Gyms ought to provide their members – their customers – with the best possible experience for fitness and health. Instead, they cut corners and make the facility and equipment the biggest challenge of your workout.
Many years ago, before cable television, I remember seeing an amazing contraption at the house of a family friend. The dad had connected his television to his exercise bike so that the bike powered the TV. He could watch television only while converting calories into literal energy. The timing of his workouts determined what was…
Here’s an interesting headline this week from the New York Times: Be Sure Exercise Is All You Get at the Gym. Surprisingly, the article isn’t about loading up on calories at the club snack bar, or getting the phone number of someone who looks good in gymwear but turns out to be a creep. The…
Although I’ve clearly taken sides in the ongoing conflict of gym vs. member, the strategies on both sides deserve recognition. Gyms have the home field advantage, of course, forcing members to devise engineering marvels just to get in a decent workout. At one gym, I came across an ingenious solution to the inexcusable lack of…
Attached below is my open letter to President Obama addressing the under-explored and underrated fitness crisis. As Congress strives to draft a workable economic stimulus, I’ve decided the time is right to make the case for a health club stimulus. ________________________________________ Dear President Obama: I applaud your rhetoric about getting people back to work for…
Whenever a holiday approaches, I’m reminded of my old swim coach’s attitude toward days off. When a teammate asked in early summer whether we’d have practice on Independence Day, my coach said: “The Russians have practice on July 4th, as do the Germans … you can bet we’ll be practicing too!” Years later, it occurred…