Virginia Y Needs $100,000 to Stay Open
ROANOKE, VA -- The Smith Mountain Lake YMCA in Roanoke, VA, is scrambling to raise $100,000 to remain open. After learning months ago that the siding on its recently constructed facility violated the terms of a proffer tied to the mixed-use development, a Y official had asked Franklin County’s board of supervisors to amend the proffer. However, the board denied the request, forcing the Y to replace the siding, according to The Roanoke Times. ...
NYHRC Launches Triathlete Training Program
NEW YORK -- Due to the increased popularity of triathlons, New York Health & Racquet Club (NYHRC) and JackRabbit Sports, a triathlete’s store in New York, partnered to launch a new comprehensive triathlete-training program. ...
Cybex Net Sales Grow 15 Percent
MEDWAY, MA -- Cybex International’s net sales for the first quarter of 2008 increased by 15 percent to $39.8 million compared to $34.7 million in the same period last year, the company announced yesterday. ...
Akradi: Life Time Needs to Improve Member Communication
By: By Stuart Goldman, managing editor
CHANHASSEN, MN -- Life Time Fitness founder and CEO Bahram Akradi said today at the company’s annual shareholders meeting that he wants to focus on improving the company’s communication process to its members....
Nautilus Re-Organizes
VANCOUVER, WA -- Nautilus Inc. has re-organized into three stand-alone business units: direct, commercial and retail, according to an announcement from the Vancouver, WA-based company. These three business units and Nautilus International will now report to Tim Joyce, senior vice president and general manager of Nautilus Inc. Joyce will oversee daily operations of these groups....
TSI Gets New COO
NEW YORK -- Martin Annese will join Town Sports International as its new chief operating officer, effective April 28, according to the company. Annese will report to Alex Alimanestianu, CEO, and will lead all fitness club operations and marketing for the company. ...
NIRSA Conference Sets Attendance Record
AUSTIN, TX -- The National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA) set an attendance record with nearly 2,500 attendees at its annual conference and exhibition April 2-5 in Austin, TX....
Anytime Fitness Challenges Ruling of St. Paul Law
By: By Stuart Goldman, managing editor
ST. PAUL, MN -- Despite a Minnesota judge’s ruling to uphold the city of St. Paul’s decision to fine two Anytime Fitness franchisees for violating a city safety standard, Anytime Fitness is working with the St. Paul mayor’s office to change the language of the standard....
Study Shows Fit People Have Higher Levels of Circulating Cells
ATLANTA -- Fit healthy people tend to have higher numbers of circulating cells that regenerate blood vessels, a new study shows. ...
Public Health Watchdog Pressures Ys to Ban Junk Food
NEW YORK -- The National Action Against Obesity (NAAO) launched a year-long campaign to expel junk food from all U.S. day care, child care and preschool centers, beginning with the nation’s largest provider of child care services, the YMCA of the USA. The group kicked off its campaign in mid-April to coincide with the Y’s annual Healthy Kids Day and specifically targets the Y’s partnership with PepsiCo. ...
Vandenberg Air Force Base’s New Fitness Center Goes Green
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, CA -- Vandenberg Air Force Base’s new fitness center is under construction and set to be green....
Club Industry East Opens in New York
NEW YORK -- Club Industry East opened yesterday in New York City. The show runs through Saturday and features more than 90 seminars and 250 booths on the Javits Center trade show floor. ...
More Changes At 24 Hour
SAN RAMON, CA -- After sweeping changes were made in January at 24 Hour Fitness, including the departure of the company’s founder, Mark Mastrov, 24 Hour recently announced more personnel moves....
Fewer Students Gaining Weight in Philadelphia Schools
PHILADELPHIA -- In a two-year study involving five Philadelphia elementary schools that replaced sodas with fruit juice and reduced the amount of snacks and candy available in vending machines and the cafeteria, the number of students who gained weight in those schools was half the number of students who gained weight in schools that made no changes in their vending machines and cafeterias....
Greater Indianapolis Ys Offer National Guard Families Free Membership
INDIANAPOLIS -- The Greater Indianapolis YMCA is offering family members of state National Guardsmen an affordable way to stay active and healthy while their loved ones are deployed. The organization has created Operation Indiana Partners, which allows the families of deployed Indiana National Guardsmen to enjoy free memberships. ...
Navy Introduces New Physical Training Uniforms
WASHINGTON, DC -- The Navy recently introduced a new physical training uniform to sailors. The uniforms include a gold T-shirt with reflective Navy lettering and blue shorts with Navy lettering and reflective markings, according to a press release from the Navy....
The Sports Club Co. Revenue Increases 4.9 Percent
LOS ANGELES -- The Sports Club Co. Inc., Los Angeles, had 2007 revenue of $61.7 million and revenue in the fourth quarter 2007 of $15.5 million, according to a statement from the company. ...
Bally Making Payments to Former Stockholders
CHICAGO -- Bally Total Fitness announced Monday it has begun the process of making an initial cash distribution of 31 cents a share to former stockholders, in accordance with the terms of Bally’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan....
BMI Mandate Removed From School Obesity Bill
ATLANTA -- Georgia lawmakers eliminated a key provision from an anti-obesity bill that would have forced students to “weigh in” twice a year at their schools to determine their body mass index (BMI)....
Falcone Out as Nautilus CEO
By: By Pamela Kufahl, editor
VANCOUVER, WA -- Edward Bramson has made his way into the CEO position at Nautilus, just three months after Sherborne Investors, the group that Bramson is a partner in, won a proxy fight that put Sherborne Investors in control of Nautilus’ board and Bramson in as chairman of the board. ...
A Larger Abdomen in Midlife Increases Risk of Dementia
OAKLAND, CA -- People in their 40s with larger stomachs have a higher risk for dementia when they reach their 70s, according to a study published in the March 26, 2008, online issue of Neurology. ...
Clubs for the Cure Reaches 800 Clubs
By: by Pamela Kufahl, editor
MANASQUAN, NJ – More than 800 clubs are now involved in the Clubs for the Cure effort to raise money for Augie’s Quest, says Pat Laus, owner of the Atlantic Clubs in Manasquan, NJ, and originator of the idea for the grassroots effort....
Precision Fitness Stands at Eight Franchises
ANAHEIM, CA – Sixty days after launching the personal training franchise Precision Fitness, Mike Salerno and his team have sold eight franchised locations, the company announced. The company’s Cerritos, CA, location is already open, but Salerno has now sold a franchise in each of five other California towns and in Flagstaff, AZ, and Margate, FL. ...
Y’s Prepare for Healthy Kids Day, Healthy Family Home
NATIONWIDE -- More than 1,700 YMCAs across the country are gearing up for Healthy Kids Day on April 12. The day celebrates making fitness fun, and through free programming for the day introduces kids to an array of Y programs and tools that teach healthy behaviors and healthy ways to play—an essential lesson in learning how to take care of themselves throughout their lifetimes, according to the YMCA of the USA....
Marines Debut New Running Suit
BETHESDA, MD -- The Marine Corps recently unveiled its new running suit to Marines assigned to the Wounded Warrior Regiment at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, MD. The new running suit will become standard issue in addition to what is currently provided and does not replace the existing green physical training uniform. The new running suits are compatible with other physical training uniform items, according to the Marine Corps officials....
