When Resolutions Fail, the Exercise Enforcers Step In

JUDY McMILLIN used to be a perennial quitter. Every January, gym-going would become her new favorite hobby, and then, poof, she would abandon it. ? just did not grow up exercising or enjoying it,?said Ms. McMillin, 57, a homemaker in Dallas.

If someone had told her that partnering up with a college kid would be the silver bullet, she would have laughed. But having a sidekick accompany her twice a week to strength-training did make the gym less daunting; no longer was she alone in a sea of spandex-clad know-it-alls.

And she appreciated how her fitness buddy, Sarah Prochaska (an exercise science major paid to encourage members), suggested swimming and Pilates and gave her exactly the push she needed.

? told her, ? need you to really pump me up and encourage me, call me and brag on me and really help me because this is not my favorite thing to do,??Ms. McMillin said. ?nd she did.?/p>

This matchmaking is a come-on where Ms. McMillin exercises, the 7,000-member Baylor Tom Landry Fitness Center in Dallas. Participants pay a $200 deposit; if they attend at least 12 appointments in six weeks, they get their $200 back. As an added incentive, the intern phones them if they don? show up.

With habitual renouncers like Ms. McMillin in mind, a handful of gym owners and health club managers have devised innovative ways to create brand loyalty as they turn gym dodgers into gym rats. The thinking is basic: members are more likely to show up if they feel someone cares.

Personal trainers, the original exercise truant officers, have spawned a whole new level of prodding. Now clubs coddle members with advisers to help them choose suitable yoga classes, frequent-flyer-type programs that track progress and award prizes, telephone calls to the lackadaisical to see what? come between them and the stair climber, and even home visits to bring quitters back into the fold.

?e?e going to see clubs do more hand-holding in the future,?said Pamela Kufahl, the editor of Fitness Business Pro, a publication for health club owners. Only about 16 percent of Americans belong to a health club, she said, and those people tend to be the already fit. That leaves 80 percent presumably lolling about, ripe for the picking.

Health club owners may worry about their customers?bottoms, but are most concerned with their own bottom line. ?hey see there is this huge population out there that? untapped,?Ms. Kufahl said, ?nd they want to bring them in.?/p>

January is the time to do it, because that? when out-of-shape first-timers or recliner recidivists gather their courage and walk in the door. About 12.5 percent of annual memberships are purchased this month, compared to 7.7 percent in November, according to the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association in Boston.

While it may seem curious that gyms would go all out to ensure that members show up (as opposed to those who pay but don?), it makes a lot of sense, said Rick Caro, the president of Management Vision in Manhattan, a consultant to health clubs.

?he clubs now realize that if they satisfy that member they can provide additional services and charge more per month in the future,?Mr. Caro said. Also, he added, it? more expensive to acquire a new member than to serve an old one.

The idea of exercise enforcers may also seem strange to the more disciplined among us. ?ou?e hiring someone else to make you work,?said Micki McGee, the author of ?elf-Help, Inc.: Makeover Culture in American Life?(Oxford, 2005). ?t follows the same social schematic as hiring a personal coach or job coach ?it? externalizing the voice of authority. It? a feature of late modernity that this is how we operate.?/p>

But for the anxious novice, an encouraging voice may make the difference between opting in or opting out. That? why two years ago, Yoga Works, a chain of 15 studios in California and New York, started an adviser program to help the unenlightened distinguish Iyengar from Ashtanga.

?eople would come in and be intimidated,?said Phil Swain, the chief executive. ?hey? see some dude with his foot behind his head and get a weird vibe instead of coming in and hearing someone say, ?ello, can I help you???Now advisers work with students by phone, e-mail or in person to find the right level, style and teacher.

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