We are at that time of the month that I refer to as “the calm before the storm.” We‘re not quite on deadline and pushing pages through the production cycle, but we‘re definitely getting ready to. Usually, the week before production (typically the third or fourth week of the month) we get all of our ducks in a row. We put the finishing touches on articles, do a couple more interviews, begin brainstorming art and headlines (and compete for the most “winnng” headlines, as referenced in the post Game On), and give the Web site any necessary updates or modifications during this rare downtime. Today, I‘ve found time to blog (finally!), clean off the clutter that was taking over my desk and post a couple of news items on the Web site. It‘s always nice to get something accomplished and check something off your list of to-dos.

I feel the storm brewing though…the Top 100 list is never an easy issue to get out. (In fact, last year I had nightmares of me editing a giant wall-sized Top 100 list with a giant red pen I could hardly hold up. Yes, I might need more vacation time.) And we have a lot of good articles planned including one on Bally‘s bankruptcy drama, anti-microbial flooring and how fitness fits with preventive care.

Time to batten down the hatches! –Jennipher

It‘s been two weeks since I arrived back home from Orlando and the Club Industry East show, but thoughts of Florida are never far away.

Today, I interviewed Geoff Dyer, CEO and founder of Lifestyle Family Fitness, which is based in St. Petersburg, FL. Although Lifestyle has several clubs in Florida, the company has recently branched out to North Carolina and Ohio.

The neat thing about our interview was that it will be our first podcast, provided that nothing went screwy in the recording process. We hope to make the podcast “live” in the next few weeks and add more podcasts in the future. Today, I considered myself part writer, part radio DJ. I wouldn‘t mind the nickname “Disco Stu,” but a character on “The Simpsons” already has that moniker.

Speaking of Orlando, it looks like I‘m headed back down there at the end of November/first of December for the Athletic Business Conference and Expo. This time, I‘ll be at the Orange County Convention Center, not at anyplace with the name “Disney” attached. I guess there‘s more to Orlando than just Disney.

The neat part about this trip will be listening to the keynote speaker, columnist Rick Reilly of Sports Illustrated. Rick has narrowly beaten me out for several national sportswriter of the year awards over the years, and his column on the back page of SI is must-read material.

Some folks, like Willie Nelson, have Georgia on their mind. Me? It‘s the Sunshine State. - Stuart

I just read a Reuters story this morning about how much the treatment of diabetes is costing our country. It’s staggering! In 2005, the U.S. government spent $79.7 billion more to treat people with diabetes vs. what it spent to treat those without it, according to a study by the Mathematica Policy Research for the National Changing Diabetes Program (NCDP). That is about 12 percent of the $645 billion that the government spends on federal health care. According to the director of the NCDP, the country spends as much on diabetes as it does on the Department of Education, but no one is heading up an effort to control diabetes. He called for the government to appoint someone to lead the effort to fight this disease. Another group, the American Association of Diabetes Educators, echoed that sentiment, stating that 62 million Americans will die in the next 30 years due to diabetes.

What do you think the fitness industry can do to help in this cause?

Jennipher Shaver, our associate editor, is finishing a story on preventive care for our July issue. It will focus on how prevention is the latest buzzword with politicians and insurance companies. She’ll also focus on how the fitness industry can be a part of the preventive effort. If you have any comments related to this, feel free to comment on this blog or e-mail Jennipher directly at jennipher.shaver@penton.com.- Pam

It’s getting a little hectic around here. We are working on a story about Bally’s plans for Chapter 11 and the lawsuit by one of its largest shareholders. Stuart is working on that story, and he’s also putting together a review of the Club Industry East show that occurred earlier this month in Orlando. You’ll see the blog entries from the show below (or click to the right on Club Industry East 2007 to just see the show-related entries).

Jennipher is working on a story about preventive care and how that part of health care is receiving greater attention from insurance companies, politicians and businesses–and what that could mean for the health club industry. If you want to comment about how you are working with businesses, health carriers or others to advance preventive care through rewards programs, incentives, partnerships or other programs, please use the comment button below to let us hear from you.

In addition, Top 100 forms continue to come in. We need to wrap this up quickly (I had hoped to have all forms in today) as we must finish inputting the data and tabulate the results as well as write an analysis of the story before deadline in about 10 working days. If you haven’t sent in your Top 100 form yet, please do so ASAP. You can find the form here.

We’re also sending out reminders about the Best of the Best contest. We started to receive our first entries, but also had requests for an extension to the deadline. Being a generous group, we decided to extend the deadline to June 27 so if you haven’t started yet, you still have time to enter. The form for Best of the Best is here. -Pam

As we research a follow-up article to our Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) story from May, I wonder how many of you are even aware of this standard. Did you read the May story (”Time to Comply“) about this? If so, what did you think? Has the industry done enough to make you aware of this and educate you about what you need to do? Minnesota has a law now about breach of security for credit cards that, while it doesn’t mention the PCI DSS, it parallels some of the requirements there. Three other states (California, Texas and Massachussets) are looking at similar laws. It could be something that even more states will look at in the near future. Is our industry doing enough to educate fitness facility owners about this? Let us know what you think. - Pam

I read a news release yesterday about a coalition of lawmakers, health care groups, pharmaceutical companies and others that met at the National Summit on Obesity Policy late last month to develop legislative priorities to end obesity. The group is working on a campaign, called the Collaborative Campaign to End Obesity, to help reduce the rate of obesity. One of their goals is to expand coverage for prevention, diagnosis and effective treatments of obesity. Sounds like an effort that could really get behind the Workforce Health Improvement Program Act of 2007 and Personal Health Investment Today Act of 2007, both of which are awaiting action in committees in Congress. To visit the group’s Web site, click here. –Pam

Rather than doing a thousand or so teeny-tiny blogs, I thought I‘d wrap up my experience at the Club Industry East show with a few more thoughts and stories in one big blog:

On Friday morning, I attended two seminars, one by San Diego State‘s Ken Baldwin on university membership demographics and another by Tony Tamules of Orlando‘s RDV Sportsplex on the transition from personal trainer to club manager. Baldwin had some good information on student recreation centers, which I‘ve been following closely the last few weeks. Tamules‘ seminar was based on leadership issues and could have been used at any type of convention, not just for the club industry.

Yes, Walt Disney, it is a small world after all. I ran into two people from my past at Club Industry East. I saw a friend from college who was at Disney‘s Coronado Springs Resort for a child life council convention. Heather is now a certified child life specialist at Virginia Commonwealth University‘s Children‘s Medical Center. The next day, I ran into a former college basketball player whom I covered at Emporia State in Kansas. Ryan is now a fitness consultant for ConocoPhillips in Oklahoma.

Pam, Jenn and I went to Magic Kingdom on Thursday night. The first ride we did was “It‘s a Small World After All.” Jenn correctly pointed out that every racial stereotype was on display during the boat ride, although I speak for all of us in saying that the dolls were rather cute racial stereotypes.

Here‘s a little known fact about Disney World: There were plans to put it in St. Louis, MO, in Walt‘s native state. But the Busch family of Anheuser-Busch fame wanted to sell beer there, and Walt wouldn‘t have it, so he went to Florida. Here‘s a not-so-little-known rumor about Walt: He wasn‘t very fond of my people.

I didn‘t spend too much time touring the show floor, but it was pretty lively when I was there. I got my right thumb manicured and worked on my abs, which I can still feel now. The show floor had photo images of two Chicago Bears linebackers–Dick Butkus and Brian Urlacher–promoting massage chairs and fitness equipment, respectively. I remember seeing the women from the tanning booth walking around the show floor, not wearing a heck of a lot. There was also a woman in a white bikini/workout outfit at one of the equipment displays. I don‘t why I remember them; I just do.

The only good thing about flying out of Orlando two hours behind schedule was seeing the Space Shuttle Atlantis take off while I was on the airplane. (I even snapped a couple of photos. Pam and Jenn saw it from the ground, too.) Pros about AirTran Airways: XM radio, which allowed me to listen to a few ballgames on the way back home. Cons about AirTran Airways: They lost my bag, but luckily, they got it to me the next day.

As I was recuperating from a late night by flipping through channels on my couch the next day, I caught the end of “Celebrity Fit Club” on VH1. Our friend, Dr. Ian Smith, was on there, but he was having a tough time trying to restrain drill sergeant Harvey after Screech from “Saved by the Bell” (aka Dustin Diamond) challenged Harvey to a fight. This show had a much better ending than “The Sopranos” finale. I had seen a clip of this quarrel on E!‘s “The Soup,” and I never made the connection to Dr. Ian. Had I known, I would have definitely asked the good doctor about the profanity-laced tirade, which produced more bleeps than an SOS distress signal. Maybe we can get Screech to speak at the next Club Industry show. -Stuart

When I met Dr. Ian Smith this morning, I was taken off guard by his shyness and his seeming desire to sink into the woodwork rather than stand out in the crowd. Several people approached him as he walked into the room and asked him to look at the book they’d written or the program they’d designed. He politely agreed to do each and amiably chatted with them, but he was not gregarious and overwhelming with his personality. I wondered how he would do as our keynote speaker. However, my concerns were unfounded as he seemed to come to life on the stage as he spoke. And man, did he hit hard.

If you aren’t familiar with Dr. Smith, he’s the medical contributor on “The View” and the medical expert on VH1’s “Celebrity Fit Club.” He’s also authored five books, including his most recent one, “The Fat Smash Diet,” which he signed at the back of the room after his keynote address.

He began his talk with a provocative statement: “I don’t let my celebrities lift weights for the first six weeks.” In fact, he said that the problem that he has with health clubs and personal trainers is that they have their clients lift weights too early in their programs.

People join a gym for three reasons, he said, the first of which is to lose weight (the other two are to look good and to socialize). He receives letters from health club members who say that they joined a gym and went down in dress size but they haven’t lost any weight. When he asks about their training, they invariably tell him that they are strength training. He tells them that that is the problem because as we all know, muscle weighs more than fat. However, people expect not to just decrease their dress or pants size; they also expect to decrease their weight.

That’s why he has his celebrities on “Celebrity Fit Club” do six weeks of cardio and then after they’ve seen the weight loss that they so desperately want to see (and get motivated from it), he has them add weight training–with low weights and high reps.

“I believe cardio is the biggest payoff for what you want to do in the short term,” he said. “Have them change their diet and do cardio for six weeks.”

He said that trainers may incorporate strength training into a client’s workout too early so that the client sees a reason to keep the trainer on. After all, who needs a trainer to stand next to them as they walk on the treadmill or use the cross trainer?

“I think trainers feel substantiated if they give people something they can’t do on their own,” Smith said.

He suggested that trainers have a dialogue with their clients at the start of the training to see what stressors they are dealing with in their daily lives. He compared trainers to a bartender who must listen to their clients’ problems and think about how that might be affecting their fitness goals. He said that during that first dialogue, trainers must set the clients’ expectations about their training–and must make those expectations realistic or risk disappointment and the possibility of decreasing motivation.

Smith also spoke about the 50 Million Pound Challenge, an initiative that he created, to reach the African-American population and get them moving. He is trying to get across the point that exercise can be preventive, a message that is being hurt by a few trainers who have come out with weight loss theories that say that exercise is optional, he said.

“I tell people that you don’t have to belong to a gym to lose weight, but you can get optimal benefit by going to a gym,” Smith said.

He said that tremendous opportunity exists for fitness facility owners in the African-American population since 80 percent of black women are overweight, 67 percent of black men are overweight and less than 5 percent of the black population are gym members.

To attract any market, he suggested that health club owners stop featuring very fit people in their ads and instead feature people who look more like the people that they are trying to attract. He also suggested that club owners approach the pastors at local churches and offer to start a group walking program with their members for one day a week. Don’t try to sell memberships–just try to get this group moving. At some point, you can invite them into the club and give them a tour and show them how to use the equipment. He then suggested giving them a month’s free membership. However, he said not to try to sell memberships to them. Just get them familiar with you so that you build a trust with them and then get them familiar with your club so that it no longer seems like an intimidating place. Then, they might be willing to join.

A soft sell works, he said. Hmmm. Although Dr. Smith seemed like he might be a soft sell himself, he ended up hitting pretty hard with his comments. I guess that sometimes this industry needs the hard sell. –Pam

For the first time ever, Club Industry East held a club tour of three fabulous fitness facilities in the Orlando area. Also, for the first time ever, I led a tour group around a city in which I‘d only visited two areas: Disney World (whee!) and the Orange County Convention Center (slightly lesser whee).

Truth be told, I wasn‘t the first choice for the tour guide job. Two of our show staff are pregnant and weren‘t cleared by their doctors to fly, so I got the gig. About 30 people loaded the bus for the tour on Friday afternoon and off we went. (Thankfully, our show director had coordinated with the bus driver, Issiac, so we were in good hands.)

Our first stop was The Fitness & Day Spa at Florida Hospital Celebration Health. Probably the most notable aspect of the 60,000-square-foot facility was its user friendliness and sense of community. Our energetic tour guide, Gail Pazin, knew almost every member‘s name and said hi to him or her as we walked around. Gail told us she‘d had too much coffee that morning, but from the way she interacted with the members, I think she‘s usually pretty outgoing.

Next, we bused over to the YMCA Aquatic and Family Center, an impressive wellness center featuring more than a million gallons of water. After showing us around the cardio and weight equipment, our guide, Lon Tosi, showed us the Olympic-sized pools and diving wells where about a dozen girls were diving off the high, very high and uber high dives. These girls were doing back flips, tucks, sommersaults, etc. The entire group stood for about 10 minutes in complete amazement; it was like watching the Olympics first-hand. We also had the chance to try out some kickboxing moves when Lon brought in his top cycling and kickboxing instructor. Although many of us were in non-workout clothes, we still did our best with the high-energy routine of jabs, hooks and uppercuts.

Our last stop was the Golds Gym Dr. Phillips. Silly me, I walked in and asked our tour guide there, Shawn Moe, if Dr. Phillips was around. Turns out that whole area of town is named Dr. Phillips after a successful orange grove entrepreneur. Needless to say, Dr. Phillips was not around.

We spent a good amount of time there though, admiring their ladies-only workout area (which they even let the guys see for a couple of minutes) and circuit training areas. We were also wowed by their cardio theater room where about 25 people worked out on various pieces of equipment while watching a full-screen movie. Shawn said they post a schedule of movies and people can attend whatever interests them. Talk about a good way to see a movie.

After our last stop, we came back to the convention center around 3 p.m. to check out the show floor and grab some grub (many of us hadn‘t thought to eat lunch before boarding the bus). And, although I probably wasn‘t the top choice to lead the tour, I think it went well (and no one complained). Success! –Jennipher

After a pleasant exercise session on the elliptical at early morning workouts (I had originally hoped to try out the Les Mills‘ BodyFlow demonstration at the back of the convention hall, but I didn‘t get there early enough and all the spots were taken. Sad.), I headed to Marc Meeker‘s session about the U.S. Navy‘s Fitness Enhancement Program–24 Weeks to Success Tri Series.

Since I hadn‘t had time to shower between my workout and the 8:30 am seminar, it was lucky that Marc and I were already friends (he graciously arranged for me to visit some U.S. Navy facilities and an advanced Navy fitness training last summer at Virginia Beach, VA) because after my sweat session, I‘m sure I looked like what the cat drug in. Thankfully, he pretended not to notice.

During the session, Meeker gave an overview of the Navy‘s physical readiness test requirements (PRT) and penalizations for failing a PRT (basically if you fail three times, you‘re usually out). Then he explained the 24 Weeks to Success Tri Series, a Web-based program designed to get out-of-shape sailors back in shape and in-shape sailors in even better shape.

And, if that wasn‘t cool enough, attendees even received a take-away gift: CDs of the extensive program, complete with detailed strength and cardio plans, and other resources! –Jennipher

p.s. The title of this blog is Navy Fitness‘ motto.