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Old Mon, May-05-03, 11:21
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gotbeer gotbeer is offline
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Plan: Atkins
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Default CURVES: "Getting fit on the fly"

Getting fit on the fly
Fitness centers, programs cater to time-pressed

By Kristen Gerencher, CBS.MarketWatch.com

Last Update: 12:01 AM ET May 5, 2003

Editor's note: This is the first in a three-part series.


link to article

For $29 a month, Curves is meeting her need to get in, work up a sweat and get out again quickly, said Millikan, who works as public relations director for Simmons College in Boston.

After six months of half-hour workouts four times a week and keeping to a low-carbohydrate diet, she's lost 35 pounds and boosted her energy.

"I'm down to what I want to weigh now," said Millikan, 57. "I'm going to keep doing it because I feel better and it's not a lot of time out of my day."

Once the domain of obsessively muscle-bound men and weight-conscious ladies of leisure, health clubs and fitness programs now are appealing to workers with no time to spare. A growing number are offering alternatives that emphasize intensity instead of duration, and some offer the option to pay as you go.

How they're doing it

As Americans struggle to balance family and work schedules, many are overeating and under exercising by default.

Whether you're in the market for a turbo cross-training program, recreational basketball, yoga classes or a circuit or interval training regimen that's lighter on the time commitment, many physical fitness outfits are making a play for the workaholic crowd.

"The fitness industry has really been keeping pace with people who are time-starved," said Dr. Pamela Peeke, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Maryland. "Blasting in and blasting out is what it's all about.

"It's better to get them in there 30 minutes and give them high intensity than it is to expect you can keep them in there for an hour," she said. "Most people can't do that."

Women sought for express workouts

Clubs targeting working women are among the first to cash in on such compressed regimens.

Curves, Ladies Workout Express and Contours Express are each designed to keep women moving through a circuit at a fast pace, alternating strength-building machines with aerobic stations. The clubs typically aren't equipped with locker rooms.

At Ladies Workout Express, which is owned by full-service chain Lady of America, women typically pay $29.95 a month with no annual fee.

The speed workout concept has become so popular that the company is opening 45 to 50 new locations a month, spokesman Scott Breault said. "Women getting results are really what's fueling our growth.

"The average woman burns between 600 and 900 calories in that half hour, depending on body weight," Breault said.

Paying as you go

But new approaches to fitness aren't limited to time-pressed women. At least half of clubs said they make programs such as classes and personal training open to nonmembers, said Bill Howland, director of research for the International Health Racquet and Sportsclub Association in Boston.

Paying as you go makes sense for those who don't want or need a club's other offerings, he said, adding that monthly membership remains the most popular kind. Club members pay monthly dues of $52 on average compared with $534 for the full year up front.

"It is definitely worth inquiring about the option for buying a series of classes or personal training sessions without becoming a member," Howland said. "More clubs are offering that."

BodyScapes, located in Boston, Newton and Wellesley, Mass., for example, offers one-on-one personal training to ensure that no more than six people use the facility at the same time. Instead of requiring memberships, clients pay for individual sessions.

Hybrid programs' appeal

When it comes to classes, yoga is perhaps the biggest sensation lately, with 86 percent of gyms now offering it, up from 40 percent in 1995, Howland said.

But even the non-hurried stretching of yoga can be tweaked to bring in those who are on the go, Peeke said, pointing to yoga-lates, a combination of yoga and Pilates, as an example.

"You can ramp up the intensity of yoga with Pilates, increase the flexibility with yoga and if you put them together in a powerful combination, you can do it in 20 to 30 minutes max."

When it comes to wrapping cardiovascular exercise into strength training for a turbo workout, none is better than Equinox, Peeke said.

"You can work out a very concise program over a very short period of time that's customized specifically to you when you sit down with their training staff," she said.

A side effect of targeting working people instead of the fitness-obsessed is that many overweight customers now feel welcome, said Nikki Goldman, author of "Success For the Diet Dropout: Proven Strategies for Women Who Want to Stop Hating their Bodies."

"The gym used to be a place for people who were fit and not afraid to show it," she said. "Now you see overweight people at the gym with no shame."

Finding local outlets

Ultimately, consumers are best served by flipping through the yellow pages or doing a Web search to find out what their local recreational facilities offer, American Council on Exercise spokesman Richard Cotton said.

"It's a matter of within your own marketplace, what's available?" he said. "Find something close to wherever you're working."

Those who prefer group workouts may find a lunch-hour class at their gym or at one of 2,200 YMCA locations, and people who want to combine a workout with family time may try coaching a child's sports team, Cotton said.

"You've got to double up on things," he said. "You exercise with the kids. You're out on the soccer field with them. You're staying active, not standing on the sidelines."

Last month, The SportsClub LA in San Francisco began a program where members can join an "urban run" either early mornings or during lunch. The cross-training exercise is designed to mix running with pushups and lunges.

"Express" half-hour classes, now in their ninth year, have seen a resurgence of interest lately at Northshore YMCA, one of YMCA of Greater Seattle's 16 branches, Health and Wellness Director Laurie Gerrard said.

For an annual fee of $40, nonmembers can purchase a class card, which gives them access to classes for $4 a piece, she said.

Programs for time-pressed people can deliver on their promise, as long as customers take basic precautions, Gerrard said. "People need to be careful to make sure they are getting a balanced workout -- using the exercise principles correctly so they don't get injured and so they get results."
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