Augie In Action! Augie In Action! - Ihrsa

Time for a Change
Survey suggests only 17% of Americans engage in regular exercise
Arecent Time magazine study of
Americans’ “average” daily
behaviors revealed a disturbing
trend: most people aren’t exercising.
When the stats are averaged out, it
appears that members of the general
public engage in nearly 20 minutes of
physical activity each day—but that’s
only because 17% of the population
exercises for over an hour, making up
for the sedentary behavior of their inactive
counterparts. In fact, according to
the American Times Use Survey, the
magazine reports, on any given day,
83% of Americans don’t exercise at all.
Short Takes | Celebrities Sweat More… Frequently
Remote initiative
The survey also showed that, last
year, about $4.9 billion was spent on
fitness equipment and $17.4 billion on
club dues in the U.S. However, not even
those investments guarantee participation:
the magazine noted that 20% of
paying Gold’s Gym members haven’t
worked out at their club for the past
four months.
After work and sleep, TV viewing
consumes the largest segment of the
typical day.
Given these statistics, it’s hardly surprising
that most Americans—i.e., 62%
of them—are overweight or obese. —|
An estimated 75% of celebrities exercise at least once a week—clearly surpassing the
approximately 30% of nonfamous Americans who, according to the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services, are physically active.
“Celebrities have to work out,” J. Travis, the brand manager for the New York Health
and Racquet Club chain, told Forbes.com. “There is a huge premium placed on body type
and image.”
The stats on celebrities, 56% of whom also make use of personal trainers, come from a
forthcoming book, Fame & Fortune: Maximizing Celebrity Wealth, by Russ Alan Prince, the
head of Prince & Associates, a Redding, Connecticut-based wealth-research firm. —|
| News & Know How | News
Nautilus
Moves in a
New Direction
> Nautilus, Inc. (NYSE: NSL),
under pressure to improve its
financial performance, recently
announced an internal restructuring
and a reduction in the size
of its workforce. The company
noted that it had selected Robert
Falcone to serve as CEO; created
two new management positions;
made four management appointments;
and implemented a new
matrix management structure.
It said it intended to lay off some
140 employees, or 9% of its workforce,
to reduce its annual fixed
expenses by approximately $10
million. Nautilus also plans to
divest certain non-core acquisitions
and reduce its inventory to increase
its cash flow by $20 million.
Robert Falcone
With respect to its commercial
business, the company hopes to
expand its market presence in
health clubs, with sales bolstered
by its TreadClimber, the release
of its Nautilus One circuit
strength line, and the relaunch
of its StairMaster series. “This
segment is $1 billion domestically,
and represents a large opportunity
in the global fitness market,”
the company stated in a letter
to shareholders. —|
www.ihrsa.org | MARCH 2008 | Club Business International 21