Horsham-based female personal trainer, Becky, works at an independent gym. She trains a variety of clients on a one-to-one basis, and shares additional tips via her blog. Today, she answers a frequently asked question – when is the gym least busy?
There’s a short and a long answer to this question, and I’ll give you the former first.
August.
No, I’m not joking. In my years of experience, gyms are quietest in the summer.
Which, actually makes a lot of sense. In this part of Europe, it’s peak holiday season, schools are closed, and sometimes the UK weather is even kind. So many people don’t feel the desire to be in a gym. For those of us who do, it’s bliss, and experienced members of the fitness industry know to expect an uptick in business in September when everyone returns.
January does also predictably tend to be fairly busy, but it’s never as dramatic as many people assume.
So what’s the long answer to the question? I’ll tell you…
Gyms are quietest at a variety of times
Truthfully, it depends on a few factors. Lots of fitness types are creatures of habit, so I think one of the biggest things at play is the typical demographic of a given gym. The one I work and train at is known for being a budget-friendly lifters’ gym. It’s on an industrial estate, and open quite long hours.
So, Monday to Friday between 6am and 8am it’s pretty busy. Then things tend to quieten down until about 3:30pm as the working day starts to wind down. At weekends, it can be fairly quiet until about 10am, at which point I find it becomes hideous, so you won’t catch me nearby at that point. You can also always tell when it’s pay day, when the weather is good or bad, or when there’s been a big party or event.
You can’t control the weather
I like to point out that gym floors are like the weather: you can’t control what it’s like, but if you don’t like it, wait five minutes and see what changes.
Gyms are transient by nature. It may not look like it, but people are working their way round. It does benefit you to pay attention, and be ready to dash for a piece of kit when it’s free, but there are other options too.
Strategies for when the gym is busy
You may have to adapt your workout when the gym is busy. We all only have so much time to complete our session, so you can’t be hanging around all day, and therefore decisions must be made. Perhaps you’ll do your workout in a different order to the one you had planned. Maybe you’ll be bold and ask a stranger how long they’re going to be with a piece of kit, or whether you can share it with them – known as setting in.
It might be that you scrap your original plan altogether, grab some kettlebells or dumbbells, a mat, and some other things and run a circuit in the spare corner that you can find.
What I would discourage you from doing is giving up. Gyms can feel particularly intimidating when busy, but remind yourself that you, too, have paid your fee and deserve to be present. I learned a lot by pushing myself to stick around when the environment felt fraught – I now know that I can cope and, over time, it’s stopped bothering me in the same way. It’s made me more assertive, more efficient, and generally better at training and motivating myself.
Adapting sessions is an art and a science
I’ve made it sound easy, and sometimes it is, sometimes you need a bit more specialist knowledge. Before I qualified, I had no idea how to adapt a programme if it clearly wasn’t going to work, and that did mean I faced an additional challenge.
It also means that I’m happy to help those who are looking to learn more. So, if you’d like to train with me so that I can help you, get in touch and we’ll chat.
There’s nothing you can do about when a gym is busy. There’s everything you can do about how you approach that situation.