A new IHRSA publication informs consumers, and reminds insiders, what clubs are all about
By Catherine Masterson-McNeil
MOTIVATION . . . PERFORMANCE . . . RESULTS.
Whether you're running a club, or embarking on a new fitness regimen, those are the three critical requirements that will either permit, or preclude, success.
DELIVERING RESULTS
'New members and prospects are really taken with Exercise, Health Clubs & You, commented Marisol Arcaya of Cherry Hill Health and Racquet in New Jersey, who has ordered more than 1,000 copies of the publication. 'It's sort of like a reference manual of everything they can do at the club.'
The publication is available for $49 per 50 copies. Additional discounts for bulk orders are available. To order, call IHRSA Member Service at 800-228-4772 or visit the IHRSA Online Store.
And underlying them all, essential to them all, is reliable information, thorough education. That is why, for the past decade now, IHRSA has been one of the principal gatherers, collators, and disseminators of research findings having to do with the benefits of regular exercise, and the positive impact that fitness portends—for club operators, members, communities, and the nation.
Each year, the number of studies, and the gratifying results, have proliferated, accelerating, especially since the publication, in 1996, of Physical Activity and Health: A Report of the Surgeon General. More recently, A Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity, also from the Surgeon General's office, has generated a fresh flurry of interest, research, and press coverage.
'Look through the newspaper any day of the week, and you most likely will find a new study touting the health benefits of regular exercise,' reports Exercise, Health Clubs & You, a new IHRSA publication, sponsored by Star Trac, designed to instruct consumers about the wisdom of workouts.
Given the overwhelming nature of the evidence, and its constant reiteration in the media, few individuals any longer doubt how essential physical activity is to their health and general well-being, and most would like to exercise more than they currently do. A new study conducted for IHRSA by American Sports Data, Inc. (ASD), a research firm based in Hartsdale, New York, confirms just that: 80% of Americans believe that exercise is important, and 63% say that they would like to exercise more.
'Achieving good performace is a journey, not a destination.'
--Kenneth H. Blanchard, Robert Lorber Putting the One Minute Manager to Work
(William Morrow)
But understanding and good intentions notwithstanding, most Americans don't exercise with any regularity. One of the reasons, and a significant obstacle, is their persistent, chronic, misconception about what a modern health club is, is like, does, and can do for them. While 74% suspect that the club environment would help motivate them to exercise, 54% say that they would prefer to work out alone—i.e., where no one else can see them.
The hard-body, Spandex-skinned, clubs-for-the-young-and-annoyingly-fit image lingers long after, all things considered, it should have disappeared for good. Correcting that misunderstanding, unmaking that myth, is the reason that Exercise, Health Clubs & You was conceived and created. People need to be invited—in a pleasant, but persuasive way—to check out and check into our clubs; they need accurate reliable information; they need to be reeducated.
At the same time, the people responsible for making the sale—the owner, sales director, sales reps, and other club employees—need to be reminded about all of the benefits, advantages, and plain-old fun that a membership delivers. No one can afford to forget, or fail to mention, these critical, compelling selling points.
Exercise, Health Clubs & You serves both sorts of readers. For the consumer, as the cover makes clear, it represents an 'Invitation to a Better Life.' And for the industry professional, it is a valuable reminder of what clubs are all about. For both, the central, core, message is the same: IHRSA facilities are for everyone. 'You will find people of all shapes, sizes, and ages in health clubs,' the booklet points out. And, it might have added, people with all sorts of interests, and aspirations, of every conceivable fitness level, and with skills ranging from nonexistent to elite. The publication offers a convenient summary of some of the landmark studies on the benefits of exercise, but also documents its principal point—that clubs, in fact, are for everyone—with solid, supporting demographic data.
As the excerpt found in your June 2003 issue of CBI attests, Exercise, Health Clubs & You could just have easily been titled Exercise, Health Clubs & All of Us.
Cathy Masterson McNeil is a contributing editor for CBI and can be reached at cmm@ihrsa.org.
