Shaping up

In 1965 when Joe Gold opened his first gym in Venice, Calif., he envisioned a steady stream of satisfied customers with washboard- ribbed stomachs and biceps that dared the cotton threads of a T-shirt to hold together.

After all, his then-protege, Arnold Schwarzenegger, became world-famous as a muscle-rippling poster extolling the benefits of pumping iron.

Together, Gold and Schwarzenegger would change the fitness world.

Forty years later, the fitness world has indeed changed.

But Gold,who died one year ago at age 82, might not recognize the changes that are occurring in the health and fitness centers that bear his name.

"Gold's isn't the same Gold's that first began in the 1960s," says Nick Clark, sales manager of two franchised outlets in the Truckee Meadows.

One, a 34,000-square-foot facility, just opened on Longley Lane in south Reno, and a second is scheduled for a February or March opening in Spanish Springs just east of Pyramid Highway between Disc Drive and Los Altos.

It will be a twostory, 45,000-square-foot structure.

Gold's is not alone in discovering northern Nevada.

Others are joining in the competition for their share of an increasingly larger health and fitness money pie, and existing centers are gearing up to meet new competition.

Clearly, the health and fitness industry is enjoying a resurgence in the number of club openings across the nation and in membership sales.

A survey by Mintel International Group suggests that health and fitness clubs will constitute a $15 billion industry next year.

Driving this growth trend is the Baby Boomer generation which, by next year,will push health and fitness club memberships in this country past the 40 million mark.

Considering another study found that 59 million adults in this nation are obese, club owners are hearing ca-ching, ca-ching sounds and are expected to pump up their marketing efforts to this older segment of the population.

While several other new clubs have opened recently in the greater Reno/Carson City market, Clark says he doesn't think the competition is as intense as it may be in another three to five years.

"We did a lot of market research over the last three years and found there was a need,"he says.

Even a spokesperson for the nonprofit YMCA of the Sierra agrees the market is probably there.

"The surveys we've seen suggest that fewer than 10 percent of the population will join fitness clubs," says Julie Starkie, vice president for philanthropy and communications."So,we are not surprised that the number of clubs has increased.

But adult fitness is not part of the Y mission.

Our mission is to help young people and, at the same time, provide an outlet for others.

We are into community building."

Since the first of the year and following announcement of two Gold's gym openings, Carson City-based Eagle Fitness opened a facility in Sparks, the 100,000-square-foot Stadium with a wide array of health and fitness tenants opened in the South Meadows of Reno, and the Saint Mary's Center for Health and Fitness opened in downtown Reno.

Chris Watkins,manager of the Sparks and Carson City Eagle Fitness centers, says the perceived need for more facilities has been proven out since the Sparks center opened in the late spring.

"It has already surpassed the Carson City facility in just a few months, so that tells us we were on to something,"he says.

Watkins said his firm is talking with Carson-Tahoe Hospital in the state's capital city seeking to get tie-ins with businesses.

"As health care costs keep rising, a lot of businesses in California and other states have already entered into agreements between medical centers and health and fitness centers, and we hope to see that trend develop here," he says.

"There is definitely interest out there."

Like others in the business,Watkins believes there is strong demand for good health and fitness clubs.

"I am aware that one nationally franchised fitness center has lost some members this year as new clubs have opened,"he says."That is likely to happen, especially if management allows their facilities to get run down."

Double Diamond Athletic Club,meanwhile, said last week it hired M Home, a Reno design and furniture dealer, to handle a $75,000 remodeling of the locker rooms at its south- Reno facility.

Locker rooms, club executives say, are among the most important factors in determining whether a consumer will join a gym.

The locker room project is part of an $800,000 upgrade of Double Diamond Athletic Club undertaken by its owner, Mike Shirley.

Among the plans: A 4,000-square-foot center for kids' athletic training and an additional exercise studio to allow for more class offerings.

Clearly the "Cadillac" of the new entrants into the health and fitness market is the new Saint Mary's Center for Health and Fitness.

It is operated by Power Wellness of Arlington Heights, Illinois, a medically-based center that partners with hospitals.

Sarah Rosenberg, executive director for the new Saint Mary's center, says the activities are those that have essentially been designed and approved by the hospital.

The center, she says, incorporates a combination of exercise, nutrition and education that follows a personalized health assessment by a degreed fitness specialist.

"All of our fitness specialists have degrees in either exercise science or exercise physiology," she says."We also have an outpatient nutrition and diabetes wellness center and will soon be rolling out a 12-week weight management program that will include a three-month membership."

Most of the fitness centers are experiencing a sharp increase in members who are over 50 and Saint Mary's is no exception.

"We are seeing a lot of people who are either new to exercise or those who have been away for awhile,"Rosenberg says.

Included at the facility are private massage therapy rooms, aerobic studios and stretching areas, a warm water therapy pool, an indoor cushioned walk or jogging track, a three lane lap pool and a cardiovascular training area.

The Stadium sport and fitness club seems more geared toward families and offers in addition to free weights and cardio equipment batting cages, basketball, volleyball, racquetball, a physical therapy center, age management, pilates, kick boxing, yoga,a kids club, and a pro shop.

The club is also used by many professional athletes for off-season training.

"This market can definitely handle the new influx of health and fitness clubs," says Lorinda Leite, general manager of Nevada Fitness in Reno."It's good to be challenged by new entrants.We used to be a women-only center, but we changed our model some 18 months ago and now try to serve the needs of the entire family."

And for women who prefer to work out in the company of other women, there is the Texas-based Curves which now boasts 56 outlets throughout Nevada, 18 in northern Nevada.