Step by Step: Spas
Karen Houshultz, owner of Apple Day Spa & Salon Inc., discusses four ways to choose the best treatments for your facility.

ADVERTISEMENT Retention Management® - The Leader in Attrition Defense. Running a successful fitness facility requires putting together all the right pieces. Retention Management's email based service creates a stronger connection between your club and your members by automatically sending targeted usage-based emails. Most impacted are those members at the highest risk of cancellation - your low and non users. 800.951.8048 ext.1 or email Info@RetentionManagement.com www.RetentionManagement.com

Hot News

Bally Agrees to Pay Consent Fee
CHICAGO --- Bally Total Fitness announced today that it has agreed to pay a one-time cash consent fee of $1.25 per $1,000 principal amount of notes to holders of its 10 1/2 percent Senior Notes due in 2011 that execute a limited waiver and forbearance agreement by 5 p.m. EDT on Monday. Read the full story.

ADVERTISEMENT The Xvest (adjustable weight vest) voted as "The Best Fitness Product of the Year" by industry experts. It's no wonder why the Xvest is utilized by the NFL, NBA, MLB and the Summer and Winter Olympians. First responders and the military depend on it for staying in top condition. The Xvest can give your exercise and training the extra boost that it needs. Put it on for jogging, power-walking, or with any aerobic exercises. Your workout will be more productive and burn up to 70% more calories in the same amount of time. Until now, there have been no product on the market that allows you to condition aerobically while building lean muscle mass. www.thexvest.com

Club Hopping

24 Hour to Open China Clubs
SAN RAMON, CA -- Basketball star Yao Ming and 24 Hour Fitness have partnered to open clubs in Yao's native China. The signature sports club, which will be called California Fitness -- Yao Ming Sport Club, will open in August in Beijing. California Fitness is a wholly owned subsidiary of 24 Hour Fitness and currently operates 24 locations across Asia. Read the full story.

Bally Acting CEO Resigns
CHICAGO -- Bally Total Fitness Acting CEO Barry Elson will step down from his post on May 31. Read the full story.

Two State Attorneys General Target Clubs
NATIONWIDE -- Fitness clubs have become the target in a lawsuit and a complaint by attorneys general in two states. Read the full story.

Indiana Gov. Signs AED Bill
INDIANAPOLIS --- Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels signed a bill on May 3 that requires the usage of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in that state's health clubs. Read the full story.

GA YMCA Hosts Soldier Send-Off Party
HINESVILLE, GA -- The Liberty County/Armed Services Branch YMCA in Liberty Hinesville, GA, hosted a send-off party for local soldiers who have been called back to Iraq. The soldiers, part of the Third Infantry Division's First Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, spent time with their families playing games and activities that the Y had organized for the adults and children, according to a report by WTOC-TV.

Curves Gets into Food
MINNEAPOLIS -- Curves has partnered with General Mills to launch a weight management brand and four products under the Curves name. Curves Chewy Granola bars will launch this spring in two flavors. Two types of Curves cereal will launch this summer. The new Curves-branded weight management product line is part of a long-term partnership in consumer foods that gives General Mills broad, exclusive promotional rights to several key food categories encompassing everything from licensed products to consumer promotion activity. The integrated launch of the new product line will be supported by various promotional and communication vehicles including Web site activation, media and print, as well as the nearly 8,000 Curves locations across America.

In addition to grocery and retail visibility for the new products, Curves Chewy Granola bars will be sold at Curves franchises for a suggested retail price of $1 per bar. Curves Chewy Granola bars will retail in stores for the suggested retail price of $2.89 per box of 6 bars. Curves cereal will retail for the suggested retail price of $3.49.

New Fitness Center and Spa Enters Denver Market
DENVER -- Pura Vida Fitness and Spa will become the anchor tenant of a four-story building in Denver's Cherry Creek market. The facility will include a 4,000-square foot spa, a street-level café, appointed locker rooms, Kinesis and Pilates studios, and group cycling and group exercise classes. Read the full story.

ADVERTISEMENT Use Polar's Turnkey Cardio Coaching Program to: Sell more Heart Rate Monitors. Introduce new Personal Training Price Points. Increase Sales. Increase Results. Email jesse.harper@polarusa.com, call (800)841-8333 x 3104 or visit www.polarbodyage.com, to find out how.

School Days

Tennessee-Chattanooga Breaks Ground on New Rec Center
CHATTANOOGA, TN -- The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga recently broke ground on a new student recreation center. Construction on the $24 million facility, funded by a dedicated student fee imposed by a student vote, is expected to take approximately two years. Read the full story.

ADVERTISEMENT Attention Fitness Professionals We would like to send you a Complimentary Sample of our 90 day Fitness & Nutrition Journal at no charge to you. Tag Publishing produces quality Training Logs/Journals, used by Health Clubs, Personal Trainers, Nutrition Specialists, Physical Therapists. World Wide. And we customize the Front and Back covers for your facility. To SEE and HEAR this "NO CHARGE SAMPLE" offer, simply turn up the speakers on your computer, and click on this link. Listen for the voice.... Or call "Sonny" to order yours. 866-702-7227

Boot Camp

Air Force Offers Programs to Help Manage Stress
WASHINGTON -- Although the Air Force has a wide range of fitness and health-related programs in place to help service members and their families manage stress, Air Force officials are concerned that some are not aware of the available programs and are not taking advantage of them, according to a recent Air Force report. To address that, the Air Force is launching a series of monthly campaigns with themes that focus on specific programs to help manage potential areas of stress for airmen and their families. Read the full story.

Industry Beat

Matrix's First Quarter Sales Up 146 Percent
COTTAGE GROVE, WI -- Matrix Fitness Systems' U.S. sales increased by 146 percent over the corresponding 2006 period for the first quarter. Globally, sales grew 85 percent over the same time frame last year. Read the full story.

NASM Updates Personal Trainer Certification
CALABASAS, CA -- The National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) launched the third edition of its Certified Personal Trainer (CPT) certification. A key change in the revised certification is a modification of the organization's evidence-based training methodology to better address the needs of the general fitness client. The CPT program was also enhanced with interactive learning formats including DVD, iPod downloads and an online course learning management system. Read the full story.

Fit to Print

In Brief...

Interested in advertising in Newsbeat? For more information, click here.



You are subscribed to this newsletter as #email#

To get this newsletter in a different format (Text or HTML), or to change your e-mail address, please visit your profile page to change your delivery preferences.

For questions concerning delivery of this newsletter, please contact our Customer Service Department at:
Fitness Business Pro
A Penton Media publication
US Toll Free: 866-505-7173
International: 847-763-9504
Email:fitnessbusiness-pro@pbinews.com

Penton Media | 249 W. 17th Street | New York, NY 10011

Copyright 2007, Penton Media. All rights reserved. This article is protected by United States copyright and other intellectual property laws and may not be reproduced, rewritten, distributed, re-disseminated, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast, directly or indirectly, in any medium without the prior written permission of Penton Media.