Fitness: Page 78

If You Thought Pet Rocks Were a Stupid Idea...

I’ve been on a cleanse diet for the last nine days so forgive me if I can’t even muster up the energy to bring out Angry Hossein. But I do have a bone to pick. Then again, on this cleanse diet there is no bone picking, just veggies. But I do have an issue, and it’s how personal training is positioned in a club.

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How recreation operators, manufacturers and community partners can respond when a capital project encounters circumstances far beyond the original plan.

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Keeping Independent Health Clubs Safe From Theft

Much like independent health club owners never know where that flash of brilliance is going to come from for their next big idea, writers never know where inspiration will come from either.

Thieves at fitness clubs come in all shapes and sizes. Make sure your club has a plan to deal with them.

CrossFit Stirs Passions, But Both Sides Need to Relax

We want to get this straight. If you do CrossFit, you are physically, morally, ethically and socially superior to everyone, and anyone who refuses to agree that CrossFit is the best and only form of physical conditioning is a loser who doesn't "get it."

6 Tips for High Traffic Turf

Contests Boost Fun and Sales for Independent Health Clubs

The city of Dubai recently made fitness news when the city’s government offered gold, actual gold, to its citizens as a reward for losing weight. If a citizen shed two kilograms (4.4 lbs.) during a 30-day contest designed to combat the city’s growing obesity problem, they were rewarded with two grams of solid gold.While it is doubtful that independent health club owners can expect the U.S. government to make such a generous offer - and odds are insurance companies are unlikely to do much more than they currently do - there is an opportunity for club owners to boost use, retention and word-of-mouth marketing by offering rewards to members who not only join, but have personal success at the club. Best of all, there are ways to do this without breaking the bank. Whether the prizes are nutrition bars, water bottles, free tanning or personal training or even a month free membership, the prizes can be relatively inexpensive and will be appreciated by members. All it takes is a little creativity and some effective marketing to entice members to take part in a contest or special promotion. These contests and incentives will encourage your members to come to the club, get results and more importantly, refer their friends and family. One way of upping retention is to offer a contest just for coming in - especially during the traditionally slow times of the year. One club has had great success with a “come in to win” contest during the slow summer months. For each visit, the member gets a punch that equates to a ticket in a raffle to be held at the end of the summer. There are also bonus tickets for bringing in guests, working with a trainer, liking or following the club on social media and more. All of these steps help to build the club's brand and keep members coming in rather than handing in their cancellation notices. Other clubs are having success with fitness-based contests that not only keep members motivated, but also help turn their daily trek to the gym from a “have to” into a “want to,” by keeping it fun and creating a little friendly competition. For example, one independent club recently held a “race around Easter Island” for its pool members. Each member logged their laps swam along with the time they spent doing land training. The participants were awarded “miles” that they put toward a race around the “island.” The miles were displayed on a large white board, upping the competition and keeping members coming to the club as they raced for two free months of full membership. This contest not only allows members to gain bragging rights (and share those with friends and family outside of the club), but also integrates some of its summer-only members into the club, which may result in year-round members. Other independent club owners may want to up the ante a bit and partner with other businesses in the area and run contests that not only reward members, but can bring in new business as well. Partnering with a local cafe to create a smoothie or salad of the month that is tweeted or posted on Facebook can really engage members on social media and spread both businesses' brands—and by offering a gift card to a business that caters to like-minded patrons can boost sales at the cafe as well. Add to that the smoothie or salad being named the “GYM X” smoothie/salad and you can boost your club's brand awareness.There are plenty of contest ideas and partnership opportunities available to keep members and prospects engaged with your club, it just takes some creativity and follow through for independent health clubs to successfully boost business and fun at the same time.

You don't have to reward your members with gold to get them excited about coming to your club.

Health Club in a Big City? Target This Demographic

If you're an independent club in a big city, you may have a new audience to target. Businessmen and women, sick of wining and dining clients on fatty meals and plenty of alcohol, are seeking an alternative entertainment option: fitness.

More professionals are choosing to entertain clients and colleagues with fitness, rather than a heavy dinner.

Fitness Club Uses Trayvon Martin Case for Offer: The Good, Bad and Ugly of Selling Controversy

Equinox gym was accused of sexism after erecting this ad in Bethesda, Maryland.

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Syracuse Unveils Plans for New Practice Facility

Syracuse University is building off its successful 2012 athletic season, literally. The school unveiled plans for a $17 million indoor practice facility on Tuesday.

Rp Primary 2013 06 10 Project Plan Review Set Page 9

Aquatic Climbing Walls Becoming a Popular Pool Amenity

Prairie Athletic Club calls itself the largest health club in Wisconsin, and few casual observers would question that claim. After all, how many clubs in these northern climes can boast their own outdoor water park?

AMA Labels Obesity a Disease: What Does it Mean to Health Club Owners?

The American Medical Association (AMA), the largest organization of physicians in the United States, recently started a firestorm of controversy when it decided it would begin recognizing obesity as a disease. Previously, the AMA viewed obesity as "a major public health issue."

Have Machines Lost Their Luster in Health Clubs?

There was a day when fitness centers were filled with row after row of strength and cardio machines along with heavy iron that helped members — or at least offered the opportunity for them — to achieve the traditional fitness look of the day that were most often seen in the pages of Muscle & Fitness and Flex magazines. It was the look and the style of training made famous by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno. Today, for most, the fitness ideal has shifted from the cartoon-like bulges of bodybuilders to the lean and strong appearance of athletes such as gold medalist Jessica Ennis and MMA great, George St.-Pierre. And along with that shift in goals has come a significant shift in training equipment and modalities. While independent health club owners still fill their facilities with rows of treadmills, bikes, elliptical trainers and there are still selectorized strength machines, but over the last decade and increasingly the last few years, many clubs are opting to give more space to other, more functional equipment. “There is more to health and fitness than our weight, body composition and our blood pressure. Functional exercises can develop adaptations such as improved posture, enhanced coordination, and a revved up metabolism,” says former NASM Education Specialist Eric Beard, who is the founder of EricBeard.com, and a consultant and corrective excise specialist “Machines may deliver similar benefits, but in my experience people don't train hard enough from the seated position to do so. Do most people really care if they can move the pin one more rung down the sight stack or lift five more digitally displayed pounds? They also sit all day at work and who wants to come to the gym and just sit there too?”While more clubs are setting aside additional space for kettlebells, battling ropes, jungle gyms and more, it is independent club owners that are at the forefront of the movement. “There has been a slow physical transformation of spaces inside of facilities for members to train this way. The major players in the industry have begun to embrace these changes, which are usually pioneered by their training staff. I see the urban facilities and studios catching on faster, with many members and traditionalist owners holding fast to their seated machines and traditional cardio for dear life,” adds Beard. “If the biggest chains are following a trend, then consumers may put more stock in that trend. I think chains and big box gyms are reacting in some ways to the success that smaller more flexible entities are experiencing.”One of the smaller independent clubs that has embraced this new way of fitness is New York City-based Clay Health Club & Spa, which was on the leading edge of functional fitness when it planned its club in around the time of the millennium. “When we were planning the club back in 1999, we broke the 14,000 square feet of training floor into zones and created space in each zone for people to move on their own and utilize body-weight and other functional training modalities,” says Terry Fister, program director at Clay Health Club & Spa. “People sit way too often and part of our training philosophy is to get people up and moving. It makes fitness more fun and more accessible. We've been very successful with it.”Some clubs such as Monkey Bar, FitCorp and even TSI and Lifetime Fitness have given more space to functional training and even implemented an adult playground and jungle gym approach to training. But despite the potential success, it is wise to go slowly and make sure the fitness staff has a firm grasp on this type of training. “Adult playgrounds can be fun, but beware of deconditioned members doing too much too fast. They might remember playing on the playground as a kid, hanging, swinging, jumping and landing, but odds are that was 20 years and at least 20 pounds ago,” says Beard. “If there is not buy-in from the staff and management, or if there is not a solid educational foundation for the fitness pros, then a unit like this is destined to take up space and go underutilized.” Fister agrees that it takes more than just designing a fun and functional space that makes it a success and a selling point. “Some of the bigger chains - and other independent clubs - will build the space and build awareness of functional training and 'playspace' areas,” he says, adding that 27 percent of his club's members are active in personal training. “You can't just put it up and say 'here you go.' To be successful, it comes down to having excellent fitness professionals working at the club, providing outstanding education and service to members.”While there is still room for all types of equipment to meet the needs of all types of members, with proper programming and education, functional fitness spaces may soon take more space on fitness floors.

A body like Arnold Schwarzenegger's is no longer the goal for many people in your gym.

Three Ways to Learn What Your Members Really Think About Your Health Club

Managers, owners and other staff members all-too-often hear what's wrong with their health clubs; and occasionally what's right too! Members will stuff suggestion boxes, rant at front desk staff and interrupt employees' workouts to complain about the temperature, the music or the time Zumba is offered.

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AB Show 2026 in Orlando

AB Show is a solution-focused event for athletics, fitness, recreation and military professionals.

Nov. 17-19, 2026