Exercise clubs that cater exclusively to women offer a convenient place to work out without the big gyms' social atmosphere.
By SUSAN ASCHOFF
Published April 27, 2004
[Times photo: Lara Cerri]
Moving among the weight machines and cardio stations, Linda Gascon of St. Petersburg works the circuit at Contours Express in St. Petersburg. Gascon joined the month the fitness center opened and works out five days a week.
Becky Barnett and Marilyn Imparato, co-workers in the computer industry and longtime fitness buffs, wanted to open a gym. They would build a business, and their clients' muscles. They would join one of the hottest trends in the fitness industry and cater to the customer who needs coddling the most.
Women. Only.
"Our ultimate goal is to change people's lives," Imparato says. And for many women, "It's a brave accomplishment . . . just to walk through the door."
Their Contours Express, open about five months in west St. Petersburg, is small, bright and frills-free. There is no swimming pool, no showers, no day care. (It does offer massage.)
The owners say the women who have joined are older than expected and more dedicated than hoped. One client is 89, another 81. Most are women in their 30s and 40s who have never before enrolled in a fitness club.
Clients move through 8 stations, each with pulley-weight machine and cardio activity, changing on cues from taped music and finishing in about 30 minutes.
That circuit formula is employed at women's fitness chains from Contours Express to Shapes to Curves, their locations multiplying across the United States in strip shopping centers and corner lots.
"I just feel more comfortable exercising with women only. I think they're more in tune with what women need," says Mariam Scott, who in February began working out at the fitness center owned by Barnett and Imparato.
Rather than an unwelcome social scene typical of mega clubs, she says, a smaller gym gets her in and out quickly.
"Mini-gyms are appealing to people because they are almost the antithesis of a gym," says Bill Howland, research director at the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association in Boston.
"Our goal is to create an environment that is not typical, but personal," says Imparato. But to sign up those newly health-conscious millions, "There's quite a bit of competition."
In 1998, there were about 1,800 women's only facilities in the United States. Today there are more than 9,000, according to the fitness group.
"The real growth has only been in the last three or four years. It's staggering," Howland says.
A flurry of lawsuits in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Alaska and other states charged that women-only fitness centers discriminate against men. But in almost every instance, state lawmakers approved single-sex health clubs. Now men-only chains such as the Blitz and Cuts Fitness for Men are copying the one-gender formula and offering a circuit workout to men over 30 who don't want to be seen with bellies overhanging their gym shorts, Blitz's founder says.
Women know all about feeling self-conscious, Imparato says.
"A lot of women are not comfortable in a coed gym. If they're physically not in shape, they don't want to be seen," she says.
Industry leader Curves International, started a decade ago, caters to neighborhood women, mostly older than 40 and overweight. Like Contours Express, a workout circuit alternates exercise machines and aerobic activity (running pads) timed to music. There are about two dozen Curves in the Tampa Bay area.
Other franchises targeting women include Shapes, Ladies Workout Express, Slender Lady and Lady of America.
Most of the clubs charge an initial membership fee, then monthly dues of $30 to $50.
While some facilities have downsized machines and weights that can be adjusted in 2- or 5-pound increments vs. the 10-pound weights typical of traditional gyms, gender makes no equipment demands.
"Physiologically, women don't lift as heavy weights, but it (can be) the same equipment," says Shayne Tarrance, director of the University of South Florida's Physical Therapy Center.
"Women in general tend to work more as a team."
Tarrance suggested women's gyms are popular because overweight or elderly women may not want to work out except with supportive friends.
More than 75-million baby boomers, 40 to 57 years old, are potential customers for a kinder, gentler place to sweat.
The benefits for women may be particularly valuable. Beyond losing pounds, women may reduce their risk of breast cancer if they exercise regularly. Scientists at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle report in this month's Cancer Research that fat cells are the main source of estrogen in postmenopausal women, and high levels of estrogen are linked to higher risks for breast cancer.
Exercise lowers estrogen levels while promoting heart and bone health.
"As that baby boomer gets older and older," Barnett says, "they're going to need someplace to go."
