Elite Fitness Management Makes Fitness Attainable
Wednesday, April 20th, 2011
Thanks to rising health care costs in the U.S. and a growing population of obese and overweight individuals, the fitness industry grew through the recession, according to Matt Thompson of Elite Fitness Management, a personal-training management firm.
“Health club memberships represent the type of affordable discretionary spending that consumers continued during the recession; much like going to the movies,” Thompson explained.
However, unlike the movies, many people pursue fitness programs at their order of their physician. Excess weight and high blood pressure often mean there is no time to wait.
Setting attainable goals: the secret to success
Elite Fitness Management provides personal-training services at nine health clubs in Georgia, Florida and Alabama. Currently the company works with 30 personal trainers who are independent contractors. According to Thompson, the company ensures club members receive a high standard of personal training while taking care of sales, marketing and contract management for its trainers.
The personal training services include a complimentary fitness assessment and body composition analysis. The trainer also works with each individual to set attainable goals.
“Nine out of 10 times people set unrealistic goals for the fitness program and end up failing. We focus on attainable goals, which means exercising one or two times per week and losing two to five lbs. per week,” Thompson explained.
Thompson reports that Elite Fitness Management clients exercise on average 1.75 times per week and lose 2.2 lbs. per person per week. He believes even the most overweight person can get in the best shape of their life in 10 months.
Facilitating corporate wellness
In addition to Elite Fitness Management, Thompson runs a corporate wellness company, Fitness for Your Bottom Line. Through this venture, he helps companies understand the cost savings they can realize by supporting a healthy workforce. With the costs of health insurance projected to increase dramatically over the foreseeable future, companies are increasingly interested in offering less-expensive preventive care.
“I try to help managers understand why they might want to offer a weight-loss challenge at their office, for example,” Thompson said.
Seeing others succeed in getting healthy is a strong motivator for many people. That’s why weight-loss challenges and TV shows like “The Biggest Loser” are so popular. It’s also why Thompson likes to advertise the success of his company’s personal-training clients in speaking engagements throughout the area.
“Too often people just focus on a number on the scale and they set themselves up to fail. You can be 155 lbs. and 5’ 5” tall and be in great shape,” Thompson continued.
The company website at www.elitefitnessmanagement.com is currently under construction, but will be available later this year. To learn more about either personal training or corporate wellness services, email Matt Thompson at [email protected].
