Health Club News…. Miss Texas Pole Dance Competition Heats up Dallas

DALLAS—
The first-ever “Miss Texas Pole Dance” heated up north Texas over the weekend. The competitors say, they’re not dancers, they’re athletes.It takes a lot of strength, and a lot of control, to be able to do what the women were doing.”It’s a cardio workout, it’s strength, endurance, it’s flexibility, it’s technique. So, it’s a total body workout,” said Toy Laster of Choice Training. Laster, along with Rashida Hobbs of Pole’iticians, put the event together.”They’re not really considered ‘pole dancers.’ People need to know there’s a difference between an exotic dancer and a pole dancer. they are truly athletes,” said Hobbs.Sensuality is important. So is performance. “Pole can be, not just fitness, but you can also make it very artistic,” said Laster.What it all comes down to is athleticism.”I’m looking for lines. I’m looking for flexed feet. I’m looking for someone who can bring more of a fitness and an athletic side to the sport,” said judge Nicki Shaw, Miss Georgia. The competition was split into two categories: amateur and professional.Brynn Route competed in the pro competition, because she teaches pole fitness in Austin. She says, before pole dancing, she struggled to find a workout she could stick to. “I hated going to the gym. I hated running. I just could not get behind any form of exercise until I found pole dancing, and I just fell in love,” said Route.Sunday, Route was one of the nearly two dozen women in the competition. Each was expected to perform stunts on two poles: one stationary and one rotating.Each competitor we spoke with agreed on one thing: you’ve got to be fit to perform on the pole. “It is becoming more and more mainstream,” said Hobbs.Hobbs and Laster put the event together to draw more respect for the sport.”I wanted to give women an opportunity to showcase their skills, agility, and training in pole fitness. To really display that this is an art as well as a sport, so people can recognize it as a legit fitness,” said Hobbs.
Doug Magditch doug.magditch@the33tv.com
http://www.the33tv.com/news/kdaf-miss-texas-pole-dance-competition-heats-up-dallas-20110626,0,735755.story

Health Club News…. Miss Texas Pole Dance Competition Heats up Dallas

DALLAS—
The first-ever “Miss Texas Pole Dance” heated up north Texas over the weekend. The competitors say, they’re not dancers, they’re athletes.It takes a lot of strength, and a lot of control, to be able to do what the women were doing.”It’s a cardio workout, it’s strength, endurance, it’s flexibility, it’s technique. So, it’s a total body workout,” said Toy Laster of Choice Training. Laster, along with Rashida Hobbs of Pole’iticians, put the event together.”They’re not really considered ‘pole dancers.’ People need to know there’s a difference between an exotic dancer and a pole dancer. they are truly athletes,” said Hobbs.Sensuality is important. So is performance. “Pole can be, not just fitness, but you can also make it very artistic,” said Laster.What it all comes down to is athleticism.”I’m looking for lines. I’m looking for flexed feet. I’m looking for someone who can bring more of a fitness and an athletic side to the sport,” said judge Nicki Shaw, Miss Georgia. The competition was split into two categories: amateur and professional.Brynn Route competed in the pro competition, because she teaches pole fitness in Austin. She says, before pole dancing, she struggled to find a workout she could stick to. “I hated going to the gym. I hated running. I just could not get behind any form of exercise until I found pole dancing, and I just fell in love,” said Route.Sunday, Route was one of the nearly two dozen women in the competition. Each was expected to perform stunts on two poles: one stationary and one rotating.Each competitor we spoke with agreed on one thing: you’ve got to be fit to perform on the pole. “It is becoming more and more mainstream,” said Hobbs.Hobbs and Laster put the event together to draw more respect for the sport.”I wanted to give women an opportunity to showcase their skills, agility, and training in pole fitness. To really display that this is an art as well as a sport, so people can recognize it as a legit fitness,” said Hobbs.
Doug Magditch doug.magditch@the33tv.com
http://www.the33tv.com/news/kdaf-miss-texas-pole-dance-competition-heats-up-dallas-20110626,0,735755.story

Health Club News…. Miss Texas Pole Dance Competition Heats up Dallas

DALLAS—
The first-ever “Miss Texas Pole Dance” heated up north Texas over the weekend. The competitors say, they’re not dancers, they’re athletes.It takes a lot of strength, and a lot of control, to be able to do what the women were doing.”It’s a cardio workout, it’s strength, endurance, it’s flexibility, it’s technique. So, it’s a total body workout,” said Toy Laster of Choice Training. Laster, along with Rashida Hobbs of Pole’iticians, put the event together.”They’re not really considered ‘pole dancers.’ People need to know there’s a difference between an exotic dancer and a pole dancer. they are truly athletes,” said Hobbs.Sensuality is important. So is performance. “Pole can be, not just fitness, but you can also make it very artistic,” said Laster.What it all comes down to is athleticism.”I’m looking for lines. I’m looking for flexed feet. I’m looking for someone who can bring more of a fitness and an athletic side to the sport,” said judge Nicki Shaw, Miss Georgia. The competition was split into two categories: amateur and professional.Brynn Route competed in the pro competition, because she teaches pole fitness in Austin. She says, before pole dancing, she struggled to find a workout she could stick to. “I hated going to the gym. I hated running. I just could not get behind any form of exercise until I found pole dancing, and I just fell in love,” said Route.Sunday, Route was one of the nearly two dozen women in the competition. Each was expected to perform stunts on two poles: one stationary and one rotating.Each competitor we spoke with agreed on one thing: you’ve got to be fit to perform on the pole. “It is becoming more and more mainstream,” said Hobbs.Hobbs and Laster put the event together to draw more respect for the sport.”I wanted to give women an opportunity to showcase their skills, agility, and training in pole fitness. To really display that this is an art as well as a sport, so people can recognize it as a legit fitness,” said Hobbs.
Doug Magditch doug.magditch@the33tv.com
http://www.the33tv.com/news/kdaf-miss-texas-pole-dance-competition-heats-up-dallas-20110626,0,735755.story

Health Club News…. Miss Texas Pole Dance Competition Heats up Dallas

DALLAS—
The first-ever “Miss Texas Pole Dance” heated up north Texas over the weekend. The competitors say, they’re not dancers, they’re athletes.It takes a lot of strength, and a lot of control, to be able to do what the women were doing.”It’s a cardio workout, it’s strength, endurance, it’s flexibility, it’s technique. So, it’s a total body workout,” said Toy Laster of Choice Training. Laster, along with Rashida Hobbs of Pole’iticians, put the event together.”They’re not really considered ‘pole dancers.’ People need to know there’s a difference between an exotic dancer and a pole dancer. they are truly athletes,” said Hobbs.Sensuality is important. So is performance. “Pole can be, not just fitness, but you can also make it very artistic,” said Laster.What it all comes down to is athleticism.”I’m looking for lines. I’m looking for flexed feet. I’m looking for someone who can bring more of a fitness and an athletic side to the sport,” said judge Nicki Shaw, Miss Georgia. The competition was split into two categories: amateur and professional.Brynn Route competed in the pro competition, because she teaches pole fitness in Austin. She says, before pole dancing, she struggled to find a workout she could stick to. “I hated going to the gym. I hated running. I just could not get behind any form of exercise until I found pole dancing, and I just fell in love,” said Route.Sunday, Route was one of the nearly two dozen women in the competition. Each was expected to perform stunts on two poles: one stationary and one rotating.Each competitor we spoke with agreed on one thing: you’ve got to be fit to perform on the pole. “It is becoming more and more mainstream,” said Hobbs.Hobbs and Laster put the event together to draw more respect for the sport.”I wanted to give women an opportunity to showcase their skills, agility, and training in pole fitness. To really display that this is an art as well as a sport, so people can recognize it as a legit fitness,” said Hobbs.
Doug Magditch doug.magditch@the33tv.com
http://www.the33tv.com/news/kdaf-miss-texas-pole-dance-competition-heats-up-dallas-20110626,0,735755.story

Jon Wright has seen his affordable health club operator Xercise4less expand quickly

THE ALDI phenomenon has seen Britain’s squeezed middle class shoppers abandon their preconceptions and flock to budget supermarkets.
Jon Wright has seen his affordable gym operator Xercise4less expand quickly as people realise it is not necessary to spend £40 or £50 a month to say fit.
The firm has 10,000 members at its Wakefield and Castleford sites and will turn over £2.5m for the year to July, although it wants to increase this tenfold by 2015 as business models change, Mr Wright said.
“Typically 15 per cent of adults use health clubs but that is moving towards 20 per cent. It is opening up our market.”
The growth of Xercise has been based on a low subscription rate, of £14.99 a month, flexibility, with members on monthly, discounted 12 month rates or ongoing contracts, rather than the rigid long-term agreements with high penalty clauses used by some operators, and a focus on costs which means several instructors are self-employed personal trainers rather than on the firm’s payroll.
“The key for us is to be flexible and to meet the members’ requirements,” said Mr Wright, a former Leeds rugby union player.
“We let you freeze fees if you get injured or go on holiday. It is just so much cheaper to run – (changing and freezing memberships) was a longer process but now it is done at the click of a button.”
This model, of lower costs and lower fees, is why Mr Wright describes his firm as the Aldi of the fitness sector, in honour of the German supermarket.
Last month Xercise reached another significant landmark when it appointed business angel Neil Ewin as a non-executive director.
For the firm to keep growing in the long-term, however, it may need a capital injection. The credit crisis which has driven customers to Xercise also means it remains difficult for small businesses to get a loan and owner Mr Wright said it was this, as well as the challenge of finding suitable sites, that could limit its growth.
So would he be willing to sell a stake in the business? “It is a possibility. The way that banks are is that they are not falling over themselves to lend you money. That is just the nature of the climate we are in.
“If the banks are not willing to do it your only alternative is to go to private equity. Clearly, we want to get to a lot bigger before that.”
In the meantime, Xercise, which is profitable, will open a new site in a 32,000 sq ft former retail warehouse in Stockton in September, creating 40 jobs. It also plans to extend its Wakefield site, a former Allied Carpets store, by adding a 2,000 sq ft ladies only extension, although Mr Wright said the firm will not be opening a full size single sex gym.
Instead it will continue to drive up its customer base and find new sites. It wants to have 15 gyms and 150,000 members by 2015 which Mr Wright is confident he can achieve, based on a low rate of churn (the number of members leaving and joining).
Mr Ewin will play a key part in this after joining last month. The SME investor and consultant, from Leeds, is an experienced business angel who sold his legal software group, Visualfiles, to a US company for a multi-million pound sum in 2006.
“It is an advantage to bring somebody on board of that calibre,” Mr Wright said.
“He comes in with that level of insight – (helping improve) customer services ideas and repeat business. The health club industry is a very sales driven industry.”
Mr Ewin will bring the experience of running a business to Xercise, which has been built on Mr Wright’s knowledge of the gym industry. He has been involved with health clubs for 18 years after injury forced him to stop playing rugby union.
He played for Headingley in the early 1990s and in the first year after its merger with Roundhay, when the new club was known as Leeds Tykes (now Leeds Carnegie). He went on to play for Harlequins, before injury cut short his career aged 23.
By Peter Edwards
peter.edwards@ypn.co.uk

Jon Wright has seen his affordable health club operator Xercise4less expand quickly

THE ALDI phenomenon has seen Britain’s squeezed middle class shoppers abandon their preconceptions and flock to budget supermarkets.
Jon Wright has seen his affordable gym operator Xercise4less expand quickly as people realise it is not necessary to spend £40 or £50 a month to say fit.
The firm has 10,000 members at its Wakefield and Castleford sites and will turn over £2.5m for the year to July, although it wants to increase this tenfold by 2015 as business models change, Mr Wright said.
“Typically 15 per cent of adults use health clubs but that is moving towards 20 per cent. It is opening up our market.”
The growth of Xercise has been based on a low subscription rate, of £14.99 a month, flexibility, with members on monthly, discounted 12 month rates or ongoing contracts, rather than the rigid long-term agreements with high penalty clauses used by some operators, and a focus on costs which means several instructors are self-employed personal trainers rather than on the firm’s payroll.
“The key for us is to be flexible and to meet the members’ requirements,” said Mr Wright, a former Leeds rugby union player.
“We let you freeze fees if you get injured or go on holiday. It is just so much cheaper to run – (changing and freezing memberships) was a longer process but now it is done at the click of a button.”
This model, of lower costs and lower fees, is why Mr Wright describes his firm as the Aldi of the fitness sector, in honour of the German supermarket.
Last month Xercise reached another significant landmark when it appointed business angel Neil Ewin as a non-executive director.
For the firm to keep growing in the long-term, however, it may need a capital injection. The credit crisis which has driven customers to Xercise also means it remains difficult for small businesses to get a loan and owner Mr Wright said it was this, as well as the challenge of finding suitable sites, that could limit its growth.
So would he be willing to sell a stake in the business? “It is a possibility. The way that banks are is that they are not falling over themselves to lend you money. That is just the nature of the climate we are in.
“If the banks are not willing to do it your only alternative is to go to private equity. Clearly, we want to get to a lot bigger before that.”
In the meantime, Xercise, which is profitable, will open a new site in a 32,000 sq ft former retail warehouse in Stockton in September, creating 40 jobs. It also plans to extend its Wakefield site, a former Allied Carpets store, by adding a 2,000 sq ft ladies only extension, although Mr Wright said the firm will not be opening a full size single sex gym.
Instead it will continue to drive up its customer base and find new sites. It wants to have 15 gyms and 150,000 members by 2015 which Mr Wright is confident he can achieve, based on a low rate of churn (the number of members leaving and joining).
Mr Ewin will play a key part in this after joining last month. The SME investor and consultant, from Leeds, is an experienced business angel who sold his legal software group, Visualfiles, to a US company for a multi-million pound sum in 2006.
“It is an advantage to bring somebody on board of that calibre,” Mr Wright said.
“He comes in with that level of insight – (helping improve) customer services ideas and repeat business. The health club industry is a very sales driven industry.”
Mr Ewin will bring the experience of running a business to Xercise, which has been built on Mr Wright’s knowledge of the gym industry. He has been involved with health clubs for 18 years after injury forced him to stop playing rugby union.
He played for Headingley in the early 1990s and in the first year after its merger with Roundhay, when the new club was known as Leeds Tykes (now Leeds Carnegie). He went on to play for Harlequins, before injury cut short his career aged 23.
By Peter Edwards
peter.edwards@ypn.co.uk

YMCA health club to close after struggling to remain financially viable.

YMCA health club will close its doors at the end of the month after struggling to remain financially viable.
Club members expressed anger after receiving the news last week in a letter from club manager Lissa McIldowney, while Hepburn Shire has promised to investigate new options for a heath club.Ballarat YMCA chief executive Malcolm Healey said the Smith Street facility was not financially viable in its current location in the grounds of Daylesford Secondary College and would close on June 30. “We have explored several alternatives for the health club’s continuation, but unfortunately we have not been able to achieve a positive outcome,” Mr Healey said.He said the site’s location and limited day-time access, as well as issues of amenity, had restricted the health club’s ability to attract sustainable membership.Patrons with term memberships or membership passes will have the balance of their payments refunded. Mr Healey said the six casual YMCA staff affected by the closure would be supported to find alternative employment. Club member Kathleen Murray said Daylesford was being “geographically discriminated against” by the closure. “.This is a sudden and hugely disappointing announcement which leaves the local residents without any access to a gymnasium before and after work.”It also makes it incredibly difficult for locals to try and keep fit during the colder months,” Mrs Murray said. She said many members were angry and the decision to close the gym made the promotion of health and wellbeing in the area laughable.Daylesford Secondary College acting principal Tiffany Holt said the decision by the YMCA came as a shock to the school.”The college has been in ongoing lengthy discussions with the shire regarding ways to maximise the use and availability of the health club, and we will continue to nvestigate ways to maintain this great facility for the benefit of both our school community and the wider community,” she said.Hepburn Shire mayor Rod May said the decision was regrettable but unavoidable.”According to the YMCA, the ongoing operation of the club was clearly not financially sustainable and they were left with no other choice.”Council is committed to working with both the YMCA and the Daylesford Secondary College to explore other options so our community can continue to enjoy the benefits such a club and facility provides,” he said.Club members who contacted The Advocate paid tribute to Ms McIldowney for her leadership of the club and expressed sadness they would no longer be able to exercise together at the facility.
http://www.hepburnadvocate.com
The Advocate

YMCA health club to close after struggling to remain financially viable.

YMCA health club will close its doors at the end of the month after struggling to remain financially viable.
Club members expressed anger after receiving the news last week in a letter from club manager Lissa McIldowney, while Hepburn Shire has promised to investigate new options for a heath club.Ballarat YMCA chief executive Malcolm Healey said the Smith Street facility was not financially viable in its current location in the grounds of Daylesford Secondary College and would close on June 30. “We have explored several alternatives for the health club’s continuation, but unfortunately we have not been able to achieve a positive outcome,” Mr Healey said.He said the site’s location and limited day-time access, as well as issues of amenity, had restricted the health club’s ability to attract sustainable membership.Patrons with term memberships or membership passes will have the balance of their payments refunded. Mr Healey said the six casual YMCA staff affected by the closure would be supported to find alternative employment. Club member Kathleen Murray said Daylesford was being “geographically discriminated against” by the closure. “.This is a sudden and hugely disappointing announcement which leaves the local residents without any access to a gymnasium before and after work.”It also makes it incredibly difficult for locals to try and keep fit during the colder months,” Mrs Murray said. She said many members were angry and the decision to close the gym made the promotion of health and wellbeing in the area laughable.Daylesford Secondary College acting principal Tiffany Holt said the decision by the YMCA came as a shock to the school.”The college has been in ongoing lengthy discussions with the shire regarding ways to maximise the use and availability of the health club, and we will continue to nvestigate ways to maintain this great facility for the benefit of both our school community and the wider community,” she said.Hepburn Shire mayor Rod May said the decision was regrettable but unavoidable.”According to the YMCA, the ongoing operation of the club was clearly not financially sustainable and they were left with no other choice.”Council is committed to working with both the YMCA and the Daylesford Secondary College to explore other options so our community can continue to enjoy the benefits such a club and facility provides,” he said.Club members who contacted The Advocate paid tribute to Ms McIldowney for her leadership of the club and expressed sadness they would no longer be able to exercise together at the facility.
http://www.hepburnadvocate.com
The Advocate

International Health Club News…… Ruling to free health club members from long contracts

Anyone tied into a gym contract of more than a year should be able to cancel it more easily and without cost, following a landmark ruling last month. Working up a sweat: The ruling could mean that other gyms will not be able to tie customers into contracts for more than 12 months. In May, the Office of Fair Trading won a ruling at the High Court against Ashbourne Management Services, which draws up contracts and collects payments from independent gyms. This Friday the High Court is set to make an enforcement order on the ruling which could mean that anyone who is signed up to a gym contract that is longer than 12 months will be able to cancel it for free. During the case the judge looked at 13 Ashbourne contracts, ruling that in 10 of them the lengthy minimum membership periods (usually 12, 24 or 36 months) were unfair when Ashbourne knew that many consumers stop attending the gym after two or three months. He also ruled that three other contracts were still unfair because they tied members in for more than 12 months. The ruling, although not yet legally binding, could see other gyms follow suit. Current contracts for 12 months or longer do not need to be cancelled, but gyms will not be able to enforce penalties or insist that members pay for the whole amount outstanding if members decide to leave.It also means that gym-goers can cancel their memberships without cost, even if it is within 12 months, if they raise genuine issues about the quality of the gym. The OFT said that the ruling should give other businesses in the sector which use similar terms an ‘understanding of how a court would rule’ if its terms or contracts were unfair.Jason Freeman, Director in the OFT Goods and Consumer Group, said: ‘Unfair terms that unreasonably bind consumers into long contracts they cannot leave, and heavy-handed collection techniques, have no place in businesses’ dealings with consumers. ‘This ruling should help traders to understand where the boundaries lie, and sends a warning that if they cross the line, the OFT and local trading standards services can take action.’

International Health Club News…… Ruling to free health club members from long contracts

Anyone tied into a gym contract of more than a year should be able to cancel it more easily and without cost, following a landmark ruling last month. Working up a sweat: The ruling could mean that other gyms will not be able to tie customers into contracts for more than 12 months. In May, the Office of Fair Trading won a ruling at the High Court against Ashbourne Management Services, which draws up contracts and collects payments from independent gyms. This Friday the High Court is set to make an enforcement order on the ruling which could mean that anyone who is signed up to a gym contract that is longer than 12 months will be able to cancel it for free. During the case the judge looked at 13 Ashbourne contracts, ruling that in 10 of them the lengthy minimum membership periods (usually 12, 24 or 36 months) were unfair when Ashbourne knew that many consumers stop attending the gym after two or three months. He also ruled that three other contracts were still unfair because they tied members in for more than 12 months. The ruling, although not yet legally binding, could see other gyms follow suit. Current contracts for 12 months or longer do not need to be cancelled, but gyms will not be able to enforce penalties or insist that members pay for the whole amount outstanding if members decide to leave.It also means that gym-goers can cancel their memberships without cost, even if it is within 12 months, if they raise genuine issues about the quality of the gym. The OFT said that the ruling should give other businesses in the sector which use similar terms an ‘understanding of how a court would rule’ if its terms or contracts were unfair.Jason Freeman, Director in the OFT Goods and Consumer Group, said: ‘Unfair terms that unreasonably bind consumers into long contracts they cannot leave, and heavy-handed collection techniques, have no place in businesses’ dealings with consumers. ‘This ruling should help traders to understand where the boundaries lie, and sends a warning that if they cross the line, the OFT and local trading standards services can take action.’

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