The "New" Bricks & Mortar Fitness Model Must Include Engaging Programming

This morning I woke early, to get my workout in at Stone Creek Health Club and Spa. Before leaving I took a peak at my twitter feed and Rasmus Ingersolv, CEO of Fresh Fitness in Norway, asked me to check out an article. Ironically the NYT article by Catherine Saint Louis "Full Service Gyms Feel a Bit Flabby" quoted friend Michael Scott Scudder. Here is an excerpt with some of what Michael said:

For all their ads promising to stir motivation, gyms have failed to do so. “Up until the last six years, it’s been relatively easy to sell memberships, and to replace people going out the back door with people coming through the front door,” said Michael Scott Scudder, a consultant who advises health clubs and conducts up to 15 industry surveys annually. “Not so anymore. We’ve come to a point that we can’t sell enough membership in the industry to cover the attrition rate.”

I share a close and warm relationship with Michael and am always glad to see him share his views on the fitness industry. While some have called him a "doom and gloomer", I think there is truth in many of his observations and he has a devout following. You see the dirty little secret is that many gyms are in the business of selling memberships hoping members don't show up and forget they're on EFT.

Ask most club owners why they do not want to contact members who are not coming to the facility and you'll get an answer like this : "I don't want them to realize they are paying for something they don't use. They'll cancel." That reflects some of the prominent and backward thinking in the fitness business and its killing the industry as a whole. Its also opening the door for some savvy operators to jump in a compete in new ways. As the article points out:

Historically, “People who take personal training and do group fitness classes are more likely to stick with a gym,” said Tony Santomauro, a fitness consultant with 35 years of industry experience. But too often health clubs don’t understand they “should be a support system for people,” said Mr. Scudder, the health club adviser. “It’s merely four walls to come in, work out and leave.” Only a fifth of gym members take part in group fitness on average industrywide, said Ms. Conrad, adding that these days instead of packing in more cardio machines, “good quality health clubs are returning to emphasizing group exercise.”

Engaging more members (I like to call them customers) using social and effective programming, like group fitness really works. Its one of the reasons my company fitmarc represents the Les Mills brand (we service over 600 facilities customers with Les Mills). You can't service members more efficiently or engage them as effectively with quality (let me emphasize that again QUALITY) group programming.

What do you think ? Do you agree with the experts that group fitness is a key component to success ? Do you think that quality group programming can be an effective means of engaging customer members and what do you think about Les Mills programming ? Contact me, Bryan O'Rourke, and share your views and if I can help you deliver better group programming for your wellness or fitness facility just let me know.

Karl Droppers & The MVP Sports Clubs Team

I really enjoy sharing my views on the fitness industry and how organizations can adopt new thinking and disciplines to achieve success. Its rewarding and fun to work with leaders of fitness and wellness organizations; its what we at fitmarc and integerus do everyday. So I was thrilled this week when I got to see Karl Droppers, President at MVP Sports Clubs, in person, along with his entire team during their strategic meeting in Orlando. I shared views on where the fitness industry has come, where its going and how organizations can adapt to deal with the changes ahead. Karl reached out to me after attending my IHRSA webinar in 2010 on how the bricks and mortar fitness business is changing.

Karl is a great leader and it is refreshing to work with an experienced professional who is open minded and recognizes the degree of change that is happening in the industry. Because of his forward thinking, I think good things are in store for his organization.

MVP Sports Clubs is an interesting and successful operation with facilities in Orlando and Michigan. The Orlando facility where the strategic meeting occured, which is called RDV Sports, is a huge complex of 365,000 sq. ft. that includes multiple ice rinks. The facility is incredible.

I also got to catch up with long time friend and associate Benny Hardouin, who I knew from my association with Franco's Athletic Club. The team was enjoyable with many senior people and a nice group of fresh faces. My thanks go out to the team at MVP Sports. I enjoyed meeting all of you.

I'm curious; when was the last time your organization had a quality strategic meeting ? Have you benefited from some fresh thinking about the future and where you are or could be taking your fitness or wellness business ? Let me, Bryan O'Rourke, know what you think. Please share your views. Is it helpful to have an outside fresh perspective when you are planning for the future ? If so who would you look to for that guidance ?

Can Health Clubs Achieve Renewed Growth ? Yes - By Applying New Disciplines

I get to hear from a lot of leaders in the fitness industry and as a result I learn a lot. As we know, the health club industry saw tremendous growth for a number of years that slowed significantly as the result of the rapid surge in competition and a slowing economy. Now, with the economy rebounding what should we learn from the past as we proceed to the future ? This is a timely question and I have a view - the health club industry needs to approach new opportunities with new disciplines.

Its time to rethink how we approach new business development in general as opposed to just picking up where we left off during the last boom.  Here's how. Professor Rita McGrath, in the clip below, outlines key disciplines essential to what she terms discovery driven growth. Central to her message is that leaders and managers should recognize the higher level of uncertainty that exists in business today and adapt their growth process accordingly. Rita is right, and the health club industry should heed her warning. As Rita explains, companies must apply new approaches. Could this be relevant for club operators ? I think so and her views are timely.

Watch the video below, share your thoughts and tell me Bryan O'Rourke: how can the health club industry best achieve new growth? Do you think Rita McGrath is correct ? Is the barrier to growth in the heallth club business more a function of how we approach growth as anything else ? Must health clubs change their assumptions about club operations, the marketplace and growth strategies to achieve better results and how ? I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

How Does The Fitness Industry Change Its Mindset ?

The facts are that while the fitness and wellness industry has grown over the past quarter century, obesity and health quality in the developed world have not improved.  Many argue they've gotten worse. The fitness industry still serves about 15% of the adult population while failing to broaden its appeal to the not yet fit. Something is broken because things have not improved and I fear the industry is failing to reach its promise and as a result, things need to change - but how ?

Innovation; as Vijay Govindarajan, Professor at the Tucks School of Business at Dartmouth and co-author of 10 Rules for Strategic Innovators , is about 2 major things. First, leaders must accept things ARE changing and figure out how to adapt accordingly. Second, leaders must understand change is NOT a technical problem its a MINDSET problem. Therefore to enable a business or even an industry to adapt one must introduce NEW mindsets.

In the fitness industry this means having the courage to bring in fresh voices from outside the industry. It also requires new performance measures, the embracement of collaboration, and developing a culture that tolerates or even rewards failure.

What do you think ? Contact me Bryan O'Rourke and share your views. How can the fitness industry change its mindset ? Is there a reluctance to bring in new voices ? Do you think the fitness and wellness industry should change its thinking if it is going to truly have a real impact on the quality of more people's lives ? Do you believe intiatives like the Weekly Fitness Challenge reflect new ways of doing things that can make a difference ? Let me hear your views !

Best Buys Foray Into Fitness Is Just The Beginning

Maybe you noticed during your holiday shopping back in December; I know I did. After testing a pilot program last year, Best Buy rolled out health devices and fitness products at 600 Best Buy stores and online at BestBuy.com. Products are on display in a 30 ft. long health and fitness presentation area, which enables consumers to sample devices before they purchase them. Available products include state-of-the-art heart rate monitoring watches, blood-pressure monitors, pedometers, scales and other products from leading manufacturers.

Chris Koller, VP portable electronics solutions group at Best Buy recently had this to say, “We clearly tapped into a desire for Best Buy to provide the latest and greatest technology to enhance health regimens, and to help people discover how they can integrate these devices with other personal technology to monitor and share their progress, and to stay motivated.”

What does this mean ? Its just the beginning to the new wave of wellness devices that will rely on cloud technologies to enable the collection of data for purposes of monitoring and motivating people to be healthy and the health club industry better take notice. As I've written before, wireless wellness is a potential threat to bricks and mortar delivery of fitness and wellness. As smartphone and cloud technologies proliferate we will see more product solutions emerge to fit this growing market.

A recent blood pressure device is an example of a new product in this category. French gadget maker Withings is launching a blood pressure cuff combined with the intuitive, feel-good design of an iPhone app. It's compatible with iPod, iPhone, and iPad; saves your readings automatically; connects automatically with cloud-based personal health tools like Microsoft HealthVault and Google Health; and graphically displays your measurements in context against recommendations from the World Health Organization.

As mobility and cloud trends come main stream, a new world of competition and opportunities for the fitness and wellness industry will result. Contact me, Bryan O'Rourke, and tell me what you think . Do you see the foray of Best Buy into fitness and these new series of products as a threat or opportunity for health clubs ?