The Club Insider Archives: April 2023
Jeff Quinn and Echelon Health & Fitness
Crafting and Cultivating the Member Experience
By: Justin Cates
Justin CatesEach morning, while getting ready for the day, I look in the mirror. Not to check my devilish good looks (just kidding), but to look myself in the eye to know I am ready to do what I need to do once again. In doing so, I think about a few things. First, I think about how fortunate I am: I live where I want. I work how I want. I have created the life I want. Second, I think about how that occurred... Each week and month, I get to publish Club Insider, which has the sole Mission, "To help the owners and operators of health and fitness clubs professionalize their clubs and gain the trust and business of their community." Every action we take reinforces that statement. Within your business, my hope is your Mission or Values includes something such as: To help our members live a healthier and better life. Does each action you take reinforce a statement like that?
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The Best Way to Predict the Future of Fitness is to Understand the Future of Medicine
By: Eric Durak, MSc
Eric Durak, MScThe forecasters in the fitness profession like to look into their crystal ball and detail what will be happening in the industry in the coming years. They point to technological advancements and growth in specific sectors of clubs to state where trends may be headed. They look to specific programs for seniors and new developments in strength equipment, aerobic programs and mind-body classes. All of these are integral parts of the growth and maturation of the industry. However, in order to get a sense of what the HEALTH elements of fitness may be, I want to take you where medicine is looking regarding its profession and how it will impact many industries (for good or bad), including fitness.
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The Future of Health and Fitness Club Design
By: Bruce Carter
Bruce CarterIn planning any size new club or renovation, taking the time to contemplate what the future holds for club design is a valuable step. Often, past trends can help to provide some insight into the future. However, the club industry's most recent past was totally dominated with COVID, causing clubs to close (25% of clubs closed permanently according to a recent IHRSA study), then clubs were allowed to reopen with abnormal spacing requirements. So, will COVID have a strong impact on the future of club design? The primary answer is no, but the effect on the economy from COVID will continue to have an effect on club design now and in the future.
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Getting Results
A Strategic Management Approach
By: Frank Guengerich
Frank GuengerichI've owned/managed a variety of businesses for over 30 years. Several of those businesses were complex and required a very clear and coherent strategic management approach that the entire leadership team could understand and easily implement. In addition, I've always been in a highly competitive business climate that required substantial financial success. This forced me to learn a methodical approach to accomplish an initiative so that our team would win. The approach I will share with you has been tried and tested many times, and it works. However, for it to work, it is vital that everyone involved aligns with the goals and objectives and that each person is fully committed to the plan. Pull everyone together, go thru the stages outlined in this article and have everyone report on the progress weekly.
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Journey Into Wellness
How One Long-time Fitness Operator Transformed His Club Model
By: Casey Conrad
Casey ConradImagine making the same profit with half the members and in one-fifth the space! That is the story of Tasso Kiriakes (See Club Insider's August 2006 Cover Story), who has been operating fitness clubs in Florida for 45 years. His journey is both intriguing and inspiring, and it offers other operators key insights into how wellness modalities can be successfully integrated into their facilities.
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Fitness as Wellness
By: Sara Kooperman, JD
Sara Kooperman, JDGrowing up as a child in the 1960s, '70s, '80s and '90s, U.S. public schools required children to take yearly Presidential Physical Fitness Assessment Tests. It was essential to make sure youth achieved necessary fitness levels to pass as "healthy." Yet, today, fitness is deemed "non-essential" by government regulators and other health care experts. Interestingly, a study recently published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (December 2022) advocates that those who suffered the least and experienced less severe outcomes due to illness and complicated infections, including death, from COVID-19, were individuals who were physically active before the pandemic. Exercise is conclusively seen as an extra layer of protection against disease and unforeseen illness. As a result, it appears that many people are finally now prioritizing fitness.
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Group Fitness Should Run Like a Restaurant
By: Jeffrey Pinkerton
Jeffrey PinkertonWe often use the analogy of a restaurant when talking about all things group fitness: the menu (the schedule), the ambiance (the room), the main courses and specials of the day (the workouts), the staff (instructors, of course), and even, the marketing (promoting your menu and selling the experience). If you are frustrated with the inconsistencies of your group fitness department; if it's an ancillary service more than a staple of your business; if it's not performing to your liking; or if it's just a pain in the neck to manage, here are some lessons we can learn from restaurants, minus the curse-laden celebrity chef intervention.
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Crunch Fitness Recognized for Outstanding Franchising Achievements
NEW YORK, N.Y. - Crunch Fitness, a leading high-value, low-priced gym, has been recognized for ongoing success with a prestigious award and acknowledgment, including The Zor Awards, an exclusive program by Franchise Times designed to answer the question, "What is the best franchise to buy?" and Entrepreneur's Franchise 500 10+ Club, honoring an elite group of franchises that have earned a spot on the Franchise 500 list for ten or more consecutive years.
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IHRSA 2023 Slideshow
Check out photos from IHRSA 2023!
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Norm's Notes for April 2023
By: Norm Cates
Norm CatesHello Everybody! This is your Club Insider Founder and Tribal Leader Since 1993 checking in and welcoming y'all to our 352nd monthly edition! Since my last Norm's Notes, JUSTIN CATES and I have had the pleasure of going to beautiful San Diego where we experienced an amazing 2023 IHRSA Convention and Trade Show. I'll share some of our experiences there with you herein, as we've included a significant amount of coverage of the always special San Diego IHRSA Convention and Trade Show.
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