The Brain Needs Exercise, Too

Members come into your facility every day to work out their bodies. They are trying to lose weight, gain muscle, lower their chances of disease, improve their time in a race and more. However, a small but growing number of members may also be coming into your fitness center to work out their brain.

Studies have found that exercise can improve brain function and memory. One study found that a simple, hour-long exercise program twice a week had a positive effect on the ability of Alzheimer’s patients to perform daily activities. Another found that schools that push fitness and nutrition among students have seen standardized test scores rise by as much as 50 percent over two years.

Exercises specific to the brain can also help improve memory, or at least slow its decline. Puzzles, games and educational activities can help people’s minds stay sharp. An article published by ABC News says that the brain is particularly stimulated by multi-tasking, such as playing a game and socializing at the same time. It also thrives on trying new things — even something as simple as taking a different route to work or switching around your exercise routine.

With more older adults becoming members of fitness centers, the time may be right to offer “mind exercises” to your members. In addition to the exercise options you already offer, why not offer special classes or activities for the brain? You could offer weekly or monthly seminars on a variety of topics (not necessarily fitness- or health-related, since learning of any type helps to stimulate the brain), daily or weekly brain teasers or puzzles (members turn them in for a prize drawing), a word-of-the-day posted in the locker rooms, or classes on your group schedule that combine exercise with memory activities or learning.

Ideas abound for how you can encourage members to exercise their brains. Your older members will especially appreciate these types of offerings, and you can solidify your role as a whole-body fitness center, or even just one that likes to have fun and engage its members with puzzles and games.

National Tie-Ins for Facility Promotions

Today is May 12th, National Family Fitness Day. May 12 is also Fibromyalgia Awareness Day and National Women’s Checkup Day. And, May 12 falls during Food Allergy Awareness Week, National Alcohol- and Other Drug-Abuse Week, National Women’s Health Week, National Stuttering Awareness Week and National Neuropathy Week. If you’re laughing, that wasn’t my intent, although it is kind of funny.

My point in sharing this, however, is to show you just how many events around which you can hold a promotion in your fitness center. Just go to the National Health Information Center’s 2008 National Health Observances web page to see the hundreds of events, all of which are related to health, or, specifically to fitness.

Your facility is probably no stranger to exercise incentive programs. Most fitness centers run anywhere from one to a host of events, and we report on them in our N7 Rest of the Best department (previously our Best Ideas department) every month in Fitness Management’s print edition, which you can view in the article archives section of our website. A lot of these programs we report on are really creative. So, if you’re not yet running these types of programs, or if you’re worried about not being creative enough to come up with an idea of your own, don’t worry. With all of the national “days” and “weeks” to choose from, the main idea has already been created for you.

I found today’s event particularly interesting. Today, children at Boys & Girls Clubs in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and Seattle will participate in a free, after-school National Family Fitness Day, the main activity of which is playing DanceDanceRevolution Universe 2 on Xbox 360. This inaugural event is a partnership between Microsoft Corp’s Xbox 360 and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America “to promote healthy and active lifestyles for children and families.” The goal is to get at least 500 participants to expend a total of 18,000 calories while playing the game. This is a great tie-in with the recent rise in child obesity and the use of technology in fitness centers.

In case you missed this one, don’t worry. The NHIC’s list is not exhaustive. A quick Google search turns up many more, including yet another National Family Fitness Day scheduled for September 27 and sponsored by the Health Information Resource Center. What are you waiting for?

‘Biggest Loser’ Results Unattainable for Most

If ever there were a television show that would make you feel good about yourself, it’s The Biggest Loser. Unlike the usual stick-thin actors who are on TV, participants on this show are obese, and are shown struggling with their weight just like most “normal” people. The show also highlights the dangers of being overweight, and may inspire viewers at home to get on the exercise bandwagon.

However, the benefits of the show, at least for viewers, stop there. With Season Five in full swing, there are many copy-cat competitions being held around the country in fitness centers, corporations and among friends. And, although everyone agrees that losing weight is difficult, not many people know what really goes on behind the scenes of The Biggest Loser. What they don’t know can hurt them.

What viewers don’t know, according to an article published in the New York Times, is that contestants on the show work out up to five hours per day. They spend an hour or two on resistance training, an hour on a high-intensity cardiovascular exercise, and up to three hours walking on the treadmill, using the elliptical trainer or riding a stationary bike. Combine that with a low-calorie diet (1,100 to 1,500 calories a day for the women, and 1,500 to 2,300 calories a day for the men), and they are bound to lose weight. Lots of it.

Viewers at home may become discouraged when they see contestants losing up to 30 pounds per week, while they are only losing 2 pounds. Says the article, “If you’re losing 2 pounds a week and you’re watching The Biggest Loser, you probably think your diet is going horribly. If you lose 2 pounds a week and you’re not watching the show, you probably think your diet is going great.”

The show, which offers a feel-good story about fat people changing their lives, can actually be quite depressing for some viewers who are also trying to lose weight.

If you offer a Biggest Loser-type promotion at your fitness center, make sure you point out the differences between reality TV and actual reality. If members have unrealistic expectations, that could lead to drop-out if those aren’t met — or, worse, unsafe practices to try and lose those unwanted pounds.

What’s Next? Paw-sonal Trainers?

With the ever-present photos of celebrities and their dogs, and warnings that pets are becoming just as overweight as their owners, it is no secret that pets are big news – and big bucks.

While fitness centers are usually no place for pets, some are offering classes for humans and their canine companions, and some manufacturers are using their products to benefit pets, especially those requiring rehabilitation.

Pet Pavilion in London, U.K., offers yoga for dogs and their humans. Running Paws Athletic Club in New York City offers play time, indoor and outdoor running, and training and agility classes for dogs. Good Dog Aquatic Fitness in North Andover, Mass., offers physical therapy for older or injured dogs. Another facility, Next Step Animal Rehabilitation & Fitness at the Mid-Atlantic Animal Specialty Hospital in Huntingtown, Md., installed a SwimEx 400-OT aquatic therapy pool to aid in dog rehabilitation.

Obviously, most fitness centers aren’t going to run out and buy a therapy pool to treat dogs. However, the recent surge in products and services for pets does have a place at some fitness facilities. For example, you could offer an outdoor walking class for members (and non-members) and their dogs. Or, you could sponsor a fundraising event that benefits a local humane society or animal organization. You could offer a doggie day care - maybe one that includes “working out” the dogs. This could especially work if you are in a market where your members don’t have young children at home. Finally, you could even offer some type of doggie yoga class.

All of these programs could be fun – and great money-makers for your facility. In any case, you could establish a unique market niche, and attract animal lovers who may not otherwise become members.

Competing with the Home Market

Do you know who your competition is? Because now, more than ever, it may not be just be the fitness center across town. It may also be the homes of every potential member in your market. According to the National Association of Home Builders, a Washington D.C.-based industry trade group, about one-third of new and potential homebuyers cite a home exercise room as either essential or desirable.

People who want a private workout whenever they choose are bringing the fitness center into their homes. Real estate developers and builders say homeowners increasingly are choosing to build in-home gyms as a must-have amenity. “The home gym is one of the top amenities that homeowners want to incorporate into their homes,” says Gabe Pasquale, vice president and chief marketing officer of WCI Communities’ Northeast region, Valhalla, N.Y.

In 2006, 25.7 million Americans said they worked out in a home gym. That is almost a 30 percent increase from 19.8 million in 2000, according to the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, Washington, D.C.

Convenience is the big motivator for these homeowners, but there may be some who are uncomfortable working out in front of other people, or those who simply don’t like the atmosphere of the facility near them: loud music, the “pick-up” crowd, dirty or cluttered, bad customer service, etc.

You obviously can’t offer the convenience of a home gym, so you need to give these potential members something else: a non-intimidating, social atmosphere that offers motivation and results. Emphasize the benefits of commercial-quality equipment, your many entertainment options, results-based programming, experienced trainers, etc. The things they can’t get at home.

Another idea is to create exercise programs that allow members to work out at home a couple times a week, but then encourages them to come into your facility to work with a trainer, participate in a class or use a certain piece of equipment. It could be like home-schooling for fitness: a group of these home-exercisers come in a couple times per week and work out together. You could even offer some sort of discount, or give away T-shirts with the group’s motto.

Knowing your competition is an important part of your sales and marketing program. If your competition is people’s home gyms, don’t think that you can’t compete with that. There are many advantages to working out in a fitness center - you simply need to emphasize your strengths.