Everyone knows that going to the gym is good for you. It helps you lose weight, keeps you happy, leads to better sleep cycles, zaps stress, lowers blood pressure, leads to healthy eating, and you may even meet some great like-minded people in your community.

According to Statista, the most-common New Year's resolutions for 2018 included getting more exercise, eating healthier, and saving more money.

What's even better than wanting to be more healthy? Wanting to let other people know that you're being more healthy on social media, of course.

In fact, gym mentions on Facebook for three of the largest fitness chains in America spiked over the New Year by a factor of about 1000%. That equates to millions of treadmill selfies, thousands of "workin' it!" Instagram posts, and gallons of sweat smudging smartphone screens.

Of course, that's great, as it means that people took their health seriously as we kicked off 2018.

But did it last?

It turns out that in every single case across 24 Hour Fitness, Planet Fitness, and LA Fitness, by this week these major gyms Facebook mentions had completely returned to normal. Right back to pre-New Year's-resolution levels.

The graphs below show the stark rise and drop at all gyms right around the same time.

Many fitness experts advise that any sort of extreme change in your fitness routine - from exercise to dieting - is bound to fail. You'll burn out, get hurt, or get sick. Instead, they argue, gradual changes in lifestyle that you can make permanent are not only better for you, but you'll begin to see them as normal.

So to the 32% who Statista said didn't make any new year's resolutions, we salute you, and hope that's working out.

Statista.com

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