Staying Fit by Sorting the Options

You know the fitness business has really taken root when Valley Center, a town so small that it doesn’t even have a stoplight, does have a health club.

“Today, people are exercising for their health, rather than just for the way they look,” said Renee Meyst, who runs Valley Center Fitness. “Baby Boomers are a large group of consumers, and they’ve educated themselves about fitness.”

Almost any manager or trainer at the 40 or so health clubs and gyms throughout North County will echo Meyst’s comments. People are joining health clubs, using them, and even looking for additional training.

In other words, the days of health club as meat market are coming to an end.

“A good percentage of our members are professional couples who want to get in and out. They don’t have a lot of time to waste,” said Michael De La Rosa, manager of Family Fitness Center in Mira Mesa. “Lots of people today are more concerned about their stress level than the size of their muscles. No one comes here anymore just to hang out in their workout clothes.”

No longer a luxury, fitness has become a lifestyle for people in the 1990s, say health club managers. And, with almost everyone willing to invest time and money in improving their health, the booming fitness industry has become more savvy, more aware, more conscious of how to best serve its fitness-smart clients.

“Ten years ago, most people didn’t know what the word ‘cardiovascular’ meant. Now they’re familiar with the difference between aerobic and anaerobic, and a lot more,” said 15-year fitness biz veteran Joe Garcia, who now manages World Gym in Escondido.

Familiarity is a key word for those looking for a health club or reassessing the club they now belong to. Exercisers who know what they want will be better able to choose the right fitness center--and get more for their money.

Clubs in North County offer such a mixture of athletics and amenities that it’s wise to figure out exactly what you’re willing to pay for before choosing a club. There’s no reason, for instance, to pay for a swimming pool you’ll never use, or to join an aerobics-based club when you really want to play racquetball.

Most North County clubs allow clients to tailor their memberships, offering a lower price to those who want only fitness workouts, and an additional fee for those who play racquetball, tennis, or other court sports.

California Sports & Fitness in San Marcos, and the Ramona Fitness Center charge $25 a month for a fitness membership, and $10 per extra for racquetball privileges. Most clubs offer a similar price differentiation.

Although dozens of clubs span North County from Ramona and Fallbrook to Encinitas and Poway, most fall into just a few categories. Most clubs base their fitness plans on aerobics classes coupled with cardiovascular equipment and weight machines.

The cardiovascular machines are like exercise versions of video games. Everything from stationary bicycles called Lifecycles to stair-climbing, rowing and mountain-climbing simulators are computer-operated. The LifeRower features a video screen that pits you against an imaginary challenger. The simulated competition is supposed to give athletes a better workout by motivating them to beat their rival.

Aerobic classes offer the second component of the cardiovascular workout. Some clubs offer as many as 90 classes per week, such as the Del Mar Workout. Owner Sally Guenther began teaching aerobics classes six years ago in a tiny studio with no ventilation, next to a fish restaurant on a Del Mar alley.

Thanks to the fitness boom and the popularity of aerobics--especially among coastal North County’s affluent residents--Guenther is planning her third expansion in five years at her stylish new club on Jimmy Durante Boulevard.

Guenther’s instructors go beyond basic aerobics. They also teach special classes for pre-teens and over-40 novice exercisers; workouts to jazz and funk; and the latest aerobics rage, step classes. Clients spend their workout stepping on and off a 6- to 9-inch bench, using their arms and legs continuously. The workout puts the body through no more stress than walking, but works the heart as if running 7 m.p.h.

Most clubs urge clients to combine their cardiovascular work with weightlifting and strengthening. Weight machines including Nautilus, Cybex and Hoist and free weights can be found in almost every health club.

Some clubs offer weights only, plus a handful of cardiovascular machines. If you already run or swim at a neighborhood pool and are looking to add a weight routine to your workout, these gyms are worth looking into. They are much less expensive than full-service fitness clubs; Hard Tymes Gym in Oceanside is $25 a month, while Free’s Gym in San Marcos costs $15 per month.

A third type of gym offers a country club or more social atmosphere. These clubs are often more expensive, but offer amenities such as locker rooms with sauna and whirlpool, juice bars, league sports, outside recreational activities such as trips to baseball and football games, and personal training.

“People come here for socialization as much as for a workout,” said Kate Sullivan, manager of the popular North County Athletic Club in Encinitas which has about 2,000 members.

Sullivan credits her club’s ability to attract and retain members to a combination of a solid aerobics-weightlifting-racquetball program to the friendliness among club members.

“We have that little club feeling, but we’re really a big club,” she said.

The latest trend in fitness to hit San Diego is personal training. No longer the sole province of Hollywood stars and wealthy business tycoons, personal training is offered by most North County health clubs.

Although it can be pricey--personal trainers charge from $15 an hour to as much as $100 an hour--the average cost is about $35.

“People have caught on to the idea that personal training is for everyone,” said Lisa Morgin, a personal trainer for One-to-One Fitness in La Costa. “They used to think they had to be somebody to get a personalized workout.”

A longtime aerobics instructor with a bachelor’s degree in physical education, Morgin puts clients through their paces in a gym and also counsels them on nutrition.

Personal trainers are great for people who lack motivation to exercise. Have trouble doing those five extra sit-ups? Can’t get yourself to do any sit-ups at all? Personal training might be the answer.

Not only do trainers set up a client’s exercise programs, they baby clients through their workouts. Personal training is especially good for those who have never exercised before, as well as regular exercisers who reached a plateau and want new challenge.

Once you’ve determined the type of exercise you’re looking for, try visiting a few clubs.

Almost all offer a free trial workout, including an aerobics class and instruction on cardiovascular and weight machines. Visit during the time you’re most likely to work out--between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., for most people. This gives you a chance to see how crowded the club is and who exercises there. If you’re 55 and feel uncomfortable surrounded by under-25-year-old hardbodies, you may want to consider another club.

Competition in the fitness industry has been a boon to consumers. Potential members can find almost any mixture of fitness plans to suit them, at any price. Memberships range from as little as $12 a month plus a reasonable joiner’s fee at any of five Family Fitness Centers in North County, to $140 per month, plus a $3,200 initiation fee at the plush Sporting Club at Aventine.

Other clubs fall somewhere in between, with prices ranging from $50 to $300 to join, plus $20 to $50 per month. All clubs try to keep prices low and often offer special package memberships to remain competitive in a tight market.

“We try to keep our prices for the average Joe,” said Family Fitness Centers’ De La Rosa. “We’re not a country club, so we don’t charge country club rates.”

Family Fitness offers a no-frills program of aerobics, weights and cardiovascular training at a reasonable price. Like many other health clubs, it has a “ladies only” weight room. But the whirlpool is coed and users can be seen through a plexiglass window by the throngs of exercisers using weight machines.

These are things to consider if you want more privacy at your health club.

It’s also important to find out about instructors’ training. Many gyms hire only certified aerobics instructors, but some of the larger franchise gyms, including Family Fitness and Holiday Health Spas, do not. Ditto for those instructing on weight equipment. Physical therapists warn that improper use of such equipment could result in injuries that will merely thwart an enthusiast’s exercise regime.

“Ninety percent of the people who start a jogging program are injured the first week. With aerobics, in the first six weeks,” said Russ Sinclair, a physical therapist and owner of the Sinclair Institute in Solana Beach.

Sinclair sees so many injuries from improper training at health clubs that he has a secret list of the places he has dubbed most dangerous.

Some of the more expansive gyms, such as the Del Mar Workout, Escondido Athletic Club and Personally Fit in Rancho Bernardo, offer an evaluation by a staff exercise physiologist upon joining. They will also work with you if you are injured.

But these services are reflected in prices. Personally Fit gives members one personal training session a month, but charges $200 to join, plus $55 monthly.

After considering all the factors that go into choosing the right health club, some athletes might be prompted to strap on their old jogging shoes and head for the open road. No crowds. No cost. No worries.

But health clubs give exercising an added dimension. And the trend is not one that even the most avid couch potato can expect to go away.

There is some middle ground for those who still can’t decide which way to go: the Clean & Lean Laundromat in Vista lets you work out and wash up at the same time. The cost is $3.50 per day. Wash and dry are extra.