When I returned to my hometown, I first visited a local gym and experienced how staff and trainers welcome people who are visiting the gym for the first time. I also joined a beginner trial session myself, so I could experience the process from the user’s perspective and understand what kind of psychological pressure a first-time user might experience.
Before starting my own testing, I initially expected that there might be a gap in how gyms support beginners.However, after talking with the gym staff, I realised that gyms have already developed many ways to attract new customers, such as distributing flyers, offering low-cost trial sessions, and providing a free personal training session.This changed my expectations about my intervention.I realised that simply encouraging people to come to the gym might not be enough to solve the problem I am interested in.
I recently started testing my intervention ideas through several small-scale experiments.The beginner trial session I experienced was structured into several stages.
Firstly, there was a warm-up.During the warm-up, the trainer also had casual conversations with the beginner.This helped create a more relaxed atmosphere and allowed the trainer and participant to become more familiar with each other.
Secondly, the participant tried some aerobic equipment.These machines are relatively simple to use, so they did not require too much technical instruction. This gave the beginner an opportunity to become familiar with the gym environment without feeling overwhelmed.
Thirdly, the trainer introduced fixed resistance machines.The participant was shown how to use different machines for different parts of the body, such as the shoulders, back, glutes and legs.This helped the participant understand how the equipment works and where different exercises take place.
Finally, the trainer introduced the free-weight area.The participant was not required to use the equipment in this area because it was considered more difficult for a beginner. Instead, the trainer mainly explained what the area was used for.
I then invited two people with no previous gym experience to participate in a similar experience together.I chose to let them experience the gym as a pair because my initial research suggested that some first-time gym users feel more comfortable bringing a friend with them.
I observed how they entered the gym, moved between different areas, used the equipment and interacted with the trainer.I was particularly interested in moments when they appeared uncertain, uncomfortable or needed reassurance.
Based on the feedback from the two groups participants so far, the guided experience was useful in helping them understand the layout of the gym and what they could expect when using different areas.They also reported feeling less psychological pressure because they did not have to figure everything out by themselves.
However, the testing also revealed an important problem with my intervention.the real-world intervention has not produced a strong enough effect for me to evaluate it confidently.The number of participants is still very small, and the conversion rate from people showing interest to actually entering the gym and completing the experience is relatively low.Therefore, I cannot yet conclude whether the intervention itself is effective.
This has made me reconsider the direction of my testing.
I want to collect more first-hand experiences from potential gym users before developing the next version of my intervention.I am particularly interested in understanding what stops people before they enter the gym, what they are worried about, what kind of support they are looking for, and whether these concerns are different from the problems they experience once they are inside the gym.