The Economics of Strength and Fitness

[John Peterson]

Hey Friends,

Yesterday I had a talk with a man that owns a gym and has owned it for more than thirty years. He indicated that things were so rough economically that he was thinking that he may be forced to close it's doors. He said that new membership sales were a fraction of what they once were and virtually non-existent and that supplement sales which were a mainstay in his business have taken a nosedive due to the fact that more and more people are being forced to give up their memberships and can no longer train at his gym. He also mentioned that there are men and women that once had thriving businesses as personal trainers that no longer have clients.

Bottom line: We are facing a great depression in America today. There is no denying it. This is not a garden variety recession. Things are really Tough. But don't allow yourself to give in to despair. Remember that tough times never last but tough people do. Also remember that everything we teach in the Transformetrics Training System allows you to become your own best personal trainer. You don't need Gizmo's advertised on infomercials. You don't need equipment and you don't need anything outside of yourself to be super healthy and perfectly strong.. All you need is the know how (we certainly provide that) and a supportive environment. And that my friends is something that I want all of our forum members to be to each other. Believe me, no matter how tough things get, together we can support each other and meet the challenge. And one last and most important thing,NOW IS THE TIME to turn our hearts to The Lord and ask for His Divine guidance, protection, and direction in all that we do. If there is anything in your life that stands in the way between you and your relationship with The Lord it's time to get rid of it once and for all. Believe me friends, you are loved by the Lord and he wants to be The Lord of your life.

----John Peterson

[MikeNY]

John uncertainity and fear of new taxes has been hurting small business, the last Quarter of 2009 saw the Growth rate at 5.25% but still there is gloom and doom fear because of Washington. Let's hope the Nation recovers and growth continues. Transformetrics gives people Independence and the resources to grow themselves.

[Greg Newton]

Hi John,

This is something we discussed last night. I feel for this gentleman. The gym business was a passion of mine for several years. I have to laugh about it now, but to make it a go and cut costs, I slept on a couch in the office. I'd wake up at 4:30 am, roll of the couch, cut the lights on, and open up at 5:00 a.m. Between 9:00 and 10:00 I'd shoo the last customer out and collapse on the couch again. That went on for a couple of years until I had a friend offer to let me live in a small trailer to keep up the utilities for him, since he worked out of town most of the time, and he was only home one weekend a month.

Regardless, gym membership sales have been flat for over a decade. Competition with nonprofits like the YMCA and with mega franchises like Gold's have run most of the independent fitness owners out of business. Too, even though weights and machines have been promoted as the all to end all for sports training, many people have injured themselves with the weights to the point that it has helped create the "sports medicine" industry. It has certainly been a boon to orthopedic surgeons.

Last, who are you going to try to look like? It is bad enough that the guys in the hardcore bodybuilding mags hardly look human, but I picked up a fitness magazine the other day and was surprised to see that they were enhancing the models in the workout pictures with some sort of digital photography program. It was also easy to surmize that most of the models were taking enhancement drugs due to the shape and roundness of their musculatures. You only get that look with drugs. The average person will never look like these models.

Greg Newton

[CecilS]

I hear what you are saying about the look you can only get from the growth enhancement drugs.

One sure way to tell if a bodybuilder is on is by looking at the stomach. If they've got the classic drug induced distended 6-pack abs, it's a sure sign they've used growth enhancing drugs, most notably human growth hormone. You see, one of the things about growth hormone is it doesn't just grow muscle. It grows jaws, browlines, and internal organs as well. So the stomach becomes distended to hold the liver, spleen and other organs.

It is such an unhealthy way to live when all they need is their bodies a little bit of time and desire. Most of them are driven by megalomania. To them if they are not big, they are worthless. Sad, really sad.

In some respects, Greg, I'll bet you are glad to be out of the business just to be away from people like that.

[Greg Newton]

In some respects, Greg, I'll bet you are glad to be out of the business just to be away from people like that.

Well, I didn't have to worry about too many hardcore muscleheads and gym rats, although I had a few. To make money in the gym business you really don't want the hardcore guys - they drive the normal, everyday people out.

The fitness business could get down right weird sometimes. I wish I had a dime for every time someone came into my business and expected me to roll over for them because they had some kind of personal trainer certificate, they were a contest bodybuilder, or they thought they were an attractive woman. Not only did they expect me to roll out the red carpet, but they expected to train for free. As I told one young lady who explained her condescending laundry list of needs in the gym, she could take her needs and go twelve miles down the road to one of my competitors, "who had everything for her needs."

On the other hand, I helped a lot of normal people reach their fitness goals, and I enjoyed that. I enjoyed some of the friendships I made with guys who enjoyed training and weren't into the ego thing. There was a group of us who would workout on Saturdays, we'd close the gym at lunch time and then go out to a steakhouse to eat and cut up. Sometimes we'd rent movies or we'd go camping. Simple stuff like that, and some of the friendships I made sixteen years ago still stand today.

There were some funny times as well like the time I Armor-Alled all the benches and people were slipping and sliding off them like it was a water ride. Or then there was the time we were hit by an ice storm, and the power went out. I had a couple of really dedicated guys training in the basement by candlelight. Or, then there was the time I put a ping pong table in the basement part of the gym where the heavy weights were. All the tough, heavy lifters would come to lift heavy and wind up playing ping pong instead. Then there was the time the boys that worked for me, being inventive types, filled the water cooler with water straight from the shower head, and there was squiggly stuff floating in it. I could go on and on. It was an interesting time for me.

Greg Newton

[Johnny]

You don't need equipment and you don't need anything outside of yourself to be super healthy and perfectly strong.. All you need is the know how (we certainly provide that) and a supportive environment.

Amen to that!