Adding PACE to an Existing Health Club

Why add a PACE circuit training program to an existing club? According to IHRSA (International Health & Racquet Sports Association), less than 20% of the US popular are members of a coed health club. Intimidation and no time are the top two reasons cited by nonmembers; especially for seniors, the overweight and those with busy lifestyles.

These factors contributed to the vast spread of women’s only clubs across the country in the last 10 years. However, Curves for Women, the largest chain of franchise women’s clubs had an inherent flaw in its program- built in obsolescence with their nonadjustable equipment resulting in members eventually hitting a plateau, getting bored and saying “now what?” This is one of the factors that contributed to thousands of Curves clubs closing in the last few years leaving hundreds of thousands of former and potential new members with nowhere to go.

Some wise fitness professionals are using our non-intimidating PACE circuit as a
means of attracting this deconditioned and intimidated market and transitioning them into the general population. Here are a few:

Fit n Fast Australia (http://www.fitnfast.com.au/). Founder Tony DeLeede is a long-time customer, first featuring PACE in his Australian Body Works chain in Atlanta back in the 1980’s. Tony and his team now use PACE as their “Quickie”
busy lifestyle circuit workout as well as a non-intimidating introductory workout into their clubs.

Gold Star Fitness (http://www.goldstarfitness.com). A 5 club chain in Tennessee, uses PACE as a part of a women’s weight loss program which has become both a stand-alone profit center as well as a “feeder” member program into their full service clubs.

Snap Fitness (http://www.snapfitness.com). One of the nation’s largest 24/7 chains, recently completed a test of a separate women’s only room featuring a PACE circuit in their club in Springtown, TX. Watch for more Snap Fitness clubs with PACE coming soon! UPDATE!!! Just returned from conducting a PACE Training Workshop with the staff of Snap Fitness in New Caney, TX. Had a great time and they learned a lot about what PACE will do for their members and club.

Large Club Owners- Consider a Sattelite Studio

It is no secret that women-only circuit training clubs saturated the country a few years ago. The Curves for Women franchise at one time boasted over 10,000 locations. Although thousands of Curves clubs have closed in the last few years (for a number of reasons; over-saturation of markets, unqualified owners, lack of support, high franchise fees, inferior equipment, tight franchise restrictions, etc.), they still are a significant factor in the fitness industry across the country. There is no doubt that they are still a thorn in the side of larger coed facilities by taking away thousands of potential members. With their message of “no intimidation” and the time efficiency of a 30 minute workout, these clubs appeal to the needs of today’s deconditioned, busy Baby Boomers.

Some large clubs have attempted to counter these circuit training clubs by offering their own “express” type of circuits within their facilities using conventional weight stack machines borrowed from their main workout area. However, the problem of getting the intimidated person in the front door still remains. Some progressive club owners have opened their own satellite circuit training/weight loss studios to attract the out-of-shape and intimidated market and act as “feeder” clubs into the main club. With satellite clubs, when a member reaches a certain level of fitness and gets over the initial intimidation, it can be an easy upgrade into the “mother” club. One of the biggest problems that Curves clubs face is a high drop-out rate when members hit a plateau because of their non-adjustable equipment. They have nothing to offer when a members says "now what?".

Low overhead is a major key to the success of these circuit training studios. Rents and personnel costs for 1,200- 2,000 square feet facilities are obviously much less than those of 20,000+ square foot clubs. For example, if you assume the rent for a small facility to be about $2,500.00 per month and if you have four part time people working 20 hours per week each at a rate of $10.00 per hour, your overhead would be approximately $6,000.00 per month. Typically, a small women’s circuit training club will charge $39.00- $49.00 a month for memberships; the average club needs 125-150 members to break even. Much higher fees can be charged if a weight loss program is incorporated into memberships. Fees of $499.00- $599.00 are not unusual for 8-12 weeks of a weight loss program- with no exercise component.

Granted, small studios will not generate the profit dollars made by larger clubs, but percentage-wise, these small clubs can be much more profitable (and much less expensive to set up and staff). Besides enjoying new profit, the key factor to remember is that members of these small clubs can be transitioned into the main club when they are ready- a feeder system for those people who would normally not join a large club. Members of Curves have no where to go when they reach a plateau.

Implementing a Senior’s Circuit Training Program in Your Club

America is getting older. With the Baby boomers reaching middle age, more people are turning 50 everyday than are being born everyday. It is estimated that over 100 million Americans are over the age of 45 (US Census Bureau). Although there has been a significant increase in senior memberships in health clubs in the last few years (IHRSA estimates 6.9 million people over the age 55 belonged to health clubs in 2002 vs. 1.5 million in 1987), the vast majority of today’s seniors are shying away from clubs. These seniors are perhaps those in the most need to exercise regularly. Their doctors are telling them to exercise to lower their cholesterol, lower their blood pressure, help offset osteoporosis, etc. The question must be asked “What is keeping them from joining?”

Intimidation of conventional exercise equipment and programs is undoubtedly a major factor. Fear of intimidating weight stack machines and lack of coordination to perform aerobic movements are often sited as reasons for not joining large coed clubs. Yet the fitness industry has seen a huge growth of women’s circuit training clubs featuring hydraulic resistance equipment in the last five years with the majority of members over 40 years old. These types of clubs have proven to be popular with older people for three important reasons, lack of intimidation, time efficiency and camaraderie.

Seniors do not want to compete with younger, hardcore members for the use of equipment, nor do them want to display how weak or uncoordinated they are. Seniors do not want to be sore for two or three days after a workout. Seniors enjoy working out with those in their own age group and fitness level.

Many YMCA’s and larger clubs with pools have tried to address these issues and offer senior aquatic programs. These programs are very safe and effective since there is no fixed load as with weight stack equipment which can cause injury and muscle soreness. However, there still exists the intimidation factor of many seniors not wanting to be seen in swimsuits. Hydraulic circuit training programs can be the answer. Hydraulic circuit training is very much like aquatics since the user is pushing against fluid which accommodates to the individual’s fitness level and there is very little if any muscle soreness. Hydraulic circuit training is very time efficient since it combines both strength and cardiovascular workouts in 30 minutes.

Some progressive large clubs are offering senior hydraulic circuit training classes with instructors to provide motivation and inspiration. These classes often serve as a non-intimidating way to get seniors into the front door of club, to produce results for them quickly and to help introduce them into the general population of the club. The following are guidelines in the successful implementation of such a program:

Location. A separate designated area outside of the weight area is important. An empty racquetball court is an ideal location and size for this type of program; a 24 station circuit fits nicely into 800 square feet. A multi-purpose room or aerobic studio also works well since hydraulic machines are lightweight and easily moved to the outside perimeter of the room during down times.

Equipment. Adjustable hydraulic equipment is suggested to accommodate a broad range of fitness levels when conducting coed classes. The adjustments on the equipment should be easily accessible by both the member and instructor.

Staffing. This type of program typically falls under the aerobic program umbrella since these instructors are familiar with running classes with large groups. However, this program can also be very successful when led by personal trainers under the format of “Group Personal Training”.

Class Schedule. Seniors have flexible schedules, so early afternoon classes can work well. Conducting classes during this normally slower time of day will also decrease the intimidation factor and help ease the burden during peak times. Half hour to 45 minute classes are suggested.

Class Format. It is suggested to begin classes with a low intensity 5 minute warmup, 20-30 minutes of target heart rate work and 5-10 minutes of cool-down & stretching. The standard hydraulic circuit training workout alternates 30-45 second intervals on the hydraulic exercise machines and aerobic recovery stations in a work/rest format. Variations such as repeating stations, changing directions, increasing resistance and bringing props such as exercise balls, stretch bands, etc. can be introduced anytime to keep the program fresh.

Pricing. These senior circuit training programs can be priced very low ($19.00- $29.00 per month) to be used as an introductory membership or can be used as part of tiered membership to be included at no charge with “Platinum” membership.

Senior hydraulic circuit training programs will produce results for members and will increase the club’s bottom line by increasing new memberships and member retention.

For more details on senior fitness or our PACE hydraulic circuit training, please visit www.pacegroupexercise.com or call 888-604-2244.