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| Three club companies share their dreams and schemes for the country’s premier fitness promotion |
By Patricia Amend |
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This is the month! Now’s the time! Get Active America! has finally arrived!
And, if all the omens and early reports are any indication, the first annual installment of IHRSA’s groundbreaking public-outreach effort has gotten off to a fast and promising start.
Nearly 1,500 IHRSA facilities have enrolled in the program, which will be staged May 17-23, guaranteeing that countless Americans will be introduced to the rewards and joys that regular exercise, pursued at a club, can provide.
The national initiative is being promoted aggressively, this month, by numerous publications, including Shape, Fitness, and Prevention magazines. It has been endorsed by a prestigious organization, the National Coalition for Promoting Physical Activity, or NCPPA. (The group's members include the American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association, American College of Sports Medicine, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).
And, most importantly, participating Get Active America! (GAA) clubs have embraced the program with enthusiasm, energy, and imagination. Although the heart of the event is a simple, success-guaranteed, free-trial-visit offer—the first four days reserved for the guests of current members, and the final three for the public at large—club owner have felt free to expand, elaborate, and otherwise improve on the basic blueprint. You’ll see when you read about the plans of The Wellbridge Company, HealthFit, and the Franco's Athletic Clubs.
'Get Active America! has but one purpose,' explains John McCarthy, the executive director of IHRSA. 'Namely: to bring hundreds of new prospects through the doors of every IHRSA facility in America. Once they’re there, we want to give them the best possible experience so that they’ll come to think of our clubs as the obvious choice: the best possible place to achieve their fitness goals.'
Here's how three GAA! operatives plan to do exactly that:
Come in Pairs
The Wellbridge Company
The Wellbridge Company, the Denver-based chain that owns and operates 33 clubs and manages 12 others, already conducts an annual corporate-outreach program—Commit to Get Fit (CGF)—and, this year, intends to add GAA! to the mix to generate broader interest and even better results.
CGF calls for 21 days of free access, and GAA! for another seven, which, for Wellbridge, will give an entirely new meaning to National Fitness Month, which is observed in May. Most of its facilities will take part in the two promotions, and both will be marketed to the more than 500 firms that avail themselves of Wellbridge's corporate wellness services.
'We'll invite them to take advantage of what we're doing,' notes JoAnn Deeter, the chain's director of promotions and communications. 'We’ll provide them with materials—brochures, invitations, banners, table tents, etc.—that they can use to encourage their employees to attend; they’ll also be able to check everything out on our dedicated web site.'
In addition to free use of the facilities, the CGT component, Deeter explains, will feature sampler classes, daily motivational tips delivered online, awards for participation, and a grand-prize drawing for anyone who’s completed at least one workout at a club. During GAA!, Wellbridge will present additional programs. Among them: 'old standbys,' designed for those who are unfamiliar with more-modern club offerings; yoga, Pilates, and personal training sessions; and advanced classes for experienced exercisers who are searching for a new challenge. Parents will be invited to bring along their offspring, without charge, at Wellbridge locations that offer children's programming.
'If a CGT participant brings a friend to GAA!, they’ll receive points they can use to win valuable prizes,' says Deeter. 'We’ll also be awarding a special gift incentive to individuals who invite a friend who, subsequently, joins the club. We hope this will motivate our members—who remain our greatest resource—to promote GAA! and get more people involved in health, fitness, wellness, sports . . . and fun.'
Special Programs for Special Populations
HealthFit
John Atwood, the founder and owner of HealthFit, a fitness facility in Needham, Massachusetts, that focuses on an older clientele, intends to use GAA! to spotlight three of the club’s most special programs—which he hopes, in turn, will illuminate many of the excellent reasons for investing in a membership. All three have been specifically designed to tempt more people to try exercise.
The friends, family, and colleagues of current members, and the unrelated walk-ins, who decide to give the club a trial spin during GAA! will also have the chance to learn about:
- The HealthFit Lifestyle Change Resource Center—This unique undertaking is Atwood's response to what he regards as the disconnect between physicians’ desire to have a positive impact on their patients’ lifestyle habits and their actual ability to do so. 'The center was created to assist doctors who want their patients to eat better and exercise more,' he explains, 'but who don’t have the time to work with them, and recognize that their patients don’t have the skills required to succeed on their own.'
Physicians simply refer a candidate to the center, which is administered by a psychiatrist, clinical social worker, and an exercise specialist trained in behavior change. They provide free counseling and, when indicated, referrals to local nutrition and exercise resources. 'We send people to the organization that we think can best help them,' notes Atwood. 'It might be HealthFit, another club, a YMCA, a park-and-rec center, Weight Watchers—whatever seems most appropriate.'
'The center,' he stresses, 'is an unbiased source designed to improve the patient’s health and quality of life.'
The center dispatches quarterly reports to area doctors, and, for GAA!, will invite them to send their patients to HealthFit.
- Healthy Donations Fundraiser—Another equally novel notion, this community-service program appeals to people’s desire to support worthy causes, while, at the same time, introducing them to the rewards of regular exercise. HealthFit offers interested parties a free two-week membership, including instruction, and contributes $25 to a charity on behalf of each person who works out at least five times during the period; participants can even earn exercise points at home. 'Our goal,' says Atwood, 'is to raise $20,000 by the end of the year.'
- 25 Gifts of Health scholarship program—HealthFit awards $2,500 scholarships to people who have medical reasons to exercise, but can’t afford to join the club.
Focus on Weight Management & Youth Fitness
Franco’s Athletic Clubs
It might be reasonable to think that the Franco’s Athletic Clubs—the flagship facility in Mandeville, Louisiana, and the Lakeview site in New Orleans—might be too busy to devote a great deal of time and/or energy to GAA! The Mandeville location, after all, is currently involved in an ambitious $2-million expansion project. But, like HealthFit, Franco’s intends to make the most of the opportunity by, in part, leveraging its existing programs and outreach initiatives.
Taking note of public concerns about epidemic obesity—and taking advantage of intense media interest in the topic—Franco’s plans to highlight and aggressively promote two of its successful weight-management programs: LIFE PLAN, a comprehensive curriculum for adults, and CHOICES, a regimen formulated for children ages 10-14. The club conducts free health screenings for Mandeville city employees twice a year, identifying health risks and recommending fitness and lifestyle changes, and, for GAA!, will schedule an extra installment. 'We’ll conduct an off-site screening for employees and stage a mini-health-fair at the club for GAA! participants,' explains General Manager Benny Hardouin. 'The screening will involve testing for flexibility, cholesterol, blood pressure, heart rate, resting heart rate, and resting metabolic rate.'
Similarly, Franco's will step up the efforts of its Youth Fitness Task Force. The group, made up of eight staff members, visits local schools to present interactive, hour-long fitness programs during the year and, this month, will embark on its rounds to get kids excited about GAA! 'Franco's also works closely with the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and home-school groups, and invites them to take part in Franco's Field Trips to the club,' says Hardouin. 'We’ll be encouraging all of these groups to visit with us to experience all of the excitement of GAA!'
Patricia Amend is a contributing editor for CBI, and the co-author of The 30-Minute Fitness Solution: A Four-Step Plan for Women of All Ages, and can be reached at pamend@aol.com.
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