A woman’s fitness center should involve more than a facility with fitness, strength training, stretching equipment and loud thumping music for ritualized exercise says Julie Smithers about the Curves franchise she owns and manages in Prescott.
“It should be a social experience, a community where women can feel comfortable in a non-threatening, non-judgmental environment. It should be a place that is safe, designed and engineered just for women – and a place where they can feel positive about themselves without worrying if others are looking at them.”
“And it should be a place where we can talk about men – because they aren’t here to look at or hear us,“ yelled one of her smiling clients who overheard her. The client, a librarian from nearby Miller Valley School, was vigorously running in place on a recovery pad on the carpeted floor.
Smithers, who bought the franchise from the previous owner in February of 2013, recently spent a lot of money buying 12 new sophisticated hydraulic resistance training machines.
“Yeah, I charged them on my credit card. Let’s just say I got a lot of frequent flyer miles stacked up now,” she said. “But my clients love them, and they really fit well with the basic fitness programs we offer.”
One program is the “30-Minute Circuit,” intended to work every major muscle group through strength training, cardio and stretching within a tightly controlled half-hour session.
“I have women coming in before work, or during lunch or after work for just that intense workout,” Smithers said. She says she or one of her three staff members personally work with each woman.
Another is the Curves Complete concept, which offers women a fully integrated and personalized fitness and training program linked to weight loss, weight management and diet control, coordinated with one-on-one coaching and support.
All Curves programs are being marketed nationally. This past January, Jillian Michaels, known as “…America’s toughest personal trainer,” signed a three-year contract to promote the world’s largest international women’s fitness franchise. It’s estimated that worldwide, millions of women are members.
Important to know is that members of a Curves Center in one locale can use their electronic membership card at any other center in any state or nation where Curves facilities are located.
Also important, many insurance providers cover membership fees for Curves. For example, many people 65 or older qualify under the Silver Sneakers program offered through Medicare or Medicare supplemental insurance. Those interested are encouraged to check with their healthcare providers.
What’s the age range for clients in Prescott? “My youngest – an 11-year-old. She and her 13-year-old sister come with their mother. And my oldest – an 89-year-old,” Smithers said.
Emphatic that being active in a woman’s fitness center goes far beyond the obvious purpose of exercise, Smithers is adamant that Curves “…has radically changed my entire life.”
In 1978, following a serious car accident in which she suffered severe neck and back injuries, Smithers had to set aside a promising athletic career in golf. Instead, for years, because of intense debilitating pain, she settled for sedentary jobs or no jobs.
But in February 2011, Smithers had surgery that fused vertebrae in her neck. Afterward, she joined Curves in May and found that she regained her flexibility, agility, strength, endurance and “…lost weight,” she said.
One of her clients, Linda Denman of Prescott Valley, agrees totally with Smithers’s praise for the effects of Curves.
“Curves is keeping me healthy. After a workout, I’ve got more energy, and it de-stresses me. I’m a total advocate,” Denman said. QCBN
Curves for Women
1040 W. Whipple Street # 220
Prescott, AZ 86305
Open six days a week, closing only on Sundays, Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Tuesday and Thursday, hours are from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Saturday, hours are from 7 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
By Ray Newton
Quad Cities Business News
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