One day makes a difference. Ask the owner of any local fitness gym.
After Jan. 1, New Year's resolutions begin, and memberships and attendance at gyms peak significantly.
Randy Gregg, owner of Atlas Gym in East Lansing, said that in the first 10 days of the month, about 400 new members joined the facility. Similarly, Powerhouse Gym usually gains about 500 members in January, said sales employee Tony Dabish.
Gregg said new membership at Atlas usually increases about 25 percent.
"For a gym that holds 3,000, that's pretty significant," he said. "We're selling 40 to 50 memberships a day on average right now."
This annual fitness craze has affected at least some students' daily workout routines at IM Sports-West.
"It's hard to only have an hour or so in between classes to work out, then discover when I get there that I have to wait in line for 20 minutes to use a treadmill," said Lindsey Legacki, a gym regular and marketing freshman.
"Those 20 minutes could be used for valuable napping time."
Dean Hall, an IM Sports-West fitness supervisor, said almost all new members are jumping on the resolution workout bandwagon.
"It's crazy seeing the difference from last semester to this semester," Hall said. "The weight room is almost always full now, and there are even lines for ellipticals and treadmills."
Some gym regulars change their schedules to avoid the resolution rush, Gregg said. But most tend not to mind.
"A lot of people love it when it's busy," Gregg said. "It's a real social atmosphere. People aren't just working out. They are talking and having fun. We even play the music a little louder."
Hall said IM Sports-West can get hectic at times.
"The gym atmosphere is definitely a lot more serious," Hall said. "You can tell everybody is hell-bent on getting in shape. I have fun when it gets busy, though. I like interacting with people. The more, the merrier."
By mid-March, the workout craze begins to fizzle. And by May, the attendance level will plummet back to normal, Gregg said.
To keep members from abandoning their resolutions, some gyms create motivational programs. At Atlas, members have weight-lifting competitions and can pledge to work out as a donation to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. "It's a way to keep them fired up about working out," Gregg said.
For some new gym members, motivation to keep their membership already has diminished.
"I'm just ready for the weather to get a little warmer so that I can avoid the gym completely and just run outside," Legacki said.
Hall says that the New Year's rush is just another phase that is guaranteed to end eventually.
"This happens every year," Hall said. "New Year's comes and goes, and so does a person's will to work out."
