I’m constantly reading up on articles written here and overseas on various topics, such as ‘inexperienced coaches will injure athletes, ‘gyms are too close to each other, ‘membership costs need to be reflective of value’ ect

Whilst this is true, the main issue I see with gyms today is that they don’t realise that once you’ve committed yourself to being in the health and fitness profession, it’s your responsibility to look after new members like they’re your family.

For instance, we’re connected with many gyms in Melbourne F45, BodyFit, CrossFit and others and we’d be devastated if we weren’t the first point of call for anyone that has walked through our doors over the past 12 months if something was to happen to them at training or outside the gym.

There’s no doubt that members will move on, change location, move house or want to train with friends, but from our experience, I think that around 50% of members’ drop off rates are due to the mismanagement of injuries.

This is how to avoid this at your new Gym

1. Ask the right pre-screening questions on your sign-up sheet

Once an individual makes contact with your gym or comes in for their first ‘foundations’ or ‘on ramp’ class its deadly essential you take the time to thoroughly investigate their medical history. You can either email them a package to complete and bring in or get them to fill it in when they arrive.

The questions that must be asked include. Have you had any significant operations or surgery? This includes but is not limited to operations on the heart, lungs, abdomen, shoulders, spine, hips or knees.

It’s important to give examples to a new member. This will help jog their memory and input any necessary information down.

The second and third questions should be ‘Have you ever had a history of pain in your shoulder, spine, hips, knees or ankles” and “Do you currently have any pain or discomfort in your shoulder, spine, hips, knees, ankles or other area?”

Make sure you ask for detailed responses. This will save a lot of heartache in the future, trust me!

2. Don’t be naïve and forget women and childbirth

Don’t assume it’s all sorted. Don’t assume the member has a good therapist and is aware of their current restrictions or issues.

For women, you must ask “have you had children, when did you have them, were there any complications, have you been diagnosed with rectus abdominis diastasis (Splitting of the rectus abdominis muscle when giving birth)?

If they have, the new member has to be extremely careful with abdominal strain exercises, such as sit-ups. The final question needs to be are you currently seeing a women’s health specialist, Physiotherapist?

This issue is this. You might feel as though you’re doing a good job for this person, getting them back into training and helping them get fit. Trust me, neglect these questions and issues, you actually could be doing more harm than good in the long run

3. Build a Relationship with a trusted Physiotherapist who understands your training philosophy

This is a no-brainer but I see a minimal number of gyms putting time into this. For the life of me we can’t understand why.  A good Physio like those at Evolutio in Melbourne will keep membership retention up, drive people to you for conditioning post-rehabilitation and be a support mechanism for your business.

If your new member has indicated from the information above and answered yes to any of the questions or has given birth with complications and hasn’t been reviewed by a Physiotherapist, this is your go-to person. You send them to your Physio for a review before they start training; that way, they can give you a complete rundown on their condition, previous history, initial scaling options and things to watch out for. This will prevent a vast number of issues and complications down the track

4. Spread this Information to your Coaches

Once you’ve received this information about your new member, email this information around to all the Coaches and make sure they understand it. There’s no better way to welcome a new member to the class than saying, “Hi Grace,  I’m Alex I read the email about your previous hip injury and what we need to be careful of, I’ll look after you” I can assure you, that member will be yours for life. On the flip side, neglect to refer them on, neglect to spread the word to your coaches and if the injury flares up, you can rest assured they will not come back.

5. Consistently stay in touch with your Physiotherapist

Aim to catch up once a month for coffee, and discuss any new members and any issues. Remember a good health professional is worth their weight in gold to your business and will help to drive you new business. These people see injured patients all day. At some stage those patients are going to get better and when they do, they’ll need advanced conditioning and rehabilitation. Your ‘on ramp’ program or elite Coaches will be right in the back of their mind.

Evolutio has been established since 2013 treating all athletes from various types of high level training to those playing frisbee with Aunt Doris on the weekends. You can visit us here in Richmond at 11/3 Bromham Place.