Get Active America! helps people initiate, resume, and/or maintain a healthy, exercise-oriented lifestyle
By Patricia Amend
This month, for the second consecutive year, the health and fitness club industry will once again raise what has become its inspiring rallying cry: Get Active America!
Thanks to IHRSA's Get Active America! (GAA) campaign, the challenge will echo coast to coast-not for just one week, as was the case last year, but, rather, for the entire month of May. Among the goals of this unique outreach program are: to increase public awareness about the importance of physical activity; to help the nation combat epidemic obesity; and, importantly, to drive new prospects to your club's doors. During the week of May 16-22, visitors will be able to sample, and enjoy, the services that your club offers-for free, without any risk or obligation; the first four days will be reserved for guests of current members, and the final three, open to the community at large.
Participating facilities are free to stage other special promotional events during the rest of May, which is also National Physical Fitness and Sports Month.
Last year, some 1,650 IHRSA-member clubs took part in GAA!, generating more than 150,000 visits, an average of 90 per facility; some recorded as many as 500. Many of these prospects turned into full-fledged members. The results, for the club, were numerous and clear: positive press coverage; enhanced public profile; heightened excitement among members and staff; increased traffic; and new membership sales. But, perhaps most impressive and enduring was the impact that the campaign had on those individuals who, as a result, joined IHRSA facilities, and have since savored the rewards.
CBI spoke with three of them.
They, and thousands of other Americans like them, are the reason for your club to Get Active! too. For complete information on the program-it may not be too late to participate-contact Amelia Gilmour Shannon at 800-228-4772 or 617-951-0055, Ext. 170, or log on to www.getactiveamerica.com.
Reenergizing force
Even a police chief-Kathy Samuels, of San Ramon, California-required a little help to regain control of her fitness regimen. Samuels knew that she was physically capable: in 2003, she'd completed a rigorous, three-month, physical-training program at the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia. But soon after returning home, her time and energy were quickly exhausted by the responsibilities related to her 24/7 job, two teenage children, and husband, who, coincidentally, is also a police chief.
Fortunately, last spring, San Ramon Mayor H. Abram Wilson asked Samuels to join his nine-person team to take part in the Mayors' Challenge, a fitness competition against city officials in nearby Danville. The event was sponsored by ClubSport of San Ramon, as part of its GAA! effort. Samuels jumped at the chance. "Three or four days a week, I swam or used the weight machines, or ran at home, and scored points for what I was doing. During the actual Challenge, we played kickball, basketball, and volleyball, and competed in swimming and group-cycling contests. By the end, our team had earned more points-so we won!"
Her reintroduction to fitness prompted Samuels to join ClubSport. She enjoyed exercise, and liked the facility, and it was located just five minutes away from her office.
"Exercise is a great stress-reliever, and helps me sleep more restfully," she reports. "On the three days a week that I work out, I feel clear-headed, focused, and energetic, and I get more done." An unexpected bonus: exercise helps her feel strong at the age of 50. "As you get older, you sense that your body is a little more fragile, but working out restores your faith that you can still do it," she says.
By embracing a healthy, active lifestyle, Samuels is also setting a powerful example for the 47 other officers in her department.
Goal tool
For people like Steve Zoellick, 47, physical fitness is more than a hobby, a casual pastime-it's a purpose, a drive, a way of life. When he was growing up, he was a YMCA brat and played basketball and soccer (his father was the executive director of the local Y). Eventually, Zoellick trained on his own for Olympic-distance triathlons and completed four marathons. Today, he's set his sights on completing the Hood-to-Coast Event, a 196-mile, 12-person, relay race that's held in Oregon.
Searching for a health club that would meet his demanding fitness needs, Zoellick considered the Centegra HealthBridge Fitness Center, in Crystal Lake, Illinois, which his father had recently joined. "Last spring, I wanted to start swimming again, and I took a look at the Y, but its pool was busy when I wanted to use it. Another club that I visited wasn't convenient," he explains.
"HealthBridge is just two miles from my home and has more equipment. Its personal trainers are very accessible, and I like its Running Club, which is geared toward training for the Chicago Marathon." But what really tipped the scales, for Zoellick, was GAA!
Last year, the club offered an initiation-fee discount to people who had taken advantage of GAA! sessions. Zoellick had participated in "Strength Training for Runners," and, impressed by the facility and persuaded by the price, he joined. Now, he uses the club five days a week-frequently, twice a day. "I actually have a fitness facility at work that's virtually free, but I prefer HealthBridge," he tells CBI.
Route to recovery
Fitness doesn't come easy to Dino Putrino, but last year's GAA! program simplified his search for the ideal club. As a young man, Putrino was involved in several serious car accidents, which left him with some physical limitations.
"Due to the accidents, my left leg had to be reconstructed, and one of my ankles isn't as flexible as it was before," he explains. Despite the constraints, he ran in some 10K races during his 20s, and, now, at the age of 47, remains convinced that fitness is vital to maintaining his health. "I've tried to be diligent about working out because I know that I need it," he observes.
One morning last May, Putrino heard a radio spot promoting the GAA! campaign being conducted by the Athlon Health and Fitness facility in San Luis Obispo, California. "I knew that I needed a place to exercise, and Athlon was convenient-two blocks from my office. I tried the club during Get Active America! and I loved it," he enthuses.
"The staff is great. The building looks brand new and is really clean. If a machine breaks down, they fix it right away . . . I wanted to do some cardio and tone up. I took yoga, and-holy moly-it was tough, but I enjoyed the opportunity of trying it."
Putrino particularly appreciates Althon's rehabilitation expertise. "Last fall, I was experiencing pain and stiffness in my neck, shoulders, and upper back," he recalls. "The staff suggested massage to improve my range of motion, and, now, I feel great. My wife, Cindy, who utilizes another Athlon location close to her job, has seen her cholesterol and triglyceride levels drop. She was also having problems with one of her shoulders, but, now, she has no pain and better mobility. She feels better, too."
Real results-for clubs, members, and the community-is what Get Active America! is all about.
Patricia Amend is a contributing editor for CBI and can be reached at pamend@aol.com
