How Gyms Can Retain GLP-1 Members in 2026 with Behaviour Science Expert Dr. Heather McKee

How should gyms engage and retain members using GLP-1 medications in 2026? Behaviour science expert Dr. Heather McKee joins host Krissy Vann to break down what operators must understand as motivation, willpower, and progress cues shift for this growing member segment.

As Myzone’s Motivation Science Advisor, Dr. McKee brings global experience designing behaviour-driven programs for more than 100 companies. In this episode, she explains:

• what GLP-1 members actually need when weight is no longer the main driver
• how reduced reliance on willpower reshapes habit formation and long-term adherence
• early behavioural signals that indicate satisfaction or disengagement
• how gyms can create supportive environments without requiring medication disclosure
• how to redefine progress so members still feel momentum as body changes stabilise

This conversation gives fitness operators, coaches, and executives a clear, science-backed playbook for keeping GLP-1 members engaged long term.

Transcript

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I think that well weight loss drugs they create a window of opportunity so not a solution but a kind of window and I think that this is really important from operators and trainers point of view so when that appetite pressure drops people finally have a bit of mental bandwidth and this is a really good moment to install habits this is all things fitness and wellness uniting industry thought leaders and fitfluencers on the mission to inspire innovation and encourage people to live a life fit and well today we welcome back Doctor Heather Mckee a behavioral scientist who supported more than 100 companies worldwide in applying behavioral science to real world products experiences and engagement strategies with more members now using GLP1 medications operators are facing a behavioral shift inside their facilities weight loss becomes easier food urgency drops willpower matters less and the traditional cues gyms rely on to understand progress or predict retention don't tell the full story anymore on the episode Heather will help gym owners understand three essential things what GLP1 members need once weight is no longer their main driver how reduced reliance on willpower changes habit formation and long term adherence and how to spot early signs of satisfaction or disengagement if you want a clear science backed playbook for GLP1 members in 2026 this conversation is for you before we get to it be sure to hit like and subscribe we have new podcast episodes weekly featuring industry thought leaders and influencers I'm your host Chrissy Van and this is ATF W I am so pleased to have you back on the show Heather you know last time we were talking a lot about member behavior wearables how that plays into retention and this year we're gonna be shifting into a space that was one of the most talked about influences on the fitness industry through last year GLP ones but before we dive in maybe just give people a little bit of an overview about your specialty and how you apply it to the fitness industry because you were a wealth of information for us thanks Chrissy and I'm really excited to be back for 2026 and to be discussing this uh with you as well I'm last time your questions blew me away so I'm sure it's gonna be a really valuable conversation again um so I'm a behavioral scientist so I'm focused on you know how people build habits how they sustain motivation how they stay engaged long term I work with brands all over the world you know helping them embed behavioural science into what they do so if it's a digital health platform you know using behavioural science to help create more engagement and better long term metrics whether it's training you know gym gym staff um in behavioral change techniques or behavioral change communication to help them actually maintain positive relationships with their members but also use the right techniques to actually help people create those lifelong habits um and I think in terms of the context of this conversation what's really interesting about GLP ones is not just what they do biologically but how they change that psychological landscape and I think that's really where the gyms and the trainers and the environments become more important not less so that's really um you know my interest in this piece well and I'm glad that you shared that because you and I were doing a little bit of chatting back and forth by email before getting into this conversation and you know the scope of how we talk about GLP1 is so important in this space because it is a medication that's prescribed by doctors and you know the fitness industry has been trying to find its footing of where is our place in this conversation so today is really about the behavior around it and I love that you highlight it does change the psychological landscape a lot of times especially this time of year someone's walking into the gym and weight loss year over year when they do the surveys of what are people's goals when they're walking into those spaces that tends to be No. 1 now there's a medication that results in weight loss and so if weight loss feels less urgent for someone as a goal what new behavioral needs tend to surface more clearly and how can gyms respond to these I think that well weight loss drugs they create a window of opportunity so not a solution but a kind of window and I think that this is really important from operators and trainers point of view so when that appetite pressure drops people finally have a bit of mental bandwidth and this is a really good moment to install habits and so you know other kind of human needs become more audible because that food noise has been kind of crowded out and normally you know and anyone who's ever been on a diet will know this you know your food and your weight loss noise it dominates your attention it's that chatter in the back of your head have I eaten too much have I eaten too little am I hungry am I not and actually being able to quiet that noise using these weight loss drugs helps people kind of get back to actually having the headspace getting back to their own identity their confidence their confidence their routine that allows things to come forward and it kind of new needs surface and as you say you know um structure so what am I training for now capability you know am I learning to move well not just burn calories and and the added confidence from weight loss you know brings more people in as well you know more people that maybe wouldn't be gym goers in the past but we still need to be aware that actually a lot of these people may not have very much confidence or confidence in the gym environment they may not have ever really engaged in exercise before and I there was an article in the Financial Times this weekend that talked about you know gyms in the UK are now training their trainers in empathetic communication and more of these kind of motivational needs to help actually support people with that confidence and the final thing I think that's really important is meaning and um you know people are no longer just looking at those extrinsic outcomes like their weight on the scale but are intrinsic outcomes like longevity like aging well like strength like energy stress relief even and I think you know our language then shifts um as operators as trainers from outcomes to experience and so what we need to kind of focus on now is that skill building and helping people feel safe and helping people feel competent rewarding consistency not focusing on on body change because while G L P ones can lower the volume on hunger behaviour changes what teaches someone how to live well once that noise gets quieter yeah you bring up such a good point there too on the confidence because what a lot of these GLP1 patients are hearing as well is the importance of going to a fitness facility not for weight loss but to lift weights for lean muscle mass because we know that yes it's reducing fat but it also reduces muscle and to your point even for anyone walking to the gym for the first time it's easy to walk up and press start on a treadmill we all can figure that out but when it comes to actually learning the fundamentals of weightlifting it can be really overwhelming and intimidating so keeping that at the forefront of the mind so that you can provide that experience to break that barrier becomes essential now another element that generally a lot of people use as fuel when they start at the gym is willpower but in GLP users it changes the way they should think about habit formation so how does that kind of play into long term gym engagement because it's not necessarily a willpower thing yeah no absolutely and actually I'll just go back to what you said there because it really made me think one thing that we're really bad at in the fitness industry is understanding how what it's like for people that aren't mad for fitness that aren't crazy for fitness and I think that our biases have a real impact on how we support other people and so for any trainers out there and I've met a lot of amazing trainers that are really focused on this thing it's really helpful just to think about someone in your family that might be in the position of that client think it's about an aunt an uncle a sister a cousin whatever it happens to be a friend and imagine you know you understand them you know their lifestyle you know their background and so it can really just help support you to help you support that person better cause often when we're kind of termed as the expert we get into this expert role and actually we lose that ability to empathize and really walk a day in our member's shoes and I think that that's a really huge part of the competence piece as well and in terms of the willpower piece I think the important thing is that like GLP1 it doesn't remove habits it removes like friction to engagement in habits and so like ultimately willpower was never the solution anyway you know I I often say willpower is like a muscle if I went to the gym for the next week just training my right bicep by the time I get to this day next week I wouldn't be able to pick up a cup of tea and but if I went once a week for the next seven weeks you know giving myself adequate rest and recovery I get stronger over time and that's the same with habits you know they form through this Q routine reward rest recovery and not just consistent and constant effort and you know that's why these willpower based models they blow up on people and and they break down and I've seen it in a lot of um digital health apps I've seen it in physical environments and I'm often then brought in to save people that have you know uh or organizations that have focused way too much on motivation and you know they focus on these first three months and then you know they actually aren't creating that sustainability and so what we need to refocus on is environments that make behaviour easier especially when people's biology is changing and and what I mean by that is you know less white knuckling less pressure towards certain outcome measures more choice for people and so you know what's that look like in practice level OK asking people what actually fits your life you know what do you enjoy enough to repeat because now that noise is gone from you know I have to lose weight I have to what's most effective to lose weight you can actually start to really understand activity and get to know and fall in love with activity and that is all we wanna do as behavioral scientists we just wanna help people find joy in those healthy habits and I think one thing that a lot of the fitness industry has historically done really badly is that they over reward intensity and actually studies is a really incredible um researcher I'm gonna botch his name now it's Ekkekakus and it's a Greek name I always seem to get it wrong but he has some incredible studies that show that intensity matching so actually matching at a level that the person feels confident at is so important to enjoyment but then how many of us have you know I had a friend or a family member that's joined the gym and they're like OK I'm just gonna look for the most punishing or the hardest machine or all the assault bike that looks really hard or high intensity interval training that feels really like um dramatic like that's the thing I'm going to have to do rather than actually taking a step back and saying well what is it that I'm gonna actually enjoy and and the gyms put that pressure on people and the fitness apps and the platforms they put that pressure on people because they over reward intensity but intensity doesn't matter if you're not actually adhering to it long term and you know we over index on physiology and you know something may be great for our physiology but if our psychology if our head isn't in it we're not gonna consistently show up and so we need to start designing for different intensities allowing people to actually match the intensity that works for them and not feel like a failure you know when we think about real world behavioral design we think about low energy days I always talk about what's your minimum viable habit what's your minimum viable workout you know we always think about our workouts on this you know 10 out of 10 I'm gonna go to the gym I'm gonna lift three days a week but like that's only in circumstances that allow you to do that so what happens on a day when you've got less time less energy less bandwidth what's a 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 you know might be just swinging a kettlebell while your kettle boils for your coffee but we have to start thinking about actually helping support people to do these and what's interesting about the research is that actually the more um exercise and movement people do at home the actually more adherent they are to the gym too and which is really quite interesting and so it's not a threat to us it's not gonna take people away it's actually helping and build more a holistic view of moving of working out of physical activity so we need to kind of start designing for that consistency because ultimately you know if we bring it back to GLP ones they don't create habits they give people the mental space to choose better ones so we need to set up the environment so that it's a friendly environment for that and I would say that this doesn't just work for people that are on and you know a weight loss medications this works for for anyone that we're trying to get in the gym door and and actually one of the main reasons that people disengage is due to shame and because they feel like they've let someone down they've let you as an organization down they've let themselves down but actually if we allow people to understand that flexibility is normal failure is normal and actually it's what they do afterwards that's the most important part it's much more likely we're gonna get more of your members and better long term outcomes for them let's expand a little bit about gym environments because I know you are I mean you said it there you have spent a career where you intervened in some organizations where these subtleties can make a massive difference in regards to retention and getting someone to adhere so how can gyms create environments that feel supportive and valuable to people at different stages of change without requiring anyone to disclose their medication use because that's the other part it's been interesting in GLP because I think that the stigma has definitely changed at a rapid pace and obviously pop culture has a lot to do with that the fact that social media exists people are participating in forums but at the same time he said shame has been the name of the game for a lifetime and so some people may feel shame if they've decided to use this as an intervention personally I don't feel as though they should uh but at the same time it's something that's very real and exists yeah no you're absolutely right and I think we need to be cognizant of that and again you know a lot of us have been lifelong movers so you know we haven't experienced that feeling in a long while maybe if we've had an injury or you know we're returning from and parental leave or a break away you know we might experience that to an extent and we really need to lean into that and actually understand that and capture that for when we are then working again with members and clients to really kind of as I say walk a day in their shoes I think it it's it's it's the stuff we talked about it's like we can normalize that people's energy is gonna change we can normalize that they can we can show people how to scale back their sessions when they have less time less energy less cognitive back uh like you know um cognitive capacity we can show rest as intelligent not lazy you know the best athletes in the world prioritize recovery I think the language is getting a lot better around that and you know we talk a lot about like today's versions counts and meet yourself where you are and and I think one of the key ways in which we can influence that is focus on creating a supportive social environment and I think you know some gyms are incredible at doing this um and it's it's actually just about helping people feel safe you know helping them feel like they can show up they can talk to you whether it's about I think we talked about this on the last podcast you know even if it's just talking about what show they want you watched over the weekend or your favourite um sport you know sports team you know it doesn't have to just be about fitness all of the time but actually helping someone feel seen goes a huge way towards actually engaging them and actually interesting research in weight loss um medications and shows that the strongest association with um you know the bigger impacts more significant weight loss and happened in individuals that had more relationship oriented engagement so they either had a health coach they had a client they were connected with other people that were similar to them but that expedited their success on these weight loss medications as well and we know that for people that aren't on medications that having this feeling we call it behavioral psychology of relatedness so feeling that you're part of something bigger and than just you and that you're seen you're heard you're recognized we see it in you know and big fitness platforms like peloton you know a classic phrase that peloton uses I see you and and they know behavioral psychology they know helping someone feel like they're important that they're special and you know rewarding them showing up is why they stay helping people feel safe is why they stay and when they feel judged they disappear so we need to kind of get rid of those old mindsets you know the old no pain no gain and move way more onto we see you we're ready to match you what whatever energy you're bringing today and I don't think I think the best gyms they don't ask why someone needs flexibility they just build it in anyway regardless of where that member is at in their journey yeah it's interesting too because you mentioned earlier a lot of times the models were around like what are you working toward I mean we see the expansion of High Rocks for example tons of people moving through because they want to accomplish a fitness race I used to do bodybuilding shows way back in the day which is a whole other diet tribe but you know the reality of that it's it's rewarding restriction and intense exercise and then you get to the goal and this is a very different experience as you mentioned it's about this habit building but it means that there more than likely needs to be a change of language when it comes to how fitness facilities gym operators personal trainers work along thought look alongside in regards to those feedback loops of what is a success marker because it's no longer these defined benchmarks of yesterday that language is changing so how can they still feel progress when body composition changes especially when they start to slow or stabilize because the goal for GLP users isn't to just keep going down down down at some point they're going to be in that target space yeah and I think I think that's for anyone actually with any fitness goal and and I think that's where most gyms lose people as well and I think we don't talk enough about the behavioural truth that is bodies plateau you know bodies will plateau but our habits don't have to we can keep you know creating those incremental changes we can keep creating progress but we have to understand our physiological limits that over time our bodies will plateau and that might happen for months on end and then there is some sort of breakthrough and but if we use that as our metric alone we're just going to lead to failure so we need to get people to focus on the processes and the habits that they do day in day out and so alternative success markers could be you know strength gains confidence using equipment internal challenges and within the organization recovery time recovery bounce back mood sleep stress management even getting the person to develop their own personal intuition where they're like understanding how their energy has changed what are the things they can do now that they weren't able to do before you know the functionality of what engagement is giving them and I always look for and and we often look for this as as as researchers and studies we look for statements around identity as well so I'm someone who trains I'm someone who lifts I'm someone who you know likes to go to the gym those kind of words as well are huge success markers we did them I did a long term study of um looking at people that were able to successfully lose weight um long term and those that regained it um over time as a clinically significant amount of weight loss and what we found was that those that were most successful were the people that then identified with a healthy lifestyle they weren't identifying with the weight on the scales they're identifying with you know I just love the feeling of being fit and active I I understand what it contributes to my life I see what it gives me back and I can see the new things I'm able to do as a result of that and so I think you know having reflective check ins not just weigh ins is very very important and that's where you know staff training comes in to kind of help and ask the right questions around that but even a simple question like what contribution does actually getting active and staying active have in your life you know what does it give you back and even even that you know or even asking people like how is your energy being and since you started you know those kind of reflective check ins it trains our own personal intuition muscles but it also helps us look outside of those objective measures I think having progress conversations not progress photos is very very important as we all know and we've Learned that haven't we and even like you know a huge move in that direction was when Noom got rid of the before and after and ah images of Weight Watchers privacy and and then you know celebrating maintenance as success I think that's the next step for people and it's not something that we do a lot at the moment and you know I like to say maintenance isn't failure it's mastery and I'd love for us to rebrand being in a maintenance phase as actually you know the the Pinnacle of showing up it's that consistency irrespective of those outcome results and that shows a real resilience mindset and so I think the thing is you know these weight loss medications they change like our fundamentals of our behavior so long term success still comes from creating those environments where you know showing up feels positive where showing up feels meaningful showing up feels human and if we can emphasize that to people and actually reinforce that we're just gonna help bolster you know their long term success I really like what you highlight there in regards to maintenance because it's true it almost feels like a throwaway term or less than or discounted but you know even your your research kind of prove it's the most fundamental part and often where we lose people and the other thing I appreciate I've seen play out in real time I have a good friend of mine I've known her since grade 6 and she has been so excited to be on her weight loss journey through GLPS it was kind of that classic tale of having tried everything and felt so much failure and shame and so to be able to see progress and she's been very open about it with me and I've been curious cause obviously I talk about it so much with the industry but the thing I thought that was so cool is when I went to her home she was so excited to show me oh these are the greens that I'm taking and this is the workout that I'm doing and I've been so sore and there was this sense of excitement about not just the shifts that she was seeing from the medication that she was doing every day but how it truly was transforming her entire lifestyle and being ultimately a part of something that truthfully she felt excluded from and the industry didn't help it did feel exclusive and the language has a need to change to inclusive which is happening in real time we know we go to conferences this is at the forefront this is kind of a subjective question but you know when you look at GLP1 for the industry so many people have felt this is gonna be the big game changer for us do you think that the industry is aware enough of the behavioral changes that people are going through on these medications to make that possible or are we still missing the Mark in the conversation yeah I think the concern here is that these medications are effective while people stay on them and but you know not everyone can stay on them forever and so if they don't learn the behavioural changes while they're on them before they go on them they're very unlikely to actually be able to sustain and maintain the results that they've got um I know in the longer term studies and we haven't got a huge amount of longer term studies but weight gain regain is common unless behaviour changes in place and and some people can cycle on and off for a while as well and but the the good news is that we know that structured exercise programs like they foster good regulation a positive relationship with your body and you know and they promote sustained engagement even after pharmaceutical intervention stops but as we all know as operators physical activity adherence is a major challenge you know it's often limited like I say by perceived effort by time constraints and by lack of behavioral support and so I think we I think the industry is actually getting quite good at this and that understanding that we cannot provide these medications in isolation alone they have to come with this a supportive structure of movement of nutrition and of psychology and so you know my recommendation would be obviously as a behavioral scientist to integrate behavioral change training for staff counseling psychological monitoring and things like motivational interviewing using cognitive behavioral strategies to actually help people while that noise is quieted down and actually understand more about their personal habits why they act in a specific way and in relation to food and actually look to heal those relationships there's also a great place for digital adherence tools here and they can have a massive impact on outcomes as well and you know if people whilst they're still taking the drugs are learning and creating those habits and they're just set up in a much better way to then actually have more long term success and yeah and unfortunately we don't have those 5 10 year data yet and and you know what we need to do is work on building those skills building those habits in this crucial window because that's what's gonna help people actually really get to grips with this long term yeah I mean we're all learning in real time so it'll be interesting to see what happens in five 10 15 years and we do have the data Heather I'm so appreciative appreciative of this info on GLP1 but before I leave you on a personal note because I know that you're always diving in to discover what makes us tick in gym environments as you're traveling into 2026 where's kind of your focus research wise or what are you most excited about that you're diving into great question oh my gosh I think what I'm quite excited about and I'm working with a lot of companies on at the moment is this idea of flexibility and I think that's kind of been front of mind and I'm doing a webinar on it and tomorrow we are interestingly we are high performers and some people that are quite a different to their sport but are trying to bring in other elements and other habits and it equally affects them as it does new movers and because we a lot of us have this kind of older nothing mindset you know if I can't make it to the gym if I can't do my exact full workout if I can't do X amount of time then it's not worth it at all and actually having that level of flexibility and there's so much research and it's coming out day after day after day to show that habits on the flexibility are ultimately those ones that stick and so you know it's a lesson I Learned the hard way and when I was a new parent and because you know being a habit specialist you know I had quite high standards for myself around my habits and I had to drop those standards and so what I would say to anyone listening is you know think about what is your minimum viable habit for the thing that you wanna create change for this year don't just think about it at the 10 out of 10 on the scale like we said think about it as as one two and 3 and because actually it's that showing up keeping that habit alive it's creating that consistency that actually you know trains our brain that this is something we wanna do time and time and time again and so it's not a failure if you do one two or three in fact it's keeping that habit fuel lit and so yeah flexibility is something that I'm really focused on this year incredible well I'm sure we'll be reconnecting with you again on the podcast because you really are a wealth of information and we know that this space is always evolving in real time which means we also need to adjust our habits with how we treat our members so thank you so much for taking the time today thank you Chrissy you're such a delight you've just listened to the All Things Fitness and wellness podcast hosted by Chrissy Van be sure to hit like and subscribe we have new podcast episodes weekly featuring industry insiders and influencers together we're on a mission for everyone to live a life fit and well