Exercise in a Pill

What would it mean for the fitness industry if exercise could be gotten from a pill? Well, we might just find out some time in the future. Two drugs are being developed by a group of researchers at the Salk Institute in San Diego. The group is led by Dr. Ronald Evans, an expert on how hormones work in cells, and who has won the Lasker Award, which often tops the Nobel Prize.

The pills trick the muscles into thinking that they have been working out furiously. The first, Aicar, generates more high-endurance Type 1 muscle fibers (those that generate the cell’s energy and are resistant to fatigue) without any exercise. It is hoped that this drug will help people who are too frail to exercise, and those with health problems such as diabetes.

The second drug, GW1516, generates more Type 1 fibers during exercise, allowing exercisers to perform twice as long as they were previously able. Obviously, this one is of great interest to athletes, but it should be known that Evans has already devised a test to detect whether an athlete has taken the drug, and he has made it available to the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Could pharmaceutical exercise be a good thing for our industry? It will give people who take the drugs more energy. And, more energy usually translates into a desire to be more active. On the other hand, the drugs could be used as an excuse for not needing to be more active.

Either way, it’s something we need to start thinking about, as an “exercise pill” is most certainly on the horizon.

Pinching Pennies

Everyone has heard about Barack Obama’s money-saving advice to Americans in this economic crisis: Keep your tires properly filled with air. Obama got a lot of flak for this. It’s a mundane and unglamorous solution, after all — hardly worthy of an election year sound bite. But pinching pennies is nothing if not mundane and unglamorous, and here are a few ideas that might help your fitness center. (Offer your ideas — or disagree with mine — in the comments.)

1. Reduce your personal training staff. Unless every session time is filled for every personal trainer at your facility, you can most likely afford to cut at least one position. Even if you have a commission-based arrangement with trainers, consider what you shell out when they’re in the building waiting for business: They use water and electricity, take up employees’ time chatting, wash their hands, fiddle on the computer. These are all little things, but, over time, they add up.
2. Eliminate your marketing budget. In this economic climate, keeping the members you have is a better bet than attracting new ones.
3. Keep membership fees constant. The temptation to slap a “sale” sign on the front door to lure potential members inside is strong, but don’t do it. It devalues the service you offer. And, there is no quicker way to alienate your tried-and-true members than by slashing the membership fee of Mr. Sweaty-Come-Lately.
4. Control the temperature manually. For the time being, take the thermostat off autopilot and experiment with keeping the temperature a bit higher than normal. In the winter, keep it a bit cooler. Honestly, there is no “perfect” temperature for a fitness facility (though you’d be surprised at the number of inquiries we get asking for a hard-and-fast number).
5. Eliminate paper. Come on, now. There are lots of ways to cut paper use in your fitness center. Why print out a gazillion copies of the new group exercise schedule every month when you can write it out on a large whiteboard? If members like to have a hard copy, keep the schedule updated on your website and send out a mass email each month.

I’m not saying that any of the above ideas are more sound-bite-friendly than Obama’s air pressure bit. But, at this point, I’d bet some facility owners would be willing to sacrifice a live chicken or two to keep costs down. Keeping enough air your tires, in comparison, isn’t really all that silly.

The Fitness Industry’s Reputation is Far From Good

Despite great strides made in the industry toward better business practices, it is still plagued by a not-so-good reputation because of the bad behavior of dishonest facility owners.

One example is a criminal case that was brought against Club 24 in Santa Maria, Calif. Club 24’s owners, Wilson Marx and Frank Smith, are facing felony and misdemeanor charges for allegedly deducting unauthorized fees from members’ credit cards and bank accounts.

Another fitness center also faces charges over member payments and fees. Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett sued The East Hills Racquet and Fitness Club, operator of the Edgewood Tennis Fitness Club, because members didn’t get what they paid for. The facility closed abruptly in February, leading to complaints from members who already paid for memberships or tennis court time, but didn’t get refunds.

Yet another fitness center agreed to pay more than $32,000 in fines and restitution after the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office received complaints from people who purchased memberships before the facility’s ownership changed, but still had to pay new initiation fees. Planet Fitness, Lancaster, Pa., formerly Lancaster County Racquetball and Fitness Club, agreed to pay the fine to settle allegations that the fitness center failed to honor existing contracts after ownership was transferred.

These examples are not the only ones out there. Many fitness centers still make it quite difficult for members to quit, continuing to charge them for months because they didn’t go through the necessary “hoops.”

Illegal and sneaky (legal or not) business practices need to stop. People already find it difficult to join a fitness center. Knowing that it will also be difficult to leave, or that they will be charged “hidden fees,” will only add to their excuses to not join in the first place. These dishonest business owners hurt fitness centers everywhere, and contribute to the bad reputation that the industry suffers.

Variety Show

I know that change comes in waves, but I’m getting tired of the same old group exercise choices. For the past 10 years, it’s been group cycling, group strength, mat Pilates, yoga, boot camp and Step. At least it has been at most fitness facilities, including the ones at which I have been a member. If there’s not going to be any fun in group exercise anymore, at least we could have some more variety.

Maybe the lack of variety these days is due to a lack of new products. Some interesting products have been developed, none of which I’ll name, but they were ones that you could just tell were going to be a fad, rather than the next new trend. The thing is, it’s not just up to the fitness industry suppliers to create products for use in group exercise classes. Our industry needs innovators in the fitness facility trenches, as well.

The good news is, we may be on the crest of a new wave. Recently, some interesting new products and programs have made it into the news, a few of which may just be worth a look:

This may be a little of a stretch, but with its success at the IDEA World Fitness Convention in Las Vegas last month, maybe not. The TRX Suspension Trainer, a 12-foot nylon strap with two buckles and a pair of loops for hands or feet, was developed by Randy Hetrick, a Navy SEAL-turned-entrepreneur. Apparently, the classes are offered in 5,000 fitness centers across the U.S. A video on YouTube shows a class in session, which will give you a good idea of what the product is and how it’s put to use in group exercise.

Upper-body cycles have been making a showing at trade shows in the past year or so. So, it’s not surprising that Johnny G (inventor of Spinning) developed a group exercise class around his Krankcycle called Kranking. On the Krankcycles, the foot pedals have been replaced with hand cranks. Kranking was recently introduced to the Roanoke Athletic Clubs in Virginia. Maybe we’ll see a two-part class evolving — half group cycling, half cranking — for the ultimate all-body workout? I just haven’t figured out the space issue yet.

And, here’s an innovative twist on the traditional Step class. At the Equinox Fitness Clubs in New York, a new class called Climb-Max transforms the flat Step into a 45-degree angled platform, around which 30 minutes of cardio and 30 minutes of strength training are performed. Tell me there are more programs like this!

It would be nice to see more fitness facilities offering innovative group exercise schedules. Maybe not to the level of that offered at Crunch, but at least a few new classes that would re-energize participants.