Your Nutritional General Store Let’s not forget, in the world of exercise, nutrition is at least half the battle. Yet, most folks get it dead wrong. Why? It’s really quite simple; there is so much misinformation out there that people do not know what to believe. Consequently, they make the wrong choices which results in hampered efforts in the gym, increased frustrations and, ultimately, a diminished desire to be your member.
Alright…so the answer is not so simple, but the solution can be. Turn your juice bar into a Nutritional General Store of good choices; (i.e. healthy grab-and-go snacks, natural meal replacements and of course, “Recovery Shakes”).
Educate Your Members
Don’t stop there, now you need to educate your members. 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. That’s a good thing.
One of the biggest misconceptions that I constantly 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. What your members need to understand is the clock is ticking. Immediately following a workout, the body needs to be refueled so that all of the 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; 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. So, the truth is we need to replenish quickly, and what better place than at the juice bar minutes after your last rep? You see, that wasn’t too difficult to explain. This kind of information is out there and is well documented. It just needs to be shared.
Create a Nutritional Zone
How can you provide exercise and nutrition, or as I refer to it: Total Fitness? Once again the solution is simple, install a juice bar or, if you already have a juice bar, design adequate room in your space for merchandising the products I’ve just mentioned. Include a Nutritional Zone in this space where folks can access important nutritional information. Your juice bar should become a place where you provide not only healthy food products, but dependable information to your members. Everyone is thirsting for that information. In this world of fad diets and misinformation, a juice bar should be a great place to help your members 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, and you will keep them as members for a long, long time.
You already have a customer, now create the need. The need is simple. Timing is everything and nutrition is half the battle. Your members need to understand the clock is ticking. So, teach them that!
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 out there that can facilitate the process of delivering great food products to your members. Be careful in selecting the right company for your health club. They need to provide merchandising, POP and the ongoing nutritional information that is going to educate your members. 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 care about their bodies.
The Focus
Remember, you have a finite number of people to whom you can sell, so you will need to reach a greater penetration level 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, 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 visitwww.performancefoodcenters.com.
