A few times in the last couple of days I have been asked exactly what is it that I wish to change in the fitness industry…. What is it that gets me fired up! I think that my main agenda is to cause club owners in the fitness business to challenge the way they are doing business. It is a necessity for us to become part of the community to cause a change in the overall population. The fact is obesity is an epidemic and the overall well-being of the people in our community are continuing to be affected in greater and greater numbers.

This is a monstrosity of a challenge due to the fact that most people in our community want to feel better, but many of our centers are geared for fit people. The people in the community want to be better; want to weigh less; have more energy; and in general, live a better life. For the most part, we have done a poor job of reaching out to these people. We need to change OUR view from these people being unfit to not yet fit. We need to help them from being a potential or current drain on our healthcare system, to being a positive example of how through better lifestyle choices they change and will be able to help inspire others to feel and be better. We can change the tide of the millions of dollars better spent on diseases that are avoidable. In fact, it’s probably closer to billions of dollars that are caused by lifestyle related diseases. We live in a world of complexity and are inundated every day with tons of choices that do not include movement. The fact of the matter is that the secret to better health in many times could be boiled down to: move more and eat less.

Often, I’m reminded of my own personal challenge to stay fit and healthy. It is so easy to get sidetracked, so easy to find other things to do. Many times, I’m not even sure that it’s by conscious choice that we choose not to move throughout our days. Many times our lives seem to be run by jobs that involve us remaining in a seated position for hours, rather than a standing or walking position. Computers, both at work and home, seem to consume our time. We use TV for relaxation, entertainment, and even educational purposes. We spend time with their family, watching movies, relaxing with our feet up because we are so tired, so drained, so stressed. When is the last time, you can remember, an unfit person telling you that they totally enjoyed an evening walk with their family or even playing in the yard. We’re encouraged and even driven to purchase items that do not encourage or even require movement.

I have to share a little informal study that I did, which involves nothing more than a pedometer, a pencil and paper. I was traveling to an industry conference and decided to measure my steps each day. Knowing that I had a lot on my plate, but having no idea of what I was about to find out, I started my mission. Rising every morning, heading off to shows, conferences, and the trade floor, running back and forth to hear wonderful speakers, my day was full. At the end of the day, my calculated total of steps was over 21,000. I was thrilled based on the national agenda of 10,000 steps a day. I had over doubled the desired amount and it amazed me. Fact of the matter is I didn’t necessarily eat great while I was at this conference. Every night we made sure to visit the cocktail hour and of course I had also indulged in a few libations. The amazing thing was when I returned home I did my post trip weigh in and realized I was actually down 3 pounds over when I left. I continued my study. I returned to my normal work life running a large fitness center and continued to wear the pedometer. At the end of the day my results were shocking! Subtracting out my 60 minutes of planned exercise, I had only walked 5200 steps. The true shock was realizing that I have the reputation of being a high-energy guy. The fact is with a normal American diet, and only 5200 steps a day, I was exhausted at the end of the day! Realization set in and I came to the conclusion that my mental state had affected my psychological state, and tricked my body into feeling that I was exhausted and spent. I came to understand that many Americans experienced less steps a day than this, and most likely consume much more than I did that day. What a recipe for disaster!

So how do we change this? How do we become part of the solution? We need to come to the realization that we need to be a center for the NOT YET FIT, the FIT and everyone in between. In fact, we need to be the place that attracts people that need what we have medically, mentally, physically and emotionally. There’s no way for us to do that with centers full of fit people trying to get fitter. We need to realize that somebody 50 or more pounds overweight is not going to feel comfortable around somebody complaining about the 5 pounds they put on there already lean body. Having a staff of totally fit, energetic and passionate trainers may seem like a great solution except if they are unable to relate to the people we need to attract. We need to reach out and find those places where the unfit people feel that they belong and find ways to make them feel comfortable in our centers. We need to ensure that they feel they can succeed. We need to define that it is a process of small victories, and the joy is experiencing the journey. This can be successfully accomplished by creating groups and even areas of our club that will attract these people and let them know that they fit in. I truly believe that the bottom-line is people want to be around people like themselves. They want to feel understood, and need to feel cared for. They need to feel that we have a genuine interest in changing their lives.

We need to make sure that we involve all areas of our club and take a role in developing a wider focus, that we don’t exclude any size or shape in any class session, seminar or program. We need to make sure that were making our budget plans and our goals in each department that were able to accommodate all three groups.

If we can start to get these people more involved they will help us to attract more of the not yet fit to our centers. Actually I believe that they will come in waves, because we have what they want and need. Once they come together, they will bring others and they will stay longer, because we have the ingredients to make them feel the way they’ve always desired to feel.

Start to change your focus today.

Good Luck,

Tom