The New Rules of Email: How Parkour Gyms Can Stay in the Inbox and Keep Growing

For years, email was one of the best ways for parkour gym owners to stay in front of members and leads. Whether you were sending newsletters, updates about events, or promotions to book free trials, the general rule was: send more emails to more people.

Maybe you ran a big list of subscribers. Maybe you automated nurture sequences for new leads. Maybe you even used AI to help write it all. That used to be fine.

But as we move into 2026, the game has changed dramatically.

So much so that it has us at Motion Mentors completely changing our email strategy for our own parkour gyms and our advice to the gyms we mentor.

Why You Can’t Use Email Like You Did Before

Google (Gmail), Yahoo, and now Microsoft (Outlook) have rolled out strict new rules for how emails are filtered. Their algorithms now control whether your messages land in the inbox, go to promotions, or get sent straight to spam. And these platforms are prioritizing engagement, not volume. It feels like social media now, where engagement is critical.

Here’s what that means for you: if your emails are ignored, deleted, or marked as irrelevant too often, your future emails may never be seen, even by people who wanted to hear from you. Let's jump in...

1. What’s Changing (and the Research Behind It)

Over the past five years, open and reply rates to emails have steadily dropped. That’s because inboxes are flooded, and filters are getting smarter.

Belkins, a top cold email company, analyzed over 16.5 million emails and found that:

• In 2019, about 8.5% of people replied to cold emails.

• In 2023, that dropped to 7%.

• By 2025, it’s down to just 5%.
  

That’s a 15% decline in performance every single year. Worse, every single month in 2024 underperformed compared to the same month the year before.

Hunter.io, another large email platform, reviewed 11 million emails and found that sending to large lists (1,000+ people) got less than 2% reply rates. But sending to smaller, more specific lists (under 50 people) saw nearly 6% replies 3x better results.

Digital Bloom confirmed this pattern: the more relevant your list, the better your replies.

And here’s where it gets even trickier:

In February 2024, Gmail and Yahoo began enforcing new deliverability rules. If your emails aren’t authenticated correctly (SPF, DKIM, and DMARC), or if too many people ignore your emails, your sender reputation drops fast.

Then in May 2025, Microsoft Outlook joined in.

Profit Outreach published research showing that it’s no longer safe to send more than 30 to 50 emails per day per inbox. Sending more puts you on the fast track to the spam folder.

👆 That's WAY LESS than the previous "email blast" strategy

2. Old Strategy vs. New Strategy for Small Business Cold Email

2025 and earlier, email marketing was about doing more:

• More volume

• Bigger lists

• Longer email sequences

• AI-generated content

• “Nurturing” everyone who ever gave you an email

But now, that strategy is hurting your business starting now and in 2026. (this article is from December 2025)

Here’s what has changed:

Tactic	Old Way	New Way (2025–2026)
Send Volume	200+ emails/day from one inbox	Max 30–50/day (with inbox warmup)
List Size	10,000+ leads	Micro-lists (under 50 highly relevant leads)
Follow-Up Strategy	5–7 follow-ups per person	2 emails max, then stop
Personalization	Generic templates, “congrats on…”	Real research, relevant to them
Channel	Email only	Email + LinkedIn + video

If you’re still blasting your full list with general offers or trying to “re-engage” inactive members with AI-written messages, you're likely hurting your sender reputation and risking future deliverability.

3. How to Write Emails That Get Seen (and Replied To)

Email content now needs to pass two filters: a human one, and increasingly, an AI filter.

AI-powered inbox assistants are starting to filter out emails before humans ever see them. According to Forrester Research, 61% of companies already use AI for purchasing decisions, and that number is rising.

So how should a parkour gym sent email to lists now?

• Be Specific – Use numbers and real outcomes.

  • Bad: “We help kids build confidence with movement.”

  • Good: “Last month, 17 new students joined our beginner parkour class and 93% of them came back the following week.”

• Keep it Short – Say only what’s needed. One main point per email. This might look like emails being only a few sentences long. Old giant "newsletter" emails may be a thing of the past.

• Use One Follow-Up Only – Send the first email, wait 3–4 days, send a second one with a new angle. Then stop. (Big change to how a sales team uses email here. No longer should we send an email per leadoutreach attempt.

• Avoid Overused Phrases – Phrases like “I noticed you…” or “Just following up…” are now red flags.

• Personalize With Context – Reference specific classes, age groups, or past attendance if you can. The more it feels like a message meant for that person, the better.
  

4. How to Build and Manage Your Email List the Right Way

Your email list is now a tool that needs to be protected, not blasted.

Here’s how to do it right:

1. Segment Your List – Group your contacts based on interest, past attendance, age groups, or trial status. Send different messages to each group. If you use the Motion Mentors CRM, use automations to assign tags 🏷️ to your leads. Gym members should get tags 🏷️. Tags can be assigned for specific event attendees 🏷️ Tags can be used for age groups 🏷️ Gym locations 🏷️ contacts who recently replied 🏷️ etc...
   

2. Keep It Clean – Remove contacts who haven’t opened or clicked in 90 days. This helps your engagement rate and improves inbox placement. Again, our CRM can run an automation to do this for you.
   

3. Build Small, High-Intent Lists – Instead of sending one message to 10,000 people, send tailored messages to 50–100 people who’ve shown interest recently. That could be people who:

   • Opened a previous email

   • Visited your booking page

   • Attended a past class or event

4. Warm Up New Inboxes – Don’t just start blasting from a new email address. Use software Motion Mentors CRM ( or like Instantly or Mailreach) to “warm up” inboxes for 2–4 weeks and keep warming them continuously.

5. Track Reply Rates – Aim for a minimum 3–7% reply rate. If it drops lower, your list or message is off.

Final Thought: This Is a Big Opportunity

Yes, email just got harder. But that also means less competition because many gym owners won’t bother adapting.

If you’re one of the few who stay focused, write better emails, target the right people, and respect the inbox, you’re going to stand out. You’ll be one of the few parkour gyms that consistently show up where it matters: right in the inbox of your next trial class student or event attendee.

Need help crafting better emails? If you’ve read The Million Dollar Parkour Gym, book you’ll know that keeping things conversational, story-driven, and outcome-oriented helps connect with your audience. Now more than ever, those principles are essential. The New Rules of Email: How Parkour Gyms Can Stay in the Inbox and Keep Growing