The HFA Show 2026 SESSIONS

The HFA Show 2026 Session

The HFA Show 2026 offers a full schedule of educational sessions and panels from top thought leaders in the global industry. Here’s a preview of one of the highly anticipated presentations.

Five Ways to Turn Strength Training Into Retention Gains

Can strength training make your business stronger?

BY JULIE KING

With HFA research reporting a record-high 77 million members of US fitness facilities, opportunities abound. Plus, more than half of gym members now include regular strength training in their routines. That includes growing numbers of women, older adults, Millennials, and Gen Z.

“Resistance training continues to gain interest because research increasingly recognizes muscle and strength as primary indicators of health,” says Karlie Intlekofer, Ph.D., global research scientist at Matrix Fitness. “Members who lift notice practical benefits in daily life, and more people see lifting as a reliable route to feeling strong, energetic, and capable.”

With intentional efforts, health club operators can turn this surging participation into greater engagement and higher retention.

At The HFA Show 2026, Intlekofer is sharing science-based suggestions to capitalize on strength training in her presentation, “Muscle Health Gains That Drive Member Loyalty.” And Troy Taylor, vice president of performance innovation at Tonal, is presenting “Insights from 250,000,000, 000+ Lbs. Lifted,” using data from more than 50 million workouts on the company’s home smart strength system.

Their recommendations offer several practical applications for gyms to drive long-term adherence and bottom-line gains. Here are five of them.

“Many members don’t feel confident with strength training, which is a major retention risk.” • Troy Taylor

Intlekofer

Taylor

1. Program With Clear Goals

One of the most common mistakes in club strength programming is randomness. Workouts may feel hard, but without progressive overload, results stall. And motivation drops.

“Programming doesn’t need complexity, but it does require clear intent,” Intlekofer says, suggesting that clubs address all four capacities of muscle health: size, strength, power, and endurance.

“Each capacity responds to a slightly different stimulus, so coaches should be explicit about which adaptation they’re targeting in a given session or cycle, rather than hoping all qualities will improve evenly.”

For each capacity, progressive overload requires different variables:

• Hypertrophy: moderate loads, sufficient weekly volume, effort near fatigue

• Strength: heavier loads, lower reps, longer rest

• Power: lighter/moderate loads moved fast

• Endurance: higher reps, shorter rest, circuits, or sustained efforts

When clubs cycle these over four to 12 weeks, members experience measurable change without monotony. Tonal’s most successful programs typically run long enough to drive measurable change and short enough to maintain excitement, Taylor says.

“Clear targets, appropriate intensity, and progressive overload help members see progress,” Intlekofer says. “And having staff or trainers that can reflect those wins to members also benefits their confidence and self-efficacy.”

Feedback is most powerful when it shows longer-term trends, Taylor says.

“Track progress, highlight personal bests, show trends, and flag plateaus," he says. "When members see and understand their progress, motivation becomes measurable, and cancelling a membership means giving up their training history.”

2. Balance Structure With Variety

Smart programming is designed to meet the needs of different members as well. Beginners need structure. Advanced members need adaptable guidance. Both need variety.

“Too little structure creates uncertainty and suboptimal results,” Taylor says. “Too much reduces ownership and motivation.”

When guidance matches competence, adherence improves. Clubs can operationalize “appropriate autonomy” by:

Providing structured starter programs;
Allowing exercise substitutions and options when needed;
Offering a variety of programs based on goals, session length, and coaching style; and
Incorporating lighter workouts, recovery days, and schedule flexibility.

“Tonal data supports that people need consistent progression to stay engaged and enough novelty to avoid boredom,” Taylor says. “Variety with intention keeps people coming back.”

3. Build Confidence

“Many members don’t feel confident with strength training, which is a major retention risk,” Taylor notes. Tonal combats this with coach-led programs and structured progression. Its members who begin with progressive programs are 12% more consistent than those doing one-off workouts.

Research suggests that roughly 60% of commercial facility members default to loads too light to meaningfully improve muscle capacity. Without guidance, they spin their wheels. Clubs can address this by:

• Hosting onboarding strength clinics; • Offering beginner barbell or machine workshops; • Creating clearly labeled progressive templates (beginner → intermediate → advanced); and • standardizing exercise menus with regressions and progressions so coaches adjust quickly without reinventing workouts.

“Early engagement isn’t about intensity, but progress,” Taylor points out. “Even building a slight upward trajectory in the first month—two 20-minute sessions becoming two 25-minute sessions—creates momentum that reinforces behavior.”

4. Make the Time Commitment Work for Your Members

Time remains the most universal barrier to adherence, Taylor contends. So meet members where they are.

“Teach efficient methods, offer high-quality sessions of 15 to 20 minutes, and show that meaningful results don’t require hours in the gym," he says. "Efficiency drives adherence, and adherence drives retention.”

If members think they have to carve out long blocks of time to improve, frequency drops below the critical twice-per-week threshold that most retention analyses identify as essential.

5. Convert Intention to Identity

Perhaps the most powerful insight from Tonal’s 250 billion pounds lifted is behavioral.

Tonal doesn’t attract a uniquely motivated population. Its users span ages 18 to 80 and older, from beginners to elite athletes, with nearly a 50/50 gender split. Many have previously been health club members.

But Tonal’s monthly churn rate is less than 1%. Taylor attributes that to converting intention into identity.

“Tonal converts high intention (‘I want to exercise’) and early extrinsic motivation into repeatable behavior, intrinsic motivation, and, for many, identity ('I am someone who exercises'),” he explains. “That identity is built on competence (‘I can do this’), autonomy (‘I have choice’), and connectedness (‘I’m part of something bigger’).”

Club operators can promote this transformation by:

Encouraging predictable training times;
Fostering small-group accountability;
Highlighting member milestones publicly; and
Creating community around strength (challenges, clubs, recognition boards).

None of the Above Works Without Great Coaches

To keep members engaged, operators need to have coaches and trainers who understand the principles noted above.

“With strong and sustained interest in strength training, investing in coach skills strengthens both employee engagement and member retention,” Intlekofer says. “In service industries, engaged employees consistently predict stronger customer loyalty.”

Well-trained coaches should:

Individualize load;
Adjust intensity appropriately;
Communicate progress in language members understand;
Reinforce small wins; and
Build member skill and confidence.

“When members feel known by staff, supported in their efforts, and capable in their training, they return more consistently and see strength as part of their identity rather than just a workout,” she says.

Real World Outcomes—Make Strength Training Relevant to Everyday Living

Members stay when they see improvement. That looks different for trainers than for clients.

For instance, trainers use clear indicators such as increases in load, more repetitions at the same load, improved movement quality, form, or velocity. This can be done by tracking a three-rep maximum on selectorized machines, logging load increases on primary lifts, and repeating pre- and post-tests, such as sit-to-stand, loaded carries, or timed step-ups.

Despite the value of this information, many members don’t want to be overwhelmed with data. They just want to feel or move better.

“To underscore the value of lifting, performance gains can be focused on outcomes that are more personally relevant,” Intlekofer says. That can look like:

Heavier squat load = climbing stairs without fatigue.
Upper-body strength = lifting a toddler or suitcase confidently.
Power gains = reacting quickly to prevent a fall.
Greater endurance = completing yard work without fatigue.

This reframing broadens strength’s appeal beyond aesthetics. “When members understand that progress expands what they can do—not just what they can lift—training becomes personally meaningful,” she adds. “Demonstrated progress reinforces member motivation and retention.”

Taylor agrees. “Retention comes from members feeling their training works and fits into their life.”

The HFA Show Sessions

Muscle Health Gains That Drive Member Loyalty

Presenter: Karlie Intlekofer, Ph.D., Global Research Scientist, Matrix

Time: 2:15 to 3:15 p.m., March 16

The fastest growing modality in the fitness industry is resistance training. Participation is rising across demographics, with women and older adults showing strong growth alongside younger adults who remain the largest gym segment. This session defines four capacities of muscle health (hypertrophy, strength, power, and endurance) and the practical ways to measure these with tools you already have. Explore the distinctions in how to program for these capacities as well as how to communicate progress in clear member terms that build engagement and member loyalty.

Insights from 250,000,000,000+ lbs Lifted

Presenter: Troy Taylor, VP Performance Innovation, Tonal

Time: 1 to 1:45 p.m., March 18

Over the past seven years, Tonal members have lifted more than 250 billion pounds across 10+ billion reps, 1+ billion sets, and over 50 million workouts. With industry-leading retention and churn rates under 1%, Tonal stands out not just for what users do but also how long they keep doing it. In this dynamic session, Troy Taylor reveals how that consistency is engineered, using insights from billions of reps to show what truly drives long-term engagement in fitness.

Health & Fitness Business is a publication of

Health & Fitness Business (HFB) is the leading health and fitness industry publication. Published monthly by the Health & Fitness Association (HFA) and distributed free to the industry, HFB offers analysis of the opportunities, challenges, issues, and news that impact the industry.

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