Kathie Davis, executive director of IDEA, The Health & Fitness Source, San Diego, Calif., has observed the transformation of group exercise over the last 10 years. According to Davis, even 10 years ago, members were beginning to show signs of diversification. “After the implementation of dance-exercise, jazz aerobics and high impact, the interest of exercising in a group dynamic became more and more appealing,” she says. “It didn’t take long for this interest to evolve into an explosion of programming.”
For many long-time members, working out, especially indoors, has become boring. Club members who used to come in to work out for workout’s sake now have more specific goals for “training.” Many are part-time athletes who allocate time to train. Some only come to the club for a specific group activity each week. Many, in general, have some sort of physical injury or limitation that forces them to modify or specialize their fitness activities. The health club is becoming a reliable place to find not just a workout, but an education about health and fitness.
“Beyond weights and aerobics, the challenge for health clubs is to create programs that offer special interest activities appealing to athletes, kids, families — all ages, all goals and accommodating all limitations,” says industry analyst Dave LeCompte. He calls this transformation the “multi-sport club movement.” The mission of this “movement” is to sell the concept of the ultimate cross-training experience, with everything under one roof similar to Sports Nation in Portland, Ore.
Long before many clubs offered this type of “alternative” programming, Crunch Fitness went out on a limb to offer innovative group programs for one reason: because members wanted them. Classes like Gospel Aerobics, inline skating and a new basic athletic training class called Firefighter Training (taught by fire fighters) provide variety, both indoors and out. According to Crunch spokesperson Lisa Mortman, regardless of the program, group exercise classes emphasize diversity, fun and the right teaching staff. “We were founded by average, everyday folks — not bodybuilders or models,” says Mortman. “Slightly out of shape people … that’s our roots. All of our instructors are completely approachable, care about member experiences and have a wide variety of expertise; many are professional athletes and coaches.”