Have you ever noticed folks exercising day-in and day-out, month after month, spending countless hours on the treadmill or in spin class, but they never seem to look any different? How frustrating that must be. Sooner or later they’re going to give up and when they do…you lose a customer. Where do you think they go wrong?
Chances are it’s not the plates they are putting on their curl bar, but it’s the food they are putting on their plates. That’s right, nine chances out of ten, nutrition is the culprit, yet most folks get this dead wrong. Let’s apply some common sense here – just by coming to the gym and exercising, you are burning more calories than you are by being sedentary. So, if you are burning calories and not losing weight, then you must be bringing in more calories than you are burning, or perhaps, consuming those calories at the wrong times.
It has been my observation that if we can educate people to begin eating sensibly and at the right times, they are bound to break their plateaus and obtain their performance goals faster than they ever imagined. Get your customer to understand this, and you will have that customer for life.
How can you provide exercise AND nutrition, or as I refer to it: Total Fitness? The solution is simple, install a juice bar. But it should be more than a juice bar; it should be a “nutritional general store” of nutrient dense whole foods, supplements and healthy “recovery” shakes. It should be a place where folks can access not only tasty natural morsels that refuel a tired body, but a place where they can also access information about proper nutrition. We are all thirsting for that information. In this world of fad diets and misinformation, a juice bar should be a great place to help your members to access sound, nutritional information along with refueling after a hard workout. Put it all together and you will help your members achieve their performance goals; plus you will keep them as members for a long, long time.
You already have a customer, now create the need. The need is simple, and timing is everything. What your members need to understand is that the clock is ticking. Immediately following their workouts, their bodies need to be refueled so that all that hard-earned muscle they’ve worked so hard to build isn’t broken down for glycogen replenishment. That’s right; if you don’t replace what you’ve burned within 30 to 60 minutes of a workout your body begins cannibalizing its own muscle tissue for energy, completely diminishing your efforts in the gym. Eventually, you end up with a smaller version of yourself with a higher fat-to-muscle ratio than when you began. With more fat, your metabolic rate slows and it becomes harder and harder to burn the fat off your body. So the truth is, we need to replenish quickly and what a better place but at the juice bar minutes after your last rep.
I know, you are experts in kinesiology, physical education and business, but what do you know about food? Well, it really isn’t that difficult. There are many companies out there that can facilitate the process of delivering great food products to your members. Be careful though when selecting the right company for your health club. Some of the companies that have a flashy look or recognizable logo may not be able to deliver the total package. These companies are meant to sell their shakes in airports and malls, not to your members who read labels.
Remember, you have a finite number of people to whom you can sell, so you will need to reach a greater penetration to make your juice bar profitable. Make sure your juice bar venture focuses not only on sales, but on education. You will find that the two go hand-in-hand. Your customers will appreciate the guidance and they will thank you by buying. You already have interested customers, they are all concerned about taking care of their bodies, if not, they wouldn’t be there. So, close the deal. Serve them a “recovery” shake, and then teach them why they need it.
Dan Young is the President of Performance Food Centers, Corp. He is certified in personal training as well as sports nutrition. He can be contacted at 866.632.1927, or by email at dyoung@performancefoodcenters.com, or visit www.performancefoodcenters.com.
