Clubindustry

So, how long do we have to wait for a fitness revolution? According to Malcolm Gladwell, author of “Blink” and “Tipping Point,” not long. Any revolution can happen almost overnight.

Gladwell was the keynote speaker yesterday at the IHRSA conference (sporting a tamed-down hairdo that made him look less like a mad scientist). He spoke about how people always think change takes time, but true revolutions often happen quickly. For example, when radios first came out, few people bought them. They saw no need for them as they were marketed as a way to hear the news—and at that time in the United States, most cities had five or more newspapers, so people were inundated with news. more

Yesterday morning’s all-conference gathering began with a few awards and a not-so-award-worthy performance. (Although it was fun to see the IHRSA board loosen up.) more

After the keynote presentation, I made my way to the Hard Rock Hotel, where Club One was hosting a reception in the Float Lounge, a swank and moodily lit location. I had a chance to meet to speak with Sal Pelligrino of Les Mills, who was excited about the company’s “The Future of the Fitness Industry” white paper. Pelligrino was speaking with Karen Woodard-Chavez, consultant and owner of Premium Performance, Boulder, CO. Woodard-Chavez is one of our columnists, so I picked her brain for ideas about upcoming stories related to what U.S. clubs can learn from clubs in other countries. We also talked about the reasons women entrepreneurs don’t grow their businesses like male entrepreneurs do and what good customer service really is. more

After sitting in on the REX Roundtables, I headed to the awards presentation and keynote address.

The Associate Member of the Year award went to Balanced Body, which was represented by its president, Ken Endelman. The award, which is presented to a company for its contributions to IHRSA and the fitness industry, went to Balanced Body this year because of its innovation and its commitment to the integrity of Joseph Pilates equipment, which it provides to studios, health clubs, rehabilitation facilities and individual consumers globally, according to IHRSA. Through Balanced Body University, the company provides access to Pilates instructor training programs as well as continuing education opportunities, offering a network of more than 50 educators for assistance with Pilates programming and certification. more

I arrived in San Diego yesterday afternoon to a partly cloudy day and intermittent sprinkles. However, that didn’t stop the IHRSA 2010 show, which was in full swing with seminars yesterday.

I headed over to the San Diego Convention Center to catch the last portion of the REX Roundtables. Unfortunately, a 90-minute rain delay prevented me from sitting in on any of the roundtables, but I did get to hear Bo Burlingham, editor-at-large for Inc., offer the keynote, which focused on small business giants. Burlingham is the author of the Inc. article about Joe Cirulli, founder of Gainesville Athletic Club, which he considers a small giant. more

With today’s opening of the International, Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association (you know it better as IHRSA) show in San Diego, Club Industry will be there covering all the latest (equipment) and greatest (events) through Saturday. more

Last week, I was in Boulder, CO, and had the pleasure of taking a tour of the new Colorado Athletic Club, managed by Wellbridge. It’s actually one of two new facilities in Colorado for Wellbridge. (The other is in Denver.) The interior design fits right into the Boulder “outdoorsy” feel, using natural stone and earth tone colors. more

This article in USA Today got me thinking. It talks about a military investigation into why commanders sent soldiers from Fort Wainwright, AK, back to Iraq after doctors recommended that they lay low and recuperate from existing wounds. It cites Army statistics that found 16 percent of soldiers are non-deployable this year, many of those because of health problems.

A companion piece to the article also stated that “between 2006 and 2008, bad backs, strained knees and other ailments increased from 1.4 million cases in the overall military to 1.9 million, according to Defense Department records.” more