NatNews

With a new year about to get underway, the number of people working out is likely to increase for a bit, but that gym-rat dedication might not last. Research indicates that approximately 50 percent of individuals who join gyms terminate their memberships within the first six months. However, calling it quits with a gym isn’t always the easiest process—it’s actually purposely made to be inconvenient.

Most gyms have expensive fixed costs (e.g., equipment upkeep, rent, etc.), and because many members typically don’t make purchases outside of their monthly membership expenses, gyms often charge upfront fees and try to ensure long-term commitments from members.

However, as someone who used to work at such an establishment, Dallas resident Damon Yousefy knows that gyms make large portions of their profits from members who don’t use their facilities often or at all.

“Making it difficult to quit helps retain these profitable members, and many people give up since the cost may not be very high, and they tell themselves that they will use the memberships later,” he said.

Dallas resident Virginia Altick said she thinks gyms make it more challenging for members to terminate their commitments because a majority of the revenue of high-value, low-price gyms comes from the members who pay their monthly fees but don’t actually use the facilities or amenities.

“In order to keep this revenue, gyms make it a major pain for members to cancel in the hopes that they will also give up on the cancellation process,” she said.

Regardless of the level of difficulty of the quitting process, it’s not uncommon to come across someone who has a gym membership that remains unused. Yousefy said he thinks people stay members because they likely do not see the cost as too damaging to their bank accounts, and they might believe that they will potentially take advantage of their memberships later.

“You’ll see many of these members between January 1 and February 28 as part of the new year’s resolution annual crowding of gyms,” he said.

There are several exercise options available to people, including a variety of boutique fitness studios with specialty workouts. Altick, however, said she used to work at many of these styles of businesses and knows how pricey they can be.

“I think if a member has found a high-value, low-price gym where the monthly fee is less than $50 per month, they just keep it for the option to work out, whether they go regularly or not,” she said.

Quitting a gym can become even more complicated if it changes ownership. This recently happened to members of Texas Family Fitness, which merged with Planet Fitness with no prior notice to members—or employees. Previous Texas Family Fitness members automatically became Planet Fitness members on December 16 (and many were charged an annual fee by Planet Fitness with no warning), and they were required to go to a Planet Fitness location to cancel. While Altick was not part of this merger, she said she did have a strange experience involving Planet Fitness with the closing of Impact Fitness (formerly White Rock Athletic Club and then Gold’s Gym at Northcliff and Buckner).

“It seems they sold the memberships to Planet Fitness, so I had to trace my membership there, only to be required to show up in person to cancel at this place I had never been to before,” she said. “I was determined, though, as at the time, I preferred to follow my trainer to the White Rock YMCA. Thankfully, the associate granted me the cancellation once I showed up in person.”

In a situation somewhat similar to Altick’s but overall not as demanding of his efforts, Yousefy was a member of a Gold’s Gym in Dallas that closed its location after bankruptcy, and his membership was sold to Cowboys Fit.

“I promptly quit, and since it was during the pandemic, they allowed me to cancel over the phone, although this took an hour,” he said.

Yousefy, a bankruptcy attorney, said it is legal and commonplace for gym memberships to be transferred automatically when mergers take place.

“There is often a grace period in which they enable members whose memberships are altered to be canceled without a penalty,” he said, “so it’s important to read the signs in the gym and the emails, so as not to miss anything if your membership is transferred or otherwise altered.”

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Celebrating the closing of a chapter of one year to beginning the next has become a tradition many individuals enjoy, though such celebrations don’t always look the same for everyone. Recent research revealed that only a small percentage of individuals opt for going out to bars or clubs for New Year’s Eve, while the majority prefer to stay home with family. Other popular activities include attending parties at friends’ places or hosting gatherings.

Anaheim resident Khuyen Vu said she enjoys the holiday evening much more when she is able to remain in the comforts of her own home.

“It’s crazy out there on New Year’s Eve,” she said.

Vu also doesn’t choose to stay awake until midnight to see the clock turn the page to a new year.

“I don’t stay up these days because I’m exhausted from work,” she said. “I enjoy getting to sleep by 10 p.m. each day so that I’m not groggy the next day.”

Other individuals, including Dallas resident Alexis Derrow, enjoy the opportunity to treat this one night each year a bit differently.

“I’d prefer to go to a fancy-dress house party or host one,” Derrow said. “I want to get dressed up, and I want to be able to get a drink fairly easily, and I want to dance.”

And unlike Vu, Derrow thinks that staying up until midnight is a necessary part of the experience.

“You’ve got to get that New Year’s Eve kiss,” she said, “and, lately, eat grapes under a table in a perhaps misguided attempt to find love.”

But not everyone uses grapes or other traditions to manifest a fresh start. Dallas-area resident Josh Odegard said he doesn’t necessarily get excited simply because a new year is beginning, though he enjoys reasons to spend time with the people in his life. 

“Sure, I get an extra day off of work, but the gym is also about to get stupid crowded,” he said. “My best friend’s birthday is on New Year’s Eve, and I like that we always have dinner to celebrate her because it brings together lots of friends who only get together a few times a year now.”

And Odegard does prefer to continue celebrating New Year’s Eve after the birthday dinner, but he said you likely won’t find him out on the town dressed to the nines that night.

“I’m not a fan of the fancy parties with $100 tickets and 45-minute drink lines,” he said. “I’d much rather go to a chill bar or someone’s house or whatever location brings more people together.”

The tradition of celebrating the start of a new year began long ago in Mesopotamia in 2000 B.C., when Babylonians held an 11-day religious festival called Akitu to recognize the vernal equinox at the end of March. Marking January 1 as the start of a new year dates back to 46 B.C., when Julius Caesar developed the solar-based Julian calendar, and the first day of the year was meant to honor Janus, the Roman god of beginnings who had two faces, signifying that he could go back to the past and move forward to the future.

In more modern times, the tradition of the ball dropping originated in 1829 in Portsmouth, England, while the first in the U.S. was in 1845 in Washington, D.C. However, the tradition of dropping the ball in Times Square in New York City on New Year’s Eve first took place in 1907. This year, more than one million people are expected to pack Times Square to watch the six-ton ball with 2,700 sparkling crystals descend to ring in the new year. Vu said she thinks individuals make such a spectacle of the holiday because it’s a chance for them to start anew.

“It gives people the opportunity to put the past behind and be hopeful for what’s to come in the new year,” she said.

Similarly, Derrow said she believes that it is the potential for fresh possibilities that many people want to recognize and celebrate.

“The new year gives humanity hope that this year will be better than last year, even if it was a good year,” she said. “People want to start with a bang so that they can set themselves up for success.”

For Odegard, the festivities around New Year’s Eve have less to do with what the next 12 months could hold and are, instead, more about who is with him when the clock strikes midnight.

“I don’t care where we are or what we do,” he said, “as long as I end the year—and start the new one—surrounded by as many friends as possible.”

WEEKLY PHOTO OP

After more than a year of waiting, the NatNews staff and some dear readers were able to enjoy the Beer Mile World Classic short documentary  

Tuesday, December 31: 21st Annual Loop-the-Lake New Year’s Eve Run at the Filter Building; Stars vs. Sabres at the American Airlines Center
Wednesday, January 1: Copyright Law Day
Thursday, January 2: Stars vs. Senators at the American Airlines Center
Friday, January 3: Mavs vs. Cavaliers at the American Airlines Center; SERVPRO First Responder Bowl at Gerald Ford Stadium; The Prince Experience at House of Blues Dallas; Store Tour — Taste of Eataly at Eataly Dallas
Saturday, January 4: WRRC Saturday run from Taco Joint; Garth Brooks Tribute — Shameless at Legacy Hall; MxPx with The Ataris at House of Blues Dallas