Home > Fit City > Archives > gyms category
gyms
May 14, 2012
BodyBusiness offers free teen memberships this summer
Look around. More than a third of adolescents today are overweight or obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
That means they’re likely to be obese as adults. They’re also more at risk for heart disease, diabetes, stroke, cancer and osteoarthritis.
Hoping to do its part to slow that trend, BodyBusiness gyms are offering free workouts to teen-agers this summer. It’s part of a national program called Teen Fitness Connection, done in partnership with the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association.
Teens who live in zip codes surrounding the gym’s two locations can register to workout for free from 1:30 to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday during June and July.
They’ll have access to the gym’s cardio equipment and weights, plus classes developed just for teens ranging from yoga to kick boxing, and dance to weight lifting. Special sessions on nutrition and other wellness topics are also planned. A class schedule should be finalized by May 25.
“They’re going to have a lot of stuff to choose from,” says Mendy Dimanoff, general manager of the West Anderson Lane location.
The gym’s employees are donating staff time to put on the program.
“Teen obesity and diabetes is growing faster and faster. If we can help curb that a little bit, it would be fantastic,” Dimanoff says.
Teens must attend be enrolled in high school and live in one of the following zip codes: 78757, 78756, 78759, 78731, 78750, 78746, 78730, 78733, 78735 or 78732. They also must attend an hour-long orientation to learn gym etiquette and how to use the equipment. Orientations begin June 4.
Advance registration is required. To participate at the Body Business at 2700 W. Anderson Lane, email jenny@bodybusiness.com. To participate at the Davenport Village location, 3801 North Capitol of Texas Highway, email carrie_l@bodybusiness.com.
For more information go here.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment Categories: gyms
December 21, 2011
YMCA offers reduced membership fees
Does membership at a fitness club seems impossible in the coming year?
The Austin Family YMCA offers a Membership For All program that offers reduced fees based on household income.
The non-profit club won’t turn anyone away due to financial circumstance, says YMCA president James Finck. Monthly dues are based on annual household income.
To apply for the Membership for All program, bring a copy of your most recent tax return and proof of income (such as pay stubs or Social Security statements) to your nearest YMCA of Austin location and inquire at the Welcome Center.
YMCA of Austin membership includes access to seven branches in Travis and Hays counties, free Fit-Start sessions with a trainer, free group exercise and yoga classes, free child care while you are exercising, use of the gym, pools, racquetball courts and computer lab.
For more information, call 512-322-9622 ex. 130 or visit www.austinymca.org.
Permalink | | Categories: gyms
November 28, 2011
Fitness community mourns loss of Castle Hill Fitness owner
UPDATE:
A memorial service for Paolo Minissi is scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday, Dec. 2 at One World Theater, 7701 Bee Cave Road. A memorial bike ride in his honor will depart Castle Hill Fitness, 1112 N. Lamar Boulevard, at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Condolences to the Castle Hill Fitness family, who lost owner and general manager Paolo Minissi last week.
An email was sent to members of the fitness club, 1112 Lamar Boulevard, over the weekend, informing them of Minissi’s death on Wednesday, Nov. 23.
“Paolo opened the doors of Castle Hill Fitness nine years ago with a vision of building a community devoted to health and fitness,” the message said. “In this moment of great loss, we are reminded of this vision and the legacy of what he built within these walls will continue.”
Plans are in the works for a memorial service this weekend. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made to Austin Yellow Bike Project, 1216 Webberville Road, Austin, TX 78721; http://austinyellowbike.org.
The club will remain open for business but will close for the day of the memorial service.
“Our community here is very much like a family and we will greatly miss the presence of our leader, but his spirit will live on in us all,” the message said.
The following information about Minissi was also included:
“Paolo Ermanno Minissi, 54, of Austin passed away on Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. He will be remembered for his ingenuity, his tenacity, his mischievous sense of humor, and most of all, his kindness to others.
Paolo was born on Feb. 7, 1957 in Genoa, Italy. He attended college in Brussels, Belgium where he obtained a physics degree in 1978. He moved to Austin shortly thereafter to attend a graduate program at the University of Texas, then went on to found several successful businesses, including MetalOptics, The Rowing Dock, and Castle Hill Specialized Fitness. In addition to his business acumen, Paolo was an avid cyclist who enjoyed seeing the world from the seat of his Pinarello. He had an innate ability to make those around him feel special, and to bring out their best. He was a mentor and friend to many, and he will be greatly missed.
Paolo is survived by his daughter, Rita Minissi, of Baltimore; mother, Maria Antonietta Lombardi, sister Rita Minissi and brother-in-law Philippe Mahillon, niece Lidia Mahillon, and nephew Nicolas Mahillon, all of Brussels, Belgium; as well as numerous friends he considered like family. He was preceded in death by his father, Sergio Minissi.
A memorial service in celebration of Paolo’s life will be held. Details to be announced.”
If you knew Paolo or were a member of Castle Hill Fitness, please post here and share what he meant to you.
(Photo above by Austin American-Statesman photographer Larry Kolvoord shows Minissi cycling The High Road during the Das Hugel bike ride in 2005.)
Permalink | Comments (18) | Categories: gyms
July 22, 2011
CrossFit Central women sweep regionals
All that medicine ball heaving, sumo lifting and shuttle running has paid off at Austin’s CrossFit Central.
Three of the gym’s toughest — Carey Kepler, Lindsey Smith and Lisa Bender Thiel — swept the top spots at the 2011 Reebok CrossFit South Central Regionals last month.
The trio now heads to California for the CrossFit Games, the discipline’s world championships, on July 29-31.
“This means that our gym is solely responsible for representing the South Central Region, which includes Texas, Louisianna and Mississippi,” says Susan Bender, communications director for CrossFit Central. “They could not be any more dedicated.”
CrossFit, for the uninitiated, is an exercise program that started in California. Each day, members race the clock — and each other — to complete a sweat-inducing, muscle-quaking session that might include anything from jump roping to “muscle ups” on gymnastics rings (think Vince Vaughn in “Old School,” minus the cigarette), wind sprints or clean lifts with bar bells.
It’s different every day, but trust me, it’s always a killer workout.
Twenty-seven women competed at regionals, held in Tomball, Texas.
Kepler, co-founder of CrossFit Central on Burnet Road, took first. The 36-year-old mother of two placed third in the world at championships in 2009 and 16th in the world last year.
Smith, 28, a teacher and coach at Trinity High School and mother of one, took second. Thiel, 33, operations manager of CrossFit Central, took third.
For more information about the games, go here.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Categories: gyms
March 15, 2011
TownLake YMCA remodel has begun
I’ve been lost in that haphazard maze of facilities known as the TownLake YMCA, so I was excited to learn recently that a $5 million renovation of the place is under way.
Members are in for a year and a half of hammers, saws and drills. Construction is expected to finish in September 2012.
Renderings for the finished product look amazing — an additional 8,000 square feet of modernized space, with more room for cardio and strength equipment, a childcare area five times the size of the existing one, a bigger group exercise studio, more personal training space, an elevator, overhauled pool equipment, shiny new welcome desk and lobby area, plus a “healthy living plaza” with an amphitheater and community gardens.
YMCA officials say the facility will be fully operational during the renovation, except for a week-long closure due to electrical and maintenance work, and a two-week shutdown of the pool. Members can use other YMCA branches during those times.
The rear parking lot will be closed during most of the project, and parking in front of the YMCA will not be available during the second phase of construction.
The men’s locker room will also be closed for two months, but during that time the women’s locker room upstairs will be divided so men have access to facilities.
Childcare facilities will operate out of a secure portable building at the back of the building.
The renovation is being financed through a bank loan and some money from operational reserves. None of the YMCA’s annual fund-raising campaign is being used for the renovation.
Who out there belongs to the Y? Do you like it? Why?
Permalink | | Categories: gyms
February 2, 2011
When it's cold, company gym comes through
Eighteen-degree temps this morning meant no swim practice (pool closed) and no way I was going to pedal to work (I do have my limits.)
Thanks, though, to the new employee gym that opened at the Austin American-Statesman in January, I didn’t have to skip my favorite hour of the day.
I ran for 45 minutes on the treadmill, rode the recumbent bike for 15 minutes and did a little stretching at the Statesman’s new Press Room gym. How cool is that?
I’ve been angling for a company gym for years.
Healthier employees are more productive, more creative and save employers money on insurance. There’s also a kind of bonding with co-workers that happens when you’re sweating it out side by side.
This morning, I chugged away on the treadmill while the company’s chief financial officer ate up the ever-unspooling road on the machine next to me.
Four people wandered in and out, doing time on treadmills and elliptical trainers during the hour I was there.
It’s nice to know my company takes its employees’ health seriously.
It was cold out there this morning, folks. What are you doing to get your exercise in this week?
Permalink | | Categories: gyms
January 14, 2011
Gym members, behaving badly
And you thought the person who shaved his legs in the sauna at your health club was bad?
Wait until you read this blog entry in AthleticBusiness, a publication geared toward people who work in the fitness business.
You’ll wish leg shaving was all that was going on at the gym!
It’s January, the busiest time of the year at fitness centers. New members are crowding area weight rooms, swimming pools and aerobics classes.
It can be a trying time for the regulars, who have been going to the gym — no matter what the calendar says — for years.
So, what’s your biggest pet peeve?
Seen anything that tops what was reported in AthleticBusiness?
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: gyms
December 13, 2010
Working out? Leave valuables home
Do you leave your wallet or car keys in a locker when you work out at your fitness center?
Don’t do it.
A rash of break-ins at the fitness center where my swim team practices reminded me that valuables aren’t safe, even if you tuck them in a locker and snap a combination lock on it. (And you’d be surprised at how many folks don’t even bother with the lock.)
A recent memo to users of the fitness center at the Jewish Community Center said this:
“Locks have been cut and lockers have been broken into. Money, jewelry and a car have been stolen.”
The Jewish Community Center isn’t the only gym dealing with break-ins.
“This is a very common occurrence and it happens throughout the city,” said Corporal Scott Perry of the Austin Police Department.
In June, police arrested a 29-year-old woman who allegedly was stealing cars from fitness center parking lots around the city. Targeted gyms included 24 Hour Fitness, Gold’s Gym, Pure Austin and Planet Fitness.
Theft is still a problem.
“They’re going into lockers and taking car keys, purses, wallets — all that stuff,” Perry said. “The victims go outside and find their car gone, their wallet missing or a credit card missing out of their wallet.”
As a result of the thefts, my fitness center has implemented new security measures.
I have to show a photo ID and a program card before I’m allowed in the facility. The open key storage board, where members could hang their keys while they exercised, has been removed. More security cameras are being installed.
The gym now provides locks that members can borrow at no charge. Locks are also available for sale.
“For whatever reason, people go to the gym and bring all their personal belongings. We tell people that’s not safe. Even though they may put their stuff in a locker, the locker may be compromised,” Perry says.
His advice?
Don’t bring personal belongings to the gym.
“If you don’t have to bring it to gym, leave it at home. Bring your ID and your gym membership card, but not your whole purse, so if you are a victim the impact on you is minimal.”
When you get out of your car, check to see if anyone is watching you.
“People sit in the parking lot and watch people get out of their cars, watch them go into the gym, go behind them and find out what locker they are using. That’s how they know what car to go to,” Perry said.
If possible, don’t leave your car key in your locker. “It’s kind of a pain to remove one key from a key ring, but many gym clothes have some sort of a pocket where you can put it,” Perry said.
When you park your car, make sure you lock it. Hide your belonging so there’s no iPod on the dash or $100 sunglasses or wallet stuffed with cash in the console. If you leave it visible, someone might break in and steal it.
If you see anything suspicious, call 911.
Have you ever had anything stolen from the gym?
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: gyms
May 5, 2010
Hyde Park Gym in Muscle & Fitness
Check out the June issue of Muscle & Fitness magazine — it features St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Matt Holliday and Austin’s own Hyde Park Gym.
Holliday spends the off season in Austin, working out at the gym on Guadalupe Street from November through February with Major League Baseball buddies Huston Street and Homer Bailey, says gym owner Brook Jones.
Check out a gallery of photos on the magazine’s website here.
Shots of Holliday scooping chalk out of the bowl before hoisting weights, Holliday hoisting weights, and Holliday with a baseball bat slung over his shoulders. There’s even a shot of the sign taped to the wall at the gym which says “Do Not Drop Your Deadlifts.”
The magazine caught the bare bones appeal of the Austin gym, which is all about weights and muscles.
“The reason all these pro athletes work out here is because of our trainers,” Jones says. “They don’t just come in here and wing it. Our trainers have an average of 15 years experience and a level of instruction you won’t find anywhere else in the state of Texas.”
One of the gym’s trainers just flew to Hawaii to train Adam Sandler.
The gym’s clients include everyone from construction workers to Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Brooklyn Decker, who is married to Andy Roddick, Jones says.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: gyms
January 26, 2010
What's your locker room pet peeve?
A reader reminded me recently that it’s time for a reminder on proper gym etiquette.
Yep, January — the time of year of New Year’s resolutions and new folks at the gym.
“As I pack my bag this morning to head to the gym I am reminded that I better not forget my post-shower cover-up,” reader Judy Natividad wrote.
“Why? Because when I went to the gym this past week, another member had her young son accompany her into the ladies’ locker room, where he got an eyeful of female anatomy. The boy was not a toddler; he must have been at least 4 or 5 years old — hence old enough to have a curious mind. In my opinion, the mom should have used the family locker room. I think that had it been a father taking his young daughter into the men’s locker room, he’d be in handcuffs.”
What do you think? Should kids be allowed in opposite sex locker rooms?
Judy had a few other complaints. One is a pet peeve of mine: Locker room noise.
“On another day this week after my workout I went to the steam room to relax and to quietly unwind, but my peaceful moment of was cut short as two other women were in there gossiping as another played her iPod at a volume loud enough for all to hear.”
I agree, Judy! Often, when I walk into the locker room at my gym, the TV is blaring and no one is listening. Please! I get enough blaring noise in my day. If no one’s watching, please turn it down.
“Finally, there is the issue about respecting each other’s personal space in the locker room,” Judy wrote. “I realize that it is the one place where there is little room for privacy, but at least be respectful of each other’s space. And people need to keep gym bags on the floor so that others can sit at the benches, and they should not hog up the counter space as they do hair or makeup.”
Thanks for the reminders, Judy.
What gym behavior bugs you?
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: gyms
June 22, 2009
Locker room nudity
I’m all about nudity, when appropriate.
I’m always shedding my clothes at home, walking around the house in the buff. It’s comfy. It’s natural. It feels good. I’m all for it!
But hello! At the gym? For extended periods of time?
I’m not saying you can’t be naked. When I get out of the swimming pool, I head to the locker room, peel off my suit, shower up and walk into the changing room naked.
I don’t have a problem with that. That’s necessary nudity, and it’s a dressing room, after all. It’s for changing clothes. That’s fine.
What I’m complaining about is women who stand at the mirror and sink area sans clothing. They put on their makeup, dry their hair, brush their teeth and primp, all ala natural.
The counter is at waist level, if you get my drift.
I put on my undies before I do that.
Thoughts?
Permalink | Comments (10) | Categories: gyms
April 2, 2009
Should gyms provide towels?
Let’s talk towels. Should fitness clubs supply them to members?
The topic comes up because the Townlake YMCA sent a message to its members this week, letting them know that it would discontinue towel service as of April 15. It’s getting too expensive.
Staff members have been considering the move the past few years, according to the message from branch executive Dave Fulscher. They determined:
- The towel service costs the YMCA about $50,000 per year. Half of that expense is for towels. The other half is for staff, utilities and soap. That cost is expected to rise with an increase in membership.
- The YMCA would rather spend that money on equipment and staffing.
- The YMCA now provides more classes and services that members previously had to pay for.
- The YMCA cannot continue to keep up new equipment, provide classes at no extra charge or keep repairing facilities if it keeps investing in a service that depletes so rapidly.
- Membership dues at the YMCA have not increased for many years.
Sounds reasonable to me. I always bring my own towel to my gym anyway. (Something about those scratchy white institutional towels has always turned me off.) Many gyms have never provided a towel service.
Does your gym provide towels? If you are a YMCA member, how do you feel about the change?
Permalink | Comments (4) | Categories: gyms
January 1, 2009
Choosing a gym
Tips for choosing a gym membership
It’s the busiest time of the year for fitness centers. If you’re in the market for a new gym, it pays to take the time to do the research and find a gym that works with your lifestyle. If it’s not close to home, for example, you won’t use it.
Here are some tips from Peter Taunton, founder of Snap Fitness, for picking a gym:
-
1. Affordability: Don’t add extra strain to your monthly budget my purchasing an expensive, over-priced gym membership that will add increased financial pressure to your monthly budget. Choose a fitness center that offers memberships at approximately $1 a day — less than you’d pay for your daily coffee.
- 2. Flexibility: When choosing a gym, look for facilities that don’t require long-term commitments. Consider a fitness center that offers month-to-month memberships. Some gyms even allow members to freeze their memberships when not in use.
- 3. Convenience: Choose a fitness center that is close to your house, your office, your children’s school, etc. You don’t want to spend more time driving to the gym than working out.
- 4. Motivation: Look for a fitness center that offers online health and wellness tools designed to keep you engaged in your new lifestyle, even when you’re not at the club. Some clubs offer members a free personal web page that allows them to track workouts, schedule personal training appointments and plan meals.
- 5. Usability: Tour the facility to determine if it has an environment you’d feel comfortable working out in. Many offer free guest passes. Take advantage of one and look for quality, well-maintained equipment. Make sure the club’s operating hours work with your schedule.
I’ve got one more that’s not on Taunton’s list — you don’t actually need a gym to get fit. Try walking, running or biking. No membership required.
Permalink | | Categories: gyms
November 14, 2008
St. David's fitness center: Members upset about closing
I’ve fielded a spate of calls and emails from frustrated members of the St. David’s Health and Fitness Center, which is closing to the public Nov. 26 as a belt-tightening measure.
The center announced last week it is cutting its hours and will remain open only to cardiac rehabilitation patients. Everyone else will have to find a new place to work out. Three regular employees (including the center’s director, Julie Drake) and one temporary employee are losing their jobs.
The fitness center drew a mostly older crowd, many who joined more than a decade ago. They feel safe working out at a gym affiliated with a hospital, where the staffers are exercise physiologists and the members have become family.
“We are listening, we’ve heard the concerns and those concerns matter to us,” said St. David’s spokesman Mark Clayton. “The challenge we have is that there are so many alternatives in the community now — there seems to be fitness center on every corner. That’s meant there are fewer and fewer members, but also the expectations of potential clients have changed. Clearly St. David’s is first and foremost attendant to its mission as a hospital.”
Member Tom Gebhard has collected 80 signatures on a petition asking the hospital to reconsider its decision to close the facility to the public.
Some members, including Phyllis Day, say they would be willing to pay more for memberships if the center would stay open.
“Closing this fitness center to the public is a grave disservice to our fit city,” says Day, who joined the gym a decade ago. “How sad that they have decided to focus on sick care to the exclusion of health and wellness. The only way to get to the center now is to have a heart attack first … This community of middle-aged and older exercisers is devastated by this decision.”
Judith Telecky, 64, just joined the gym a few months ago but is already shopping for a new one. She — and others — say they are having trouble finding a match. “Some of these people have no place to go, they’re afraid they’re not going to fit in at some buff training gym,” Telecky says. “It’s a real close-knit family.”
“I’m no triathlete and don’t pretend to be. I just want to get on a treadmill for an hour and go through the circuit machines.”
Unlike some Austin gyms, which are populated by the young single crowd out to check each other out, the St. David’s fitness center was also popular with hospital employees, from custodians to surgeons in their scrubs.
“You didn’t have to worry. If you had anything wrong, they were right there on you,” says Leona Abrahamson, an osteoporosis patient and fitness center member for five years.
The decision to oust long-time members has made Ruth McDonald, 71, who joined the center more than 13 years ago, wonder about the hospital’s purpose.
“What is the responsibility of a community hospital? Do they have responsibility to provide preventive medicine or only to treat sick people?”
Permalink | Comments (6) | Categories: gyms
September 4, 2008
Breaking up with your trainer
And you thought it was tough to break up with your hair stylist? A friend is struggling with how to dump his personal trainer and needs some advice.
This should be an easy business decision, but I know it’s not. Help me out here.
The experts say the best way to avoid the problem is to pick a trainer you bond with from the start. That means asking friends for recommendations, working out on a trial basis with several different trainers before choosing one, and not signing up for a package of training sessions before you know for sure if the relationship is going to work.
Well, of course. But sometimes you just pick a dud and wind up in a bad client-trainer relationship.
You’re packing on weight when your goal is to lose. You’re bored. Your trainer spends more time trying to sell you stuff than coaching you. Your trainer chats on his or her cell phone while leading you through a workout. He pushes you too hard and you get injured. Cancels appointments. Treats all clients like they’re the same, without adjusting workouts to specific needs.
Hello! Those are all signs that it’s time to move on.
Canning your trainer doesn’t necessarily mean you haven’t had a good working relationship, either. Maybe you’ve learned enough from your trainer to exercise on your own. Maybe the gym where your trainer works is no longer convenient or you just can’t afford a personal trainer any longer. All these are valid reasons to end the relationship.
Remember, it’s up to you. You might feel bad breaking up (Neil Sedaka, of “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do” could sympathize), but it’s your body, not your trainer’s.
So, gird your loins. Be polite. Be brave. Be kind. Don’t get emotional.
Tell your trainer why you’re leaving. (It would be embarrassing to tell him you’re going to train on your own, then be spotted with another trainer.) Maybe toss in something positive to let him or her know he’s helped you. Likewise, if there’s a problem with the trainer’s performance, tell gym management. Treat the situation as what it is — a business decision.
I talked to a couple of local trainers, and here’s what they said:
Randeen Torvik Ragan: “I really appreciate a client telling me that he or she is simply ready to move on. No need for long involved explanations, just an acknowledgement that this relationship will not be going forward. Here’s why: If a client finishes a given commitment and tells me she will be in touch or will call after vacation, that leads me to believe I can more or less count on this client as I am scheduling appointments with others. Trainers don’t expect long-term commitments from every client, so there are no hard feelings when clients move on,” says Randeen Torvik Ragan, a local personal trainer. “In addition, if a client is truly unhappy with my services, I would so appreciate hearing that and how I can improve going forward. Some comments may prove to be beyond my control, but we all want to improve and our clients are the only way we can judge our performance — they are in fact the only performance review we get.”
Chance Carlin: “Training is like other jobs. It is easy to become stale, sometimes without even realizing it. Trainers should be pushed off the gravy train periodically. (Slackers beware!) This keeps everyone fresh and challenged — including foremost the client. If not, it begins to become too personal. Training is expensive and trainers should deliver fitness in one way or another. If not, then there are plenty of places to test the knowledge and motivation of others. Never become codependent on a trainer. Depend on yourself.
Scott York: “Training is a people business, and part of our job is to be able to keep the lines of communication open and comfortable between trainer and trainee. As a trainer, I have hinted to past clients if I think it is time for them to try something else for a while so that the client avoids getting stale. The trainer shouldn’t take offense. After all, we all need a break from the same old routine. On the flip side, the trainer should certainly “break up” with the trainee if the trainee is not following the program (not eating the correct foods, not showing up for training sessions, shows up late, etc). The trainer’s reputation is on the line. People do talk. Our clients are a walking billboard which reflect our training methods.”
Audrey Herold: “I think it’s the same as with any service provider. I personally would not be offended if someone told me that we weren’t a good fit, that they wanted to try someone with a different method, that they wanted to be with someone else to try new things.”
Sarah Stewart: “Breaking up with a trainer should be done through a pure heart and honest approach. A trainer might not always be meeting the expectations set forth in the mind of the client. In the case that a client is either unhappy or just needs a change, they should be forthcoming and let the trainer know they want a change of pace and set off to do some things they would like to accomplish within another realm of fitness. This makes it easy for the trainer to accept versus thinking ‘What did I do, what could have I done, and how many others are thinking this.’”
So, Austin. Comments? Suggestions? Discuss…
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: gyms
