Members who make a friend at the gym are 40 per cent less likely to cancel their membership – this according to The Retention People’s TRP 10,000 report, the biggest and most comprehensive survey of member behaviour ever completed.

In this ongoing survey, the lowest levels of cancellation are being seen among members who report having made friends at the gym in the last three months, irrespective of whether this was one of their stated motives for exercising in the first place.

But whereas team sports naturally engender a social atmosphere and make friend-making easy, it’s less natural to strike up a friendship with a stranger on the treadmill next to you. Nevertheless, people do want a social experience at the gym, and in the past year a number of entrepreneurs have recognised this, creating internet dating-style apps for people looking for friends with similar workout habits.

Mark Spuy, co-founder of GymPal, says he noticed members looking lost when they had incompatible fitness partners – or indeed nobody to work out with at all. He therefore set out to create a way of teaming people up with suitable fitness friends. “By offering users the chance to find someone to exercise with, we’re providing a fitness social network that actually makes a difference to people’s lives,” he explains.

But while internet dating has been a huge success, do we need this sort of approach to make friends? Grant Hilton, founder of GymComrade, believes so: “People are reluctant to approach others in a gym environment: some are too afraid to ask for help and some just need a simple tool/app to make the initial introduction.”

Fitssi CEO Emily Stephens believes these apps could be transformative in creating social networks for exercising – a support structure she believes will be particularly relevant for women: “It provides them with a friendly environment to arrange meet-ups, and to find a strong source of support and engagement to stay active. But guys are of course welcome too!”

There’s been a rush of these gym buddy apps recently, with a number – all offering similar functionality – launching within a few months of each other. It will be interesting to see if the trend will take off and which apps will thrive. Whatever happens, one thing operators should take from this trend is that members have the appetite to make friends and be sociable at the gym. Any moves to foster this would be welcomed.