{"id":388564,"date":"2026-01-05T04:45:04","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T04:45:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/388564\/"},"modified":"2026-01-05T04:45:04","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T04:45:04","slug":"lake-citys-gym-sees-surge-in-members-as-new-years-resolutions-take-hold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/388564\/","title":{"rendered":"Lake City’s gym sees surge in members as New Year’s resolutions take hold"},"content":{"rendered":"

LAKE CITY, S.C. (WPDE) \u2014 Just days into the new year, health and fitness are taking center stage for many, as people across the country set their New Year\u2019s resolutions.<\/p>\n

Strickland\u2019s Boxing and Fitness Gym in Lake City is starting the year strong, with more than 900 members.<\/p>\n

The gym is owned and operated by Florence County native Jonathan Strickland, who opened the business shortly after his boxing career ended.<\/p>\n

Strickland said every year, he sees a noticeable spike in memberships, particularly in the final days of December and the first few days of January.<\/p>\n

In just the past week alone, he has signed up 20 new members, but says many who join during this time do not always stick with it.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost people say January 15th is national quit day, so if you sign people up in December or January 1st, you have to cancel them January 15th, then it\u2019s kind of a big waste of time,” Strickland said. “So we try to encourage long-term, long-lasting members through sustainability, not just gimmicks or sales, or a new year\u2019s resolution.”<\/p>\n

About 82 million Americans plan to set health, fitness, or exercise goals as part of their New Year\u2019s resolutions, according to the Health and Fitness Association. <\/p>\n

MORE: Protesters rally at South Carolina State House against US military action in Venezuela<\/a><\/p>\n

Lake City resident Michael Montgomery said his fitness journey began 10 years ago, and he\u2019s stayed consistent ever since.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was tired of being skinny, and I was like, alright, I\u2019m going to start working out and stay in shape,\u201d Montgomery said. <\/p>\n

While working out is not new for Montgomery, he said he still sets fitness goals each new year.<\/p>\n

\u201cSlim up, get rip and pretty much stay in shape,” Montgomery said.<\/p>\n

Both Montgomery and Strickland say the key to success is simply showing up.<\/p>\n

\u201cConsistency,” Montgomery said. “Take it one day at a time. I know you want first-day results, But the world wasn\u2019t built in one day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s your life,” Strickland said. “You can be uncomfortable getting in shape, or you can be uncomfortable being healthy. That\u2019s kind of your choice, but hopefully everybody wants to be healthy and live long, live a long time, so they choose working out and fitness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Strickland said many new members have signed up both in-person and online, and he adds that the gym offers daily classes designed to keep members motivated and accountable.<\/p>\n

According to the Health and Fitness Association, Americans plan to spend an average of about $700 this year on their health and fitness goals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAKE CITY, S.C. (WPDE) \u2014 Just days into the new year, health and fitness are taking center stage…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":388565,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[337,97],"class_list":{"0":"post-388564","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-fitness","9":"tag-health"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=388564"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388564\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/388565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=388564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=388564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=388564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}