Feel-good gyms

LAC is Lexington's "Feel Good" gym...

Whether it's pampering or performance training you're after, fitness centers focus on your goals


via Robert McCoppin and the Daily-Herald

On TV, health clubs are filled with athletic 20-somethings in tight outfits, grinning nonstop through breezy workouts.
In real life, overweight people in T-shirts and sweat pants grunt through their workouts as best they can. They know they're never going to look like a model, no matter how much they work out.
As health club membership has plateaued in the last few years, more people want to go somewhere that doesn't feel like they're punching the clock at a fitness factory.
In short, people don't just want to look good - they want to feel good.
Health clubs are responding to that desire by changing their facilities, their amenities and their approach.
Today's fitness centers need to attract all ages and sizes, including people too intimidated to join because they weren't in shape. And they're doing it with everything from medically based programs and elite sports training to luxury spa treatments.



Niche classes
The single huge aerobics class is so last century. By now, health club members expect more creative offerings.
Classes in the suburbs now include cardio kickboxing, salsa funk dance classes and meditation.


Edward Fitness Center in Woodridge just started a Commit to Lose class, limited to six women who are at least 30 pounds overweight.
The group will get an hour with a dietitian, and an hour with a personal trainer, then will work out together for six weeks. Next, they'll take two weeks off to practice what they've learned on their own.
After that, they'll meet with the dietitian and trainer for the final week, then weigh in. Whoever loses the greatest percentage of weight gets half off the enrollment price of the next phase of the program.
As more hospitals have begun to operate fitness centers, they have also brought a more medically based background to the operation.
This fall Edward plans a class for diabetic children and their parents to take together. The class will cover not only exercise, but also nutrition and health education.
Last year, the center expanded to add a boxing area and room for small classes including yoga, meditation with chanting, and the Power Hour, strength training for women.
"We're more concerned," program manager Sandy Roberts said, "with the overall health of our members."



Performance training
Rather than just hitting the weights and treadmills, more people are looking for specific exercises to target their favorite sport or least favorite body part.
At Buffalo Grove Fitness Center, a franchise facility called Going Vertical offers sports-specific training for all ages.
On a recent weekday, two brothers, age 11 and 9, were jumping over small hurdles, sidestepping for quickness, sprinting on a treadmill, and leaping like Super Mario to activate a virtual reality video game.
The boys, Jake and Brett Bauer, of Buffalo Grove, were training for baseball, basketball and soccer.
"It's really fun," Jake said while catching his breath between drills. "It's a really good workout, and it helps with your reflexes."
Next door, Jeff Pagliocca of Evolution Athletics rents out the gym to train athletes in basketball skills. The program has attracted scholarship-seeking students as young as junior high school age and notable athletes such as European professionals and Duke basketball star John Scheyer of Northbrook.
It's the kind of niche training you won't find at a typical Bally's. As Pagliocca says, "I bring an elite crowd."
At the other end of the spectrum, down the hall, Yvonne Gibbs came to the club on doctor's orders - but stayed for the spa.
While getting physical therapy for a bad back, she noticed the Vitality Spa. The pristine retreat offers French clay wraps, Vichy showers, and Gibbs' choice, therapeutic massage.
Like a growing number of health club members, Gibbs is there for both wellness and relaxation.
"I thought, this looks like a nice treat," Gibbs said as she got a deep-tissue rubdown. "It's nice to combine therapy and a massage."



The mega-resort
While services have gotten more specialized, some facilities have kept getting bigger.
In Vernon Hills, Life Time Athletic is set to open the largest facility of its kind, a 150,000-square-foot monster marketed as a resort.
The facility will feature private showers, member card-activated cherry wood lockers and toiletries in its "changing room" (not a locker room). It will have a three-story high rock-climbing wall. It will feature glass elevators and a eucalyptus-scented spa.
It will try to offer something for everyone.
Each week, trainers will offer 70 to 100 classes.
Leagues will organize games of basketball, indoor soccer, and flag football.
The children's center will feature a maze, a basketball facility, Apple computers, games and activities.
There will be indoor and outdoor separate pools for laps and recreation, with zero depth and water slides and showers for kids.
Despite its size, Senior General Manager Chad Wamsley said Life Time will have personal counselors to try to match each member with activities that will meet their specific goals.
"We try to determine what we have to do so they have something specific to work for," Wamsley said, "and we want them to have a whole lot of fun as they do it."