Hey, here’s a novel idea for our industry: Why don’t we put out a press release and tell everyone (yes, brag) about how well we are doing as an industry during this tough economic downturn/recession? Yes, that’s right: how well we are doing.

I believe it’s important for us to puff our pecs a bit and recognize that the fitness business is healthy.

We should let others know that we share our strategies and tactics with each other in friendly yet competitive ways. We can express to everyone that our workout traffic has actually increased during these tough economic times and share how that has inspired many of us to invest more time with our members and how this inspiration has led to great member referral programs or club-based activities. We also can share with them how our new member unit numbers have held strong and even our ancillary business (personal training, massage, tanning and aquatics programs), though down a bit, have done well.

Why not? Shouldn’t everyone know that group exercise programs, circuit training and yoga are great economic stress relievers? Shouldn’t we shout about how exercise can be entertainment? I mean, have you sat in a hot tub or taken a steam with your members lately? Now, that’s entertainment. How about the fact that we employ millions of people and are keeping tens of millions more in great shape?

During a time when health care is the lead story in every newspaper or news show, and while our HMOs and PPOs have cut back on therapy and rehab appointments, we fill that need with proper exercise and conditioning for pennies of what it costs to heal the sick. Why not continue to shout from every media format that we are the answer to many of the things that ail our nation, such as stress, depression, anxiety, obesity, eating disorders, heart disease, cancer and diabetes? It’s time for each of us, individually and collectively, to contact every news source we can and proclaim that we are surviving, and more importantly, we can help them survive, too.

So to make this even easier, I have taken the liberty of including a press release template in my column. I also have written an ad in the online version of this column. Use these as guides, substituting your information and comments where appropriate. Also use these to alert the media and community in your area about how well we are doing as an industry. Isn’t it time that we stood up and bragged a bit? I sure think it is.

My Thoughts-This goes to show you what the most important thing in your life really is, your health. If you don’t have your health, you can’t take care of the other things that are important to you, like your family or career. People are beginning to realize this only now, with the unfortunate fall of the economy. It’s about time we are realizing it. Start doing things that relieve your stress, make you happy and make you healthy -Exercise is a hobby for some people, but should be a priority for everyone.

Say what?: Stress can be healthy?? 

Copyright © 2009, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Fact: There is no magic pill, special food or fat melting workout when it comes to fat loss and achieving the toned and sculpted body you desire.

There is one way to achieve permanent results; follow a complete and integrated fitness program that focuses on a change in body composition (body fat vs. lean muscle) rather than weight. It is lean muscle that plays the key role in any type of fitness program. Whether you’re interested in fat loss or muscle gain, lean muscle requires certain conditions in order to allow a positive change in body composition.

Calories In vs. Calories Out

To positively change the composition of your body (decrease fat, increase lean muscle) you have to know how to play the game of numbers. If you burn more calories than the calories you take in each day you will lose weight, this is called creating a caloric deficit. It is the only way to lose fat. If you do the opposite, take in more calories than what you burn, then you will gain weight.

Too much of anything gets stored as fat – even if you’re eating nothing but healthy, supportive foods. If you eat too many of them, your body will still store the extra calories as fat. Even though this appears to be a simple concept, don’t be fooled. The caloric deficit must be kept small for you want to maintain lean muscle and only lose fat weight. This strategy allows you to keep a high metabolism while at the same time transforming the shape of your body.
If calories are severely reduced, your body thinks you are starving and sets into motion a series of metabolic and hormonal events, which ultimately leads to muscle loss and a slower metabolism. Even more tragic, skipping meals and starving yourself causes your body to increase the level of fat storing enzymes so you are actually teaching your body to become efficient at storing fat!

Muscle is your Metabolism

The amount of lean muscle you hold is directly related to your metabolism and your metabolism defines the shape of your body. Your metabolism is simply the rate at which your body burns calories. Lean muscle burns a lot more calories than fat so when you lose muscle, your metabolism drops and you burn fewer calories.

So not only must you take in sufficient calories to burn fat rather than muscle, it’s also possible to build muscle, which in turn boosts metabolism. And the way to do this is, of course, to increase the amount of exercise you do. While aerobic activities such as running, swimming, fast walking help to tone muscle and burn extra calories, resistance training is the only way to increase the amount of muscle you have in your body. A consistent and effective exercise program is mandatory to help you to burn more calories and maintain or even build lean muscle mass. Your goal is to keep your activity up and your intake down and you will achieve results.