Obesity has become an epidemic in this country and exercise alone isn’t going to fix the problem. Your members need to incorporate proper nutrition into their diets alongside a fitness regiment. You need to help them understand the importance of healthy eating.
“Food is an absolute necessity for everyone, and so its impact on our health and our life experience is more profound than what most people grasp,” said Judi Samuels, a certified nutrition and wellness consultant with Sport&Health. “What you eat either sabotages or supports your health and fitness goals.”
Members need help with nutritional guidance. If your club isn’t offering the education your members need, they may go elsewhere. Nutrition is an opportunity for your club to bring in extra revenue and help members achieve the results they desire.
Incorporating Nutrition
Including nutrition in your member’s plan to get healthy gives the member a sense of wellness instead of solely focusing on exercise. It also makes their routine 24/7 by giving them something healthy to focus on outside of the club.
“Members, especially our personal training clients, expect to receive education on not only exercise but healthy eating and nutrition advice,” said Christie Matkozich, the director of personal training for Gainesville Health and Fitness Centers (GHFC). “They will communicate that something is missing from their equation if nutrition is not a part of their program.”
“We have a terrific online program that we give to all new members for free,” said Mitch Batkin, the senior vice president of fitness for Sport&Health. “It can literally teach you how to create a perfect diet plan based upon foods you love to eat. All members are taken through the nutritional plan when they meet our fitness staff for their initial orientation to our club.”
Clubs can rely on online nutrition programs like Vitabot to allow members to track what they eat outside of the gym. This brings added value to the member’s experience because they don’t have to seek another program to help them count calories. “It’s really simple — we add the club’s logo to our program and integrate it into the club’s website,” said Michael Graves of Vitabot. “The club gives access codes to members and demo accounts to potential members. Users can access our program with their trainer in the club, or by journaling on their own from home.”
Members will need guidance upon becoming a member at your club. Going at it alone probably won’t produce the results they desire. At GHFC, all new members receive a one-on-one consultation to discuss their fitness goals and are briefed on the different programs that may fit their various needs. “Most want to try it on their own at first,” said Karen Coley-Cannon, the personal training and corporate sales director at GHFC. “When we follow-up with them about four weeks later they’re usually ready for some help.”
GHFC offers a wide range of programs that can be combined with nutrition help. Their program, “Custom Fit” is comprised of six individual classes. Members can pay for a single class or a package. They can mix and match what they would like to do to achieve maximum results, like “Wedding Ready,” “Dance Revolution” or “Bootcamp.” Additionally, GHFC offers its own version of the popular TV show “The Biggest Loser” called “Fat Attack.” Programs like these give members a support group and a fun way to interact at the gym and lose weight.
At GHFC, personal trainers ask their clients on a weekly basis about their nutrition habits to keep the client’s mind focused on progress. This is a simple way to hold personal training clients accountable and show them possible problem areas in their routine.
Combining nutrition with personal training only makes training more valuable to your members and helps them achieve their fitness goals. “We show our members better success when we combine great exercise with great nutrition,” Batkin said. “The accountability a trainer can give to our members in these critical areas will lead to greater success toward their fitness goals. When success is achieved faster and becomes much more sustainable, the entire personal training experience will be perceived as more valuable.”
Implementing nutrition into the club doesn’t have to be difficult. In fact, it could be profitable — it’s all about giving members options. One option you can offer your member is something nutritious to consume before or after a workout. Providing options like Navacorp’s product, Kick Butt Amped Energy Ballz™, gives members a healthy choice when they’ve finished their workout as well as giving your club another revenue producing product. “Our product can enhance your client’s workout and give them the stamina they need,” said Iris Harrison, the vice president of operations for Navacorp.
Harrison said it could be difficult to get people to do something without managing them, like eating well. These energy balls are for anyone — requiring little thought from members when refueling. “You can take it with you, there’s no mixing, no pill-popping,” Harrison said. Navacorp gets a lot of calls about its product because people are glad to have a new option for their members — something that’s out of the ordinary, that’s not just another nutrition bar.
Getting products into your member’s hands may not be easy without a plan. One idea is to establish a central location, or “juice bar,” where members can easily browse a variety of nutritional products. “The idea is that you don’t look at the juice bar as anything separate, it’s another section of your business,” said Jeff Quammen, the director of retail for Urban Active.
The benefit of a juice bar is that it consolidates products that may not ordinarily have a place in your club. It also fairly provides exposure to your products and creates a hub of activity. Members can then be coached by employees to visit the juice bar after, or before, a workout. “Ideally all employees are trained to answer questions (regarding the juice bar),” Quammen said. “Trainers want to tell [clients] to stay hydrated and replace calories after burning calories.” Urban Active utilizes their TVs to advertise the juice bar and discounted items.
How does this help your club’s bottom line? “We know that when our members reach their fitness goals via great exercise and combined with sound nutrition, they have an enthusiastic and compelling story to tell their friends. We want our members to share their successes with everyone they know,” Batkin said.
Your members need to have all the facts to succeed in losing weight. “Nutrition through Whole Foods (unprocessed and unrefined) is the mortar needed for achieving both performance goals and for laying the bricks towards total wellness,” Dan Young, the president of Performance Food Centers said. What better place for them to educate themselves about nutrition then at your club.
Health clubs can seize an opportunity with nutrition and start to be seen as a wellness provider by members, potential members and the surrounding community. “Every club has the opportunity to change people’s lives,” Samuels said. “Mentoring members through nutrition counseling helps them overcome the weight and health challenges that often drive their fitness goals and ensures a positive outcome for everyone. It’s not just something every club ought to do but should be doing.” -CS
