Gold Award for IHRSA's support of Augie's Quest

Augie, Lynne, Elvis and Las Vegas performers during the 2013 BASH for Augie's Quest.IHRSA’s connection with Augie’s Quest is to both support further research for a cure of ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease, and fitness pioneer and friend, Augie Nieto. It certainly is not done for any awards or recognition. 

Recently IHRSA was recognized by ASAE – an association that supports and represents associations – with its Power of A Gold Award for its role as facilitator in bringing the fitness industry together to support Augie’s Quest, which funds research and drug development to end ALS.

Read on for more on the ASAE award.

Click to read more ...

2014 IHRSA Global Report offers useful and pertinent information

The health and fitness industry is doing quite well. One would be hard-pressed to argue against it. Recent reports, studies and research prove that.

• revenue grew to $77.5 billion, up from $75.7 billion
• 3,000 clubs worldwide; last year the number was just over 150,000
• 32,150 facilities, a 2,000 increase
• 140 million club users, a huge jump from 131.7 million last year

It isn’t just about numbers. How about these accolades:

• A recent study said that fitness is the world’s biggest sport and there is still plenty of room for growth.
• Entrepreneur magazine placed Anytime Fitness at the top of its 2014 Franchise 500 list.
• Franchise Times named Snap Fitness and Founder and CEO Peter Taunton a Dealmaker of the Year in February 2014. 
• Anytime Fitness plans to open more than 1,500 clubs in the next five years; Planet Fitness added 50.

More on these findings, and what this means to the industry, can be found in one place – the 2014 IHRSA Global Report, which is now available in a PDF. The publication is the most up-to-date on the global fitness industry, consisting of an industry overview, research, and company and supplier profiles.

Read on to learn more about what the 2014 IHRSA Global Report has to offer, and how to order it.

Click to read more ...

Teaching healthy lifestyles to children is fun with 'Active from A to Z'

When Jay Ablondi, IHRSA executive vice president of Global Products, was reading to his daughter Ella, now 3½, he noticed there were plenty of alphabet books but not necessarily many that had a message of exercise.

That gave him an idea. Or, actually, sparked an old idea that had been shelved for more than five years.

Ablondi and Stan Tran, IHRSA Association Management Systems administrator, had started working on a children’s book in the late 2000s but put it on hold due to time restraints and the recession. With his new revelation he went to Tran and set a deadline to finish, and publish, the book.

“Active from A to Z”, IHRSA’s first foray into publishing a children’s book, just became available for purchase this week. The 56-page publication is full of bright illustrations by Tran that complement Ablondi’s rhyming of animals being active and accompanying fun facts.

Read on more on how it came about and how to order a copy.

Click to read more ...

IHRSA Store spring sale starts May 1

Spring is a great time of the year: rejuvenation, warmer weather, and an overall good feeling coming out of winter doldrums.

Another benefit is the season is that it is usually the time people and business clear out junk and stuff they don’t need in order to bring in something new and fresh.

The IHRSA Store is doing just that – the clearing out, not the junk – and at discounted prices. From May 1 through June 30 any purchases over $50 will come with a 15% discount and free delivery (in the U.S.).

That means the MP3, report, publication, webinar, merchandise, research and more can all be purchased for a huge discount.

For more on the sale, read on.

Click to read more ...