Special Report - Discover the 7 Dirty Little Secrets Health Clubs in Orange County Don't Want You to Know About...Fact: Nine out of Ten people who walk through the doors of a health club have no idea what they're getting themselves into...Don’t be one of them...
Health Club Special Report
Dear friend, I'm Chris McCombs and I've been a personal trainer for quite a few years now. I've seen first hand exactly what goes on behind the scenes in Orange County health clubs, and frankly, it makes me sick to my stomach... No I'm not going to argue the fact that health clubs have been a paramount part of changing the lives of many people, and that's a good thing.... The problem is that I feel the other ninety percent of health club members are getting a raw deal. They're being lied to, tricked and having dirty underhanded tactics used on them by these health clubs and it disgusts me...so I've decided to get revenge! Let me explain... I'm going to let you know all about the secrets... I'm going to let you know about the lies... And I'm going to let you know about the underhanded tactics that these health clubs DO NOT want you or anyone else to know about... The reason I'm doing this is so you can keep the ball in your court at all times when you're ready to get in shape... I don't want you to fall for the same things that tens of thousands of other Orange County residents have fallen for. Now keep in mind that some of this is pretty "hush-hush" stuff and I'm well aware that I'm making a lot of enemies in the health club industry, but if I can help you avoid many of the common problems people run into with these clubs then it's all worth it. Here's what you NEED to know: Dirty Little Secret # 1- The health clubs will have their sales staff talk you into signing up but in reality they hope you don't workout after you do... It's well known that health clubs count on the fact that 80-90% of their members will never use their facility beyond 30-45 days out of the year... and this works in their favor... Here's why... If all the people who have club memberships were to actually use the damned thing it would be so over crowded the local fire marshal would shut them down faster than the downfall of a rock stars marriage. The way health clubs make their money is by using smooth talking sales tactics to get people to sign up for memberships. But then these same gyms count on the fact that only around 10-20% of the members will use the club with any kind of regularity. Everyone knows that health clubs are over-crowded in January and by the middle of February they're empty. The gym staff knows with near certainty that if you're still here in April, it'll be a miracle. They actually want you to disappear so everything can get back to normal. As long as they're hitting your bank account, they could give a damn if they ever see you again. No if you're like the average health club member - after the middle of February you won't step foot in a gym until July when its beach and bathing suit season and those poolside insecurities start to set in big time. Again, the health clubs can predict you'll be around for maybe a month or two but you'll soon disappear into the abyss of laurel resting until New Years rolls around again. If every member continued to use the club with any kind of regularity they would be way too overcrowded to even function and would be breaking more fire hazard laws than a fireworks show set up at a Shell gas station on the 4th of July. The health clubs have this whole thing practically down to a science.. You see, when you come in and sign up for a gym membership, the fast talking sales person knows damned well that you, like most everybody else will hardly ever use their facility. They know you'll intend to use it, but they actually rely on the fact that you hardly ever will. The sad fact is, they know with near certainty that the only part of you they'll be seeing anytime soon is your hard-earned money (which is really all they care about anyway because the salesman works on commissions). The truth is these gyms use many of the exact same tactics that car dealerships use. Let's say you come in to take a peek at the club. Now if the salesman himself can't "close" the deal he's instructed by his superiors to pass you off to the experienced sales manager who is much more adept at "closing the sale". I personally remember first hand seeing these tactics being used and to this day it still makes me cringe in my soul. I remember one particular incident that took place at a large well known corporate health club where I worked in Laguna Hills. It really got to me. You see, there was an elderly woman who wasn't sure she wanted to sign up for a gym membership. So the salesman passed her off (just like he was supposed to) to the experienced sales manager well known for his over-the-top forceful "closing" techniques ( The more forceful this guy was, the more sales awards the company gave him. They actually encouraged his behavior! But that's a topic for another day.) It was obvious this poor lady just wanted to get the hell out of dodge, so as an excuse she told the pushy sales manager she needed to run out to her car. I watched in awe as the sales manager demanded that she leave her driver license with him. How could he do this to this sweet little old lady? I witnessed as she nervously and hesitantly handed over her CA state driver's license to the over-bearing salesman. After she went to her car and came into the gym he literally bullied her into signing up. The next day her son called the club demanding that her contract be cancelled immediately, so to stay in accordance with California State Law, they did. I think we'd all do the same for our own moms. That's just one example of countless horror stories I can recite... Health clubs don't care if you get into shape, period. They ONLY care that you pay them the money. Here's what I mean.. Perhaps in the past you made the innocent mistake of calling one of these large corporate health clubs to inquire about a membership. If so, how many times did the sales associates call and harass you at home to try and get you in to take a tour of the facility ( tour = sales pitch by the way )? The staff in these places is trained to call you back as many times as it takes to get you in and sign you up. Now on the other hand, have you ever actually belonged to gym? If you have and you started slacking off on your workouts did they call you and try to motivate you to get your butt in gear? I bet your answer is NO... You see, they know if you're not accountable you probably won't even show up and if you don't show along with 85-90 percent of the other members who don't show up you just made their lives a lot easier... Why is it they're willing to call you 11 times to get you to come in and sign up but they won't call you once to make sure you're sticking to your workouts? It's because all they care about is that you sign your name on the dotted line and they get their money. They have zero interest in getting you to workout, because if you actually did it would make there lives a lot harder. Bottom line...Health clubs want you to sign up but they don't want you to workout. Dirty Little Secret # 2 - Health Clubs are crawling with dangerous bacteria... That's right, health clubs are cesspools of germs... Philip Tierno, director of clinical microbiology at New York University Medical Center, says around 80 percent of all infectious disease is transmitted by both direct and indirect contact. That makes the gym and fitness centers, with its sweaty drippy bodies in close proximity, a highly conducive environment for catching everything from athlete's foot to the flu to serious Staph Infections. From taking swabs of exercise medicine balls, for example, Tierno found samples of MRSA -- a strain of staph resistant to some antibiotics. "Any time you touch a medicine ball or machine, you have to know that your hands are contaminated and should be washed." Tierno says. I personally know one fitness trainer who almost lost his hand because of a nasty Staph Infection he caught in an Orange County health club. It's hard to get into shape when your whole arms in a sling because of a staph infection you caught at your local gym... You see, bodies dripping with sweat side-by-side in a fitness center create the moist environment germs need to thrive. In gyms and health clubs germs lurk on the equipment, treadmill handles, floor, shower stalls, exercise and stretching mats, water fountains, steam rooms, whirlpools, swimming pools, sinks, and toilets. You could say they are everywhere. The human skin is covered with millions of germs, so when anyone sweats, these nasty little germs naturally come pouring off. All of that exposed skin and sweat together can create the ideal breeding ground for spreading unwanted and harmful infections. These germs are transported from machine to machine, and one accidental contact can set off a domino effect of infecting you with viridians, staphylococcal, streptococcus, and e-coli, the most common bacteria found in human feces. Yuck! This is common knowledge in the health club industry but most gyms will never tell you this because it could seriously hurt their membership numbers. What can you do to protect yourself? Definitely use the spray bottles that some gyms and health clubs provide for wiping down the equipment, wash your hands regularly, consider wearing gloves, wear long sleeves and pants while working out, bring your own towel, while in the locker room, make sure you wear flip-flops, and avoid sitting nude on any exposed surface. And very important – if you have any minor cuts or scrapes make sure and wear anti-biotic ointment with a band aid on it, you definitely don't want to end up like that trainer I know who almost lost his hand... Dirty Little Secret # 3 - The gym counts on you NOT reading the small print in their contracts... When it comes to signing a contract with a fitness center the devil is definitely in the details. So be sure and read all of that small print before you sign anything. You'll be amazed at some of the stuff that's in there, in fact you'll probably think twice about joining. Fast-talking wheeling and dealing gym sales reps may offer you a deal that seems too good to be true, that's because very often if is. Many times you end up with health club salespeople trying to make quotas so they use pressuring techniques which can lead to a glossing over of important details that's imbedded in the small print like some kind of Morse code. Did you know trouble canceling health club memberships because of small print stipulations is one of the top complaints against health clubs logged with the Better Business Bureau and states' attorneys general offices? For example, many health clubs have a 60 day cancellation policy that's in the fine print in the contract....and if you try to cancel your contract they can't do it right there at the front desk, you need to call corporate to do it. Well guess what happens when you call corporate, they're going to tell you that you need to give 60 days written notice submitted by mail to cancel your contract. This means you might end up being charged a total of three more times for your gym membership before you can stop making payments. I know, I fell for this one myself! Admittedly I never read the small print and ended up kicking myself afterwards.....Man was I upset... Here's another example: One popular health club offer that has elicited complaints on the Consumer Affairs' web site is a 30-day trial membership that had a simple little catch: You must visit the club a minimum of 12 times during the first month to cancel without penalty; otherwise, you're locked into a multiyear membership. Many consumers complain they did attend the required number of times but that when they decided to cancel, the club had no record of the visits. A spokesperson for Bally Total Fitness says the company's policy is to check all members entering the club and record their usage; however this obviously wasn't the case. So how can you defend yourself? Read every single word of the contract including the small print and never rely on a suave salesperson's "word" Dirty Little Secret # 4 -When it comes to getting the body you want nutrition plays a far bigger factor than exercise... Let's face it, no matter how hard you work in the gym if you're eating a crappy diet you'll never have the body you want. It's true, exercise is extremely important, but eating the right foods in the right amounts is even more important. There is only one exercise I know of that will get rid of the excess fat put on by plates of fatty foods.......push aways. That's right, push away all that food and get yourself something healthy like some fruit or veggies with a lean protein source. However, it is very important to work out when losing weight because, not only will the exercise help you lose the weight, but it will also help you look real good when the weight comes off. The problem is, most health clubs want you to think that just using their facility is the magic bullet to having the body you want. The real truth is that it isn't. Yes, having the right equipment is an important part of the process but equally and more import is doing the right exercises, using the right form, working out at the right intensity, and getting proper rest and eating the right foods in the right portions at the right times. You see exercise is just one spoke on the wheel of having the body of your dreams. Dirty Little Secret # 5 – Most of the members who use the facilities today look exactly like they did one year ago and the staff could care less... When I worked as a personal trainer in the health clubs and large corporate gym settings in Orange County I saw the same exact thing happen day in day out. You might even know what I saw because you've seen it too. I saw Nothing... I mean hardly anybody was getting results. It was as if everyone looked the same month in month out. Hardly any members using the gym were losing fat or getting firmer and more toned. And you know what the worst part was.. Not a single members of the gym staff cared. Dirty Little Secret # 6 – Most of the members using these fitness centers are using the wrong exercises, the wrong form and have absolutely no idea what they're doing... That's right; the majority of health club members are using the wrong programs, the wrong equipment, doing the wrong exercises and even worse......... When most people workout they are using really bad form! Making these mistakes will cause you to get minimal results, compromise your health, cause injuries, make women who don't want to look buffed out look buffed out, ruin your joints and create horribly unattractive posture...just look around some of these gyms and you'll see what I mean...guys with big ole' chest muscles pulling their shoulders forward so they look like a caveman, and women with muscles in places where women are just not meant to have muscles--like having thick masculine traps and necks. What's the solution? What do people who really want to get into shape do? Well, for one we can look at what celebrities do, we can look to their "secrets"--and I'll give you an idea, it's not pills, powders or magic drinks.. Look at guys like Christian Bale who goes from an anorexic in The Machinist to a bulked up muscular Superhero for Batman Begins in a matter of months! Look at how Renee Zellweger can transform herself practically overnight. These celebrities are just like me and you, you're human, when it comes down to it they're bodies are no different. So how in the world do they do it? The secret is Personal Training. That's right - these stars always have a personal fitness trainer to keep them on track. So what can you do to get in shape like the stars? One solution is to sign up for your local Orange County Health Club, but before you do I think you should know... Dirty Little Secret # 7 – Most of the personal fitness trainers in these gyms have no idea of what they're doing or how to help you reach your fitness goals... The sad truth is that the majority of personal fitness trainers in health clubs don't know the first thing about what it really takes to get most people into shape. You see, in the Orange County health clubs you predominately have two types of trainers: Orange County Health Club Problem Trainer #1- The problem is most of these gyms will hire just about anybody to be a trainer, they will literally post a "for hire" ad explaining that they are looking for trainers, salesman and janitors, and guess what? If someone comes in and applies for a sales job and the positions are all taken, they'll hire them to be a trainer, have them take two to five days worth of classes (mostly about selling personal training instead of actually training) give them cheesy certification and call them a personal trainer. They'll literally push them out onto the gym floor loaded with sales tactics to talk people into training. The gym teaches them a few routines and they literally take people through the same routine workout after workout. Just ask a few of your friends who've used trainers. Doing the same routine over and over is one of the biggest complaints you'll hear. Orange County Health Club Problem Trainer #2- And then you have the other type of trainer in these gyms - the genetically gifted workout freaks. You see, these kind actually do have an interest in exercises. The only problem is, since these trainers are genetically gifted everything they've tried when it comes to getting into shape works for them. They can literally read a magazine about getting into shape and magically they start to get into shape. The problem is it's just not like that for most people. Most people need to work out the proper way, using the right exercise techniques and programs for their goals. If they used the shotgun approach that the genetically gifted exercise enthusiast can get away with they see hardly no--if any--results. The big complaint you'll hear about these trainers is they spend more time checking themselves out in the mirror than training you effectively. These trainers make for great reality TV but don't do much else besides give the personal fitness training industry a bad name. Now don't get me wrong, I love what personal training can do for someone. When the right kind of training is applied I've seen people completely transform themselves. I've seen the overweight woman become the smoking hot babe, I've seen the sloppy looking loner couch potato become the alpha male stud, and I've seen people's self images completely transform... As a matter of fact, from using the right training and exercise techniques myself I made quite a transformation a few years back, just check out these pictures of me taken 15 short months apart:  So I don't think personal training per say is the problem, the problem is most large Orange County health clubs hire the wrong kind of trainers. I should know, I used to work in one of these places and what I saw on a daily basis angered and disgusted me... I finally got fed up with there whole system of doing things that I started my own personal fitness training business and have never looked back... Positively Fit Personal Training is an Orange County personal training service dedicated to helping average people reach their fitness goals, lose fat, tone up, feel great and look amazing - all at affordable rates...
If you’d like to know more visit us at http://www.socalworkout.com Or just call 800-310-5062 for more information |
© 2006-2010
Positively Fit Inc
Orange County Personal Training
All Rights Reserved. Reproduction without permission prohibited.
Positively Fit Inc
Orange County Personal Training
All Rights Reserved. Reproduction without permission prohibited.