Mirror, Mirror

Forget, for a moment, your constant quest for new members. Step onto the fitness floor and take a look at the members you already have — the ones who have been with you for a while, and slowly but steadily made changes in their appearance and their lives. You can see the difference between the person they were when they joined and the person they’ve become, but can they?

We’re our own worst critics, and there are few people who look in the mirror without picking out one (or 10) things they’d like to improve. Helping your members actually see their success is a challenge, but it’s one that can help keep them coming to your fitness center.

Get creative
In the United Kingdom, nine women who collectively shed almost 500 pounds sought a physical representation of their success — and they found it at Colchester Zoo. The women adopted a baby hippo weighing roughly what they had lost to serve as a constant (and cute) reminder of their accomplishments.

Your facility can do the same thing for your members. What about teaming with the local animal shelter to host an adoption drive? List each animal’s weight, along with other pertinent information, and give your members the opportunity to lavish love on an animal that represents their hard-earned success.

Hold a food drive, and ask members to donate food items that total the number of pounds they’ve lost at your fitness center. Keep a running tally, and be sure to post it in the club where everyone can see. When the food drive is over, send out a press release to the local media so everyone can appreciate your members’ weight loss successes (and their generosity).

Partner with a local clothing store and present members with a $5 gift card each time they lose another 5 pounds. You’ll acknowledge their achievement and encourage them to reward themselves with a new outfit to fit their new bodies.

There are dozens of ways to hold a mirror up to your members’ accomplishments. How are you helping members take a moment to acknowledge the results of their hard work? What are you doing to encourage them to strive for even greater success at your fitness center?

Are Your Trainers Harming Clients?

Several years ago, while riding an exercise cycle at my fitness center, I overheard a conversation between a trainer and his client. He told his client that people who work out in the morning burn more calories. What?! Studies have found that people who work out in the morning are more successful NOT because they expend more calories, but because they tend to stick with their programs. And, because most people have more energy in the morning for a workout. But, the trainer simply said that people “burn more calories.”

Misinformation from trainers isn’t uncommon. And, I’m sure this guy didn’t purposely lie to his client – he just didn’t know what he was talking about. Although this instance wasn’t risky to the member, there have been quite a few cases where misinformation from trainers has resulted in injuries and even death.

While fitness center members are becoming more savvy about fitness advice, trainers themselves are taking action, too. A group of California personal trainers filed a class action lawsuit alleging that the organization that certified them was negligent (Superior Court of California, Alameda County, Case #RG05249097). These trainers claim that the organization provided defective training materials and inadequate instruction. The suit alleges that these trainers pose a risk to the public when using the methods endorsed in the certification materials.

The personal trainers received their certification through an Internet distance learning program. Program participants received a 42-page study guide and had to pass a 25-question test to earn their certification. Jeremy Thompson, the spokesperson for the group, said in a press release, “[The] materials were riddled with errors that can lead to serious injury when put into practice.” The suit claims that, by certifying the trainers, the company exposed the public to unsafe exercise practices, and the trainers to personal liability.

While this case may not result in any major changes within the industry, we all know of certifying agencies that offer certifications in just one weekend, or, as in this case, provide a certification after the applicant can answer 25 questions. If change is to occur in the industry, fitness centers need to require that their trainers are educated, certified and competent.

Are your trainers certified? Do you require them to have college degrees? Why or why not?

Is Argibay On Another Planet?

I love it when people prove me right. In case you missed my editorial in the February 2007 edition of Fitness Management, I wrote about the well-hyped Planet Fitness incident in which a member, Albert Argibay, was ousted from the facility for grunting.

Argibay’s and Planet Fitness General Manager Carol Palazzolo’s accounts of the incident differ widely. I took Palazzolo’s side in my editorial for a couple of reasons. First, a facility should have the right to set policies that appeal to a target clientele and to enforce those policies. There are a lot of fitness facilities across the U.S., and I’m sure Argibay could have found one to work out in that permits grunting while lifting weights.

Second, Argibay was clearly out of line in his dealings with Palazzolo. He was abrasive, offensive and downright ugly. And, despite his insistence that Palazzolo’s account of the incident is a lie, his email to me regarding my editorial only goes to show how likely her account is true:

“This is Albert Argibay and I read your editorial. [A]pparently you are a bunch of liberals that did not take the time nor effort to do your homework. Carol, the gm at planet fitness, is a liar and her story had no truth to it. Planet fitness prides its self in being a judgement free zone, but yet it raises the bar on setting a double standard by sounding off an alarm and referring to policy offenders as lunk heads and let me remind you miss doesn’t have a clue editorial writer, this is a place that even the pioneer of bodybuilding himself arnold would not be welcomed. I am not a bully, but one that believes in standing up to his rights and voicing his opinions and I don’t have to hide behind some type writer trying to gain the approval of the average person that had sand kicked in their face or as I prefer to call them liberals. Planet witless is a place for the non serious weight lifter. So if you want a place to spend the night that is open 24 hrs, a warm shower and a place to eat pizza and bagels this is the gym for you. Grunt On!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Argibay is well-spoken, wouldn’t you say? Who wouldn’t want to have a reasonable, level-headed discussion with this man? Apparently, everyone who disagrees with him is a “liberal.” No doubt, he was equally calm, cool and collected in his discussions with Palazzolo when she asked him to stop grunting.

I think Argibay missed the point: Planet Fitness doesn’t want so-called “serious weightlifters”; its goal, as has been repeatedly stated, is to attract the family market. Planet Fitness, in its official statement to the press, says that, before this incident occurred, Argibay was previously a member of Planet Fitness, and terminated his membership, saying “This isn’t the right kind of place for me.” But, then he rejoined, and violated Planet Fitness’ no-grunting policy, despite the fact that he knew the rules. The logical question here is, Why did he elect to rejoin Planet Fitness? Is it possible that he was unable to find another fitness facility that would tolerate his behavior?

For all the publicity this incident generated, it surprises me that the only response I got to my editorial was from Argibay himself. And, I can only deduce that Argibay, not a fitness professional who would even be aware of Fitness Management magazine, located my editorial online only because he was ego-surfing. Is there no one in the fitness industry who has an opinion on no-grunting policies in fitness facilities, or about the incident that occurred at Planet Fitness? I wrote this editorial because it’s an important one to address, in light of the publicity it generated -- not, as Argibay states, to “gain the approval of ... liberals.” It would be nice to get some reasonable feedback from those in our industry -- negative or positive.

Oh, and by the way, Mr. Argibay, we clueless editorial writers use computers these days, not typewriters; computers are much bigger to hide behind!