New gym program charges you for skipping your workouts

Not motivated to hit the gym? What if your gym charged you money for not going? Gym-Pact, a new company in Boston, is partnering with local gyms to offer discounts to clients who keep their weekly workout commitments, while charging fees to those who opt not to.

On January 26, culture and news website GOOD reported on the new program, the brainchild of two 2010 Harvard grads, Yifan Zhang and Geoff Oberhofer. Gym-Pact is in its first official month (a pilot program launched last year), and it has partnered with three Planet Fitness gyms around Boston.

How the program works is that by signing on to the Gym Pact program, customers get their gym memberships at reduced rates by committing to a schedule - members can choose the number of workout days and the "motivational fee," with a minimum of one day per week at $10 (around €8) per missed session.

Other ways gyms are getting creative about retaining and attracting members is by hiring health care professionals, such as nutritionists, acupuncturists, and physical therapists, to meet the needs of their clients, according to the American Council on Exercise, known as ACE. Also gyms are devising new classes and programs for young people, to help combat rising obesity levels, as well as offering more corporate wellness programs for time-crunched professionals, according to ACE.

Read more about Gym Pact:
http://www.gym-pact.com/

http://www.good.is/post/idea-a-gym-membership-that-charges-you-for-not-exercising