Tomorrow is New Year's Day. You know what that means...<br /><div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pqE_yXO5rGY/VKN0BOtwqGI/AAAAAAAASSE/hpkInZkQJ1g/s1600/57617758.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pqE_yXO5rGY/VKN0BOtwqGI/AAAAAAAASSE/hpkInZkQJ1g/s1600/57617758.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">Yes, that's right-&nbsp;</span><b>your gym is about to be </b><span style="font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">flooded</span>&nbsp;with New Year's Resolution gym-goers. Your club will be <b>over-run</b>&nbsp;with people full of the short-lived self-starter motivation that only the promise of a new year's fresh start can bring.<br /><br /><b>How do you survive such a calamity?</b>&nbsp;Should you just stay home for a month until they lose steam and quit?<br /><br /><b>No. </b><u>You should go to your gym</u>. For more reasons than you might think.<br /><br /><a name='more'></a><b style="font-size: x-large;">This is the single most frustrating thing in the world.</b><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span><div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A9G1wkzcIyE/VKPg87kP9ZI/AAAAAAAASSU/WJ_h33FJaZ8/s1600/WWE.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A9G1wkzcIyE/VKPg87kP9ZI/AAAAAAAASSU/WJ_h33FJaZ8/s1600/WWE.png" height="318" width="320" /></a></div><b><br />Every year </b>countless people have the cliche New Year's Resolution to "get in shape" or "lose weight" or "get healthy"...etc. So they all go out and get a gym membership, and all the gyms are packed during January...then a little quieter during February...then by the time April rolls around it's back to normal.&nbsp;<b>Nearly EVERYONE </b>in the "New Year's Resolution" crowd falls off and quits.<br /><b><br /></b><u style="font-weight: bold;">Not This Year.</u><br /><br />This year it's time for us to make a change.<br /><br />This year our gyms are not going to get flooded out for a month and then empty like the streets of Dodge City at high-noon.<br /><br /><b>This year we're going to do it right.</b><br /><b><br /></b><span style="font-size: large;"><b>How. Do I. SURVIVE this?!</b></span><br /><br /><div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DaREle7-DVY/VKPlCUKvz4I/AAAAAAAASSs/cYAMUN0tegQ/s1600/gym-no-idea.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DaREle7-DVY/VKPlCUKvz4I/AAAAAAAASSs/cYAMUN0tegQ/s1600/gym-no-idea.jpg" height="320" width="317" /></a></div><b>We're going to go about our business as usual.</b><br /><br />Whether you like it or not, these people are here. They have just as much right to be here as we do, and we should make them feel at home - after all...they're members now, <b>so they ARE home.</b><br /><br /><b>And maybe</b>...just <i>maybe</i>...if they feel "at home" enough...they'll be just comfortable enough to go up to staff or an experienced-looking gym member and ask a question. Maybe then they won't get discouraged and quit because <b>they don't know what they're doing.</b><br /><br />Maybe they'll feel they have such a positive workout environment they'll have the willpower to say no to that piece of pizza at home. Maybe then they won't quit because <b>no matter how hard they try they don't see results.</b><br /><b><br /></b><b>Maybe</b>...just maybe...<i>we can help these people succeed.</i><br /><br /><div style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lzw3amZ91mU/VKPjsSGO42I/AAAAAAAASSg/pq7aKaBjmRI/s1600/ce622e49893bd3cc95b19034b607fd8e.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lzw3amZ91mU/VKPjsSGO42I/AAAAAAAASSg/pq7aKaBjmRI/s1600/ce622e49893bd3cc95b19034b607fd8e.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div><b><span style="font-size: large;">Not everyone has to be a hero.</span></b><br /><b><br /></b><b>We don't all have to be the white knight and save the day.</b>&nbsp;If we all come at them like over-friendly cult members they might run away screaming anyway. So <b>how do you survive Gympocalypse</b>&nbsp;if you <i>just want to keep doing your thing?</i><br /><br /><b>Timing is everything.</b><br /><br />The gym is going to be busier at certain "peak hours". For my gym, this is generally 7 - 9 am and 5 - 7 pm. Want the easiest solution available?<br /><br /><b>Don't go during peak hours.</b><br /><b><br /></b>Same solution we alllll use when we don't want to hit rush hour traffic...just avoid the time of day you KNOW you'll hit it. It's that simple.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">This is not the end of the world.</span><br /><br />Rather, this is potentially the <b>beginning</b>&nbsp;of the rest of someone's life. Maybe <b>a lot</b>&nbsp;of someones. Shouldn't we be <b>encouraging</b>&nbsp;the people who are coming out of the woodwork joining the gym and making a resolution to achieve positive change? After all...if they're <b>actually</b>&nbsp;walking through the door...somewhere deep down there exists a <b>true desire</b>&nbsp;to make <b>real change</b>&nbsp;that lasts.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lSXeXJJhQxc/VKPnwnN9aCI/AAAAAAAASS4/1oNV4Pux2ng/s1600/aftert25front.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lSXeXJJhQxc/VKPnwnN9aCI/AAAAAAAASS4/1oNV4Pux2ng/s1600/aftert25front.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="text-align: center;">I started in August...but so what if it had been January?</td></tr></tbody></table>Don't forget...<b>we all started somewhere.</b><br /><br /><b>Joining in January doesn't make them any less worthy of being there or able to succeed </b>than if they joined in December, February or June.<br /><br />You can not only survive this...you can even help keep some of the Resolutioners from vanishing back into the self-loathing pit they crawled out of. <b>Keep your gym a positive place where positive change happens.<br /><br />Who knows...</b>You might just save someone's life.