By Sarah Rense, Esquire
The
decision of whether or not to go to the gym can hedge on a matter of
miles. In fact, 1.4 miles is all the difference between sporadic and
regular gym attendance for membership holders, reports The Wall Street Journal.
[post_ads]According to data collected from 7.5 million mobile devices by the data
firm Dstillery, on average, people who go to the gym—that doesn't count
people who pay for memberships but never attend—live four miles from
their workout facility. But the median distance from home to gym for
people who go to the gym at least five times a week is 3.7 miles, while
people who go only once a month live a median 5.1 miles away. Those 1.4
miles make a big difference as far as self-motivation goes.
Another
factor Dstillery considered was the quality of the gym. People aren't
willing to travel far to work out at bargain gyms: Planet Fitness
members live 3.2 miles away on average, and Blink Fitness members live
even closer, roughly 2.8 miles. Pricier gyms are worth a longer trek:
SoulCycle members commute 5.5 miles on average, and Equinox members
travel 5.7 miles for their workouts.
In 2015, there were 55.3 million people
in America who shelled out an average of $54 a month for gym
memberships. To accommodate the burgeoning fitness market, the number of
health clubs jumped 20 percent between 2011 and 2015 to over 36,000
across the country, giving many the luxury of choice. So, if you're
going to pay the fee, choose a gym with an easy commute—3.7 miles away
or less, ideally—or commit to SoulCycling. It's near impossible to
justify the time and money spent otherwise.
