TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — If you're walking into 2026 with new fitness goals, you're in good company. A YouGov survey puts exercising more as the top resolution for Americans for 2026.
Every January, Tucson Strength owner Danny Sawaya says gyms get hit with a surge in new memberships.
While he says, "it’s the biggest time of year," Sawaya— now 15 years into owning a gym— doesn't cater towards that New Year's resolution crowd.
"We like slow and steady growth," Sawaya said. "When gyms get really busy it gets really uncomfortable. All of the sudden you had space to work out in and now you’re fighting for machines or your whole schedule gets thrown off. It becomes very chaotic at times."
Much like his business philosophy, he says keeping with your fitness resolution needs to be a gradual process.
“The most important thing is consistency overtime," he said. "It's not how hard you work out in one session, it's how consistent you are on a program over a long period of time."
To keep that consistency, Sawaya recommends making working out part of your every day routine and finding a community to keep you accountable."
Fitness company My Protein surveyed several hundred people about this in 2022. While over a third signed up for some type of gym membership for the New Year, by December 34% had stopped using those memberships. Over a quarter stopped after just 6 months.
If a gym membership isn't working out for you, Arizona law allows you to cancel your membership through email, mail or the gym's website.
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Alex Dowd is a multimedia journalist at KGUN 9, where her work combines her two favorite hobbies: talking to new people and learning about the community around her. Her goal is to eventually meet every single person in Tucson. Share your story ideas with Alex via email, alex.dowd@kgun9.com, or connecting on Instagram or X.
