Clubindustry

Although San Francisco is a great city and the show was great –jampacked with sessions, events, and plenty of products to see and try — sometimes there’s nothing better than going home. On Saturday afternoon, Pam, Stuart and I boarded our flight back to Kansas City, MO, satisfied with time well spent at the show. For more on the show (including photos), be sure to check out our April issue. –Jennipher

For my last early morning workout of the trip, I decided to hit the trade show floor and try as many cardio pieces as I could in 50 min (I wanted a bit more time but hit snooze too many times…zzz). First, I jumped on the aforementioned Ascent Trainer for 10 (nice, smooth), followed by a one-mile jog on Life Fitness’ latest tread (so mad that in my rush to get out of the hotel I forgot my ipod which can directly plug in and charge on this piece of equipment), 10 more minutes on the Cybex Arc Trainer (feels like moon walking to me, which I really like), and a final 10 minutes on Technogym’s Cardio Wave (a funky, fun, lateral, side-stepping stairmaster/elliptical machine).

Covered in sweat and happily out of breath, I grabbed a cup of coffee, a bagel with light cream cheese and enjoyed my well earned breakfast on the way back to the hotel. –Jennipher

To borrow a phrase from our regular column at the back of our magazine, here‘s “one last thought” about our trip to the IHRSA show in San Francisco:

I met personally with two manufacturers - Body-Solid and Octane Fitness - at the show. I think what Body-Solid, which introduced a multi-station strength machine, and Octane Fitness, which introduced a new elliptical machine, had in common was offering people an opportunity to multitask. You see so many machines all over the show floor, and most of them kind of run together over a period of time. The key for these companies is to find some way to connect with people to make them feel better about exercise and make it easier for them as well.

I didn‘t get on the Body-Solid machine, but I did go back Saturday morning to try the Octane Fitness elliptical. It wasn‘t bad, but after 10 minutes, I was ready to throw in the towel (and throw up). They offered me a muffin afterward, but I declined, thinking that I might toss up the muffin I had before the workout.

From all the speakers I heard, they all had one commonality in their messages: take risks; don‘t be afraid to fail. No one wants to fail or even attempt to fail, but it‘s more gratifying to know that you tried and did not succeed rather than not trying at all, especially if you try again, and it‘s an even bigger success. The bigger the risk, the bigger the reward. This applies to all walks of life.

Overall, it was a great show. The folks at the Moscone Center, where the show was located, did a great job, too. I learned during the show that the Moscone Center was named after former San Francisco mayor George Moscone, who was assassinated in 1978 along with another city official. I found this out when I read the obituary of Moscone‘s press aide, Mel Wax, who died Thursday.

One last thought about celebrity sightings. After seeing Clint Eastwood on Thursday, I saw Fabio on Friday. Fabio was in the Fitness Business News booth, probably because there was story on the new magazine‘s cover about him and his new 365 Fitness franchise. I don‘t think Fabio visits every publication that writes a story about him. Just a guess.

The weather, by the way, was chamber-of-commerce-esque. San Francisco is one of the most beautiful cities I‘ve ever visited. I‘ll have to come back another time, with or without an IHRSA show. –Stuart

On Friday night, Pam, Jenn and I got all dolled up (no makeup here) and headed to the Black & Blue Bash For Augie‘s Quest, a fund-raiser to help find a cure for ALS, the disease that has stricken industry legend Augie Nieto.

The emcee was Summer Sanders, Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer. “Inside Stuff” co-host Ahmad Rashad wasn‘t around, but Bahram Akradi was. You might recall that Akradi, the CEO of Life Time Fitness, recently pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge after he allegedly cut off a kid in a high school parking lot, then tried to pull the kid from his car. At Friday‘s event, Akradi put up a bid of $50,000 for Augie‘s Quest and urged people to match it. (The event raised close to $2 million.)

The guest speaker was Mitch Albom, the sports columnist and author of the best-seller “Tuesdays with Morrie.” It‘s hard to believe that it‘s been 10 years since Albom wrote about his college professor whom he befriended as he was dying from ALS. Augie thought it would be neat to get an autographed copy of the book, and when Albom heard about this and Augie‘s condition, he delivered one in person.

Like Akradi, Albom has had his share of controversy. Two years ago, at about this time, Albom was suspended from his newspaper, the Detroit Free Press, after he wrote a column that was factually inaccurate. He wrote about how two former Michigan State players were cheering on their team at the Final Four. The trouble was, they weren‘t at the game. I think if you‘re rich and/or famous like Akradi or Albom, you‘re able to get away with minor transgressions and still be able to do good deeds, like they did Friday night.

After an auction, where a couple of the prizes were a trip to next year‘s Beijing Olympics and a trip to the U.S. Open tennis tournament, John Ondrasik performed for the crowd. Ondrasik is lead singer in the band Five For Fighting, which is the term used in hockey when a player goes to the penalty box for five minutes after getting into a fight. Ondrasik, sans the other members of his band, played the band’s three big hits, including “100 Years,” which was set to a montage of Augie‘s photos throughout his life. A poignant song, a poignant individual, a poignant evening. — Stuart

The best speaker I saw and heard at the show was a man who might not have much longer to live.

Augie Nieto, an industry legend, spoke during the show on Friday and at his party later that night at the Marriott called the Black & Blue Bash for Augie‘s Quest. Augie, who is in his late 40s, has ALS, or Lou Gehrig‘s disease. Since he was diagnosed two years ago (when a doctor told him, “You should get your affairs in order”), Augie and his wife, Lynne, have raised millions of dollars to find a cure.

When he sent out an e-mail after his diagnosis, one of his friends made a profound statement in his reply. He said it may be Lou Gehrig‘s disease, but it will be known as Augie Nieto‘s cure.

Augie is in a wheelchair and can‘t move his arms or hands, but he spoke pretty well for a man in his condition. All the while, Lynne was there to wipe his mouth or to stop his leg from shaking.

Besides being motivational both with his words and presence, Augie was pretty funny, too. He had a Top 10 list entitled, “Top Ten Reasons Why it is Good to Have ALS.” Many of the items had to do with the “pluses” of interacting with women, from adhering to the no-hands policy at a strip club to asking a woman to help you with your zipper. What a sense of humor.

You could understand how a man in Augie‘s position would want to live life to the fullest, but even Augie said how important it is to pace yourself. His message: Life is not about the number of breaths you take, it‘s about the number of breaths taken away. -Stuart

Friday morning I managed to get up and to the convention center by 7:35 for the Jazzercise Kick it to the Core early morning workout class. I’m kind of embarrassed to admit that this was my first Jazzercise class. (As a group ex instructor myself, I’m not sure how and why I’ve never been to one, but this was a great one to attend as it was led by the creator Judi Sheppard Missett.) Using a stability ball, resistance tubing and high energy cardio moves, the room of easily more than a 100 got a dang good cardio and core workout.

It being my first class, I was also struck with how different the Jazzercise crowd was from, say, the BodyPump crowd from Thursday morning. Both classes had their diehards (almost like groupies to the lead instructors), and both were filled with fun and enthusiasm. However, the Jazzercise class had a much larger variety of body types, ages and races. I know that as fitness professionals we’re supposed to be walking models of health and wellness with firm abs, strong arms and legs, and steady at an ideal weight, but this group of all ages and sizes was inspiring. Although all fitness professionals should, of course, practice what they preach, there’s something to be said for having attainable fitness role models. –Jennipher

Friday afternoon I headed to the north side of Moscone to meet with a brand new company and program, Brainsavers. The three-pronged program includes nutrition, exercise and cognitive exercises with a soon-to-be certification for personal trainers and a current offering of a book on the program, nutritional bars and logs. The program also includes a CD of cognitive games that are scientifically proven to improve brain function. I met with the creator, Dr. Paul Bendheim, who graciously explained the program, answered my questions and even let me try a bar (tasty!). I’m sure we’ll hear more from this company as they’re currently developing software to help improve driving skills and working with insurance companies for reimbursement. –Jennipher

Later that day, Pam and I headed to Exerstrider, a maker of new walking poles. Pam received a set in the mail as a new product submission weeks ago and, truthfully, we had no idea the right way to use them. Fortunately, we were able to get a full how-to training from the Exerstrider creator, Tom Rutlin. Although he said himself to be in his late 50s, Tom easily looked 20 years younger with a trim waist, upbeat attitude and energetic personality. He credits his youthful appearance and attitude to the poles.

You don’t use the poles like hiking poles. Instead, you push off with them from slightly behind you, alternating your arm and leg movement.

It’s fair to say that Pam and I didn’t quite “get it” at first. It took us several treks down the exhibit hall floor aisle, including one with Tom himself between the two of us, humming a common marching tune to get us to “stop thinking” so much. Once we got it, we both could feel how the poles help engage your upper body — and thankfully I feel like we can use the poles without humming “When the Saints Go Marching In” (although Tom is quite musically gifted). –Jennipher

One of the best things about going to any of these fitness industry trade shows is the chance to try out all the latest fitness equipment and see the most up-to-date technology. Pam, Stuart and I met with Glynis Gibson at the Matrix booth in Moscone South for a quick demo and more info on their latest release, the Ascent Trainer. After hopping on in our business casual clothes (in fact, Pam and I were nicknamed the “jean jacket twins” as we coincidentally packed and wore very similar outfits), we felt the smoothness of this elliptical immediately. We also all noticed its more compact footprint, its sleek design and its easy step-through. –Jennipher

So many manufacturers have caught onto a similar theme, it seems, of products that allow members to track their workouts and products that allow them to view new workouts.

Jenn, Stuart and I visited Companion Worlds’ booth late this afternoon to view Progio, its new online personal training product that offers 40 to 50 preprogrammed workouts on a hand-held device.

“We are like an iPod,” said Dirk Bartels, CEO of Companion Worlds, except that an iPod doesn’t give users a lot of the workout information that the Progio can. He says that Progio makes a Web site portable to anywhere in a club that a member is working out–from a treadmill to a mat to a piece of strength equipment. For each exercise, the device tells the user how many reps they should do and it can even show the user a video of how to do the exercise. More programs can be added to the device through a USB port.

Dirk suggested that personal trainers could offer the device as part of their service. I’ve come to the conclusion that with all of these online personal training devices and downloadable programs, personal training will soon change forever. And that could be a good thing indeed for personal trainers and club members. -Pam