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OVERLAND PARK, KS -- New and revised licensing and
certification bills for personal trainers are making their way into
legislative committees in several states this year while other bills are
now dead.
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BOSTON -- More than 70 percent of health club operators say
that they have a strongly positive perspective on implementing green
practices, according to a green/sustainability survey from the
International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association
(IHRSA).
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MEDWAY, MA -- Net sales for Cybex International, Medway, MA,
continued to be down in the fourth quarter 2009 and for the full year
due to the economy, according to the company’s CEO, John
Aglialoro.
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CHICAGO -- Bally Total Fitness, Chicago, has appointed Dennis
Cary as its senior vice president, chief marketing officer.
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WASHINGTON, DC -- First lady Michelle Obama announced the
launch of the Let’s Move campaign aimed at combating childhood
obesity.
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WASHINGTON, DC -- The U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS) has awarded $119 million in new grants to states to
promote wellness and prevention.
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NEW YORK -- The New York Health & Racquet Club (NYHRC) and
the New York Department of Consumer Affairs have reached an agreement
regarding the club’s promotional campaign that ran from March 2008 to
May 2008.
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NEPTUNE CITY, NJ -- Mike Urti, manager of the Neptune City,
NJ, Retrofitness club, was honored by Mayor Thomas Arnone at Monday’s
Neptune City Borough City Council meeting for saving the life of a
member who suffered cardiac arrest at the club on Jan. 26.
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WOODLAND, CA -- The Superior California YMCA will take over
fitness facility operations at the Community and Senior Center in
Woodland, CA, after the city council unanimously voted last week to rent
the facility to the Y for five years.
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LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, AZ -- An 8,000-square-foot functional
fitness facility recently opened at Luke Air Force Base, AZ, next to the
base’s fitness center.
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SACRAMENTO, CA -- A new recreation and wellness center is
taking shape at Sacramento State University. The $77 million,
151,000-square-foot facility is slated for completion in September
2010.
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SAN DIEGO -- efi Sports Medicine’s Total Gym can be used to
accurately measure the functional status of patients recovering from
lower extremity injuries, according to a study by researchers at San
Diego State University (SDSU) and the University of Toledo’s Health
Science Campus.
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Club Industry 2010 is accepting
speaking proposals for its conference program, to take place Oct.
6-9, at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago. If you have
spoken in the past at a Club Industry event, you will need your
password/ecode to sign in to input a proposal. If you have never
submitted or spoken at a Club Industry event, please create a
password/ecode to sign in. If you need your password/ecode or wish to
submit your proposal via e-mail, please e-mail Cristina Cotto at cristina.cotto@penton.com.
Deadline for submission is March 19.
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24 Hour
Fitness, San Ramon, CA, launched an Olympic-themed marketing
campaign called We Are All Athletes featuring U.S. Olympians,
Paralympians and Team 24 Hour fitness athletes. The campaign will run
throughout the 2010 Olympic Winter Games—which begin Friday in
Vancouver, Canada—with broadcast spots appearing on NBC, in 24 Hour
clubs and online at
www.24hourfitness.com/goteamusa. 24 Hour is the official fitness
center sponsor of the 2010 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic teams.
Bally Total Fitness,
Chicago, announced an agreement with Universal Music Group whereby Bally
will use MP3 downloads to acquire new members, reward member loyalty and
incentivize employee sales performance. Bally has committed to purchase
4.5 million downloads from Universal to distribute as premiums to its
new members during monthly promotions and to current members at
important milestones in their membership.
Retrofitness, Colts Neck,
NJ, opened three clubs on Tuesday, a one-day record for the company. The
locations are Dix Hills, NY; Monroe, NY; and Fair Lawn, NJ. “We’re
definitely making a splash, and yesterday is proof of it,” Eric
Casaburi, founder and CEO of Retrofitness, said in a statement. “Our
company is a first-class, high-service fitness concept with a low
monthly cost, and now residents in all of these areas can benefit
greatly from our services.”
A Gold’s Gym in Fresno, CA,
closed last week due to troubles with a planned sale, according to media
reports. Two months after Sierra Sport and Racquet Club began operating
the Gold’s Gym, the sale fell through after the sellers failed to get
consent from the gym’s landlords.
One of the locations of Lawrence Athletic Club
in Lawrence, KS, closed last week due to undisclosed legal reasons. The
club’s north location will still honor memberships, according to a
local media report. Several other gyms opened last fall in Lawrence,
including Snap Fitness and Maximus Fitness and Wellness.
The Midlothian
Family YMCA upgraded its facility and grew from 26,000 to 52,000
square feet. The facility now includes a 7,000-square-foot fitness
center, a full-size gym, a children’s center, music, aerobics and
massage studios, and an intergenerational center. The $5.5 million
expansion took about a year to complete. The Y also invested in a
heart-rate monitoring system to enable class instructors to monitor
everyone in a class up to 30 people.
The Kaplen JCC on the Palisades
recently opened the Russ Berrie Family Health and Recreation Complex.
Named in honor of Russell Berrie, longtime donor and founding member,
the new fitness facility doubles the size of the Sadinoff Fitness Center
and features group exercise rooms, a spinning room, stretching areas,
family changing suites, new locker rooms and racquetball courts. The
Berrie Foundation gave the JCC a $2 million gift in the form of a
challenge grant, in which the JCC had to match the donation.
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The National Academy of
Sports Medicine (NASM) is offering a new course, “Business
Development for the Club Fitness Professional,” the certifying agency
recently announced. The course is designed to provide fitness trainers
with the tools and industry insight needed to work successfully within a
health club environment, learn best practices for increasing sales and
pursue a fulfilling career within the health and fitness industry.
Offered as a continuing education course for $299 (with an introductory
price of $249), the class will teach about professionalism, time
management, communication, immersed listening and building rapport. The
course is comprised of Flash presentations, videos, narrated
role-playing scenarios, an exam and other interactive tools.
FreeMotion Fitness, Logan, UT, added Kurt Lehmann to its team of
territory managers last month. He will work with customers in Florida,
Georgia and parts of the Caribbean. Formerly with Star Trac, Lehmann is
a 20-year industry veteran and club owner. The company also signed an
agreement with World Gym
International to become the exclusive provider of cable-based
functional strength equipment for the Southern California-based company.
FreeMotion Fitness will provide a range of its patented cabled strength
training products, including the FreeMotion Cable Cross, to more than
200 World Gym locations across 36 states and abroad.
Motus USA announced that
Dynamic Wellness Solutions Inc. will be the distribution arm for Motus
products in the active aging market. Already a preferred vendor of the
International Council on Active Aging (ICAA), Motus USA plans to
increase its presence in this area of the fitness industry with this new
partnership. The company has a complete line of commercial cardio
equipment for the active adult and rehabilitation markets. The Motus
treadmills feature large displays with simple touch-sensitive buttons,
medical handrails and a low step-up height, while Motus bikes have
walk-through design, pneumatic gas seat adjustments, ergonomic cushions
and retractable armrests.
Power Plate North America
(PPNA) has added Fred Heim and Shawn Patton to the company’s lead
sales and marketing positions. Heim, who served as the marketing
director for Mad Dogg Athletics, will serve as the vice president of
brand connection for PPNA. Patton, who led the commercial fitness
division at Octane Fitness, has been named vice president of sales,
national accounts for PPNA.
Money Mailer Direct
Marketing has created a platform for the health and fitness club
industry called Mozart, which can help drive customer acquisition and
retention. Mozart is integrated into store point-of-sale systems to
automate marketing campaigns. Customized settings can trigger messaging
for a wide variety of promotional purposes, including consumer
prospecting, sales or special savings offers, event-based campaigns, new
customer thank-you notes, rewards programs, newsletters and
surveys.
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The New Orleans Saints played the Indianapolis Colts on
Sunday in Super Bowl XLIV (44, for the non-Roman numeral inclined). What
could this possibly have to do with the fitness club industry?
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Newly-elected Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown was sworn in
last week as Ted Kennedy’s successor in the U.S. Senate. What could
this possibly have to do with the fitness club industry?
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