Health Fitness Management

This comprehensive text brings conventional business management principles and operational guidelines to the unconventional business of health and fitness.

At a time when poorly managed health fitness facilities are failing at record rates, Health Fitness Management offers owners and managers, as well as students preparing to enter the industry, in-depth and insightful information on running a health fitness facility smoothly, efficiently, and successfully.

Owners and managers can turn to the book for immediate solutions to problems at their health fitness facilities. They can use the book’s evaluation checklist to see how their facilities and programs measure up to the theoretical benchmarks, and they can follow up on observed problem areas by referencing the appropriate section of the book. They can also use the book’s ready-to-copy forms and worksheets, which include sample membership applications, maintenance request forms, child care waivers, and more.

Students will benefit from the book’s chapter outlines, highlighted key terms, illustrations, and graphs, as well as its practical approach to presenting management theory.

Part I provides an overview of the industry and underlying principles of managing and operating health fitness facilities. Following an industry update, a contemporary approach to management is reviewed and alternative viewpoints toward organizational structure are discussed.

Front-of-the-house management issues are dealt with in Part II. Topics covered include sales and marketing, member management, service desk management, program management, profit centers, personnel management, and equipment issues. This section reinforces the importance of member relations and illustrates methods of ensuring quality control in this vital area of running a successful operation.

Part III addresses back-of-the-house management issues, which are less visible to the member but are critically important to a successful program. Topics covered include health and safety standards; maintenance; finance; compensation; and legal, insurance, and computer issues.

Part IV covers the process of evaluating facilities, personnel, programs, marketing, and finances. This section shows how ongoing evaluation of programs can be used to forecast change for optimal development and can be an important part of strategic planning.

About the Authors

William C. Grantham, now deceased, was the general manager of the Little Rock Athletic Club, which was named the best commercial fitness center in Arkansas in 1996 by both the Arkansas Governors Council on Physical Fitness and the Arkansas Times. Selected in 1974 at the age of 25 to direct Dr. Kenneth Cooper’s Aerobics Activity Center in Dallas, Texas, Grantham was involved in nearly every facet of health fitness facility management and operation. He directed facility design and start-up, managed as many as 135 employees, and handled all areas of marketing, finance, member services, food and beverage, and pro shop management. In addition, he served as a health fitness facility consultant and as a certified examiner for the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM).

Grantham was the coauthor of Developing and Managing Health/Fitness Facilities. He was a member of the International Health and Racquet Sports Association and a graduate of the organization’s Professional Management Institute. He was also a member of ACSM.

Dr. Robert W. Patton has been involved in the health and fitness field for the past thirty years. He is currently a regents professor of kinesiology at the University of North Texas in Denton, where he was instrumental in the development of the health fitness management and exercise physiology graduate programs. Patton is also president of Health Fitness Associates, a Texas-based company whose mission is planning, designing, equipping, staffing, programming, and evaluating health fitness facilities and programs around the world. His particular expertise is in the facility planning stages prior to construction and in the personnel and program development processes after construction. As a consultant and expert witness, Patton has served over fifty major clients, including corporations, hospitals, resorts, and hotels, as well as preventive medicine clinics and commercial fitness centers.

In addition to writing more than 80 journals articles and several encyclopedia chapters, Patton is the principal author of Implementing Health/Fitness Programs and Developing and Managing Health/Fitness Facilities. He is a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine and a former chair of the organization’s Health Fitness Director certification subcommittee. He is also a fellow of the Association for Worksite Health Promotion and the American Alliance of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance’s Research Consortium. Patton is married to Elisa Hardy Patton and has two grown kids, Laura and Scott. He is an avid traveler and a fitness enthusiast who enjoys jogging and cycling as well as reading and gardening.

Tracy D. York serves as director of operations for the Lake Austin Spa Resort, a destination wellness spa located in Austin, Texas. Prior to accepting this position, she served as director of The Spa at the Cresent, a luxury spa, fitness, and wellness facility managed by Rosewood Hotels and Resorts, which oversees five-star hotels and resorts around the world. In this role, York was responsible for managing all aspects of the private fitness facility and public day spa. In addition to her management duties at The Spa, York served on the development team for Rosewood Hotels, designing spa and fitness facilities. She is a contributing author to ACSM’s Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription (Fifth Edition) and a section editor for the ACSM’s Resource Manual to the Guidelines (Third Edition). York is the recipient of a master’s degree in health fitness management from North Texas State University. She is a lover of outdoor activities and enjoys jogging, cycling, weight training, yoga, and golf.

Mitchel L. Winick is a consultant, author, and speaker in the areas of professional service management, marketing, and communications. During the past 20 years, he has applied his expertise to two distinctly different industries. As a consultant in the health fitness industry, he provides management and marketing research, analysis, and advice to many of the United States’ largest health fitness organizations, including the American College of Sports Medicine and the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. As a licensed attorney, he serves as an adjunct professor of law, teaching law office management and technology, at Texas Tech School of Law and the University of Houston Law Center. He also serves as a faculty member and author for several professional organizations, including the Texas Center for Legal Ethics and Professionalism, the Center for Nonprofit Management, and the State Bar of Texas Professional Development Program. He is coauthor of A Guide to the Basics of Law Practice and Law Office Management: Practice and Technology. Winick received his JD from the University of Houston Law Center. He and his wife, Debbie have two children, Tyler and Lezah.

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
Credits

Part I: Introduction to Health Fitness Management

Chapter 1. The Health Fitness Industry

Chapter 2. Understanding Your Customer or Member

Chapter 3. Organizational Development

Chapter 4. Management and Managers

Part II: Front-of-the-House Management

Chapter 5. Marketing and Sales

Chapter 6. Member Management

Chapter 7. Service Desk Management

Chapter 8. Program Management

Chapter 9. Specialized Programs

Chapter 10. Profit Center Programs

Chapter 11. Staff Selection and Development

Chapter 12. Health Fitness Equipment Considerations

Part III: Back-of-the-House Management

Chapter 13. Health and Safety Guidelines

Chapter 14. Facility Maintenance Management

Chapter 15. Financial Management

Chapter 16. Payroll and Compensation

Chapter 17. Legal Issues

Chapter 18. Insurance Considerations

Chapter 19. Computer Applications

Part IV: Evaluation and Strategic Planning

Chapter 20. Evaluation

Chapter 21. Trends Affecting Strategic Planning

Index
About the Authors