 1 MONTH FREE, are a couple of offers flying around adverts today.

When I first joined a gym 35 years ago I paid $799 up front for a 12 month membership.  That works out to be $15.35 per week.  Even when I worked as a PT at Fitness First 10 years ago, memberships were around $21.95 per week.

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Fast forward to today and you can become a member of a 24hr club for $9.95 a week.  Clearly these clubs are simply undercutting each other on price in order to gain new members, but here’s the thing, they aren’t reaching the right people.  They’re simply stealing other clubs members.

How do I know this?  3.6 million people out of a total 20 million exercising means 16 million aren’t.  Where are they? They’re sitting on the couch.  Like I say to other trainers, your competition isn’t the trainer beside you, it’s the couch.

Supplement Industry

The other aspect I’m going to take a swipe at is the Supplements Industry which is quite closely aligned to the fitness industry.  There are a truckload of supplements stores, a bit like health clubs and gyms and they too sell their products, but just like the fitness industry, they’re targeting those that already use similar products and the only way to compete is to uncut the price.

I still remember the day I bought my first tub of protein powder from the gym I joined for $799 in Manukau City South Auckland.  It was 1985 and a 2.5 kg tub cost me $99.95.  Today I can buy 4 kgs of whey protein concentrate for $100 and it gets delivered for free.  So again, supplement companies simply undercutting each other in order to remain competitive.

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Not Eating Enough Protein?

As a PT,  one of the biggest issues I have with my clients when they come and work with me is that they DON’T EAT ENOUGH PROTEIN and I’m not talking about the elite bodybuilding competitor, or the bikini model training for their next stage show.

I’m talking about Mr & Mrs Joe Average that work 45 hours a week, have 3 kids and eat 1 kg of sugar each per week in cans of Mother, cans of red bull and low fat extra shot skinny lattes just to cope with their hectic and stressful lives.

The first thing I do is prescribe a protein source into their daily routine just to reduce their sugar intake and increase their protein consumption.  (Remember of course that protein and carbs have the same calorie content per gram)

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Yet they all complain that they’re scared they’re going to get big and bulky by taking protein.  Why? Because the tub is plastered with ripped, bodybuilding guys and girls on the cover, that’s why. Average, normal, everyday overweight and obese people don’t relate to the ripped body building dude or dudette on the cover.

They see them a steroid taking meat head thugs or bulky ugly looking chicks.  If your industry is perceived as such and you want to grow your market share, wouldn’t it make sense then to attract a small portion of the 16.4 million people sitting on the couch and not moving?

So here’s my solution to the obesity epidemic where the fitness and supplements industry can actually contribute, grow and thrive (and stop competing with each other).

Change your target market from the 3.6 million people already using health clubs and gyms to the 16. 4 million people sitting on the couch.