October 4, 2013 – This fall, Spike TV will start production on a new show geared toward the fitness industry. Gym Rescue, a reality television series created to help document and fix the problems of failing gyms, will feature former Ultimate Fighting Championship winner and owner of Xtreme Couture, Randy Couture. Couture will locate struggling gyms, assess their core problems, and design solutions aimed at making them successful.
“Gyms [for the show] can be of any type: fighting or fitness, climbing, gymnastics or yoga,” Scott Hiller, the casting producer working with the show, told FightLine.com. The problems [can be] of any kind and combination too, such as failing marketing strategies, equipment in disrepair, staffing issues, poor management.”
Emily Wilensky, Marketing Manager, of EZFacility, a gym management software developer in Bethpage, New York, said the show will highlight the challenges of running a successful gym and may help gym owners around the country figure out how to turn around their own businesses. “As with any business, gym ownership and management is a challenge,” she said. “A national television show that presents the difficulties in a dramatic format and demonstrates how to analyze the problems that lead to failure, and how to fix them before failure happens, could be hugely valuable to the industry.”
Initially, Spike TV is looking for facilities in Colorado and Minneapolis and in and around Philadelphia, New York City, and New Jersey. However, Hiller stressed, the gyms featured will not be limited to those areas. Gyms owners interested in appearing on the show should contact Spike TV directly or via Facebook.
Author: ezfacility

Can Your Staff Adapt to Client Injuries?
I had a nice little visit to the emergency room the other day. I injured my foot, and I wish I could say I did so while training for a marathon or participating in an Insanity workout or some such thing, but truthfully I was just racing my seven-year-old downhill, and I landed on it awkwardly.
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New State-of-the-Art Fitness Facility for Auburn University
October 1, 2013 – Auburn University, Auburn, AL, reopened this fall with a new addition to its campus: a 240,000 square-foot Recreation and Wellness Center.
The new $72 million facility features a five-story rock climbing wall, a PGA golf simulator, a one-third mile indoor track, and a tiger-paw shaped hot tub — a tribute to the school’s mascot — designed to hold up to 45 people. Other amenities include a multipurpose court; group fitness studios for yoga, cycling, and other classes; equipment for outdoor recreation, such as canoes and kayaks; cardio training areas; locker rooms; a game room; six regulation-size basketball courts; racquetball courts; and a pool.
“Auburn University’s new facility sounds like a state-of-the-art building that has all the elements needed to serve a population interested in fitness,” said Hugh McEvoy, Director of Sales and Operations, of EZFacility, a fitness facility management software developer in Bethpage, NY. “We’ve seen an encouraging trend on campus lately, with colleges and universities establishing innovative new spaces that show a real concern for student, faculty, and employee health. This is an exciting instance of that trend.”
The center complies with LEED standards. Construction began in 2011, after Auburn students voted to raise their fees to help fund the project.

Green Your Facility
When the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) unveiled its Green Sports Resource Directory in August, I remembered the horse farm my son and I visited earlier this year. A sprawling establishment, with state-of-the-art stables, a vast indoor arena, 34 acres of beautiful land, and a big, old-fashioned farmhouse – the place must have cost a fortune to maintain. Or so I thought, until I noticed the solar panels blanketing one side of the barn roof. I asked the owner if using solar energy cut down on his costs. “My electricity bill is about $19 a month,” he said proudly. “No,” I said, “I don’t mean for the stables; I mean for the whole farm.” “Yep,” he said. “Nineteen dollars a month.”
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Childhood Obesity Awareness Month
It’s back-to-school month — and Childhood Obesity Awareness month. Even if your fitness facility caters mostly (or exclusively) to adults, you can contribute to the effort to draw attention to childhood obesity and its devastating consequences.
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Retaining Members Effectively
For many gyms, the end-of-summer push for new members is coming to a close; that effort won’t be ramped up again for another six months or so. So what do you concentrate on in the meantime? Retaining members, of course! As profitable as new sign-ups, or sometimes, with upselling, more profitable, retaining members is a goal all clubs have — but the goal is sometimes elusive. Here are a few refresher tips on retaining members effectively.
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HIIT the Gym
I (and millions of other people) have a new obsession: high-intensity interval training (HIIT). Seemingly everyday there’s a new study showing how effective it is as a method for keeping the heart in shape, burning fat, increasing muscle, and generally just feeling great. But what I love most about it, and I know I’m not alone in this, is how quickly it’s over. True, for the seven, twelve, twenty, or however many relatively brief minutes you’re doing it, you think you’re killing yourself — but then you’re done (done except for the fact that, as an added bonus, you raise your metabolism and continue burning calories at rest).
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The Personal Approach To Collecting Feedback
I have a confession to make. I never, ever fill out surveys. I feel irritated when any business interrupts my day with an email seeking my feedback. The impersonal nature of the questions, the idea that I’m just a source of data to be collected, the time it takes to respond — all of these things push my buttons. It’s not that I don’t understand why businesses do it and how the information they gather is useful; I know it’s so that services can be better tailored to consumers. But I can’t help feeling that the cost of filling out a survey, no matter how short and sweet the survey might be, isn’t worth the benefits I reap.
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In-Shape Opens New Flagship Location
August 29, 2013 – In-Shape Health Clubs recently opened its sixty-fifth — and largest branch — in its hometown of Stockton, CA. The new facility positions itself as the company’s flagship location, with a focus on providing services for entire families, including a “Kids Club” facility and an indoor swimming pool. Other amenities include group exercise studios, a 29-minute workout circuit, a cardio theater, exercise machines, a free-weight room, two racquetball courts, sauna and steam baths, and tanning beds.
“We’re just trying to cover all the… aspects for the community,” Rob Farrens, In-Shape’s executive vice president, told online news outlet Recordnet.com. Other In-Shape clubs also have top-quality offerings, he said, but not to the caliber, extent, and size of the newest branch. “It is just nice to have a flagship to show Stockton what we’ve been doing, where we’ve been going.”
Begun in 1981, the company has locations throughout northern and central California, and has built itself, in terms of revenue, into one of the largest clubs in the country. Though In-Shape does not disclose its financial data, Club Industry magazine pegs its 2011 revenue at $90 million. At the time, the company operated 47 locations.
“When a company as large and accomplished as In-Shape opens a new flagship location, it’s a significant event,” noted Emily Wilensky, Marketing Manager of EZFacility, a health club management software provider in Bethpage, NY. “For the industry at large, it could be taken as a hopeful sign of continued growth and expansion.”
In-Shape will employ about 40 workers at the new facility, with the aim of attracting 3,000 new club members. The company plans to open five additional new branches in the near future, and to renovate some existing facilities.

Drink Up
This summer, I was fortunate to get to spend some time at California’s Joshua Tree National Park. One morning, I got up early to view the sunrise from atop a boulder in the park. At 4:45 a.m., I was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt; by 7:30 a.m., my sweatshirt had been abandoned, I’d donned a wide-brimmed hat, and I felt like my jeans were on fire. What’s more, I needed a long swig of water every fifteen minutes or so.
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