Clubindustry

President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama have been busy creating awareness for better fitness and better fitness club benefits for all. more

I’ve received a few phone calls and e-mails about the tanning tax that goes into effect on July 1. It seems that a lot of club operators who offer tanning services have not been contacted by the IRS about the tax. more

The economy has affected many club operators these days, but I recently heard from a mixed martial arts club operator who says that he was dealt a punch by a very different source recently. more

This photo I ran across recently reminds me of how creative U.S. troops are getting with fitness in the field. more

Starting next month, companies that provide tanning bed services are required to add a 10 percent tax on the service as part of the health care reform bill passed by Congress earlier this year. more

Our June cover story focuses on clubs outside the United States. In the article, we profile two Americans who are enjoying success with their World Gym Taiwan clubs.

This photo wasn’t quite the right fit in the magazine, so this post gives us a chance to show you John Caraccio (left in this photo), the World Gym Taiwan president, and Michael Sanciprian (right in this photo), the CEO of World Gym Taiwan, in a promotional shot. This post also gives us a chance to use one of the headlines we kicked around in our headline meeting. (Gym World…World Gym…get it?)

Together, Caraccio and Sanciprian have built a combined 15 World Gyms in Taiwan and hope for many more in the near future. We first heard about them nearly two years ago. It’s nice we finally got around to reporting about their success. more

By the time Bill Rancic speaks at the Club Industry show on Oct. 8 in Chicago, he will have a new book out, and his TV show will be in its third season. Those are the scoops I got from Rancic in our interview yesterday.

Rancic, the first winner of Donald Trump’s TV show “The Apprentice,” told me that his own reality TV show, “Guiliana and Bill,” was just picked up for its third season and begins shooting in a couple of weeks. The show stars, of course, Bill and his wife, Guiliana Rancic, a host on The E! Network. The couple also has a book in the works titled “I Do…Now What? Stories and Advice from America’s Favorite Couple” that is due out in September.

The “Guiliana and Bill” show, which can be seen on the Style Network or E!, was one of many topics of our conversation. We also talked about The Donald (of course), the recent “Celebrity Apprentice” finale, Rancic’s fitness routine (he ran five miles the morning of our interview) and what club operators can do to improve their business. more

I love chocolate milk! OK, love is a strong word, but my feelings toward chocolate milk approximate love. So I was extra excited to see the American College of Sports Medicine’s recent release noting two studies that show fat-free chocolate milk might be a good post-exercise recovery drink. What luck! Now I can save my chocolate milk cravings for after exercise as a little reward—and the reward might actually help my body (as long as I don’t go overboard with it, I suppose). more

These reports about an alleged blackmailing scheme at the University of Kansas related to loaned fitness equipment to KU athletic director Lew Perkins made me wonder whether manufacturers really do loan out machines for potential customers to try out before buying it? Or maybe only if there are high-priced sports tickets at stake?! And if the equipment was a loaner, why didn’t the company take it back?

Sadly, KU has been the focus of another investigation about illegal ticket sales. Days before this latest hoopla (pun intended), KU released a report that found several former employees and a consultant sold nearly 20,000 men’s basketball and football tickets worth $1 million to $3 million for personal gain from 2005 to 2010. Can you say wheeling and dealing?

Are you working with an intern this summer? It’s a great way to give back to the fitness industry and perhaps find your club a future personal trainer, manager or marketing person. more