HOT TOPICS FOR March

Anytime Fitness has opened its 1000th club. Founded in 2002, Anytime Fitness now has clubs operating in 46 states, Canada and Australia, serving nearly 600,000 members. While other well-known fitness chains have recently scaled back their expansion plans or filed for bankruptcy, Anytime Fitness continues to grow at an impressive rate. In fact, in the past two months alone, Anytime Fitness has opened nearly 90 new clubs.

“In two or three years we’ll have at least 2,500 clubs open in the U.S. and we’ll have another 750 clubs open internationally,” says Anytime Fitness CEO, Jeff Klinger. “Right now, we see incredible opportunities for international growth.”

Before the end of 2009, Klinger predicts Anytime Fitness will have more than 30 clubs located in Canada and will open its first clubs in Italy and India. Additional international expansion plans include several European countries, the Middle East and Asia.

“From the very beginning, we’ve focused on providing members with a convenient and affordable fitness option in a friendly, non-intimidating atmosphere,” says Anytime Fitness co-founder, Chuck Runyon. “At the same time, we’ve worked hard to provide our franchisees with a business model that allows them the freedom to enjoy their personal lives. Now that we have more than 1,000 clubs – and a policy that allows members to join one club and use them all – the value of an Anytime Fitness membership is even greater.”

Despite the current economic climate and bucking the trend in the fitness industry, the average membership growth for Anytime Fitness clubs open at least one year is 8.3 percent – 625 members at the end of 2007 vs. 677 at the end of 2008. What’s more, Anytime Fitness clubs that opened in 2008 are gaining new members at a faster rate than Anytime Fitness clubs opened prior to 2008. On their respective one year anniversaries, Anytime Fitness clubs opened prior to 2008 averaged 538 members. Clubs opened in 2008, however, averaged 597 members 12 months after opening.

While members appreciate the 24-hour access of Anytime Fitness clubs, and monthly dues that are typically about half of what bigger clubs charge, franchisees report an impressive satisfaction level with their decision to own an Anytime Fitness club.

For the fourth year in a row, Franchise Business Review recently honored Anytime Fitness with its top rating and an FBR 50 Franchisee Satisfaction Award. In fact, more than 56 percent of Anytime Fitness franchisees own at least two franchise territories.

Another reason why Anytime Fitness clubs have proven to be recession-resilient is that they are frequently located in smaller, less-densely populated areas where they are often the first and only fitness option for local residents.

“People are willing to sacrifice many things when times are tough,” says Runyon. “But their health is not one of them. Our members recognize that Anytime Fitness provides them with good value for their money.”

One thousand clubs open worldwide is more than an impressive milestone. It also provides a tangible benefit to all Anytime Fitness members. “We call it our ‘Anywhere Club Access’ policy,” says Klinger. “It simply means, one membership allows access to every club, whether it’s across town or on the other side of the globe. In addition to being open 24 hours, Anywhere Club Access is another way we offer convenience to our members.”

Anytime Fitness’ revenue soared from $2.9 million in 2005 to more than $20 million in 2008, and Klinger expects that number to surpass $30 million in 2009.

In addition to the 1,000 clubs now open, Anytime Fitness has sold the franchise territory rights for another 1,500 locations. Toward that end, Anytime Fitness expects to celebrate the opening of its 2,000th club sometime during 2010.

30 MINUTE FITNESS has launched a new Web site that will include information about the company and its programs, as well as a variety of health, exercise and fitness information. The new format includes success stories and a Fitness I.Q. test, and is focused on being a destination for people who want answers to fitness questions.

KIDZ FIT opened recently in San Antonio, Texas and can accommodate up to 150 children. The facility has 8,000 square feet of exercise space and 14,000 square feet of classroom space, including a Wii Fit, motion fitness and bounce activities.

LIFE TIME FITNESS announced membership growth of 13.6 percent in 2008, compared to the previous year end numbers for 2007.

MARK MASTROV, founder of 24 Hour Fitness and co-founder of New Evolution Fitness Company, has partnered with the Ultimate Fighting Championship to open a nationwide and global network of UFC Gyms.

NEW ENGLAND FITNESS DISTRIBUTORS announced that Doug Werner, former COO of Healthtrax, has become the company’s new COO. Werner will remain connected to Healthtrax in a consulting role.

SPECTRUM ATHLETIC CLUBS purchased the 65,000 square foot Concord Athletic Club & Spa in San Antonio. The club will be renamed Spectrum Athletic Club at Concord Plaza, and will offer strength and cardio equipment, basketball, racquetball and squash, and a 25 meter indoor pool, along with other amenities. Spectrum has also hired Concord’s 100 employees, and plans to maintain the club’s high end presence in the city.

Western Althletic Clubs (WAC), a leading operator of luxury athletic clubs on the West Coast, announced that it has taken over operations at San Francisco Tennis Club (SFTC) and has plans to invest over $2 million in renovations at the facility in 2009.

Western Athletic Clubs has over 30 years of private club ownership and management experience, which will blend well with the proud tradition established at the San Francisco Tennis Club. Adding the new location to WAC’s prestigious collection of clubs in downtown San Francisco, including The San Francisco Bay Club, the Golden Gateway Tennis & Swim Club and the Bay Club Financial District, benefits members of each of these clubs through expanded programs, additional resources and access to other facilities.

IHRSA announced the release of their Third Quarter Index, which demonstrates the financial performance of the commercial health club industry. The survey of 17 leading U.S. health and sports club companies, representing a total of 200 facilities, determined that commercial health club financial performance has slightly improved for the third quarter ending September 30, 2008, relative to the same period in 2007.

The IHRSA Index reports that health club companies maintained performance from third quarter 2007 to third quarter 2008 in company sales by an increase of 1.0%. This moderate growth was led by an increase in membership dues, 3.8% from third quarter 2007 to third quarter 2008, while non-dues revenue held at 0.1% during the same periods. Total membership accounts also increased by 1.5% over third quarter 2007.

Same-store revenue experienced marginal growth during this time frame. Same-store total revenue increased slightly to $5 million or an increase of 1.0% from third quarter 2007 to third quarter 2008. Again, this growth was fueled by same-store membership revenue increasing to 1.4% over third quarter 2007, while same-store non-dues revenue increased a negligible 0.8%, over third quarter 2007.

Same-store total membership accounts also increased by a modest 0.6% over third quarter 2007. “It is most likely that improved performance for some companies has been due to new club openings and entrance into new consumer markets, while mature sites have experienced more moderate growth, potentially attributable to increasing dues prices, compared to third quarter 2007,” reflects Katie Rollauer, IHRSA’s Senior Manager of Research.

Waistlines are expanding at such an alarming rate across the globe that, if trends hold, almost 58 percent of the world’s population could be overweight or obese by 2030, according to researchers at the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.

Epidemiologic studies by Dr. Jiang He, the Joseph S. Copes Chair and Professor of Epidemiology and Medicine at Tulane, indicate that obesity and being overweight are two of the most important risk factors for diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and premature death.

Dr. Larry Tucker, a professor of exercise science in the College of Health and Human Performance at Brigham Young University, recently authored a study on restrained eating that appeared in the American Journal of Health Promotion. The study found that women who did not practice restrained eating, which is the conscious effort to avoid unhealthy foods and substitute them with healthy ones, were two and a half times more likely to gain weight over the course of the study than women who were more selective.

According to www.mayoclinic.com, interval training, which is the foundation of many circuit routines, allows exercisers to burn more calories than traditional forms of exercise by alternating bursts of rigorous activity with periods of lighter activity. Incorporating varied intensities in strength training and cardio sessions allows people to make significant gains. Overall, strength and endurance can increase beyond the levels established by traditional weight and aerobic workouts.

Residents at the renowned Los Angeles Jewish Home are in it for the long haul and have shared their secrets for living to 100. They are one of the largest groups of 90-year-olds to live together under one roof in the U.S. all agree on two things: They would like to live to 100, and they believe they have the best ideas on how to accomplish that goal. Rick Smith, M.D., medical director for the home, says each resident has his or her own keys to healthy living, ranging from physical intimacy to lifelong learning to traveling. Based on their collective wisdom, Dr. Smith offers his top ten tips that he believes greatly increase a person’s chances of reaching the century mark:

1. Decide what is most important to you and focus on it. Many of life’s little annoyances don’t seem so important if you keep your priorities straight.

2. Participate in some kind of physical exercise.

3. Keep your mind sharp through mental exercise. The mind is a muscle. It must be used.

4. Have a balanced diet and pay attention to what you eat. In short, eat right.

5. Avoid isolation. Find someone to love and something to keep you engaged.

6. Relax. Don’t let stress eat you up. The older people get, the more they seem to understand that it doesn’t pay to sweat the small stuff.

7. Don’t smoke at all and don’t drink too much.

8. Remain spiritual. Believe in something.

9. Laugh every day. Happiness breeds contentment and laughter remains one of the best medicines.

10. Keep some “spice” in your life. Either in your food, your reading or your love life.

The American Council on Exercise (ACE), a leading authority on fitness and one of the largest fitness certification, education and training organizations in the world, announced its support of the appointment of Dr. Sanjay Gupta, chief medical correspondent for the health and medical unit at CNN, to the role of Surgeon General of the U.S. because of his passion for inspiring Americans to lead healthier, more active lives.

Dr. Gupta’s role as a practicing neurosurgeon and journalist reflects his extensive knowledge and experience in the healthcare industry, as well as his ability to speak candidly about the key health issues that affect Americans. Furthermore, because of Dr. Gupta’s success at initiating programs like “New You Resolution” and “Fit Nation”, which address the challenges Americans face in the battle against obesity, ACE believes that Dr. Gupta, as Surgeon General, can help to make healthy living an integral part of our society.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 34 percent of U.S. adults age 20 and over are obese. Both ACE and Dr. Gupta believe this number can be drastically reduced if Americans can be convinced and encouraged to make a regular habit of engaging in physical activity.