Our plan for the gym is not just to get bigger, but to get better at delivering results to our members.
In this effort, I bought a pile of books and hired a consultant. Both agree: Habit-Based Challenges are a great way to support member success.
What is a Habit-Based Challenge?
From AI:
“A habit-based challenge is a structured, time-bound commitment to consistently perform a new, small daily action—such as drinking more water or daily journaling—designed to rewire behavior, increase self-discipline, and create lasting lifestyle changes.”
We’re not new to “Challenges”.
Back in 2010 and 2011 we ran our 12-week “Fat Blast Weight Loss Program” and in 2019 and 2020, we ran our 6 week “Stay Off the Scale” Challenge.
We know challenges work. They promote Community within the gym and they provide group support and accountability to members. We also provided prizes (incentives) and recognition.
Habit-Based vs. Weight Loss Challenges
Weight Loss Challenges focus on losing weight where habit-based challenges focus on making permanent changes.
During our Fat Blast meetings, we discussed what healthy eating and healthy weight loss looked like. We talked about the importance of protein and the problems with sugar.
I was shocked during a weigh-in when one of the women said that all she had since the day before was a can of peas .
When you make the scale the metric for success, participants do anything they can to get the number they want. (That’s one reason our “Stay Off the Scale” challenge was our next one.)
The focus of Habit-Based Challenges is in changing the system that produces the negative outcome; e.g. cutting out sugary snacks for fat loss.
Why Are They So Popular?
As forementioned, it’s because they work.
Where willpower can wane when someone is under stress or is sleep deprived, habits survive. It’s not willpower that creates success, its the formation of productive habits.
“Nothing sustains motivation better than belonging to the tribe. It transforms a personal quest into a shared one.” Atomic Habits
So why focus on counting calories or counting steps and depend on waning motivation when you can put habits in place that stick to achieve the same objective?
We’ve known the power of habits for decades. Several popular books have been written on the subject, including one of my favorites, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Steven Covey.
My new read is “Atomic Habits” by James Clear. It was released in 2018 and is a NY Times #1 Best Seller with 20 million copies sold. This is an excellent resource for learning the power of habits and the best way to change them.
The Keys To a Good Habit-Based Challenge
- Small, incremental changes. Not trying to fix everything at once!
- Simplicity in execution
- Group Support
We’re Doing It!
We’re planning to have our first Habit-Based Challenge in April!
The habits we will be focusing on:
- Drinking enough water
- Eating enough protein
- Cutting out sugary sweets
- Getting our exercise/activity
We’ll also add one BONUS habit of the participant’s choice.
We hope you’ll join us!
Ron