In the world of fitness, nutrition is at least half the battle. Yet most people get it wrong. Your members want to be able to rely on your club for useful, accurate nutrition information.
Make Nutrition Matter
One of the biggest misconceptions I run into is that people believe they need to starve themselves immediately following their workout. Convincing them to throw calories back into their bodies at this time is difficult, but it can be done through education. Immediately following a workout, the body needs to be refueled so that all of that hard-earned muscle 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, 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. So the truth is that exercisers need to replenish quickly-and what better place to do that than at the juice bar minutes after their last rep?
Create a Nutritional Zone
How can you provide exercise and nutrition-or total fitness? The solution is simple: Install a juice bar, or if you already have a juice bar, design in your space adequate room for merchandising. Include a Nutritional Zone where you can display pertinent nutritional information. Your juice bar can become a place where members come not only for healthy food products but also for dependable information.
You already have a customer-now create the need. The message is simple: Timing is everything.
Select the Right Provider
I know, you are experts in kinesiology, physical education and business, but what do you know about food and nutrition? There are many companies who can facilitate the process of delivering great food to your members. Be careful when selecting the right company for your health club. Make sure they provide merchandising, POP and ongoing nutritional information to educate members.
The Focus
Remember, you have a finite number of people to sell to, so you need greater penetration to make your juice bar profitable. Focus not only on sales, but also on education. You will find the two go hand-in-hand. Your customers will appreciate the guidance, and they will thank you by buying. So serve them a “Recovery” shake as their next meal, and then teach them why they need it.
Dan Young is President of Performance Food Centers, Corp. He is accomplished in juice bar concept and design as well as being certified in Personal Training and Sports Nutrition. He can be contacted at 866.632.1927, or dyoung@performacefoodcenters.com .
