Just in time for the new year, the same picture can be observed every time: Whether jogging routes, fitness trails or fitness studios – everywhere it is busier than at the end of the old year. Feasting on roasts, cookies, and more roasts at the holiday season often comes with a guilty conscience about that gluttony – and the tradition of New Year’s resolutions does the rest to ensure this fitness boom. The people from the district of Ebersberg are no exception.
Lukas Schabmair can already register significantly more customers in his speed fitness studio in Grafing. Are there more than at the beginning of the year? “Definitely more than in previous years because Corona was there,” says the manager of the branch. “Otherwise I would say we are about at the same level as we were before Corona.”
Signing up for a gym online takes just a few clicks
The New Year’s hype is also attracting more customers to the Fitnexx in Markt Schwaben, “but especially those who have not been seen for a long time,” says employee Sven Walbrunn. But there are also new faces to be seen. The ability to complete memberships online accounts for a large proportion of new registrations. An employee of the Clever Fit Studio in Baldham tells of the same experience: A quick click on the internet makes you a member and you can start training in the studio.
But the fitness boom at the beginning of the year often doesn’t last long. According to Karl Schmitt, the owner of Body Investment in Grafing, most new customers only get short-term results. Long-term goals are often lacking. The owner of the Stromstüberl in Zorneding, Andreas Mayr, takes a similar view. The problem is often an initial over-motivation: “The customers come five times a week, that goes well for two to three weeks and then you never see them again,” he says. Then the first signs of fatigue would set in or injuries would result from overtraining, “then the momentum will be gone again”.
Only around a quarter of the population does enough sport
It would actually be important to keep at it. So recommends the WHO adults to engage in at least 150 minutes of moderate endurance exercise per week and more intense muscle training twice per week. “Gesundheit in Deutschland aktuell”, in short GEDAa study by the Robert Koch Institute, showed in 2014 to 2015 that only around 23 percent of the adult population followed the recommendations for endurance and muscle strengthening activities.
This is also observed by Jeffrey Nass from Bodystreet in Vaterstetten. He is a dual student, is currently doing his bachelor’s degree and works as a trainer in the Vaterstetten studio – and he says: “There are just a lot of people who have to do something.” Some customers come to treat herniated discs and back problems, for example, through strength training, which often restrict them too much in life. He also explains what new customers should consider, for example drinking habits: “If you do sports, you should drink at least three liters of water or one liter per 20 kilograms of body weight a day.” However, most customers would state that they only drink one to two liters of water a day – far too little.
Nutrition is an important factor in successful training
According to Jeffrey Nass, nutrition also plays an important role. “Very few pay attention to their protein balance, but the proteins are responsible for muscle growth.” All fitness studios in the Ebersberg district confirm how important it is to focus on a balanced, healthy diet rich in protein, but also high in carbohydrates. “Nutrition plays a really more important role than training – you can only control your success through nutrition,” explains Sven Walbrunn.
Lukas Schabmair from Speedfitness in Grafing also has a few other tips for fitness beginners ready: He recommends training two to three times a week. “You should also make sure that you get proper instruction and don’t try to implement something from the Internet yourself.”
But how do you build a loyal and regular relationship with the sport? Andreas Mayr from Stromstüberl in Zorneding has an answer to that: “It’s really important that you look for a trainer in order to really plan the training.” You often need someone to slow you down so that the powder doesn’t just go to waste in the first few weeks. “In this context, it is also important that you look for something that you can imagine giving you years of pleasure at best,” Mayr continues. It’s like nutrition: It’s better to make few cuts so that after a while you don’t end up back where you started.