Gym seem crowded in January? It likely won’t stay that way

If you’re a regular gymgoer, you know about “resolutioners” — people who swear this is the year they’re getting in shape, starting Jan. 1.

And they’re out in force: According to an analysis of 2013 data by the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association (a trade group for gyms), January is the month gyms get the highest spike in new members.

More power to them! It’s always a good time to get into working out.

But will they stick with it?

Gyms do keep the majority of their members; according to the IHRSA data, 80.8 percent of members retained their memberships in 2013. And membership hit an all-time high in 2013 — 52.9 million people in the U.S. belonged to a gym.

But here’s the thing: They don’t actually go that often.

The average number of times members went to their gyms in 2013 was 103; more specifically, only 44 percent went 100 times or more. That’s just under two times a week, which, unless they are there for a few hours each time, isn’t going to give them the amount of physical activity recommended for healthy adults by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The data doesn’t offer a breakdown of what months have the most visits, but if members step it up in January with a lot of workouts, they’re likely spreading out their visits more the rest of the year.

Adults need 150 minutes of moderate-intensity to 75 minutes of high-intensity aerobic exercise a week, and should strength-train all the major muscle groups twice a week, according to the federal government’s guidelines.