Boston—September 10, 2018—It turns out that there is a large body of evidence to support the importance of motivation Monday. According to a 2014 national survey, 76% of people either agreed or strongly agreed that Monday exercise would help them continue their exercise routine throughout the week.

This is the reasoning behind The Monday Campaigns, a nonprofit public health initiative focused on dedicating the first day of the week to health, or making Monday “the day all health breaks loose.” To help club operators take advantage of—and build on—this motivation early in the week, IHRSA worked with The Monday Campaigns on the Move It Monday: IHRSA Member Toolkit—a resource designed to help club operators encourage gym members and visitors to get moving on Monday so they can carry this early, healthy momentum through to the end of the week and beyond.

The toolkit speaks to the international campaign called Move It Monday, which encourages people of all ages and abilities to get moving each week beginning on Monday.

“Ask 10 people how they feel about Monday,” said Alexandra Black Larcom, IHRSA’s senior manager of health promotion & health policy. “It’s likely most will say Monday marks the end of a relaxing weekend and the start of a busy week. Many may also say that they do not have the time to commit to exercising during the week because their calendar is already too full. But in order to produce benefits, exercise should be a weekly, recurring action. Monday sets the tone for the rest of the week—so being active early on can put anyone in the right mindset to continue their healthy habits and meet and surpass goals all week long.”

The Move It Monday: IHRSA Member Toolkit includes marketing materials that an IHRSA member club could use to implement a Move It Monday program at their club. This resource is free to IHRSA members and can be downloaded through the IHRSA website.