Generation Z and Fitness: Deciphering the habits of a hyper-connected generation

Gen Z didn't change fitness... it changed the way we experience it

For a long time, “going to the gym” meant: coming, training, leaving.

For Generation Z, it's often richer than that: a sports session is a mix of performance, experience, content, community and... a smartphone.

The consequence for franchisees and club managers is simple: you are no longer competing only on equipment or price, but on the fluidity of daily life. And Gen Z has a very low tolerance for friction.

1) The smartphone: not a distraction, the central tool of the session

Gen Z trains with a “training stack”: a stack of digital tools that accompanies each movement.

Concretely, the telephone is used to:

• The music (playlist, podcast, focus)
• Program monitoring (training apps, notes, exos)
• The timer/interval training (HIIT, circuits, rest)
• The performance (tracking, training logs, PRs)
• The social (messages, stories, shares, DM)
• The organization (transport, payment, time management)

👉 Translation “field”: if your club cuts or complicates the use of the smartphone (or if it does not accompany it), the perceived experience decreases.

2) Music is a need, not a bonus

For a large part of Gen Z, music is not an atmosphere: it is the fuel of the session.

The rhythm supports the effort, the playlist structures the intensity, and the headphones create a bubble.

Result:

• a session without music is often perceived as more difficult,
• and an interrupted session (dead battery, dead headphones) is experienced as a break in experience.
  

This is why the “battery” is, paradoxically, becoming a very concrete subject of loyalty.

3) Fitness is becoming “social + performance”

Gen Z likes progress... but also proof of progress:

• personal records,
• transformations,
• training recap,
• mini-challenges with friends,
• content (stories, videos, “PR day”).

And it's often played within the room:

• a well-lit corner,
• an area where filming doesn't bother anyone,
• simple and guilt-free rules,
• a “positive” culture around progress.

It's not “bling-bling”: it's a lever for engagement. A committed (and proud) member comes back.

4) Instantaneity: the room must function like a good app

The standard for Gen Z is a smooth experience like its best apps:

• “I understand quickly”
• “I do it in 2 clicks”
• “I am not asking 3 times”
• “I don't have a problem”

The most frequent club side irritants:

• Unstable Wi-Fi,
• unclear information (schedules, courses, rules),
• confusing reception process,
• lack of “emergency” services (towel, rubber bands... and refill).

Gen Z doesn't always complain: they compare, they skip, they cancel.

5) Security and control: keep your objects close

Another point that is often underestimated: the relationship with the telephone is not only “digital”, it is also Safe.

Between the value of the object and the dependency (messages, navigation, payment), many prefer to keep their phone on them rather than leaving it “far away” while charging or in the cloakroom.

This explains why solutions that immobilize the telephone (or require it to be placed in the back of a room on an outlet) are sometimes less used than we imagine.

6) What Gen Z really wants from a club (and that doesn't have to be expensive)

Good news: adapting doesn't mean “doing it all over again.”

In many clubs, 80% of the impact comes from 20% adjustments.

The 6 Gen Z friendly “must haves”

1. Reliable connectivity (Stable Wi-Fi where people work out)
2. An energy service (simple refill, clean, visible)
3. A clear experience (signage, rules, new member path)
4. An aesthetic and clean club (light, smells, details)
5. A community logic (challenges, events, rituals)
6. Intelligent tolerance to the content (dedicated areas, simple charter)

7) How to make it a business lever: attract + retain

If you have a growing share of Gen Z (or if you want to conquer it), the objective is twofold:

• entice (image, codes, social proof),
• build loyalty (frictionless daily experience).
  

And in this context, a well-integrated mobile charging service can play a surprisingly strong role:

• it meets a real need,
• it avoids the interruption of the session,
• it reinforces the “modern/attention to detail” image.
  

If you want to see what an integration designed specifically for clubs looks like (use cases, configuration, plug & play logic), you can take a look at our dedicated page: telephone charging station for fitness & sport

8) Mini action plan (franchisee/manager) in 30 days

Week 1: Audit Frictions

• Where does it get stuck?
• Where do the members “struggle”?
• What requests come back to reception?
  

Week 2: quick wins connectivity + energy

• stabilize connectivity to key areas
• set up a charging solution consistent with the experience (not “DIY”)
  

Week 3: experience & community

• create 1 simple challenge/month
• Clarifying the new member experience
• highlight 3 social proofs (opinions, testimonies, results)
  

Week 4: measure and iterate

• 1 micro satisfaction survey
• attendance monitoring + irritants
• monthly iteration

Conclusion

Gen Z is not “consuming” the room as before. She lives a hyper-connected, performance-oriented, social and instantaneous experience.

The clubs that win aren't necessarily the ones that spend the most: they're the ones that remove the friction and add the right details — the ones that make people say: “it's simple, it's fluid, it's modern.”