Go Green!
No, not that….read on to find out the latest trend in health clubs!

A study at the University of Essex in England found that seeing the color green may improve your workout!  Researchers had 14 college-age men ride an indoor stationary bicycle for five minutes while watching a video that simulated cycling through a natural environment.  Then, they switched the filter on the video screen to black and white, then red for 5 minutes each.  After each cycling session, they assessed that the college students felt less fatigued and more content when watching the green version of the video.  They also reported feeling more angry when watching the red-filtered nature video.  Being exposed to shorter-wavelength colors, such as blue and green, evokes feelings of calmness, whereas red and yellow are more stimulating according to the researchers.

WHY?

Lush greenery signaled abundant food and nearby water to early human ancestors, the researchers wrote in their study.  Funny thing that evolution…got a juice-bar near your workout?!?

The study was small and only with men, but still makes you think about the importance of the environment you offer to those working out in your health club.

What color are your walls?

Back in 1995 there were approximately 12,500 commercial fitness centers in the United States. Since 2008, there are more than 29,000! One recent authority suggests the following ten ways to recharge your club and set it apart from the competition:

1. Get Fresh. “Store Blindness” is an affliction that besets everyone who lives or works in the same space. After a while, we don’t notice the worn carpets, the tired colors, the clutter behind the front desk, etc. A first-time visitor will notice any of those immediately. Whenever a strong competitor enters the market, it is imperative that clubs undergo a 360-degree examination. Get Fresh with a club makeover!

2. Get Connected. “Connectivity” may be the #1 advantage that existing clubs enjoy over powerful, new entrants into the market. So get started! Connect through the iGo Figure Software by sending a message to a member through your welcome screen, create a Facebook page for your club and/or sign-up for Go Figure’s free Retention Management trial. You will love the results! “Connectivity” is the basic reason why some neighborhood restaurants and coffee shops that may have flawed operations succeed year after year. Get connected with iGo Connect!

3. Get United. Being faced with an imminent threat from a new club allows your club to accelerate in the pursuit of better performance. Whenever a new competitor announces its entry into your market, you have an opportunity to unite your staff in the pursuit of a higher level of performance and excellence across the board.  A motivated and mobilized staff becomes the ultimate asset, the ultimate weapon with which you can win the battle. Get United and show off your team!

For the rest of the list, visit:

http://cms.ihrsa.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.viewPage&pageId=17977&nodeID=15

Let’s beat your competition together!

Always happy to help,

Matt Z

Source: http://cms.ihrsa.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.viewPage&pageId=17977&nodeID=15

Today I spent time with Angela Clinton, Go Figure’s customer advocate and training specialist to create some new training tools for two large group training events going on this month in Kuwait and Egypt. With the addition of Arabic to the other eleven languages we translated the iGo Figure software into in the past 12 months, more training resources and courses for those countries are growing in demand now more than ever before. We are happy to see a sweeping global acceptance of the iGo Figure software.

Best regards,

Kyle Z.

I recently returned from attending the Curves Franchisee Ball in Brighton, England. In all my experiences with Curves over the years, I think I was most impressed by this event over all others. It wasn’t the biggest and certainly not the most extravagant event. However, this was entirely coordinated by volunteers who received no compensation or funding from Curves Int’l. There were about 100 people in attendance at the Hilton in Brighton. The United Kingdom Franchise co-op had arranged a vendor exposition, of which Go Figure was a part of, small group break-out sessions with two facilitators per group, general sessions with great speakers with a well organized agenda, and an evening ball complete with awards, motivational speeches and recognition of members who shared their personal success stories. This entire event and the organization of it was fueled solely by the owner’s passion for Curves. I was moved by the event and honored to be a part of it. Kudos to the 2007 winner of the Curves Co-op of the year… you all continue to prove why you deserved that award.

		Matt Zagrodzky of Go Figure, Inc. presents the iGo Figure Software and equipment to LaTayna Purnell of Healthworks Fitness.

Recently I read an article about The Healthworks Foundation in Boston and their plans to open a fitness facility for low-income and homeless women in Dorchester, one of Boston’s largest and poorest neighborhoods. We were so impressed with the concept that we decided to contribute the iGo Figure club management software, and all the peripheral equipment they need. The Foundation will offer free fitness center memberships to homeless women, seniors on social security, pregnant or parenting teens, single mothers making $20,000 a year or less, and single women making $10,000 or less.

On Monday, I was in Boston and had the opportunity to visit with LaTayna Purnell, the Foundation Fitness Director. It is truly amazing what this organization is doing and the impact they are having in the neighborhood, and we are very excited to be able to help their cause.

Matt

Today I am in Dallas meeting with the board members of the franchise association of one of our largest clients, Curves. The meeting has been very productive and positive. I was able to spend one on one time with many people from Curves Int’l as well as some very successful franchisees that sit on the board. I am heading back home later today, and have some great action items to implement in the next few months from this meeting that should benefit all of our users. Nothing seems to have more of an impact and delivers results like spending time with people personally.

Kyle

More and more senior citizen centers have taken an interest in the iGo Figure software as a means to track and manage usage of their fitness center facilities. Ease-of-use, cost, great training and support have been cited as the deciding factors when evaluating possible software solutions.

Kyle Z.

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iGo Figure Software Home Page

I just returned from training over 100 new users if the iGo Figure software in London last week. It was a lot of fun and the attendees were very appreciative for the event. It was also exciting to train on our newest version (3.6) which will be available in a few weeks. New and existing users alike were very happy to see features such as:

• Profile-based security
• Web-based scheduler
• Session based memberships
• Email Member Retention program

There are more new features than that coming in this version, but those were the only ones I had time to showcase. Check out our news and event tab for more on-site training events going on around the world. Also, remember to look for other training resources from the training section of our website.

Be well, Kyle Z.

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Member scheduling services are becoming a must for many day spas, fitness centers and yoga and dance studios. As a function of customer service, we have found that many of these types of businesses simply can’t survive without this in valuable feature. That is why we have added the new scheduling feature in version 3.6. All iGo Figure users will now benefit from having the ability to schedule classes, sales appointments, employee schedules, etc. See a complete demonstration of the iGo Scheduler:

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