American’s obesity problem is well documented and each of us in the fitness industry is well aware of it. Over 60 million American adults are obese. Obesity is the #2 cause of preventable death in the U.S. Sadly, nine million American children are overweight. To add insult to disease, discrimination is common against those who are obese or overweight. Add low income to obesity – especially with the food that is being marketed in America today – and you have a very difficult problem to overcome as an individual.
But, there are people out there who care about the health and well-being of the underprivileged, and who are willing to do something about it. I recently met Bill Gobin, of the Get America Fit Foundation, and I was amazed to hear of his organization’s goals and accomplishments: (See Figure 1)
As, you can imagine, these are some pretty weighty goals and they need plenty of help to get them accomplished. They have some pretty hefty sponsors that are helping out, including National Exercise and Sports Trainers Association (NESTA). You likely have several NESTA-certified trainers on your staff who are already aware of these goals, and who are interested in helping Americans lose those 10 million pounds.
Each of these goals, while noble in themselves, would also constitute a Guinness World Record and carry with them tons of publicity and notoriety for those involved in making it happen.
With each goal, there are several events that have been setup to draw people together to lift the weight, walk the miles, etc. Americans are generous people, wanting to contribute to the greater good and very busy, as you know; so they need leadership on how they can help. This is a great way to involve people, pull them in and motivate them to help others while they get fit themselves. Get America Fit provides the structure and builds PR for these events, and they need thousands of gyms, like yours, to participate and have people lifting, walking, burning in support of these goals.
That is where the challenge to you and the new members come into play. In support of these goals and this excellent organization, please join me in supporting Get America Fit. My company is also a sponsor of Get America Fit. When you purchase products from us we also donate product – one case of liquid multivitamins for each 10 purchased – to Get America Fit. As you know, nutrition and supplements are so important to a successful training program.
You can generate publicity for your gym by participating in the world record events in your facility.
1. Register with Get America Fit to participate in these events at www.getamericafit.org.
2. Publicize the events to your membership and their friends.
3. Record the success from the events with Get America Fit.
4. While you have all of these excited people in your gym, sign them up for new memberships and training sessions to keep the burning going.
5. This is your opportunity to give back, both nationally and in your community. Bill has people calling him every day, looking for help with their weight problems, but who are unable to afford a gym membership or time with a trainer. If you will donate a six-month, nonexpiring, membership to your gym, Bill will raise the funds to provide personal training to these people. This giving contributes to the national Get America Fit goals, through people in your community losing weight who would not otherwise have the resources or the knowledge to make it happen for themselves.
6. By the way, donating a membership through a non-profit like this is tax deductible, whereas doing it directly to a person may not be. (Please consult your tax professional for advice.)
We are dedicated to superior athletic performance through healthy and intense training with proper nutritional support. Just as a complete training program with nutrition and motivational support is important for success in losing weight and being fit; a complete team and effort is needed to solve America’s obesity problem. Get America Fit is providing much needed leadership, and charitable support. NESTA is providing trainers and expert advice. My company is providing nutritional support along with many other sponsors providing equipment of all kinds. Please join the team and help provide the memberships that are needed to help underprivileged Americans reach their fitness goals as well.
For a free nutritional evaluation test that your trainers can use with your members, email me at sscott@fullperformancefitness.com.
Susan Scott is the CEO of Full Performance Fitness Inc. She can be contacted at 866.819.3926, or by email atsscott@fullperformancefitness.com, or visit www.FullPerformanceFitness.com.
