The Skinny on Diet Shakes for Weight Loss

by Alisha Smith | Monday, October 31, 2011

Shane Warne has a serious case of the shakes. The diet shakes. Having previously tipped the scales at a sizable 92kg, the now trim 78kg Warne credits diet shakes as a key intervention in the continued expansion of his hefty waistline. Football player Brendan Fevola and AFL star Steven Baker are also among the sportspeople who are turning to meal replacements in a bid to trim the fat. Shouldn’t they know better?

Maybe they do.

In the fitness industry, we’re taught to spurn the use of the myriad “get slim quick” gadgets and gizmos on the market- with shakes and bars often placing high up the list. Yet, I’m starting to wonder?  ...read more

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Global Fitness Report 2 - Mexico

by Ryan Hogan | Tuesday, May 03, 2011

The second report of the fitness industry at large comes from hot and sunny Mexico! Long considered to be behind the times in comparison to its big northern neighbour, there is still a lot going on fitness wise in this amazing country.

By Australian or NZ standards, the fitness industry in Mexico is still young. However, being a country of more than 100 million in population (and growing!) all anecdotal evidence points to huge growth in the medium term. One of the major limitations of growth is of course economy. With a GDP well below that of many developed countries, there is a large proportion of Mexicans who cannot afford the basics of life, let alone a health club membership.  ...read more

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Global Fitness Report 1 - USA

by Ryan Hogan | Monday, March 14, 2011

The first in a series of reports on the fitness industry around the globe brings us to the good ole US of A. Considered to be the birth place of many past and current trends, there is certainly a lot going on fitness-wise in America!

The current market in the US is clearly dominated by a number of large chains of well established health clubs. Big chains like 24 Hour Fitness and Bally Total Fitness have been in the market for a long time and continue to operate very large centres with lots of equipment and ample group exercise schedules. They are all over the country in most states and boast membership numbers in the tens and sometimes hundreds of thousands of members.  ...read more

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Are these fitness trends happening in your club?

by Oliver Kitchingman | Tuesday, February 22, 2011

A recent survey conducted by the American Council on Exercise (ACE) has revealed what are purported to be the world’s top fitness trends for 2011.

ACE surveyed 2,700 fitness industry professionals to gauge what’s hot for the year ahead. Although these respondents were from a ‘worldwide network’, it is not clear whether a higher percentage were US-based (a possibility considering the local of the Council).  ...read more

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Marketing - A Trickle or a Flood?

by Ryan Hogan | Wednesday, November 17, 2010

The following post was written by author and educator Kym Wimbis. It was originally posted on his blog, Access Fit, on 25 October 2010.

When it comes to marketing, advertising, lead generation, sales, and retention we almost always want more… more leads… more sales…and more retention.

When it comes to more members we don’t want a trickle we want a flood.

Makes sense… right? More members means more money… right?

Who in their right mind would want a trickle of members when they could have a flood?

Well it depends on the members.  ...read more

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What is the dollar value of a Personal Training session these days?

by Ryan Hogan | Monday, July 19, 2010

Some years ago when I first moved to Sydney, I *gasp* took some time off exercising after having taught classes for more than 10 years. After a few months of getting rather porky and feeling pretty unfit, I decided it was time to make my way back into the health club scene. I promptly joined a local chain of gyms and began working in earnest to lose some of the beer and pie weight accumulated over the previous six months.

After working very hard on my own for a while, I decided to do some research into hiring a personal trainer to help me achieve my fitness goals. By this stage I was already working at Network and being immersed back in the fitness world I was sure that a PT would be just the thing to whip me back into shape. After speaking to the personal training manager at the club I was a member of, I was referred to a trainer who promptly interviewed me and did a very thorough needs analysis. We then moved on to the sample workout which was outstanding.  ...read more

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Fixed Term or No-Fixed Term Contract? That is the question…

by Ryan Hogan | Monday, May 31, 2010

The following post was written by guest author Celeste Kirby-Brown.
The issue of no-fixed term contract for members was highlighted as one of the biggest industry trends in 2010 by 46.9 per cent of club owners and managers (AFIS) . And members agreed, with 47.4 per cent of members with expired memberships indicating that they would be motivated to renew their membership if they were given the option of a no-fixed term contract (AFIS) .

So, owners and managers of fitness facilities have identified this trend and members (well, ex-members) are saying that they would like it too, so should clubs offer it? Perhaps the more appropriate question is, can clubs afford to offer it?  ...read more

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Step back (and forwards) in time

by Ryan Hogan | Thursday, April 22, 2010

In 2009 Step group exercise classes turned 20. In the early 1990s the Group Ex world (or ‘aerobics’ as it was then) couldn’t get enough of the new program and eagerly attended the training workshops held all over Australia by Gin Miller and the crew from Reebok University.

Step was hugely successful in pretty much all of the markets where it debuted and a big part of that was the sense of immediate success that every participant could achieve from even their first class. Petra Kolber, an international fitness presenter and one of the original Master Trainers for Step Reebok (also presenting at FILEX 2010) says, ‘Step choreography was easy to follow and as we were using higher Step heights there was an immediate feeling that this workout was awesome for everyone involved’.  ...read more

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Aerobic exercise ‘a waste of time’ SHOCK HORROR

by Alisha Smith | Wednesday, February 10, 2010

“Aerobic exercise ‘a waste of time’”- I can’t begin to reveal the level of frustration I felt when I read this headline on a news.com.au article this week. The article was referencing a study done in the UK about the effect that genes have on the results obtained by exercising.
In this case, my issue isn’t with the story itself, which is reporting on the findings of a genuine study. The problem is the deliberately misleading headline.  ...read more

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What’s new in the club…?

by Ryan Hogan | Monday, January 18, 2010

In a recent IHRSA (International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association) online publication What’s Important? A look ahead to the fitness industry in 2010, thirty leading US fitness industry figures shared their views on what they deemed to be most important to themselves and the fitness industry in the year ahead, and discussed the changes they predict they’ll see in the fitness world during 2010.  ...read more

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