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Made a New Year’s resolution to get fit and healthy again?
One gym owner says he’s lucky with this one, as his site has no room for new carpenters in January.
Gym owner Clayton Leah, 31, has turned away potential new members at his Ascendancy Fitness gym, even though it’s the busiest time of the year, he said in a phone interview with Fox News Digital on Saturday, Jan. 4. “We stopped registering on New Year’s Eve,” he said.
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He has a specific reason for this unconventional stance, he said.
The goal is to protect existing gym members and years of fitness practices from an influx of new carpenters, he told Fox News Digital.
According to one gym owner, newbies who hit the gym in January often drop out quickly as their New Year’s resolutions fade. (iStock)
Often, he said, eager January starters end up abandoning their intentions to keep New Year’s resolution wear out
In part, Leah said he didn’t want to “upset all of our members who have been with us for so long.”
On his gym news, he added: “I wouldn’t want to focus more on the negative than the positive. The response has been overwhelmingly positive,” he told Fox News Digital on Saturday.
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“Most people appreciate that we did it and understand why we did it,” he said. “We’ve always prioritized our membership experience—it’s very important to us.”
For those criticizing his gym for a “stupid” business move, he said it was actually “the opposite”.
The management team of Ascendancy Fitness with Clayton Leo on the right and business partner Jack Bramhall on the left. “We’ve always prioritized our membership experience,” Leah told Fox News Digital. (Ascendancy Fitness)
“The first priority is our members, and they are very grateful of what we do,” he said.
“Naturally, we have some inquiries about joining. And I already talked about it, but as soon as you take something away from people, then people want it more. But that’s not why we did it.”
“The only negative reaction people have is ‘I was going to join but now I can’t.’
“We wanted to try to break the mold,” he also told news agency SWNS.
He said he was trying to “take a non-traditional approach and protect our existing members is the most important thing for us.”
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The gym is located in Warrington, Cheshire, England, about halfway between Liverpool and Manchester.
His gym has about 650 members. It also provides one-time day passes for those who want to work there.
The Ascendancy Fitness gym is shown above. Owner Leah said the fitness industry “is an amazing industry” and “we try to help people achieve whatever fitness and health goals they have.” (Ascendancy Fitness)
Leah said he hopes his gym’s decision will encourage people to hit the gym year-round, not just in January when people are drawn to an ambitious New Year’s resolution.
He said the fitness industry “is an amazing industry” and “we try to help people in whatever way we can fitness and health goals they have.”
The gym owner said the only negative reaction to the locked membership was from those hoping to join.
The gym owner said, “We try to help people with all kinds of fitness and health goals.” (iStock)
He said: “The only negative reaction people have is ‘I was going to join but I can’t now’.”
He added: “To these people I say:” Well, you should have joined earlier,” he told SWNS.
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This is not the first time gyms or fitness clubs have banned new members in January.
Equinox, the luxury fitness club, banned new members on January 1, 2023, as Fox News Digital previously reported.
The gym owner didn’t want to “upset all of our members who have been with us for so long,” he said. (iStock)
It was part of the We Don’t Talk About January campaign to discourage short-term New Year’s resolutions and encourage long-term commitments.
For more health articles visit www.foxnews.com/health
Certified personal trainer and strength coach Melissa Kender of Pennsylvania said guiding others to a healthy lifestyle and long-term success with persistent habitsas Fox News Digital also previously reported.
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Leah of Ascendancy Fitness said his gym will likely reopen to new members in February, although the gym doesn’t have a firm date yet.
“Obviously, we planned to avoid the January influx,” he told Fox News Digital.
Fox News Digital’s Angelica Stable reported.
