As more Americans start to take GLP-1s and lose weight as a result, they should be more inclined to join gyms. But the fitness industry has some work to do to capitalize on the opportunity

For all the fitness industry’s growth as of late, the vast majority of Americans still don’t belong to a gym. GLP-1s might hold the key to changing that calculus. 

The rise of GLP-1s as weight-loss drugs is just getting started, and experts believe increased adoption over the coming years can be a huge boon for the fitness industry, finally getting a bigger swath of the U.S. population into gyms and studios. 

According to a new report from investment banking firm Harrison Co., the total addressable market for U.S. fitness clubs (including gyms and boutique studios) is expected to increase by $6.8 billion as a result of more people taking GLP-1s.

That’s an increase of around 20% from the fitness club industry’s current addressable market of $35 billion, the firm reports. 

“I think it’s one of the biggest opportunities to come along for the industry in a long time,” Paul Byrne, a partner in Harrison Co.’s Fitness & VMS practice, tells Athletech News. 

The Case for GLP-1s as a Gym Booster

The argument, which has been advanced by Byrne and other analysts, is that as more Americans start to take GLP-1s and lose weight as a result, they’ll be more inclined to want to join a gym. 

For gyms across America, this would be good news, especially since the GLP-1 wave is just getting started. 

Around 12% of Americans have taken GLP-1s at some point, and around 6% currently use the drugs. Those numbers are expected to increase significantly over the next few years as GLP-1s become more affordable thanks to more generic options and wider coverage from health insurance. JPMorgan estimates that the GLP-1 market will exceed $100 billion by 2030. 

While it’s too early to make a definitive judgment on whether the hypothesis advanced by Byrne and others will prove true, the early returns seem promising.  

“Once people go on GLP-1s, the data shows that they’re much more likely to adhere to a (fitness) program,” Byrne says, citing data gathered by Harrison Co.

What’s more, people’s motivation for going to the gym tends to shift from extrinsic to intrinsic, meaning they become self-motivated to work out rather than chase external validation like acceptance from peers or potential dating partners. 

“Once you flip into this intrinsic mode, you’re much more likely to go to the gym, and the data shows that you’re more likely to go more frequently,” Byrne notes.

Designing Gyms for GLP-1 Users

But the initial momentum of more people losing weight might not be enough to measurably increase gym membership numbers in the long run. The fitness industry likely needs to take deliberate steps to encourage GLP-1 users to stick to a workout regimen. 

Americans are famously overweight. They’re also highly averse to stepping foot inside the gym. 

Under 2o% of Americans currently own a gym membership. The fitness industry has long struggled to increase this figure. There’s even a term for these non-gym-goers in industry circles, the infamous “80%.”

“I’ve been in the fitness industry for over 40 years now, and I’ve been able to see the continued challenges we’ve had with breaking through the obesity epidemic,” Jeff Zwiefel, the director of Life Time’s Miora Performance & Longevity Clinic, tells ATN. “What we’ve been doing isn’t working. We’re not reaching the most at-risk people.”

Zwiefel believes GLP-1s can be gamechanger for the fitness industry, but only if operators around the country work to make people taking the drugs feel welcomed inside gyms by providing ongoing support that spans fitness, nutrition and overall wellness. 

Essentially, gyms should position themselves as the link between medical practitioners who prescribe GLP-1s and the people who take them. 

“We’re better-positioned than anybody to connect the dots for consumers,” Zwiefel says. “Who has better access to fitness professionals, equipment, nutrition programming and supplementation than gym operators?”

credit: PeopleImages.com – Yuri A/shutterstock.com

How can gyms do this? There are already a couple of examples, and some ideas for the future. 

Under Zwiefel’s guidance, Life Time launched Miora in 2023. Miora is a comprehensive program that gives Life Time members access not just to GLP-1s, but to physicians, nurses assistants and personal trainers to ensure they’re getting personalized, expert advice on how to work out, eat and generally take care of their bodies while losing weight. 

credit: Life Time

Luxury fitness brand Equinox has created a personal training program designed for its members who take GLP-1s, offering fitness and nutrition advice to help them form long-term, healthy habits around weight loss and fitness. 

Democratizing Access to Weight-Loss Advice

So far, and perhaps unsurprisingly, high-end fitness brands are taking the lead when it comes to designing programs that support GLP-1 users. 

It may be unfeasible for gyms on the lower end of the pricing spectrum to offer their members the type of white-glove service found at Life Time. But that doesn’t mean these brands have to sit on the sidelines.  

“There are other ways to access these customers without having doctors and nurses on staff,” Byrne believes. 

The Harrison Co. partner says high-value, low-price (HVLP) gyms can look to partner with local doctors’ offices who are prescribing GLP-1s, working together with physicians to develop training programs that best support the fitness needs of people on weight-loss drugs. Those programs would undoubtedly include a healthy dose of strength training, which is important in helping people preserve muscle mass while dropping weight. 

Gyms can also design digital programs that introduce GLP-1 users to the fundamentals of working out. This is especially useful since many people on GLP-1s have never attended a gym.

“If you have an app that’s specifically targeted to GLP-1 users, you kind of get over the hurdle of intimidation,” Byrne says. 

Zwiefel, meanwhile, is aware that most brands can’t offer a Miora type of program. But he wants to see industry leaders work collectively to educate fitness professionals on how to coach clients who take GLP-1s. This expertise will funnel down to gym-goers, whether they attend Planet Fitness or Life Time. 

“I would encourage operators to make sure they have foundational certification expectations,” he says. “I want to work with the industry to ensure there’s an accredited certification so that pros can gain this (knowledge).”

Right now, much of the talk around GLP-1s and fitness is highly speculative. But the ball appears to be in gym operators’ court when it comes to harnessing the power of weight-loss drugs to get more Americans working out. 

“I think it’s going to be a massive game-changer and a tremendous tailwind for the industry,” Zwiefel says of the increased adoption of GLP-1s . “But it’s like any tool, it can be used wrong and abused, and it can be used right.”

Download Harrison Co.’s 2024 fitness industry report, “Weights of Change: A New Era of Fitness Shaped by Gen Z, Millennials and Social Media,” here.

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