Making Your Members Feel Safe

In Fort Smith, Ark., in a six-month period, female members of Bodies for Christ fitness studio allege they were sexually assaulted and raped at the facility by James Clayton Solomon. The local newspaper refers to him as a “bodybuilder.”

He is also the club’s owner.

Solomon was arrested twice for his crimes; once on suspicion of two counts of rape, and again for two counts of second-degree sexual assault on two women. All of the alleged crimes were committed at Bodies for Christ.

These women were betrayed on several levels. First, by the club’s name. “Bodies for Christ” implies that the facility is somehow associated with the Christian faith — a belief system which does not advocate sexual assault, the last time I checked.

Second, they were betrayed by Solomon. Instead of providing his members a safe, comfortable place to exercise, he used the club as his own personal hunting ground. He met the women at his club, and he attacked them there.

People have a long list of reasons why they don’t exercise. Money, time, energy and commitment are huge obstacles for potential members to overcome before they sign on the dotted line. The last thing you need is for potential members to add “distrust” and “fear” to that list.

Solomon is clearly the exception to a rule, and his fate lies in the courts. But his actions can have a very negative trickle-down effect on clubs everywhere. It is a club’s responsibility to provide a safe environment to exercise. Are you doing all you can to make members feel safe at your club?

AEDs: The Life You Save Could be Your Own

Most of you have heard by now that it is a good idea to have an automated external defibrillator (AED) in your fitness facility. In fact, many states require AEDs in fitness centers, including California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Rhode Island, New York, Louisiana, Oregon, Arkansas, Indiana, and Washington, D.C.

What you may not realize is that having an AED could save your own life. In a strange twist of fate, one of the inventors of the AED had his life saved by one about 30 years later.

Chris Nefcy, an electrical engineer and software programmer, served as a consultant when First Medic created the first AED for public use. While playing basketball at PRO Club in Bellevue, Wash., in 2006, Nefcy had a cardiac arrest. Two club staff members started CPR, then hooked him up to an AED, which got his heart going. Says Nefcy in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, “I think it’s a cool story that something I helped build saved my life years later.”

While you didn’t help build the AED, having one in your fitness center could end up saving a life — even your own. Do you have a life-saving AED story from your fitness center? Do you even have an AED?

For more information on AEDs in fitness facilities, go to Fitness Management’s Article Archive.

Beating the Competition the Smart Way?

Competition is good for business, right? That’s what most businesses will tell you. Albertson’s wants Stater Bros. and Ralphs to open up across the street to make the area a supermarket hub. Jack-in-the-Box wants McDonald’s and Carl’s Jr. to open up next to it to create a fast food alley. So why, then, is it that fitness facility owners don’t seem to view competition in the same vein?

Recently, Mark McPeek, owner of the Bay Area Athletic Club, Coos Bay, Ore., filed a suit against Southwestern Oregon Community College, which opened a $7 million fitness center in October. The suit alleges that the college is using the school’s non-profit status to gain an unfair advantage over private clubs in the area. The college charges $10 less per month for its membership than Bay Area Athletic Club.

This profit vs. non-profit battle has been raging for decades. But, is it necessary? I certainly won’t dispute the argument that one facility has to pay its bills while the other’s bills are footed by the public. This discussion isn’t about the right or wrong of that issue. What I would like to point out is, this issue continues to be battled in courts, with no apparent long-term resolution. So, rather than the continuing legal battles, perhaps fitness facilities that feel most threatened by this competition need to focus on how they can survive on their own merits, despite the profit/non-profit model.

I would suggest that these facilities would fare quite well against non-profits if they honed in on something that made them stand apart, thus competing based on expertise, programming, service, etc., rather than mere dues rates. We’ve done enough reporting on non-profit facility programs and services in Fitness Management to know that they often can’t compete against facilities that offer first-rate service and programming. Sorry, non-profits! No offense, but the for-profits that make an effort to stand apart from the competition seem to do a better job.

Near my home, there is a Stater Bros., Albertson’s and Vons grocery store — all within 1 mile of each other. I’ve tried them all, and I’m loyal to Vons. Why? Because I can’t visit the grocery store without being asked by employees, at least two or three times, if I’m finding everything I need. I can’t go to the meat counter without an employee stocking the shelves and telling me what’s on special that day. Sometimes, the weekly sales ads that come in the mail tell me that Albertson’s has a better deal on bagged salads that week. Well, the way I see it, the deal I would have gotten on the salad is probably going to be a wash after the deal I get on service and other items on sale at Vons.

Want to bet that most fitness consumers wouldn’t feel the same way about a $10 difference in dues, if there were a real difference in the facilities?

Hiring Gone Wrong

When hiring staff for your fitness center, there are many things to consider: experience, friendliness, hours available to work. But what about citizenship, criminal history or the potential for being creepy? An LA Fitness in the Phoenix, Ariz., area apparently didn’t care about those last requirements, considering it hired an illegal immigrant who was caught spying on women in the locker room.

According to a news item from the East Valley Tribune (May 25, 2007), a man “believed to be an illegal immigrant” who was a janitor at the East Mesa LA Fitness broke into the facility’s ceiling and watched women as they changed. Police also said that he fondled himself while peeping and, on one occasion, stole a woman’s cell phone from her gym bag. The man, Francisco Salgado Martinez, was charged with voyeurism, burglary and theft.

So, how could this have been avoided? LA Fitness should have first determined Martinez’ ability to legally work in the U.S. Next, a criminal background check should have been performed, since voyeurs tend to have committed this same crime in the past. Finally, there should be safeguards in place to keep staff members from having access to the ceilings or walls around locker rooms. At the very least, employees should be accounted for during work hours, since this guy obviously committed the crimes when the facility was open. For more information on hiring and staffing, check out past articles from Fitness Management.

Can you guarantee that something like this won’t happen at your facility? Are you thoroughly screening your employees, and then keeping an eye on them while they are in your facility? Your members expect privacy and safety while in your fitness center. If something like this happened at my fitness center, I would simply quit. I’m sure many of your members would do the same.