If you thought the summer months were the slowest time of year for fitness, think again. Our internal data indicates that November and December are historically the worst months for client acquisition and the worst months for client churn. That means that when the holiday season starts to creep up on the calendar, clients quit the gym and prospects delay the search for a gym until January—neither of which you want when you’re trying to close out the year strong and position your business for maximum growth next year.

While you’re sitting down to plan out next year’s initiatives, take the time to plan a holiday fitness challenge for this year to keep your clients locked in and showing up amidst the parties, shopping, last-minute errands and lengthy to-do lists. Plan it once and you can repeat the challenge year after year so it becomes something that your clients look forward to. 

Why You Need to Run a Fitness Challenge During the Holidays

A fitness challenge gives your clients a tangible goal to pursue. If you base it around class consistency, it gives clients that extra push to keep signing up and showing up for class. This is exactly what you want. Data shows that clients who show up to workout at least 11 times in the month are significantly less likely to cancel their membership. Take it a step further and add in a referral play to help boost your client acquisition during this time of year. By encouraging participants to team up with a friend (even if they aren’t a client—especially if they aren’t a client), you can get more people walking through your door while providing your clients an extra layer of accountability.

This is how you flip the script and refuse to resign yourself to the notion that the holidays are a lost cause to strengthen your business.

Holiday Fitness Challenge Ideas

Not sure where to start? Here are a few ideas for inspiration—use them as a starting point and add your own unique flare.

12 Days of Fitness (12 Days of Fitmas)

This is a Bingo-style challenge that can run any time in December, but we suggest running it from December 12 to December 24 to align with the theme. To run it at your gym, create a 5×7 Bingo card on Canva (search “Bingo card” for already-made templates) or whatever you use to create your print materials. Add text boxes with fitness-related tasks for clients to check off throughout a 12-day period, but don’t just fill them with random tasks. Think about check-offs that would either benefit the client (which improves member retention) or your business. You can also ask them to do things like “invite someone new to class” or “write a review on Google,” but make sure to include boxes that benefit them and get them excited, too. For example, you can include check-offs like:

  • Attempt a new PR and log it in your Wodify app
  • Write down one goal you have for the new year on a Post-It note and stick it to your challenge card
  • Attend four classes in one week
  • Attend a morning class and an afternoon/evening class in the same day
  • Beat one of your benchmark scores and share on your Instagram stories

Holiday Hold ‘em

Maintain, no gain is the name of the game with this challenge. The goal is straightforward: avoid weight gain during the holidays when overeating or reduced activity is common (e.g., Thanksgiving to New Year’s). Instead of focusing on losing weight, the emphasis is on maintaining—keeping your body weight and fitness routines steady while still enjoying the season’s festivities. To run it, all you need is either a body scan machine or a scale. You’ll have participants weigh in at the beginning of the challenge and at the end (we recommend running this mid-November through December 31st). Keep clients on the right track by offering nutrition tips, encouraging attendance and giving reminders that this season is all about balance.

Having a concrete number with the objective to maintain is a great way to keep clients from throwing away the healthy habits and progress they’ve been working toward year-round. 

26 Before 26

This challenge is designed for consistency. The goal is to hit 26 classes before 2026 arrives. Pick a timeframe that’s do-able, but also challenging. You don’t want to burn people out, but you do want them to be pushed outside their comfort zone by encouraging a higher class frequency than usual. Create a class tracker that clients can use to visibly see their progress. While you could run this with the Wodify app, printing out trackers and posting them for everyone to see in the gym makes a huge difference for engagement. 

Prizes for Challenge Winners

Whichever challenge you decide to run, find a way to incentivize people to participate. Challenge prizes don’t have to be expensive, but make sure people know what they are working towards. 

A few ideas that won’t break the bank:

  • T-shirts or other branded swag
  • Water bottles
  • A free month to gift to a friend
  • Gift cards to use towards retail

Ideas that are higher investment, but will likely earn higher participation and engagement:

  • A free month for top 3 winners
  • Nutrition or supplement samples
  • Gym swag prize bundles 
  • Personal training or nutrition coaching sessions
  • A fitness tracker (Apple Watch, FitBit, Whoop band)
  • A local wellness package (partner with other wellness businesses to put together a stacked prize)

Planning a fitness challenge requires minimal time and money investment, but if done right, it can fill your pipeline and engage your community at the same time. With Wodify, you can manage sign-ups, track performance and celebrate progress all in one place — saving time and driving results.

Book a demo with Wodify to learn how our tools make challenges easier to manage and more impactful than ever.