A sentence you hear on a regular basis. And although the cost of a membership is certainly not small, it is vital to introduce context, weigh all the elements and understand what this amount represents. Let’s get one thing right, it should never be a deterrent to start your fitness journey or stop you from aiming to improve your life.
First, let’s look at the actual cost and what it means. A bit of mathematics (yours truly has never been great at maths, so we’ll keep it basic).
A CrossFit membership will on average cost around €115/month. That’s 12x€115, i.e. €1380 per year or €3,78/day for typically (it does vary depending on the box) unlimited access to a fully equipped training space. You can access this space either as part of a group or train on your own.
You get a cool, fun, loving, tight community around you (especially here at White Bull CrossFit), who pushes you on, who motivates you. But you also (hopefully) get a dedicated and committed coach to guide and help you. We keep you accountable and more importantly keep you safe as you progress. Add to that: events, perks, seminars, workshops, free advice, fun times, etc. for basically a Starbucks Late… or half a sandwich… or a quarter of a salad per day (life is crazy expensive now, everything has gone up *weeps silently).
In contrast, you decide to purchase a 'regular' gym membership (the contracts typically also keep you locked in for a year minimum) because you’re fed up with feeling like poop and being unhealthy, unfit, and unhappy.
A generic gym costs on average €25-30€/month, i.e. €360/annum, so essentially 1€/day. Yes, let’s not lie to ourselves it is cheaper (a third) … but what do you really get from it? Sure, the space is nice and clean with AC and loads of beautiful high-tech modern machines and equipment (not always!) … yet will you go regularly? Do you have fun there? Does it feel homely and welcoming? Where is the soul, the heart, the family? (he yells standing tall, fist high). More importantly do you have space or feel squashed like a canned sardine…
Don’t get me wrong, once every now and then I also enjoy going for a solitary, in-my-bubble training session, headphones on, head down and mind-emptying grind… but it gets repetitive and boring fast and that’s if you can get to a machine at peak overcrowded times. I’m not saying either it isn’t possible to create a nice group of gym bros and have fun and push together, but it’s different, harder to get… and more importantly it is trickier to fit in our daily habits and modern professional lives (particularly making contact and creating gym acquaintances).
USA today reports[1] that a full 67% percent of gym memberships go completely unused, so essentially €360 thrown out the window, and this doesn’t even consider those who do use their gym memberships but very irregularly.
As per finder.com[2], 56% use the gym twice a week, 20% go once a week, 6% go once per month and 7.4% go less than once a month. In the USA, a gym membership costs $60, imagine the wasted cost. Statistically, Americans blow $397 million annually on gym memberships that they never use.
Now it is a fact that Europeans are fitter and healthier than Americans on average, but I am also certain that the same issue exists here. In the UK[3], although 23% of the population have a gym membership, only 12% go regularly, that’s half of the subscribers… The average cost of a monthly gym membership across the pond costs £35, more than £369 million (ie more than £4 billion a year) is estimated going down the drain.
“It’s not about ‘impossible’ or ‘cannot’ or ‘shouldn’t’. It’s about ‘not wanting’ and ‘will not’ and ’possible but you don’t allow it’."
According to NPR[4], traditional gyms specifically target people who don’t enjoy exercising as a strategic bet they will end up staying home, allowing the gym to then accumulate far more members than their facilities can reasonably hold at any given time. Typically, gyms can accommodate 300 people at a time.
Example: end 2023, basic fit[5] operated 882 clubs with an average of 3283 memberships per club. Now try visualising 3283 members wanting to go to their local gym on a regular basis, so most days, at the same time in a 300-400m2 space… LOL. But hey, Basic fit group revenue increased by 32% to €1,047 million, you read that right, in 2022 they made €795 million.
This overselling strategy not only benefits the gym’s bottom line, it also benefits members who actually do go as the costs can be kept down. Because yes, a functional gym costs a lot of money. But what about all those other non-gym members that are subsidising the gyms? What about their health and fitness? Their wellbeing? Their happiness? Who cares, right? Capitalism rocks, dude!
Second, let’s look at what a typical person will spend. How that affects their everyday life and how a small extra monthly amount (big picture) can really impact your future.
The annual EC study for household expenses[6] shows that most people spend a good amount of money on “non-essentials”. Of course, expenses grow with the size of the household (a person living alone will spend/need less), the biggest chunk of our salaries go to housing and bills (32%) + essentials (4.9%), let’s take out 17% for food and non-alcoholic beverages and 10% for transport. In addition to that people spend on average:
Note how low education and health are… but I digress. That’s almost 30% for non-essentials… health is already 3.7% fine, let’s imagine that’s based on a lower/average income of €2000 gross/month (as of April 2024, statutory minimum wage in Belgium[7]), so 1400€ net, 3.7% of that amount is 50€/month… our unlimited monthly membership costs €99… just 50€ more to find.
I can guarantee that amount could easily be added by 90% of Belgian residents if they chose to prioritise their health, wellbeing; and as a bonus, it’s so much fun so also indirectly their recreational/entertainment time.
Let’s not be disingenuous, it is a fact, adding this activity to your life is quite tricky for some, a single mom with minimum wage and 2-3 children is going to find it way harder to be able to afford any fitness activity cost-wise and timewise. Including this in a packed schedule is a challenge but it is not impossible! Make fitness an essential life-cost.
It is an investment, but one you will undoubtedly (or we’ll swallow our words - gulps) not regret. It will feed into every aspect of your life. For fewer drinks, one uber eats order or one night out less per month you’ll feel amazing and fit every day… (because it does affect the rest of your life… longevity is key)
CrossFit as a methodology arguably tailors to a more middle-class comfortable earner demographic. But by no stretch of the imagination does it only target super wealthy and snobs’ lesser incomes. As with everything in life, it’s all about perspective, choices, priorities, and goals.
Ours, as CrossFit box owners (and presumably many affiliate owners around the world) are to create a tight-knit healthy and happy fit community that looks forward to their hour of training as one of the best parts of their day, knowing that it will improve their mental and physical health and impact every single aspect of their daily routine.
The rise of our modern societies has shifted currencies, time is valuable. Nowadays a lot of people might say they’re cash 'rich' but time poor. It is a growing disease that most of us struggle with daily, longing for those rare precious moments of idleness and “me” time… Mindsets seem to be shifting to more flexibility, self-awareness, and emphasis on personal time.
Be it a by-product of Covid times, let’s not forget how slowing down felt as opposed to our busy over-stimulated hectic lives. Is it really that difficult to squeeze some walking into our daily lives, and maybe a few functional movements? Make it your special little hour, 2 to 3 times a week, boom, done, dusted. Andale!
“CrossFit has entered the conversation… imagine you can get an intense, complete, and full (coach-led and guided) workout in 1h […] you WILL become fitter and healthier.”
The World Health Organization[8] prescribes 150-300 minutes of aerobic physical activity or at least 75-150 minutes per week of vigorous-intense aerobic activity throughout the week for adults aged 18 to 64 years… that’s not that much for long-term health.
Start by walking a lot more daily as a starter (be it walking, jogging or gym) and sprinkle 75-150min of vigorous-intense activity (aka CrossFit) in there. It is a small investment for health, longevity, and keeping diseases, illnesses, and degenerative issues away and diminishing their impact and consequences.
It’s about consistency and regularity. Not killing yourself in an overcrowded, impersonal gym for 1-month, 24/7 to get that beach body for the summer (which you will instantly lose as soon as you get back to your routine, soz), it doesn’t work. You cannot replace an unhealthy lifestyle with bursts of short periods of mad health dash.
Any busy parent who already juggles with social, professional, and family life will argue it is very difficult or almost impossible to find 20-30mins per day. CrossFit has entered the conversation… imagine you can get an intense, complete, and full (coach-led and guided) workout in 1h just twice or three times a week instead of 5h-6h. 150min or 2 days and a half vs double that if you go the traditional route – you save 5 days, and you WILL become fitter and healthier. Bam, see you later!
'My schedule is insane, and I have no time at all’. We have classes early morning, lunch, and late evening… It is 100% guaranteed one option can work. Cancel that lunch once a week, go for drinks 1h later, take that extra 1h for yourself after dropping the kids off… “
'My boss won’t let me', it would be difficult for him to argue/go against your well-being and choose to be healthy if you prioritise that. Send him a study that shows working out in the day will increase your productivity and lead to better results. Or consider choosing a boss and a company that supports your health and wellbeing. You owe it to yourself (after all, you only get one life, and you won’t be buried with a chest of gold).
Stop a second and think about your day, the accumulated coffee or cigarette breaks, talks… Statistically that’s at least 1h in total over a day. We won’t even mention the 4-5h daily average of time spent on our phones. We apparently check/open our phones more than 2000 times per day. Take those 3 hours you spend bingeing on your favourite series or movie, the 1h listening to a podcast or music , the 1h you spend chatting, the 2h on social media… the 2h spent playing a game, scrolling, procrastinating… by all means we are not trying to say this should change or be replaced or isn’t important… but accumulate this through a whole week, every day, surely changing those habits just 2 days out of the 7 days isn’t that much of a sacrifice or a stretch of the imagination, right?
Still not convinced? Open your phone and check your screen time. Look at the statistics to see how many hours you “lose” every day, it’s scarily eye-opening…
There you have it, it’s not about 'impossible' or 'cannot' or 'shouldn’t'. It’s about 'not wanting' and 'will not' and 'possible but you don’t allow it'.
It might not be much but the ‘mutuelles’ in Belgium even pay you back between 40 to 100€ per year if you practise any physical activity in a club or gym. Take that, highest paying taxed country in the world… ha!
Where there’s a will… there's a way. And we’ll be there to help you find it and stay on it (until a second covid hits, please God no).
See you at the box!
[1] https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2016/04/27/your-gym-membership-good-investment/82758866/
[2] https://www.finder.com/unused-gym-memberships
[3] https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6765171/Britons-spend-4-billion-year-unused-gym-memberships-new-survey-reveals.html
[4] https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2014/12/30/373996649/why-we-sign-up-for-gym-memberships-but-don-t-go-to-the-gym
[5] https://corporate.basic-fit.com/docs/Basic-Fit%20reports%20annual%20results%202023?q=60MqVkXIagkh909R9IYQIh
[6] https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Household_budget_survey_-_statistics_on_consumption_expenditure
[7] https://www.fairworkbelgium.be/en/faq/what-salary-am-i-entitled-to/
[8] https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/physical-activity
