Posted on: Tuesday, December 23, 2003
Gyms applying fast-food approach to working out
By Joy Victory
Gannett News Service
"Come in for a quickie!" beckons an advertising campaign at the New York Sports Club.
The suggestive slogan is meant to call attention to the club's latest venture: The 22-minute XpressLine workout.
The equipment may be new, but the idea is not. The gym is one of thousands offering customers the fitness equivalent of fast food, with full-body workouts in 30 minutes or less.
One of the originators of the idea, the national franchise chain Curves, has more than 6,000 gyms — including more than two dozen in Hawai'i — and is steadily growing.
"It's a 30 minute, total body workout with cardio and strength training at the same time, including stretching and cool down at the end," said Corene Yonamine, assistant manager of the Curves For Women Downtown location on Bishop Street.
And prepare for more quickie gyms in the future: The respected nonprofit American Council on Exercise recently named quick workouts the top fitness trend for 2004 in a survey of members this year.
Perhaps they are only fitting in this era of the drive-thru, but fitness experts are still deciding whether these workouts are good enough to last beyond fad status.
On the upside, people lose weight. On the downside, the workouts may not be challenging or exciting enough to keep them interested for long.
Essentially, the workouts take place on machines that work different parts of the body. A customer rotates throughout the different machines, and may do cardiovascular exercises such as jogging in place between machines. The idea is to get the heart rate up and build muscle strength in a short period of time.
Time is critical to attracting customers, who may be juggling work, school and kids.
Curves caters exclusively to women. In a gym with no men, women feel less intimidated by the machinery (no intense bench-pressing) and less pressure to look attractive while they work out, says Kelly Calabrese, president of a New Jersey fitness consulting firm and a spokeswoman for the American Council on Exercise.
"It's simple: maybe 15 exercises at most. They can learn them fairly quickly, and it's not expensive," Calabrese says. Curves costs about $39 a month, but prices vary by location.
Although the low cost, simplicity and speed of the workouts are appealing, 30 minutes may not be enough for some exercisers, critics have pointed out.
If the gyms don't change the routines or weight resistance periodically, "it's not challenging," Calabrese says. "You will see initial results in four to six weeks, and then they'll plateau." (The workouts also leave out stretching, which can prevent injuries and lengthen muscles).
To get a good workout, Calabrese suggests changing the resistance on the machines from time to time. For example, at one session, try many repetitions at a lighter resistance, and next time try fewer sets with more resistance. Also, Calabrese recommends attending a gym that has certified instructors, or at least a gym that supervises customers.
Advertiser staff writer Zenaida Serrano Espanol contributed the Hawai'i information to this report.
