With New Year's comes resolutions, and experts say a few simple tips can set a person up for success — no matter what they want to change.

The suggestions come from the University of Pennsylvania's "Behavior Change for Good," a first-of-its-kind collaborative study identifying what motivates people the most to develop regular workout habits.

"The methodology to me is also part of what's so neat about the work, because it shows a different way of doing science that might allow us to gain insights about human behavior change much faster and more efficiently than we ever have before," Dr. Katherine Milkman said.

The study partnered with 24 Hour Fitness and scientists all over the U.S. to test 54 different versions of a digital exercise motivational program at once.

Gym guests set a workout plan and were sent text reminders and other various motivations to work out. Some also got points that transferred into small cash rewards at Amazon — about 22 cents per visit to the gym.

Overall almost half of the interventions increased gym visits by 9% to 27%.

The top motivator was awarding extra points to a person for coming back to the gym the day after a missed workout. Milkman doesn't think an additional 9 cents at Amazon inspired the extra motivation.

"It's drawing your attention to the idea that you don't want to have a series of misses. OK, we're gonna all slip up and miss one of our planned gym visits here and there. It's probably inevitable. But don't let it accumulate," she said. "That turned out to be really impactful, which I think is fascinating, and it's something we can all internalize. Like, OK, sometimes I'm not going do the thing that I want to do, but don't let that ever happen twice. Never twice in a row."

Other top motivators to keep people coming back to the gym were:

• Social pressure — reminders of factual information about more Americans exercising 
• Temptation bundling — when people did something fun while working out, like listen to an audiobook or watch a TV show
• Setting reminders to workout
• Not giving up after a setback, or not missing more than two days in a row

Milkman said there are other techniques to help keep resolutions in the new year.

"Meditating regularly, getting to bed at a reasonable hour, staying off your smartphone — you can use that strategy in all of those areas," she said.

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Going to the gym was always part of Kari Hamra’s routine until last year’s government-ordered shutdowns forced her to replace the workouts with daily rides on her Peloton stationary bike.

That’s when she discovered something surprising — she did not miss the gym. At least not the driving back and forth, filling water bottles, changing clothes and most of all, taking time away from her husband and two boys.

Now that her gym in Springfield, Missouri, is open again, she’s slowly returning. But finding a more convenient exercise schedule at home and seeing a surge of COVID-19 cases in her hometown this summer have her questioning how much she needs the gym. She figures that if there never had been a coronavirus outbreak “I would still be a gym rat.”

The pandemic has reshaped how Americans exercise and upended the fitness industry, accelerating the growth of a new era of high-tech home workout equipment and virtual classes.

Thousands of small fitness centers and studios that were forced to close a year ago now are gone for good. Others are struggling to stay afloat and have redesigned their spaces, turned toward more personal workouts and added online training.

The question is can the they survive the onslaught from the apps and pricey bikes and treadmills or will they go the way of arcades, video rental shops and bookstores.

Interactive fitness equipment maker Peloton is betting the workout-from-home trend is here to stay. It’s breaking ground Monday on its first U.S. factory just outside Toledo, Ohio, where it plans to begin production in 2023 and employ 2,000 workers.

Demand surged so much during the pandemic that some Peloton customers had to wait months for their bikes. While the company said the backlog has waned, it reported that sales have continued to soar, up 141% in the first three months of this year.

Company founder and CEO John Foley thinks it’s inevitable that technology-driven home fitness will become dominant much like how streaming services have changed movie watching, calling the idea of going to a gym “a broken model of yesteryear.”

Its next steps include bringing more of its equipment into gyms at hotels, apartment complexes, and college campuses and launching new workouts through its app. Late last year, it acquired Precor, a company with manufacturing and product development sites in the U.S.

“Fitness is one of the few remaining categories that is going to be massively disrupted by a digital experience,” Foley told The Associated Press.

During the early months of the pandemic, most small and independent gyms and studios turned to Zoom and other video platforms for yoga and Pilates classes and training sessions because it was the only way they could connect with their members.

“Now there’s an expectation for it,” said Michael Stack, CEO of Applied Fitness Solutions, which has three fitness centers in southeast Michigan.

Small gyms can’t match the production quality and visual appeal of the high-tech companies, but they can counter with online offerings that feature personal attention and closer relationships between their members and staff, he said.

“I think that’s the way we even the playing field,” Stack said.

Not all gym operators are convinced virtual training will play a significant role in what they offer.

“We don’t have the budget to do it at the same price and the same quality,” said Jeff Sanders, CEO of Apex Athletic Health Club in Penfield, New York. “Digital is great, but we’ve seen surveys that show people want to stay active, but miss the interaction and being around others.”

His company is planning to open a third, smaller location near Orlando, Florida, that offers a more intimate experience. Those type of boutique studios could be the wave of the future, he said.

The pandemic has changed how the fitness industry evaluates itself and right now “everyone’s making decisions just to survive,” Sanders said.

Roughly 9,000 health clubs — 22% of the total nationwide — have closed since the beginning of the virus outbreak and 1.5 million workers lost their jobs, according to the International Health Racquet & Sportsclub Association.

The industry group is lobbying Congress to approve a $30 billion relief fund for the fitness industry because many clubs are struggling to recover from months of lost revenue and membership declines and still owe back rent.

While more closings are likely this year and could number in the thousands without government help, the emergence of the workout-from-home trend won’t spell doom for the fitness centers, said Helen Durkin, the association’s executive vice president of public policy.

Plenty of exercise fanatics, she said, will still do both — 40% of Peloton users have gym memberships, according to the company.

There’s no doubt digital fitness is here to stay, said Michelle Segar, director of the University of Michigan’s Sport, Health and Activity Research and Policy Center.

“People are integrating their lives with technology. This is where society is, and it’s just going to get more integrated,” she said.

The biggest positives with the virtual training sessions are that they offer more flexibility when it comes to staying with workout routines and can draw more people into fitness, including those who can’t follow a rigid schedule.

“That’s why people don’t stick with it,” she said.

Cindy Cicchinelli, who’s become a dedicated Peloton user after going to her gym in Pittsburgh for years, said the convenience is what has sold her.

“I can roll out of bed and not worry about running to the gym,” she said. “And I don’t have to add an extra half-hour for my commute.”

Fitness industry leaders say research has shown that health clubs pose no more risk of spreading the virus than other public spaces. But San Francisco gym owner Dave Karraker thinks it will be a long time before many people are comfortable going into a big, tightly packed fitness center.

“They are going to be thinking about ventilation and air purifiers and how long ago was this equipment sanitized,” he said.

He reconfigured MX3 Fitness’s two small studios and created personal workout spaces. It has become so popular he’s looking for a third location.

He’s not surprised that people are coming back even though safety remains a concern.

“They don’t want to live this solitary existence anymore,” he said. “There’s all kinds of motivations. Let’s face facts, gyms are great ways to meet new people, especially if you’re single.”

SHARONVILLE, Ohio — The gym is not new, but the owners are. Next Level Fitness and Training reopened in Sharonville this year after Michael and T’Denise Myers took over in January.

“There is over a million dollars' worth of brand-new equipment here,” said Michael Myers. “This is a state-of-the-art fitness facility if you're looking for cardio equipment, ellipticals, treadmills. There is resistance equipment, free weights -- anything you can think of.”

The 30,000+ square-foot gym is the largest state of the art fitness facility in Sharonville, and the new owners told WCPO they have big plans for the community.

“Our goal is every time someone crosses the threshold of these doors, or a family does, to provide the most amazing customer service experience,” said Myers. “Better than anyone in the fitness industry.”

Not only does Next Level Fitness offer educational childcare and fun fitness classes, like yoga, Pilates, Zumba and spin, but it also doubles as a non-profit called the Dream Center.

For 20 years, Michael and T’Denise have done community work under the organization, funding programs like the Michael’s Journey Autism program which honors the couple's son and brings awareness about autism.

“We are one of the first non-profit organizations to have two autistic characters, mascot characters named Mikey. We call him the superhero mascot and Majestic, the super princess,” said T’Denise Myers.

Starting in June, the gym will operate 24 hours a day. The couple's vision is to offer programs designed around community empowerment, education and eliminating hunger.

“As the market is opening up when there is not group fitness going on, from a technology standpoint, we teach science, technology, engineering and mathematics,” He said. “Yes, here in the Next Level Fitness Dream Center.”

As one of the largest Black-owned fitness gyms in the Tri-State, the Myers hope their story inspires.

“Being family-owned, it's an honor and a pleasure, so I take it personally and I just give God all the glory,” she said. “We wouldn’t have been here without him.”

You can learn more about the Dream Center here. To check out the gym and for more information about memberships, click here or call (513) 918-2011.