Clubindustry

It seems like we‘re still talking about the IHRSA show that ended last month in San Francisco. I guess we just can‘t get over how much fun we had there.

The subject of the IHRSA show came up again in our meeting this afternoon, and in particular the speech made by Frank Abagnale. As you‘ll recall, he‘s the guy featured in the movie “Catch Me If You Can” who lived part of his life as a forger and imposter and is now one of the leading experts in the field of forgery and secure documents. He‘s also had a distinguished career with the FBI.

Well, our colleague who works for another magazine in our office (let‘s just call her “Katie”) couldn‘t help overhearing that we were talking about Frank Abagnale. Not only is she a fan of the movie, for a brief time in her life, she actually dated one of his sons!

Katie graduated from the University of Kansas, and I remember when Abagnale mentioned that two of his three sons graduated from KU (the other went to UNLV). I thought that KU was the main connection here, but Katie actually started dating Frank‘s son in high school growing up in Tulsa, OK. They continued to see each other at KU but have gone their separate ways. He‘s married, and Katie will be married this summer.

Katie couldn‘t say enough nice things about Abagnale and what a caring, loving man he is. With an eye toward journalism in her future, Katie even asked Abagnale if she could do a story on him for the high school newspaper. Not only that, but he later came to her class and gave the speech that we heard in San Francisco. The speech to Katie‘s class was free of charge, but I learned from a story posted on Abagnale‘s Web site (www.abagnale.com) that he commands $27,000 a speech, plus expenses. Makes me want to start leading a life of fraud and forgery, too.

Sadly, Katie will be leaving us soon, but she won‘t be going far (just one floor down). The only time we‘ll catch Katie now is if we bump into her going in or out of elevators.

I suppose, if the mood strikes, that we could actually make a trip to see her once in a while, too. -Stuart

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

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

After wrapping up at the MYE booth, I headed with Jennipher to Life Fitness for a chat with Jack Hough about the iPod docking station offered on Life Fitness’ new treadmill (it’s not offered on other Life equipment just yet). Users can toggle between the TV, radio and iPod. The equipment also charges the iPod, something that Jennipher was particularly excited about (I’m a bit behind in my technology purchases and have not yet invested in an iPod or similar type personal entertainment device–please refrain from laughing).

Life Fitness also offers a USB (packaged as a wrist band) to help customize the user experience. The USB helps the user download new workouts and save their workout summary.

The equipment also offers a virtual trainer option that I felt replaced the confusing “random,” “manual,” “cardio,” and other options that so many users ignore to go straight to “quick start.” The virtual trainer option instead offers an illustration of a person next to the words “virtual trainer,” something that I think might peek enough curiosity in users that they’ll check it out. - Pam

So, I made it to early morning workouts today and enjoyed quite the workout on the Cybex ArcTrainer and then a little more working out on the Technogym Wave, which I hadn’t tried before. At first, I found the Wave a little awkward, but it didn’t take long to get the hang of it.

After showering off and changing back at the hotel, I headed back to the exhibit hall for a 10 a.m. press conference at the MYE Entertainment booth where Tony Garcia, president of MYE, was happy to tell all the press in attendance about the company’s new global distribution and product development partnership with Star Trac. This deal means that MYE’s entertainment products (including wireless 900 MHz, 800 MHz and FM systems; personal LCD TVs; Netpulse N4i broadband entertainment system; and MYE Netpulse fitness download station for downloads of motivational fitness training programs) will now be available on Star Trac equipment. Randy Borgsted with Star Trac was particularly excited about having these options on the company’s new E Series total body trainers, bikes, steppers and treadmills (which also offer connectivity for iPod and other USB-powered personal media devices).

Grace Lazenby of iTrain then spoke about the programs that her company was creating to be downloaded onto MYE’s FitP3 players. It seems that downloadable training programs are the way to go more and more at clubs, something I’m sure might make some club owners and especially personal trainers nervous, but I don’t think a downloadable program will ever completely replace the person-to-person contact of a personal training session. -Pam