How Do You View Seniors—Really?

By Patricia Amend

…It’s a very good question to ask when it comes to programming, member service and retention, and hiring and managing your team. Especially if you’re targeting the so-called senior market, or plan to do so in the near future.

Honestly, now…In this age of Facebook and Twitter, do you have younger employees on your staff who see people age 50 and older as out-of-date, irrelevant, uninteresting, and on the decline?

If so, then they—and you—are making a big mistake.

Think of what baby boomers lived through—the ’60s with mass demonstrations in the streets and the Vietnam War, and Watergate in the ’70s. Think of the music they enjoyed then and still do—The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and Bruce Springsteen, to name a few. While the boomers may now have grey hair and crow’s feet, many of them are still intensely creative, passionate about what they believe in, and yes, even rebellious.

And they’re not to be underestimated.

About five years ago, I attended my first Stones concert in Boston—admittedly, with a bit of a cynical attitude. I assumed that the band was probably washed up, and simply out to make more millions than they already had. I assumed that they’d just be going through the motions.

Wrong!

Mike Jagger (whose late father, by the way, was a P.E. teacher) and his band mates never stopped moving during the concert, which lasted nearly two hours.

Talk about aerobic activity! Talk about endurance!

And, they seemed to be having the time of their lives! After 40 years of giving concerts!

Not to mention the fact that the age range at the concert stretched from middle-school to the mid-80s.

I’m guessing that, like many other older individuals—including your members—the Stones may feel as though they’re 35, rather than 65. I offer no scientific proof here, but many people seem to age much more slowing mentally and psychologically than they do physically. I have an 83-year-old friend who’s an avid political activist and can bar-hop with the best of us!

I’ll bet that you know people just like her. And, today, many folks are working well into their 80s and even 90s!

So, your programming and member service for clients over 50 should consider how people feel—not just how old they are or how they look! Yes, programs need to be safe, but they should never be boring! We’ll be addressing this important topic in detail in a feature story in CBI.

But, for now, I offer this clip of elderly ladies enjoying Aqua Zumba.

Notice that the emphasis is clearly on joy…Look at how delighted they are! Look how the class and instructor touch their spirits!

- Patricia Amend is Executive Editor of CBI magazine and can be contacted at p.amend@fit-etc.com.

How to Get the Most Out of IHRSA 2012

By Hossein Noshirvani

I love going to IHRSA’s annual convention and trade show for the same reasons that a lot of you do:

• I get to catch up with friends.

• I get to stay up late.

• I get to drink a little too much, and order room service.

• And I get a chance to sell our awesome club management software.

Just for these four reasons, alone, I can easily justify going to Hollywood for IHRSA 2012, which takes place next month, March 14-17. But if you want to get the most out of this year’s event, I’d suggest setting some goals—not hundreds of goals (that would encroach on party time!), but something more manageable.

To help, below are the goals that I’ve set for myself:

• Find the next great piece of equipment from the newest vendors. Each year, it seems there are dozens of new companies that exhibit. I try to stop by and use as many of their products as possible. In the past, I’ve discovered TRX, M-Core, and RealRyder. So who’s going to be this year’s new kid on the block? I’ve got a few in mind, but I’m partial to meeting Joe Ellis and the folks over at Fitness Tools.

• Partner up. I’m a huge fan of creating partnerships. Why go it alone when I can work with some great vendors. I’ve got a few in mind, in fact. I want to meet the folks over at Smart Fitness, and finally do something with Emmett Williams from MYZONE. Sure, it’s a great product, but he has a great accent too.

• Listen to the speakers. Last year, we were so busy that I didn’t get a chance to listen to all of the keynote speakers. This year, I won’t let that happen. I’m particularly interested in listening to Guy Kawasaki, the former chief evangelist for Apple.

• And my last, audacious goal for IHRSA this year: Get to pitch my movie idea to Steven Spielberg about a gym owner who has way too much going on his life and decides to simplify it by getting rid of all his members who don’t come in regularly. The story follows the gym owner as he “fires” his problematic members. But, seriously….

- Hossein Noshirvani is the cofounder and executive vice president of Motionsoft, Inc., and can be reached at hnoshirvani@motionsoft.net.

Doctors Training Doctors

By Craig R. Waters

In the March issue of CBI, which you should be receiving shortly, you will read about a remarkable physician-referral initiative—the Physician Referred Exercise Program (PREP)—developed by the ACAC Fitness & Wellness Centers, based in Charlottesville, Virginia.

You will not, however, read about the connection between PREP and the “Exercise is Medicine” (EIM) initiative, championed by Dr. Edward Phillips, an assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School, and actively promoted by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM).

IHRSA is a member of the EIM Network.

There is a connection, and one that makes an important point, but we ran out of room in the magazine. Christine Thalwitz, the director of communications and research for ACAC and the author of “Just What the Doctor Ordered!” (March, pg. 60), described PREP in compelling detail, but, because of space restraints, we were forced to do some trimming.

Dr. Edward PhillipsOur apologies to Thalwitz and Phillips.

Kelly Lynn, one of ACAC’s physician liaisons, makes the point that Phillips’ efforts have helped raised awareness among physicians about the importance of discussing physical activity with patients during office visits. Phillips is also the founder and director of the Institute of Lifestyle Management (ILM), and co-author of Exercise is Medicine: A Clinician’s Guide to Exercise Prescription.

The institute’s defining objective is to help train physicians to effectively coach their patients to make better lifestyle choices. It conducts seminars and has developed courses for medical professionals about nutrition, stress management, and exercise prescription, as well as other tools for promoting healthy change.

Phil Wendel, the owner of ACAC, first heard about the ILM courses in 2009 when he was preparing a joint presentation for an IHRSA convention with Phillips and Amanda Harris, one of the founders of the PREP program, about engaging the physician community.

“It was wonderful to hear from a Harvard faculty member who believes in the power of exercise prescription as much as we do,” says Wendel. “The more we talked, the more I realized how important it was to have him come share his message with professionals in my hometown.”

The PREP program in action at ACAC Over the next several months, Wendel brought Phillips to his club communities in Virginia and Pennsylvania to speak to local medical professionals. The workshops were extremely well received, and it was obvious that the physicians wanted to learn more.

“The seminars were fantastic, but we needed a better ongoing solution for familiarizing doctors with exercise prescription and lifestyle coaching,” explains Wendel. “It was too cost-prohibitive to keep flying Eddie into town, so we looked for a local expert to be his evangelist.”

Since then, ACAC has partnered with Ina Stephens, M.D., who’s become a local resource for teaching doctors how to prescribe medicine. Stephens, who has undergone training with Phillips, is also a certified yoga instructor and is now able to be able to deliver the ILM’s seminars. “It ‘s exciting to play an active role in the integration of exercise and medicine,” says Stephens. “This alliance is the perfect example of how we should redefine our nation’s approach to healthcare.”

- Craig R. Waters is the editor-in-chief of CBI and can be reached at c.waters@fit-etc.com.

It Pays to Sweat the Small Stuff

By Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D.

When I wrote my book in 1988, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff—PS: It’s All Small Stuff, I wasn’t thinking about how gyms and health clubs could increase profitability. If I had been, I would have written Sweat the Small Stuff—PS: It’s the Small Ones that Generate Cash.

In a world where the No. 3 trend in fitness for 2012, according to IHRSA, is youth programming, it’s time to wake up and smell the cash that kids can create. In 2010 alone, 6.1 million members under the age of 18 added to clubs’ bottom lines.

• Ask yourself: “What’s keeping me from joining the 22% of commercial clubs that offer child-specific programming?”

• Ask yourself: “What’s keeping me from being among the 20% of clubs that offer a children-only exercise section?”

• Ask yourself: “What’s keeping my trainers from being among the 33% who teach kids’ classes?”

• Ask yourself: “What’s keeping my trainers from being among the 55% who offer one-on-one personal training to kids under 18?”

• Ask yourself: “What’s keeping me from sharing in the profits?”

Get the picture?

Michael Mantell, Ph.D.The American Heart Association, Harvard Medical School, American Council on Exercise, American College of Sports Medicine, Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Association for Sport and Physical Education, and First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” initiative—they’re all saying the same thing. Kids need to be more physically active than they currently are—for a lot of very good reasons.

With organizations such as these endorsing your move to bring children’s exercise into the club in a creative, fun, and profitable way, ask yourself this: “What in the world keeps me refusing to earn more, help more, and be a part of a national movement whose time has arrived?”

Here are some facts you may not know:

• A just-released study has demonstrated that exercise makes a significant difference in the grades of elementary through college-aged students. The link between more exercise and better grades is clear. Exercise may help kids’ thinking by increasing the flow of blood, oxygen, dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, and endorphins to the brain. What parents do you know who wouldn’t want to help their children do better in school with an activity that promotes health and, at the same time, is enjoyable?

• Children with ADHD benefit from exercise and, in some cases, may actually be able to use it to complement or replace the drugs that are often used to treat this very common disorder. Exercise actually ignites the attention system and helps sufferers with memory, prioritizing, inhibiting impulsivity, and sustaining attention. 

• Charter schools are turning their focus away from sports and toward fitness. One school in Colorado begins the school day with 20 minutes of aerobic exercise, and employs 10 minutes of activity on a bike or elliptical as a response to “acting up” in the classroom. 

• Exercise for children improves their immune system; reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes; lowers blood pressure; strengthens the cardiovascular system; battles the staggering overweight and obesity predicament of children in America; enhances brain metabolism; burns off excessive harmful hormones, replacing them with healthy ones; reduces anxiety and depression….

Sound familiar?

It should. These are the same reasons that many adults, including parents, join your club and become fitness enthusiasts and long-term members. The overweight and obesity problem, alone, is driving parents to encourage more activity and healthy lifestyle choices on the part of their children. 

• The American Obesity Association estimates that 30.3% of children between the ages of 6 and 11 are overweight and 15.3% are obese. Adolescents suffer this lifestyle-choice disease at similar levels, with 30.4% overweight and 15.5% obese.

• Kids aren’t getting enough exercise today. More than one-third of high school students don’t participate in vigorous physical activity. Nearly half of all students and 75% of high school students don’t attend P.E., and that doesn’t take into account the fact that an estimated 40% of U.S. school districts have, or are considering, eliminating recess. 

Are you prepared to fill this gap?  The American Heart Association recommends that all children age two and older participate in 60 minutes of pleasurable, moderately intense physical activity daily. 

When are you going to begin offering, and intelligently marketing, children’s/family nutrition classes, healthy lifestyle presentations, and enjoyable children-specific and family-focused fitness programming?

Make it more than just a room. Make it real!

In less than a second after typing “children’s exercise routines” into my search engine, I hit on 1.9 million Internet sites. You have trainers who can develop effective children-specific group training programs, one-on-one sessions, nutrition education classes, and family-oriented fitness experiences.

From warm-ups, to dynamic and static stretching and flexibility classes, to aerobic cardio workout routines, and anaerobic strength training classes, your facility can provide children—and their parents—with opportunities to exercise together, alone, in small groups, or in large classes. Add unique nutrition classes covering healthy choices in and out of the supermarket, serving sizes, and healthy in-between meal snacking, and your club will help families foster their own health—and, in the process, identify your business as a fitness trendsetter. Child-only gyms—often birthday party centers—don’t have to “own” this market.

Each of these activities, correctly priced and marketed, produces a new income stream and marks your facility as a differentiated health center. By partnering with local schools, pediatric physicians, children’s hospitals, collegiate athletic programs, sports teams, and boys and girl scouts programs…your child-health-fitness program can only grow.

Helping children live lives than are happier, healthier, fitter, and more rewarding will generate the kind of community excitement and positive attention any business focused on growth wants. 

Ask yourself: “What am I waiting for? For my competitor to do it first?”

- Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D., is the Senior Fitness Consultant for Behavioral Sciences for the American Council on Exercise (ACE), and can be contacted at drmantell@me.com.

Club Owner Selectivity

Mike Z. RobinsonBy Mike Z. Robinson

Last September, I made the point that, while I love going to industry conventions, conferences, seminars, and trade shows…as the owner of a club, with more responsibilities and demands on my time that I can possibly count, I have to be very selective about those I actually attend. I’ve just finished reviewing the program for IHRSA’s 31^st Annual International Convention and Trade Show, which will be held next month, March 14-17, in Los Angeles, and I’m pleased to report that…you’re definitely going to see me there!

IHRSA events nearly always wind up on my “have-to-be-there” list, and IHRSA 2012 clearly qualifies for inclusion. This year, the schedule, from start to finish, beginning to end, features some amazing presenters. There will be countless opportunities to learn from industry experts—people like IHRSA’s Joe Moore, Club One’s Bill McBride, ACE’s Dr. Cedric Bryant, master trainer Todd Durkin, Active Voice owner Amanda Vogel, and others.

It’s always great to hear from individuals at the top of their game because we’re all on this journey together and can help one another move to the next level.

I feel that IHRSA does an excellent job of focusing on the business side of things, bringing those issues to the forefront and keeping them there. Year after year, it provides club owners and other fitness professionals with quality information and innovative ideas. The experience never gets old—there’s always something new to learn, whether you’ve been a part of the fitness industry for three months or 30 years.

…and I haven’t even mentioned the outstanding keynote speakers, the endless networking opportunities, the rewarding social activities, or the annual BASH for Augie’s Quest…

So, when you’re mulling over the dozens of industry gatherings that take place each year, IHRSA’s convention and trade show should, I’m convinced, be at the top of your list. It inevitably winds up at the top of mine!

I hope to see you in Los Angeles!

- Mike Z. Robinson is the owner of MZR Fitness, in San Luis Obispo, California, and can be contacted at mike@mzrfitness.com.