Ten years ago, a health club meant dumbbells, weight machines plus rows of exercise bikes and tread-mills.
Today, you’re likely to find koi ponds, cucumber mineral water dispensers and, much to David Cid’s delight, cable television on his exercise bike’s built-in monitor.
The TV is a welcome distraction, says Cid, 27, a hotel restaurant manager, as he finishes up his workout at Cheetah Gym in Wicker Park, where all the afore-mentioned extras can be found.
“The TV makes the cardio go faster,” Cid says.
Health clubs of today have expanded, big time, from the exercise-only gyms that fitness legend Jack La Lanne pioneered in 1936 and the type Bally Total Fitness personified in the ’80s. Now, health clubs are one-stop activity malls, vying for patrons with sleek, modern facilities and the kinds of services one would expect at a five-star hotel. Think day spas, Internet cafes, juice bars and club-organized trips to Peru.
These clubs have also bulked up–considerably.
LifeTime Fitness recently opened its 44th uber-complex–at a whopping 108,000 square feet–in Romeoville. And at 34,000 square feet, Equinox’s new club at 200 W. Monroe St. is one of the largest in the Loop.
The reasons are simple: The battle for members is intense and some clubs are trying to cater to everyone.
“But that takes a lot of space and square footage and staff,” says Brooke MacInnis Correia, a spokes-woman with the Boston-based International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association. “We’re seeing dry cleaners, restaurants, sort of one-stop shopping. To have those kind of facilities, you need that kind of space.”
Health clubs are also multiplying faster than the cottontails in Grant Park. There are now more than 26,000 health clubs in the U.S. serving 41.3 million members, up from 12,608 clubs and 24.1 million members in 1995, according to the Sportsclub Association.
So, like Ray Kroc’s first hamburger stand grew into a franchise, health clubs are sprouting up within blocks of each other across the country. Even some local clubs have begun adopting this “chain” mentality. Since first opening its doors in Andersonville back in 1999, Cheetah Gym, which now has branches in Wicker Park and Edgewater, offers similar amenities like Internet cafes, massage services and a juice bar.
Now, a $14.8 billion industry, health clubs are also trying to grab an ever-expanding club-goer population (pun intended) with just about every fitness program and high-end extra imaginable.
And with 17 percent of Chicagoans belonging to a health club or gym, the Windy City has turned into one of the industry’s turf battles. Two New York-based clubs are coming to downtown Chicago: Equinox Fitness opens on Monroe Street Thursday, and David Barton Gym comes to Chicago Avenue on Oct. 11.
“They’re competing very hard for the population that exercises,” says Michael Sena, a Chicago-based health and fitness expert and former gym owner. “The owners are trying to cast the biggest net to catch the most fish. They’re offering everybody everything.”
That means more equipment, classes and specialized trainers, more fruit smoothies, egg-white frittatas and whey protein shakes. It means more reasons to come to the gym besides exercising, and more reasons to stay.
“[Health clubs are] really to help people make a commitment to exercising,” Correia says. “There’s a reason [people] don’t exercise–time, boredom. So clubs try to bend over backward to create programs that will bring people out.”
LifeTime may have taken that sentiment literally. The club’s Romeoville facility overlooking Interstate Highway 57 easily overshadows the nearby Shell gas station and Arby’s restaurant, the only other buildings in the immediate area. Inside, the second floor spans an entire acre and is filled with more than 400 pieces of equipment as well as multiple studio spaces for classes. A Mind-Body-Soul enclave offers dedicated rooms for pilates and yoga.
The first floor is just as loaded, with two full-size, multipurpose courts; an intricate, three-walled climbing cavern; indoor and outdoor lap pools as well as kiddie pools with waterslides, and steam rooms scented with eucalyptus oil.
But none of that compares to LifeTime’s non-fitness accoutrements: Parents can drop off their kids at a 7,000 square-foot activity and day-care center while they exercise. Club goers can grab a bite and pick up some vitamins at the cafe/health-food store (where LifeTime sells its own brand of nutritional supplements). If they want to pamper themselves with a facial, manicure or massage, there’s a spa in the lobby.
LifeTime’s goal is simple, says Mike Brown, senior vice president of operations: Spend the day at LifeTime.
“Have you ever heard of the `third place?'” Brown asks. “It’s where you would want to be if you weren’t at home or at work. We try to be that place. That’s part of the allure.”
It’s what brought Peter Heil to LifeTime’s club in Skokie during a recent day off from work. Heil slogged through a vigorous, 2-minute, uphill climb on the treadmill with 5-pound weights in his hands before cranking out 15 crunches on an exercise ball.
It wasn’t until Heil, 51, and his family moved from Chicago to Glencoe three years ago and started working out with trainers at LifeTime that he started seeing results.
Heil also enjoys LifeTime’s other “big” extras such as televisions built into the club’s walls, the first-floor spa, and some smaller features, such as exercise programs that trainers developed for his 13-year-old son.
“It’s a family club,” Heil says.
While expanding and accessorizing, health clubs are also specializing their features, providing a wide array of services, but for specific kinds of customers.
“As a health service provider, you’re dealing with a lot of different people,” Correia says. “You have athletic club members. You have senior citizens. You have children. “
Crunch, which Bally sold this month for $45 million, offers more than 80 classes a week, from the basic yoga to the more specialized cardio striptease and “Ballet Boot Camp.” David Barton Gym prides itself on its personal trainers, most of whom have degrees in physiology and provide training in Capoeira, a Brazilian martial arts/dance form, and Vinyasa yoga, among other areas. Curves International, the world’s largest health-club chain, focuses on women’s fitness. LifeTime and Xsport Fitness are open 24-hours a day, giving fitness buffs ample time to hit the bench press.
Equinox Fitness organizes exotic vacations to locales around the globe. Through its Trip Equinox program, the club takes adventurers biking in Tuscany or hiking along the Dingle coastline in Ireland. On some trips, Equinox personal trainers tag along, monitoring the fitness goals of vacationers.
“There’s a difference between being on a cruise ship and being on a bike,” says Rhonda Smith, Trip Equinox travel director. “You can see a destination through a different experience.” Just be ready to pay for that experience. The trips can range from $800 to $5,000, Smith says.
“We don’t pretend to be all things to all people,” Equinox CEO Harvey Spevak says. “We cater to the upscale clientele that demands the best and, yes, that costs money. You can stay at a Quality Bed or a Four Seasons.”
Sign-up fees at local clubs can run as high as $400, with monthly fees running nearly $70. That part doesn’t sit too well with La Lanne.
Says La Lanne, 91, from his Morro Bay, Calif., home, “You got to pay for an instructor. How can average people pay for that? When I started, it was about helping people.”
But with rising costs and competition to keep up with the latest equipment and services, health clubs have become a premium expense that many cannot afford, according to fitness expert Sena.
LifeTime’s $49.95 monthly fee (with an initiation fee of $149) is a financial stretch for Nancy Batio and her family. But the club’s day-care facilities are worth the extra costs, says the 35-year-old mother of two from Skokie.
“It’s such a superior facility that if we didn’t come here, I would still be carrying an extra 20 pounds,” she says.
Neighborhood gyms are fighting back by offering comparable services, but with more of a personal touch or at more affordable prices.
For Jamie DeLuca, all she needs is 30 to 45 minutes on the stair climber at Webster Fitness Center and some weight training in the club’s lone studio, three, maybe four times a week.
DeLuca, a marketing consultant, could afford to go to one of the larger chains, but she lives close to the 4,400-sqaure-foot storefront gym, located on the corner of Sheffield and Webster.
The cost? $46 a month, with a sign-up fee of $39 to $49. The summer promotion, with no sign-up fee, is still available.
And at Webster, DeLuca says, she can get in a workout, without all the other distractions.
“If I want to go get my hair done, I’ll go somewhere else,” she says.
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It’s never too early to work out
With more clubs going the 24-hour route, limited club hours are no longer an excuse to not exercise. And as Tribune photographer Tom Van Dyke found during a recent predawn Monday visit to LifeTime Fitness in Skokie, many “weekday athletes” like to arrive early to beat the rush.
5:10
Jim Grant says he tries to arrive by 5 a.m. “It’s nice and empty–[and] you can get any machine you want.” The drawback? “You have to be in bed by 9 p.m.”
5:21
How do you get a 11/4-hour workout in before an 8:30 a.m. work start time? Mark Niedringhaus arrives by 4:45 and sticks to a routine set up by a personal trainer.
5:55
Teacher Rob Fabian has a goal: regain his marathon-running form. He’s putting in early hours so he can get back to 60 to 80 miles a week–or at least back in shape.
6:10
Starting his day by lifting weights “energizes me for the day,” says Ike Hong, who needs to leave the club early in order to make his commute downtown.
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gjeffers@tribune.com
