Research ·
Gym training in Finland 2026
We went through 13,783 gym workouts logged by 897 Finnish SisuLift users between February and October 2026. Here is what the data says about training times, sticking with it and progress.
Key findings
- 127.2% of new lifters did not train in their second week. After two months, quitting slows down sharply.
- 2Monday is the busiest gym day (17.2% of workouts). Saturday is the quietest (11.0%).
- 344.3% of workouts start between 3 pm and 8 pm. The most popular start hour is 6 pm.
- 4A typical gym session lasts 59 minutes.
- 5In 12 weeks the median Romanian deadlift went up 14.3% and the bench press 4.7%.
The first week decides
We followed 272 users for 13 weeks from their first workout. The biggest drop comes right away: 27.2% did not train in week two, and 16.9% never came back after the first week.
After two months the curve flattens. In week 9, 46.7% were still training and in week 13, 43.8%. 41.2% trained in at least ten of twelve weeks, and the median was 18 workouts in 12 weeks.
Mondays are packed, weekends go quiet
Weekdays account for 77.2% of all workouts. A new week clearly shows at the gym: far more people train on Monday than on Saturday.
The rush starts at 3 pm and peaks at 6 pm
44.3% of workouts start between 3 pm and 8 pm. Early birds starting between 5 am and 8 am make up 9.0%, and only 2.0% start after 9 pm.
Strength goes up in 12 weeks
We compared the same people’s best set in their first two weeks with weeks 11 to 13. The number is the median change in estimated max.
| Exercise | Change | People |
|---|---|---|
| Seated dumbbell shoulder press | +14.7% | 78 |
| Romanian deadlift | +14.3% | 55 |
| Barbell bent-over row | +13.6% | 61 |
| Barbell back squat | +9.1% | 41 |
| Leg press | +7.0% | 83 |
| Barbell bench press | +4.7% | 71 |
The bench press progresses slowest, and it had the highest starting point (median estimated max around 68 kg). Many people have been benching for years.
The bent-over row gets swapped most
592 users swapped at least one exercise during a workout, 6,300 times in total. These exercises were swapped out most often.
- 1Barbell bent-over row110 users
- 2Seated crunch machine101 users
- 3Leg press99 users
- 4Sled hack squat94 users
- 5Hanging knees to elbows94 users
- 6Dumbbell bench press93 users
How we did it
- Data: 13,783 completed gym workouts that 897 users logged in SisuLift during the session between 1 February 2026 and 31 October 2026. Only users in the Finnish time zone are included.
- We excluded workouts imported from other apps, activities synced from watches, sessions shorter than 10 minutes or longer than 4 hours, and the developer’s own test accounts.
- Retention: users whose first workout was more than 13 weeks before the run date. A week is a seven-day period counted from the first workout.
- Strength: estimated max with the Epley formula (up to 12 reps), best set in weeks 1 and 2 compared with weeks 11 to 13. Warm-up sets are excluded.
- All figures are aggregated and anonymised. Every figure is based on at least 41 people. No individual user can be identified.
What the data does not tell
- The sample is SisuLift users, not the whole population. People who use a training app probably train more regularly than the average Finn.
- Retention figures only cover people who did their first workout. They are not comparable to gym membership statistics.
- Strength figures only include people who were still training in weeks 11 to 13.
Cite this study
You are free to publish these figures as long as you credit and link the source.
Source: SisuLift, Gym training in Finland 2026 (https://www.sisulift.app/en/research/gym-training-2026)
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