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.

Do You Discount?

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota recently conducted a study that revealed two things: Your facility’s convenience/proximity is important to prospective members, and discount programs fuel memberships.

Check out the article for yourself. It’s OK – I’ll wait. … You’re back? Good. This discount program stuff was news to me, but some facilities are apparently already knee-deep in discounts, like the Southwest Area YMCA, Eagan, Minn. Executive director Gussie Monks says, “We have seen the discount program as a huge incentive driving people to join and work out more, with the support of their jobs.”

The statement is interesting, as is the study, because it doesn’t make much of what is likely a big deal to you: Unless you want to eat the cost yourself, discount programs require the support of a member’s employer.

It sounds like a good deal for the employer. Employees who used a fitness center at least eight times a month for at least nine months throughout the study year were healthier than non-participants. Their claim costs were 17.8 percent lower (after adjusting for health status), emergency room visit rates were 38.7 percent lower and hospital admission rates were 41.4 percent lower.

But, the discount program was also a boon for the facilities. Part of the study involved a survey of Blue Cross’ 4,000-plus employees; 43 percent of responders who said they use the discount program also said they joined a fitness facility because of the discount.

Do you have relationships with local employers to offer discount programs? Has it helped your business? I suspect there is more to this arrangement than meets the eye, but it sure looks good on paper.

All In the Family

It’s been a long time since the hysteria of gays coming out of the closet has surfaced, and quite frankly, I thought most of us were pretty much over this whole issue. Live and let live. Heck, even the military was able to turn the other cheek about gays with its “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

But, as is life, not everyone is able to keep from criticizing, judging or condemning others whose behaviors and/or lifestyles are different from their own. Many business owners even feel the need to set policy that will force others to conform to their way of thinking. This has been, and is still, the case in the fitness industry.

Just recently, a suit was filed against the Rochester Athletic Club by a lesbian couple who share the same last name and are raising a daughter together. The suit claims that the couple was discriminated against when denied a family membership because the couple is not “legally” married. This is not the first time that this has happened in our industry. In January 2006, it was reported that a Detroit same-sex couple, together for 18 years, were considering legal action against the Warren Community Center in Warren, Mich., after being told that Michigan’s constitutional ban on gay marriage made them ineligible for a family membership. And, back in 2002, another same-sex couple raising a daughter together were denied a family membership at the YMCA of Middle Tennessee.

Is it right for fitness facility operators to decide what the definition of “family” is? If our industry’s goal is to make our society healthier, while at the same time reaping profits from it, should we care whether a family consists of two men or women versus a man and a woman? My vote is no.

Do Skinny Models Perpetuate Eating Disorders?

Your members’ ideas about health, beauty, weight and fitness do not operate in a void. Television, magazines, newspapers and fashion shows all have women who are skeleton thin, and men who are ripped from head to toe. These unhealthy “ideals” can lead some to eating disorders, obsessive exercising and/or low self-esteem. Can and are you doing something to stop the perpetuation of this “beauty myth”?

The recent debate about fashion models being too thin brings this issue back to the forefront. A news piece by AHN Media Corp. says that Australia decided against regulating model size with BMI checks during its recent Australian Fashion Week, which went against the new trend set by other countries such as Spain, Brazil and Italy. Rather, Australian Fashion Week organizers allowed designers to choose models at their own discretion. This, of course, led them to choose super-skinny models for many of the shows.

Another pop culture influence is television, and the current season of America’s Next Top Model is another sad example of putting women who are unusually thin up on a pedestal. One episode had the models try and get booked for a runway show. The thinnest model, Jaslene, got the most positive comments, with one designer actually saying that she “has a great body.” Yikes! You should see this woman. She is so thin that it is hard for me to look at her. I don’t think she is attractive at all, and just wonder how all of her organs fit inside of her.

You members, especially young women, can be greatly influenced by what popular culture says is beautiful. Barbara Brehm, in her Instructor Training column, says you cannot ignore eating disorders in your clients: “Eating disorders … have the highest mortality rate of any psychological illness. Your feedback may help get your client into treatment.”