One of the most commonly discussed topics among SuperSlow®
practitioners is retrofitting. To retrofit means to modify a device or to install
new components into a device after purchase by the end user. Such modifications
are usually made to improve the productivity, safety, or efficiency of said
device. In our case, retrofitting usually involves converting old (most commonly
Nautilus®) exercise equipment into low-friction, properly-cammed machines ideal
for the application of SuperSlow®.
As all SuperSlow® instructors are aware, proper equipment is only a part
of the ideal exercise environment. And, as all SuperSlow® instructors are
also aware, most (if not all) commercial health-club facilities are tragically
devoid of the correct equipment, environment, competence and attitude to instruct
proper exercise.
Early in 1994, my wife Ann-Marie and I were ready to bail out of the fitness
industry. Years of working in commercial health clubs (both of us have had experience
in instructing, sales, and management) had convinced us that nothing could bring
reasonable standards back into exercise. We had given it our best shot; managing
a staff of four certified Level-I SuperSlow® instructors (three of whom
I had personally certified) in an attempt to prove that SuperSlow® could
be commercially viable in a 15,000 square foot facility. For awhile it appeared
that we were correct, but as time went on we received decreasing support from
the club owner (not surprising, years earlier she had opened the first aerobics-dance
studio in the Seattle area . . . ). This eventually forced us (all of us) to
leave her business.
Ann-Marie and I started planning to open our own facility, modeled after Doug
Spratt' s Body Coach in Windermere, Florida. Then an interesting turn of events
occurred: a smaller commercial Nautilus club in Seattle was put up for sale.
While one might question the wisdom of jumping right back into the same circus
we had just left, the allure of purchasing 35 pieces of Nautilus and a fully-built
club for pennies on the dollar was too strong to pass up. Never mind that we
had to service about 1000 existing members (this actually gave us a rich source
of personal training clients), or that the club contained a full complement
of StairMasters®, stationary bicycles, aerobics-dance classes and the like,
we had a solution: We would merely fix it. The following is a chronicle of our
battle to do just that . . . the ultimate retrofit!
One more thing before I begin: This article is not intended to be a how-to piece.
I believe that our conversion of Northend Nautilus from recreation center to
exercise facility will be of interest to any commercial health club owner who
believes in the correctness of SuperSlow®. Doing as we have done is definitely
risky. There have been a few moments when I was ready to quit and may have done
so if not for the support of other Guild members. I especially appreciate the
input and moral support of the following: Ken and Brenda Hutchins, Jeff Turner,
Rob Serraino, Vicki Reeve, Tim Ryan, Robert Francis, Mike Moran, and Tom Grace.
We couldn't have done it without you.
June, 1994: Out of the frying pan and into the
fire . . .
We officially opened Northend Nautilus June 2, 1994. Our plan was to take an
existing facility and reeducate the members as to the dictates of proper exercise.
Essentially, this would involve low frictioning and installing new cams (with
an appropriate resistance curve for SuperSlow® Protocol) in the classic
Nautilus equipment already on the premises. We would also offer free training
sessions to anyone who would take them. In addition, we would, for lack of a
better word, police the premises and discourage ballistic training, slamming
weights, yelling, screaming, and all of the other nonsense that is so common
in most gyms.
While this sounds easy enough, the reaction of most of the club membership was:
"Go to hell . . . I'll train any way I like!" Our admonitions to stop
abusing the equipment and distracting the members who were trying to exercise
were, for the most part, ignored.
Even though we succeeded in developing a strong one-on-one SuperSlow® program,
the constant distraction and childish attitudes of some of our plate-heads made
training even our most dedicated and skilled trainees a chore. On the positive
side, however, we were successful in discouraging participation in steady state
activities and aerobics-dance. So successful, in fact, that a fitness columnist
from the Seattle Times wrote an article on us and our decidedly "anti-aerobics"
stance. I later corrected her, stating that we harbor no prejudice against that
particular metabolic pathway.
As time went on, we did feel as if we were making progress. During our first
few months in business our Nautilus sales representative was John Shafter, a
Guild member and Certified Level-I instructor. He expressed surprise at the
number of clients that we were able to attract into SuperSlow® Exercise.
Still, the exercise environment was far from ideal.
November, 1994: A club within a club . . .
During the 1994 Super Slow Exercise Guild Convention (July 16 &17) I had
a brief conversation with Dennis Beckman regarding my battle to bring standards
to a commercial facility. It was at this time that Dennis provided me with an
idea that I consider to be absolute genius. He suggested that we simply divide
the facility into two sections: One section for exercise, the other for recreation.
Fall of 1994 found us converting a 600-square-foot area of the club (formerly
a daycare and storeroom) into an ideal exercise environment. We wished our new
one-on-one training room to be perfect in every way: No distractions, proper
temperature, proper equipment. While cleaning out another storage facility I
happened across 1200 IBS. of Olympic barbell plates. This really eased the financial
burden of purchasing new equipment as plate-loading machines are much less expensive
than their selectorized counterparts. We chose the new Power Plus line from
Nautilus, partly because of price, and partly because many of the machines are
cammed; meaning that their resistance curves can be changed to SuperSlow®
specifications.
The remodeling of the training room was completed in late November, and we awaited
delivery of our equipment. Delivery was scheduled for 29 December. During those
four weeks we began pre-selling the program. We would simply walk prospective
clients into the room and show them photographs of the new (incoming) equipment.
These sales presentations usually took place after a trial workout on our regular
exercise floor. Our clients loved the idea that they would soon have. a private
environment, and we offered discounts on training packages for those who signed
up before the arrival of the new equipment. December, traditionally one of the
slowest months of the year, produced $15,000 in pre-sales alone! Those dollars
would not have been produced without SuperSlow®.
August, 1995: Saying No to Aerobics . . .
Our new Nautilus equipment arrived on January 20th. We began to gain clients
at an astonishing rate (over 80% were referrals). By June our production had
grown to just over 200 workouts per week. We were constantly busy with workouts
to the point that I and our three Level-I instructors had new clients on a waiting
list to see us.
In July we hired Cory Chevrefils, a Master SuperSlow® Instructor from Canada,
to come in and share some of the client load. It seemed as if Cory had 50 clients
before his bags were even unpacked. The 600-square-foot area devoted to SuperSlow®
was bringing in 70-80% of the club's income. While this figure certainly underscores
the immense profitability of proper exercise instruction, I became increasingly
frustrated with the fact that the monies generated by the SuperSlow® program
were being eaten up in supporting a commercial facility.
In addition to the gigantic overhead expense of running a large club, we noticed
a disturbing trend among the newer (non personal-training) members. At first
we were almost always successful in instructing proper exercise to our new members.
They were given four orientation workouts after which they would be turned loose
to self-supervise. Most stayed very faithful to their programs for about six
weeks. At this point things quickly began to degenerate. As they became more
proficient at the exercises, our members became bored with their routines. Some
quit coming in, others looked for a more entertaining activity. Few of them
actually approached us for assistance (those who did often ended up purchasing
one-on-one SuperSlow® workouts). Instead, we witnessed otherwise intelligent
people succumbing to the allure of aerobics, StairMaster machines, and the latest
Weiderized free-weight split routine. I take responsibility for some of this.
Many of these people probably would have approached us for assistance in sticking
with their programs had we not insisted on such rigid standards.
We realized that the aerobics and other recreational activities were not only
a serious distraction to our members who would otherwise be exercising properly,
but also that they represented a hazard to the future of the business. Because
of our exercise philosophy and the attention it generated, participation in
aerobics-dance classes had dropped to less than .5% of.our active members. While
I certainly viewed this as ideological victory, it was just as certainly a business
disaster. Remember: it makes no difference if there are two or two hundred people
in an aerobics class, the instructor still gets paid, the rent on that square
footage is the same, the utility bills are the same, the insurance premiums
are the same . . . you get the idea.
One morning in July, I was standing in our aerobic dance studio with Paul Waskel,
a Level-I SuperSlow® instructor and our assistant-manager. As there was
no class going on at the time, we were looking at an empty 1250 square-foot
space. Our frustration with aerobics had become almost unbearable and our need
for more space devoted to SuperSlow® was very real. Paul remarked that it
would be great if we could just cancel the aerobics program and remodel this
large room into a new one-on-one training area. I sarcastically remarked that
the idea sounded great and while we are at it why not sell off all of the treadmills
and StairMasters as well?
Paul was very enthusiastic about the idea. In fact, he had the sort of enthusiasm
that one can only have when someone else's financial future is at stake. The
thought of having a more ideal facility appealed greatly to me as well. I tried
to get a mental picture of the balance between the people who would be upset
with us for taking away their aerobics and those who would hail us as pioneers.
There are really only two alternatives in business, anyway: profit or doom.
Besides, if the idea failed and we were run out of business, I would feel better
about having made the attempt to do things correctly.
September 1995: "Ken was right. . . aerobics
really is a religion!"
During the last week of August, we had mailed letters to all of our members
informing them of the changes to come for our facility. We told them that aerobics
would be cut and that the equipment would be upgraded so as to be more ideal
for SuperSlow® application. Further, the letter contained our arguments
in favor of SuperSlow® to the exclusion of other nonproductive and unsafe
protocols. We timed the mailing of these letters to arrive the day before the
Labor Day weekend. We would be closed for remodeling over those three days.
In addition to notifying our club members, we sent a four-page document to the
State Attorney General's office advising them of our imminent change in business
policy, the reasons behind the changes, and the possibility that there would
be some complaints filed against us. We were later told by a representative
from the AG's office that this was the first time a health club had ever warned
them in such a manner.
Over the Labor Day weekend we set about the laborious task of removing a 1250
square foot, 3500 IBS. spring-loaded "state of the art" aerobics floor.
The floor had been purchased some years ago by the former owners of the club.
It had been designed by some of Kenneth Cooper's associates in Texas. Needless
to say, tearing it out was an extremely pleasurable experience.
In addition to the physical alterations to the building, the StairMasters, stationary
bicycles, and treadmills were all removed and put into storage. Our plan was
to sell them later to raise money for additional strength training equipment.
Upon returning from driving a truckload of StairMasters to a local storage facility,
we noticed a handwritten sign taped to the club's front door. It read:
"Dear Owners of Northend Nautilus:
If you proceed with your new policy of "slow only" training, a CLASS ACTlON LAWSUIT will be brought against you due to breach of contract on your part.
We mean business. BE FOREWARNED!!!
The Anti-Slow Members"
One of my clients who was assisting us remarked
that "I guess Ken Hutchins is right . . . Aerobics is a religion !"
(I should mention here that there was no breach of contract. Our membership
agreements only guarantee that we will provide strength training equipment.)
The remodeling was completed on time. Those were three hellish days for anyone
(like myself) who avoids manual labor whenever possible. The work was well worth
it. We now had a facility we could be proud of. Monday morning the club opened
with a more efficient layout, peace and quiet in which to concentrate, and a
new 1 250-square-foot training area dedicated to our one-on-one SuperSlow®
routines.
We spent the month of September helping our members adjust to the changes to
the facility. Letters poured in from those who could not understand why we had
taken such a rigid position. Lawsuits and picket lines were threatened. Consumer
affairs reporters were called. Several associates assured me that they "wouldn't
want to be in my shoes." Quite the contrary, I had a lot of fun. Every
time someone called or came in to tell me what a horrible person I am for taking
away their aerobics, I had an opportunity to explain proper exercise to them.
And while I clearly did not convince everyone, several of our new clients have
come from the group that was most unhappy.
As of this writing, December 1 9th, we are about to add an additional 400 square
feet on to our SuperSlow® area. Production is closing in on 300 training
sessions per week and should continue to grow with no signs of slowing down.
During the past few years a lot of experts have told me that SuperSlow®
is not commercially viable. When I think of them now I smile and remember that
living well is the best revenge.