Triggered by the over-indulgent holiday season, January kicks off each year with countless individuals flocking toward well-intentioned fitness regimens with the promise of a fresh start.
As an instructor in Lethbridge College’s Be Fit For Life Centre, Michael Bartz says an influx of new faces come at the start of the year, but many of those individuals don’t stick with the programs throughout the semester.

“I’ve been teaching classes here for a few years now and we always see lot’s of people come out for the first few weeks of the year. As the semester goes on, those numbers’ really taper off,” said Bartz.
A 2016 Business Insider study found that 55 per cent of New Year’s resolutions are health related, such as exercising more, or eating healthier. The same study also says that 80 per cent of people will fail to upkeep their resolutions by the second week in February.

“Give it a couple weeks, maybe a month and the number of people coming to classes really starts to dwindle. Whether it’s busy schedules or a lack of motivation people just stop going,” said Bartz.

Be Fit For Life is an on-campus fitness resource centre that provides fitness services, programs, information and activities designed to encourage and support a healthy lifestyle.

The centre offers group exercise classes throughout the semester, noon hour classes, evening classes and many different options tailored to those with a busy schedule in hope of maintaining participants throughout the year.