Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Coed Circuit Training Clubs

It is no secret that women only circuit training clubs have swept the country in the last few years; almost to the point of over saturating some markets. This concept caught on for two important reasons: #1. The concept works. #2. It addressed a need. The PACE circuit training concept of combining cardiovascular and strength workouts in 30 minutes has proven to be a very effective method of exercise. The non-intimidating nature of hydraulic resistance and the time efficiency of this program combined to address the two major objections of women for not joining health clubs “Intimidation” and “No Time”.

But let’s face it, there are just as many out of shape men out there as there are women. An out of shape man, especially a senior, can be just as intimidated as a woman when faced with the prospect of working out alongside hardcore exercisers. The fitness goals of a 50-60 year old man are probably very different than those of a 20 year old with much less emphasis on muscle size and more emphasis on weight loss, cardiovascular and cardio respiratory conditioning. At 20, we are indestructible; at 50, our doctors are telling us to lower our blood pressure, reduce our cholesterol and lose fat.

In today’s fast paced society, lack of time may be more of a factor for men getting into a health club rather than intimidation. A busy executive may remember being in good shape when he was 25 and could spare an hour and a half to two hours a day to workout; but now, 25 years later, he cannot spare that much time. The US Government recently released its recommendation of 60-90 minutes a day for an overweight individual. Who has this much time? There is a solution- a 30 minute PACE workout has proven to burn more calories than 90 minutes of conventional cardiovascular exercise.

America is getting older- and fatter. With the aging baby boomers, more people are turning 50 everyday than are being born everyday and over 60 percent of America’s population is overweight. Studies show that less than 20% of the population is a member of a conventional health club. Why not offer a program that addresses the needs of the majority of the population? PACE meets these needs for both men and women.

It is true that the majority of women join a women only club because there are no men around. However, there are many women who would love to bring in their husbands- and many husbands who need it (there is a reason why Weight Watchers is coed). Since PACE is not a franchise, our customers are free to format their clubs anyway they like. Many customers (especially in smaller markets) are offering a combination of women only hours during the day, then coed hours in the evening. In smaller towns, it makes sense to appeal to as much of the population as possible. PACE equipment is both safe enough for women’s clubs and durable enough for even the strongest of men.