wellness magazine 18 2004

WELLNESS TRENDS, INNOVATIONS AND LEADERS

NUMBER 1 YEAR 7

18

Sport and the legendTECHNOGYM at ATHENS 2004

Return to the origins of Wellness

Press Registry Rate: Poste Italiane s.p.a. - Postal Subscription Consignment - Legislative Decree 353/2003 (converted into Law no. 46 of 27/02/2004), art. 1, clause 1, DCB – Forlì

™

• EXCLUSIVE MAGAZINE FOR OPERATORS

MagazineWellness ™™

WM18_EN_upd.qxd 5-07-2004 12:07 Pagina 1

EditorialPhoto: Nerio AlessandriPresident, Technogym

echnogym will once again be involved with the Olympic Games, having been selected as OfficialProvider of the 2004 Games in Athens. This prestigious role follows in the wake of the success of Syd-ney 2000 and the news that Technogym will also be the supplier to the Winter Games in Turin 2006. Facts like these show how our company has come to represent a brand name trusted to provide guar-

antees from all points of view; the wide range, the quality and reliability of all products, the high standards ofservices and after-sales assistance, plus the prestigious references of the most demanding clientele, all com-bine to assure the performance levels of the world’s finest athletes, crucially important at this competitiveevent of a lifetime. The ‘Olympic Games’ section reports how we will be taking the field in Greece, the verycradle of the Olympic spirit. In the return to the values that Olympism embodies, we feel especially involved,as they perfectly reflect the very concept we have always promoted: Wellness.Nowadays, people are finally starting to talk in terms of Wellness 'Culture'.This concept was the common denominator that linked all the main participants in the largest conventionever dedicated to the subject: the 11th International Wellness Congress. Organised for the first time by theWellness Foundation, it attracted the attention of institutions, companies and the scientific and academiccommunity, thus fulfilling a specific social function.The event was held in Cesena, and it was here that the idea of creating the world's first 'Wellness district' tookshape, on the strength of 20 years of my own personal experience, combined with 20 years of the collectiveexperience of Technogym, which has now been known for a decade as 'The Wellness Company'.Over the years, we have played a pioneering role in raising awareness of the positive values of Wellness, andthe statistics now confirm, (needless to say), that a healthy population not only means better quality of life forthe individual, but also means lower healthcare costs for the State, thus helping to boost economic develop-ment.The title of the event - 'Wellness Pays" - is therefore more than just a slogan, it's a statement of fact.For us, sharing these ideas and seeing them take tangible shape is obviously a major source of satisfaction;but more importantly, it gives us the stimulus to keep on making a practical, positive contribution to promotea lifestyle based on good eating habits, a positive mental approach and, of course, physical activity.All of these elements converge to put people at the centre of our focus, in the knowledge that Wellness helpsthose people to rise to the challenges of life, work and family.In the future, Technogym's commitment will focus even more closely on the growth of the sector in terms ofcredibility and image. This was borne out by the front cover of Business Week, which was proof positive of themajor international impact of the Congress. I would like to emphasise that it is the first time that this interna-tional publication, which is one of the most widely distributed worldwide, has turned its attention to our sec-tor, indeed specifically dedicating its cover to us.It is beyond doubt that information is, (and will increasingly be), the driving force behind involving more andmore people in this new lifestyle.Disseminating information will be vital for all those called upon to play an active role in this process, with par-ticular reference to authorities such as the World Health Organisation, the European Union and the SurgeonGeneral. All of these are mobilising and have declared war on the sedentary lifestyle, which is one of the maincauses of non-communicable diseases, the epidemics which afflict the industrialised world and which causethe death of hundreds of thousands of people every year, at considerable social cost.Operators in the sector play a critical role in spreading the word to club members, who are beginning to con-stitute a fully-fledged Wellness Community (as explained in the 'Successful Clubs' section).We have a firm belief in the community, in socialisation and in the opportunities this presents for communi-cating positive values.In this respect, we are convinced that all operators in the sector will make a significant contribution to attract-ing and retaining club members, and will succeed in motivating and stimulating them with an increasinglycompelling range of initiatives, by following the trail already blazed by a number of major,quality centres.The road to Wellness is still long, but the incentives and positive signals are more encouraging every day. ■

Wishing you all Wellness,Nerio Alessandri

President, Technogym

T


Olympic Games: Sport and the Legend - TECHNOGYM at ATHENS 2004 6

Return to the origins of Wellness 9

Special Event: Wellness: a universal victory 11

Successful Clubs: A strategic community 17

Products: Personal Selection, the ongoing evolution 22

Wellness Ball 24

Vario Pulley 26

Evidence-Based Wellness:

Psychological support for exercise 28

Mywellness: Wellness Intelligence 34

Club Layout: Social areas 38

ColumnsWellness System Update 21

Wellness Lifestyle 32

Welcome into the Wellness Family 36

News from the web 37

Fairs and Events Calendar 41

Focus 42

11

6

22

Contents

NUMBER 1 YEAR 7

18

17

Magazine™™MagazineWellness


In Athens with Technogym, for the most excitingOlympic Games ever

he countdown to the next OOllyymmppiiccGGaammeess iinn AAtthheennss is under way. FFrroomm1133tthh ttoo 2299tthh AAuugguusstt , all eyes will be onthe Olympic Games that everyone has

been waiting for: the event which will see 1100,,550000aatthhlleetteess going for gold, in the place that gave riseto this event in 777766 BBCC.. The first Games of mod-ern times were also held here in11889966 and tenyears later in 11990066.Celebrating the Olympic Games here means com-bining the highest expression of sport with thelegends of history, art and philosophy which lefttheir mark on the ancient world.

LEGENDARY OLYMPIC GAMESThe Games of the XXVIII Olympiad are the greatestcelebration of mankind, and involve 220022 ccoouunnttrriieess.And Athens represents the legend, the greatestdream of every athlete, and the most unforgettableachievement of their life. This year, the athletes willhave the chance to run the mmaarraatthhoonn on the sameroute taken by Philippides in 490 BC, as he ran toannounce the victory of Athens over the Persianinvaders, setting off from the city of Marathon andarriving in the capital at the Panathinaiko stadium(the same stadium in which the modern Games werereborn in 1896). The aarrcchheerryy competitors will launch

O L Y M P I C G A M E S

The Acropolis (‘high city’) was

the centre of ancient Athens.

The Parthenon, which is

dedicated to the goddess

Athena and has come to

symbolise the city, stands at its

highest point. It was built

between 447 and 432 BC by the

architects Iktinos and

Kallikrates.

6

by Federica Monticelli

Sport and the Legend

T


7


their arrows across this marble stadium and theroad-race ccyycclliissttss will battle for first place from theold town to the foot of the Acropolis. The OOllyymmppiicc ffllaammee, the classic symbol of the Games,will be lit at the ancient site of OOllyymmppiiaa, where theevent was first held. From here, it will be carriedacross the five continents to arrive in Athens on theday of the inauguration: for the first time in history,the torch will travel round the entire globe andreturn to the country that gave rise to the event. Thejourney will last 78 days and the flame, which will becarried by 33,,660000 ppeeooppllee, will cover a distance of7788,,000000 kkmm. It will be seen by 226600 mmiilllliioonn ppeeooppllee,including - for the first time - the people of Africa andLatin America.

TECHNOGYM IN THE FRONT LINEOur company has been selected as OOffffiicciiaall PPrroovviiddeerr oofftthhee 22000044 OOllyymmppiicc aanndd PPaarraallyymmppiicc GGaammeess ffoorr tthhee CCaattee--ggoorryy SSppoorrtt EEqquuiippmmeenntt ffoorr GGyymmss. On the basis of thisagreement, TTeecchhnnooggyymm will ‘take the field’ with 1111ggyymmss aanndd mmoorree tthhaann 550000 mmaacchhiinneess, which will beplaced at the disposal of athletes and journalists by theAATTHHEENNSS 22000044 OOrrggaanniissiinngg CCoommmmiitttteeee ffoorr tthhee OOllyymmppiiccGGaammeess. The main training centre will be set up in the OOllyymmppiiccVViillllaaggee (at the foot of Mount Parnitha), the headquar-ters of the delegations of the participating countries (itwill accommodate 1166,,000000 ppeeooppllee). The other OlympicVenues equipped by TTeecchhnnooggyymm will be the tteennnniiss ssttaaddii--uumm, the sswwiimmmmiinngg ssttaaddiiuumm and the aatthhlleettiiccss ssttaaddiiuumm.For Technogym, the Olympic Games represent a uniqueopportunity to put the machines from the EExxcciittee andSSeelleeccttiioonn lines (equipped with WWeellllnneessss SSyysstteemm) to thetest on the greatest champions in the world: at the Syd-ney Olympic Games, training sessions saw the partici-pation of top athletes such as HHaaiillee GGeebbrrsseellllaassiiee (gold

in the 10,000 metres), SStteevvee RReeddggrraavvee (who took hisfifth gold for rowing), JJaavviieerr SSoottoommaayyoorr (silver in thehigh jump) aanndd TToorrbbeenn GGrraaeell (bronze in sailing). Of themost successful Italian athletes, intensive use of Techn-ogym equipment was made by AAlleessssaannddrraa SSeennssiinnii(gold in sailing), DDoommeenniiccoo FFiioorraavvaannttii (2 golds in swim-ming), GGiiuusseeppppee MMaaddddaalloonnii (gold in judo) and SSiimmoonneeRRaanniieerrii (gold in rowing). For them, the daily workouts atthe gym in the Olympic Village were an appointmentnot to be missed.

7

The photos show two moments

from the 2000 Sydney Olympic

Games: above, a race, and

below, athletes training in the

Olympic Village gym set up by

Technogym.


AN UNRIVALLED MEDIA OPPORTUNITYBut it won’t be just the athletes using TTeecchhnnooggyymmequipment: between one work commitment and thenext, the 2211,,550000 aaccccrreeddiitteedd jjoouurrnnaalliissttss will also beable to train and keep fit in the sseevveenn ggyymmss set up inthe seven MMeeddiiaa VViillllaaggeess at their disposal. Many ofthese will find out the latest news or watch eventsdirectly from the saddle of an Excite Bike or while run-ning on an Excite run and watching WWeellllnneessss TTVV. So not only the athletes, but also the managers of thevarious Federations, the journalists and all the peopleworking at the event will have the opportunity to testthe design, reliability and performance of TTeecchhnnoo--ggyymm’’ss products.

WHY TECHNOGYM?Tenders were also submitted by our American andinternational competitors, but the AATTHHEENNSS 22000044OOrrggaanniissiinngg CCoommmmiitttteeee for the Olympic Gamesselected Technogym because of the wwiiddee rraannggee ooffpprroodduuccttss iitt hhaass oonn tthhee mmaarrkkeett,, tthhee qquuaalliittyy aanndd sseerr--vviicceess iitt pprroovviiddeess aanndd tthhee hhiigghhllyy iinnnnoovvaattiivvee nnaattuurree ooff

tthhee eeqquuiippmmeenntt. Technogym was also recognised asan international company with a presence in morethan 80 countries worldwide, and llaarrggee nnuummbbeerrss ooffaatthhlleetteess aarree aallrreeaaddyy ffaammiilliiaarr wwiitthh tthhiiss eeqquuiippmmeenntt.“CCoonnttiinnuuiittyy ooff pprroovviissiioonn with respect to the SydneyOlympic Games was also an important considera-tion”, admitted the AATTHHEENNSS 22000044 CCoommmmiitttteeee. “Notonly the managers, but also the athletes who tookpart in the Sydney Games judged the equipment tobe of high technical value, so we preferred to stickwith ‘tradition’!”. Lastly, it should be pointed out that Technogym hasalready been selected as Official Supplier of the Win-ter Olympic Games in TTuurriinn iinn 22000066 (see box), not tomention the top level references accumulated overthe years in ffoooottbbaallll (Milan, Juventus, Inter, Ajax,Barcelona), in FFoorrmmuullaa 11 (Ferrari) and in ssaaiilliinngg(Prada America’s Cup).According to Technogym’s top management: “Thisnew endorsement by the ATHOC, is a major opportu-nity for promoting our brand and our products inevery corner of the world”. ■


8

ANOTHER OLYMPIC SUCCESSNews of the Athens contract comes hot on the heels of another important announcement by the OOrrggaanniissiinngg CCoommmmiitttteeee ooff tthhee 22000066WWiinntteerr OOllyymmppiicc GGaammeess iinn TTuurriinn. After the AAttllaannttaa OOllyymmppiicc GGaammeess,, tthhee 22000000 SSyyddnneeyy OOllyymmppiicc aanndd PPaarraallyymmppiicc GGaammeess (which saw the setting up of seven centres accom-modating over 10,000 athletes and technicians from 197 different countries) and the prestigious partnerships with FFeerrrraarrii,, TTeeaammPPrraaddaa iinn tthhee AAmmeerriiccaa’’ss CCuupp and some of the greatest international football clubs (JJuuvveennttuuss,, MMiillaann,, IInntteerr,, RReeaall MMaaddrriidd,, CChheellsseeaa aannddAAjjaaxx), TTeecchhnnooggyymm wwiillll bbee OOffffiicciiaall SSuupppplliieerr ffoorr TTuurriinn 22000066.

The event will not just be about performance, but about wweellllbbeeiinngg: the athletes taking part in the 2200tthh WWiinntteerr OOllyymmppiicc GGaammeess will be able to perfect their preparation forthe games by training on the most advanced equipment; the journalists, too, will have the opportunity to keep fit in ssiixx WWeellllnneessss CCeennttrreess sseett uupp iinn ssiixx MMeeddiiaa CCeennttrreess. Therewill no doubt be plenty of journalists who keep track of the latest news while pedalling a bike belonging to the Excite cardiovascular line, equipped with Wellness TV. There will be three OOllyymmppiicc VViillllaaggeess, divided by the specialism of the athletes: one in TTuurriinn, on the site of the former general markets, will accommodate about 2,500 ath-letes and technicians; one in SSeessttrriieerree for 1,000 people and a third in BBaarrddoonneecccchhiiaa for 775 people.

Official Supplier

Training with one of the

machines in the Excite range,

equipped with Wellness TV. All

of the 20,000 accredited

journalists at ATHENS 2004 will

be able to train on Technogym

equipment.



Return to the origins of Wellness

he selection of the city of AAtthheennss to hostthe 22000044 OOllyymmppiicc GGaammeess marks thereturn of the most impor tant andancient sporting event to the cradle of

its origins, almost 22,,880000 years since the firstrecorded competition at OOllyymmppiiaa. A path leadingback in time, in the steps of the farsighted workof French Baron PPiieerrrree DDee CCoouubbeerrttiinn, responsiblefor rreessttoorriinngg tthhee GGaammeess ooff tthhee mmooddeerrnn eerraa.Thanks to his efforts, the Olympic dream wouldonce again walk the earth, from the very place inwhich it was born.

THE GAMES OF THE CLASSIC ERAUntil the llaattee 44tthh CCeennttuurryy AADD, the classic Gameshad been staged in the evocative OOllyymmppiiaa ssttaaddii--uumm for 1,169 years. Here the mythological tradi-tion of the bbaattttlleess bbeettwweeeenn tthhee ggooddss aanndd hhuummaannssbrought men into the arena, to compete and cele-brate the triumph of the aatthhlleettee, considered ammooddeell cciittiizzeenn raised to the status of hheerroo thanksto his vviiccttoorryy in competition. The Athenian politi-cian SSoolloonn noted in the 6th Century AD, “you

would obser ve thecourage and physicalbeauty of men, theinvincible s trengthand tireless will forvictor y [ in] cit izensendowed with noblespir i t , capableguardians, the bas-tions of freedom”.

THE EURHY THMICMANThe figure of the Olympic athlete was consideredthe culmination of the classic concept of man. Totackle the most important competition in the bestcondition required ccoonnssttaanntt pphhyyssiiccaall eexxeerrcciissee,,ssttrroonngg mmeennttaall ddiisscciipplliinnee for concentration and theadoption of a rreegguullaatteedd lliiffeessttyyllee. For the first timein the history of western civilisation, the Greekstheorised the importance of ttaakkiinngg ccaarree ooff tthheemmiinndd aass mmuucchh aass tthhee bbooddyy iinn tthhee ppuurrssuuiitt ooff ppeerrffeecc--ttiioonn aanndd vviittaall wweellllbbeeiinngg. To define this state, theyspoke of eeuurrhhyytthhmmiiaa, the hhaarrmmoonniioouuss bbaallaanncceebetween the two main components of the body.The idea of WWeellllnneessss was born.In their treatises, pphhiilloossoopphheerrss ccoonnffeerrrreedd ddiiggnniittyy ttoopphhyyssiiccaall aaccttiivviittyy, underlining its value in forging ahheeaalltthhyy,, aatthhlleettiiccaallllyy--aaggiillee aanndd hhaarrmmoonniioouuss bbooddyy,,eennddoowweedd wwiitthh ddeexxtteerriittyy. In his ‘‘PPoolliittiiccss’’,, AArriissttoottlleestated his conviction tthhaatt ““pphhyyssiiccaall eedduuccaattiioonn iiss tthheesscciieennccee tthhaatt eexxaammiinneess wwhhiicchh kkiinndd ooff ttrraaiinniinngg iiss bbeenn--eeffiicciiaall ttoo mmoosstt aanndd,, iiff ppoossssiibbllee,, ttoo aallll mmeenn,, ssiinnccee tthheemmaaiinn ppuurrppoossee ooff eedduuccaattiioonn iiss ttoo ttrraaiinn tthhee mmaannyyaanndd nnoott oonnllyy tthhoossee ggiifftteedd aanndd ttaalleenntteedd bbyy nnaattuurree””.PPllaattoo on the other hand called for respect for equi-librium, given that pure athleticism would makeman “uncouth, coarse, cruel and violent”. The principle of ‘‘ssppoorrtt ffoorr eevveerryyoonnee’’, or of athletictraining for all individuals, initially practiced bythe ancient Greeks, turned gymnasiums into insti-

by Luca Ravaglia

The ‘Discobolus’ by Myron

is the emblem of the

ancient Olympic athlete. A

symbol of strength,

movement and

psychophysical balance, it

is a masterpiece of

Hellenistic sculpture of the

5th Century BC.

9

In the photo above, the main

entrance to the Olympia

stadium, where the ancient

Games were held until 393 AD.

A decree issued by Emperor

Theodosius brought an end to

the Games of the classical era.

Voyage through the history of the Olympic spirit,the embodiment of psycho-physical wellbeing

T


tutions essential for a city that truly aspired todefining itself as such. And in respect of theeurhythmia principle, the very places where youthsand adults played sport were theatres of educationin nnoobbllee aarrttss,, iinncclluuddiinngg ppooeettrryy,, aarriitthhmmeettiicc,, ddaanncciinnggaanndd mmuussiicc. Attention to lifestyle for the oovveerraallll wweellllbbeeiinngg of theindividual was reflected in some famous declara-tions by ddooccttoorrss and ppooeettss, and not only in Hellas.While the Greek doctor GGaalleenn ooff PPeerrggaammuumm(2nd Century AD) recommended ““bbrreeaatthh ffrreesshh aaiirr,,eeaatt pprrooppeerr ffooooddss,, ggeett aaddeeqquuaattee sslleeeepp,, hhaavvee rreegguullaarrbboowweell mmoovveemmeennttss aanndd ccoonnttrrooll yyoouurr eemmoottiioonnss””, theLatin poet JJuuvveennaall was the author of the famousmaxim ‘‘MMeennss ssaannaa iinn ccoorrppoorree ssaannoo’’ to highlight theiinnttiimmaattee ccoorrrreellaattiioonn bbeettwweeeenn tthhee pphhyyssiiccaall aanndd ssppiirrii--ttuuaall ddiimmeennssiioonnss.

OLYMPIC REBIRTHThe end of the ancient Games led to the demise ofthe Olympic ideals for some 1,500 years, untilPPiieerrrree ddee CCoouubbeerrttiinn staunchly proposed theirrevival at the PPaarriiss CCoonnggrreessss in 11889944, an event thatled to the creation of the first IInntteerrnnaattiioonnaall OOllyymmppiiccCCoommmmiitttteeee (IOC). The proposal to organise theGames in AAtthheennss in 11889966, formulated together withthe Greek DDiimmiittrriiooss VViikkeellaass, was thus accepted.The interpretation given by the French Baron exalt-

ed the vvaalluuee ooff ssppoorrtt aass aammeeaannss ooff pphhyyssiiccaall--ssppiirriittuuaalleedduuccaattiioonn aanndd iinnddiivviidduuaall wweellll--bbeeiinngg, “a path for strength andphysical energy”, reassertingthe principle of eurhythmia, bywhich tthhee hhaappppiinneessss ddeerriivviinnggffrroomm iinntteennssee bbooddiillyy eexxeerrcciissee iisstthhee rreessuulltt ooff tthhee ccooooppeerraattiioonnbbeettwweeeenn tthhee pphhyyssiiccaall aanndd tthheemmeennttaall ccoommppoonneenntt. He sawsports disciplines as a ‘ggyymmnnaa--ssiiuumm’ for learning to tackle thechallenges of existence, lead-

ing him to pronounce his renowned principle, “tthheemmoosstt iimmppoorrttaanntt tthhiinngg iinn lliiffee iiss nnoott tthhee ttrriiuummpphh bbuutttthhee ssttrruuggggllee;; nnoott ttoo hhaavvee ccoonnqquueerreedd,, bbuutt ttoo hhaavveeffoouugghhtt wweellll”. Through education in this ‘sscchhooooll ooff nnoobbiilliittyy’ heperceived a clear opportunity for all humanity totransform ccoommppeettiittiioonn tthhaatt wwaass ffaaiirr aanndd ooppeenn ttoo aallllinto an authentic iinnssttrruummeenntt ooff ppeeaaccee aanndd ffrraatteerrnnii--ttyy among peoples. From one Olympiad to the next,de Coubertin’s aappppaarreennttllyy uuttooppiiaann vviissiioonn hasbecome a reality, though not without tragically con-tradictory events along the way. At the 11990000 PPaarriissGGaammeess, the invitation to compete was extended towwoommeenn, who were thus recognised the legitimateright to take part in sports (it was however only in11998800 that women representatives were actuallyaccepted into the International Olympic Commit-tee). Another historic date was 11996600, the year thatwitnessed in RRoommee the first real PPaarraallyymmppiicc GGaammeess,with the participation of some 400 athletes withdisabilities from 23 countries.

THE OLYMPIC SPIRIT TODAYThough having a long history behind it, the princi-ple of OOllyymmppiissmm was only included in the OOllyymmppiiccCChhaarrtteerr by the IOC in 1991. Olympism is defined as“aa pphhiilloossoopphhyy ooff lliiffee,, eexxaallttiinngg aanndd ccoommbbiinniinngg iinn aabbaallaanncceedd wwhhoollee tthhee qquuaalliittiieess ooff bbooddyy,, wwiillll aannddmmiinndd.. BBlleennddiinngg ssppoorrtt wwiitthh ccuullttuurree aanndd eedduuccaattiioonn,Olympism seeks to create a way of life based onthe joy found in effort, the educational value ofgood example and respect for universal fundamen-tal ethical principles”.In a global context marked by uncertainty and ten-sion, the adhesion to the ideals enshrined in theOlympic Charter by 220022 ppaarrttiicciippaanntt nnaattiioonnss casts aray of hhooppee. TThhee rreettuurrnn ttoo tthhee oorriiggiinnss ooff tthheeOOllyymmppiicc ssppiirriitt aanndd tthhee pprriinncciipplleess ooff tthhee eeuurrhhyytthhmmiiccmmaann (though today we would say WWeellllnneessss) cancertainly help us rediscover aauutthheennttiicc vvaalluueess thatwill make us hheeaalltthhiieerr,, hhaappppiieerr ppeeooppllee – in a word,better. ■


10

In the photo below, Haile

Gebrselassie training on the

step XT Pro at the Sydney

2000 Olympic Games. The

four-time world champion

over 10,000 metres promoted

the first road race ever to be

held in his native Ethiopia.

In the photo to the side, the

crucial passing of the baton

during a relay. In this

discipline, the concentration

of the individual is put to the

service of team performance.



S P E C I A L E V E N T

s the Americans are well aware: physicalinactivity damages your health. This is thesubject of the latest SSuurrggeeoonn GGeenneerraall’’ssRReeppoorrtt, the document which has for many

years identified the chief enemies of health: in 1960the campaign was against ssmmookkiinngg and in 1984against AAIIDDSS. Since 1996, efforts have been focusedon combating the sseeddeennttaarryy lliiffee ssttyyllee, which isbelieved to be the cause of a number of serious ill-nesses (including obesity, diabetes and various car-diovascular pathologies).With these considerations in mind, the 1111tthh IInntteerrnnaa--ttiioonnaall WWeellllnneessss CCoonnggrreessss opened in Cesena, for thebenefit of the general public, public administrators,university lecturers, doctors, and social, cultural andcommercial organisations. The aim of the meetingwas to ‘take a snap-shot of the state of health’ of thepopulation, highlight the principal problems affect-ing health and identify solutions for improvinghealth, in the knowledge that aahheeaalltthhyy ppooppuullaattiioonn rreedduucceess tthheeccoosstt ooff hheeaalltthhccaarree bboorrnnee bbyy tthheessttaattee aanndd tthhuuss hheellppss ttoo bboooosstt eeccoo--nnoommiicc ddeevveellooppmmeenntt..The Congress was organised bythe WWeellllnneessss FFoouunnddaattiioonn, a non-profit making foundation set up byNNeerriioo AAlleessssaannddrrii (who is also itsPresident), the mission of which isto ssuussttaaiinn aanndd iinnccrreeaassee aawwaarreenneessssooff WWeellllnneessss tthhrroouugghh ttrraaiinniinngg aannddsscciieennttiiffiicc rreesseeaarrcchh (see box onpage 11). The title of the 1111tthh IInntteerr--nnaattiioonnaall WWeellllnneessss CCoonnggrreessss wwaass::‘‘WWeellllnneessss PPaayyss’’. Let’s have a lookat why.

THE EPIDEMICS AFFECTING THE INDUSTRIALISEDWORLDIt’s not just the Americans who are stepping upefforts to combat the problems affecting the healthof the nation. The OOEECCDD (the Organisation for Eco-nomic Cooperation and Development based inParis) recently presented an alarming picture, tosay the least, of the healthcare costs borne by theorganisation’s 30 member states. The ‘‘22000033 AAnnnnuu--aall HHeeaalltthh RReeppoorrtt’’ makes it clear that in these coun-tries, GGDDPP ((ggrroossss ddoommeessttiicc pprroodduucctt)) hhaass iinnccrreeaasseeddbbyy aann aavveerraaggee ooff 22%%,, wwhhiillee hheeaalltthhccaarree ccoossttss hhaavveerriisseenn bbyy 33..33%%.. The alarm has been raised in particular by theindustrialised countries, which have been struck bywholesale epidemics in the form of non-communi-cable diseases caused by unhealthy life styles:sseeddeennttaarryy hhaabbiittss,, ppoooorr ddiieett,, ssmmookkiinngg aanndd ssttrreessss..“These illnesses are the pprriimmee ccaauussee ooff ddeeaatthh

11th International Wellness Congress takes a snap-shot of the stateof health of the population and shows the way towards a fitterfuture, by educating people in the benefits of physical activity.

Wellness: a universalvictory

The 11th International Wellness

Congress was held with the

patronage of the Presidency

of Italy’s Council of Ministers;

the Ministry of Education,

Universities and Research; the

Ministry of Health and the

Regional Administration of

Emilia-Romagna. The congress

was attended by 2,500

people.

A

11



12

Prof. Attilio Maseri,

internationally renowned

cardiologist, delivering his

report

The table shows the

alarming situation of

obesity in children. This

pathology has assumed all

the hallmarks of an

epidemic, and is afflicting

the countries with the

highest income

wwoorrllddwwiiddee,, aaccccoouunnttiinngg ffoorr 5599%% ooff ttoottaall mmoorrttaalliittyyaanndd 8866%% ooff oovveerraallll ddeeaatthhss iinn EEuurrooppee”, stated DDrr..MMaassssiimmoo MMaassssaarriinnii, scientific director of the Well-ness Foundation. And that’s not all: “According tothe WHO (World Health Organisation)”, continuesMassarini, “pphhyyssiiccaall iinnaaccttiivviittyy ccaauusseess 11..99 mmiilllliioonnddeeaatthhss wwoorrllddwwiiddee,, bbeettwweeeenn 1100%% aanndd 1166%% ooff ccoolloonnaanndd bbrreeaasstt ccaanncceerr aanndd 2222%% ooff ccaasseess ooff ddiiaabbeetteess IIII,,wwhhiillee ddoouubblliinngg tthhee iinncciiddeennccee ooff ccaarrddiioovvaassccuullaarr iillll--nneesssseess , which kill 15 million people a year”.

THE BENEFITS OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITYThe situation is serious, but many authoritativesources have identified pphhyyssiiccaall aaccttiivviittyy aass aa ssoolluu--ttiioonn..Massarini continues: “PPrrooff.. SStteevvee BBllaaiirr, the key fig-ure behind the last Surgeon General’s Report,showed that (Blair SN et al. JAMA 1996; 276:205-10) the number of deaths from cardiovascularpathologies is in inverse proportion to levels of fit-

ness, in both men and women. This means that thehigher the level of fitness, the lower the risk ofdeath as a result of these pathologies”. It was also proved that rreegguullaarr pphhyyssiiccaall aaccttiivviittyy iissaassssoocciiaatteedd wwiitthh aann iimmpprroovveemmeenntt iinn mmeettaabboolliicc ccoonn--ttrrooll iinn ddiiaabbeetteess IIII,, iinn ffuunnccttiioonnaalliittyy aanndd iinnddeeppeenn--ddeennccee iinn tthhee eellddeerrllyy,, aanndd iinn ddeepprreessssiioonn (Medicine &Science, Sports & Exercise, 33(6), Suppl. 2001). Fur ther scientif ic evidence was presented byPPrrooff.. AAttttiilliioo MMaasseerrii, a cardiologist at the San Raf-faele hospital in Milan, according to whom: “PPhhyyssii--ccaall aaccttiivviittyy iiss aa ddrruugg wwhhiicchh iinnccrreeaasseess ssuurrvviivvaall rraatteess..It has been proven that people with a reasonablelevel of physical fitness have greater chances of sur-vival than their less fit counterparts”. Maseri alsostates that: “After undertaking a programme oflight physical activity, patients with heart condi-tions and cardiac decompensation are 5500%% lleesssslliikkeellyy ttoo ssuuffffeerr aa rreellaappssee..The beneficial effects of physical activity on the car-diovascular apparatus extend to the hheeaarrtt(autonomous nervous system, myocardium, coronaryarteries), the bblloooodd vveesssseellss (large vessels, micro-circu-lation, blood pressure) and the mmeettaabboolliissmm (excessweight, glycaemia, lipoproteins)” he explains.“In people with lower levels of fitness, heart ratesincrease by about 30 beats per minute (thus placingmore strain on the heart).A study carried out in Britain shows that young peo-ple who take more physical exercise hhaavvee lloowweerr lleevv--eellss ooff aannxxiieettyy,, ssttrreessss,, ggrriieeff aanndd ddeepprreessssiioonn tthhaann tthheeiirriinnaaccttiivvee ccoouunntteerrppaarrttss”.

THE COST OF OBESITYOne of the worst afflictions of the industrialisedworld is oobbeessiittyy, which has literally spread in recentyears to all segments of society, to affect men,women and, sadly, children. It is a simple fact thathhiigghheerr BBooddyy MMaassss IInnddiicceess ((BBMMII)) eeqquuaattee ddiirreeccttllyy ttoohhiigghheerr hheeaalltthhccaarree ccoossttss.. In GGrreeaatt BBrriittaaiinn,, for exam-ple, the direct cost of obesity in 2001 was £0.5 bil-lion (about 750 million Euro); not to mention theindirect costs, which amount to £2 billion (approxi-mately 3 billion Euro), and the cost of purchasingslimming products, fitness club membership, etc.(accounting for a further £2 billion). It should alsobe emphasised that these figures represent anunderestimate, because they do not include cchhiill--ddrreenn (National Audit Office 2001). And it is this latter category which is now most atrisk. In the world rankings, the children of MMaallttaatake first place, with the highest levels of obesityand excess weight; they are followed by IIttaalliiaann andAAmmeerriiccaann children, who weigh in for second andthird place respectively.

Overweight girlsObese girlsOverweight boysObese boys

MaltaItalyUSAChile

AustraliaGermany

VenezuelaJapan

SingaporeFrance

UKHungarySlovakiaSweden

Hong KongBrazil

Netherlands40 30 20 10 0 10 20 30 40

%

Prevalence of obesity and excess weightin boys and girls aged 10 years


PERSUASION AND INCENTIVES TO COMBAT OBESITYPPrrooff.. FFooxx, a psychologist at Bristol University (UK),gave a presentation on the subject of obesity at the1111tthh IInntteerrnnaattiioonnaall WWeellllnneessss CCoonnggrreessss . “This repre-sents the biggest challenge for public health”claimed Professor Fox. “We need to educate peopleto become more physically active through sport,exercise, walking and active use of leisure time”.Furthermore: “For several years now, the UK haswitnessed an explosion of interest in the question ofobesity, from both scientific and political quarters,which is evidence of how pressing the matter is”. In the opinion of Prof. Fox, there are two possibleapproaches to changing the habits of the popula-tion. The first is ppeerrssuuaassiioonn, in the form of advertis-ing campaigns and messages promoting publichealth: “We need to shock people to make themaware of the extent of the problem” maintains Fox,“we need to give higher priority to the manage-ment of health and weight, redefine the concept ofexercise so that it is perceived as a life style ratherthan as ‘sport’ and, lastly, make physical activityattractive and accessible”. The second approach takes the form of iinncceennttiivveess.“For this purpose”, claims the Bristol University pro-fessor, “the authorities should restrict traffic in cities,raise taxes on vehicle ownership and fuel, give subsi-dies to people who take part in sport and to mem-bers of fitness clubs, and provide financial incentivesfor people who walk or cycle to work. “What is need-


THE WELLNESS FOUNDATION

The Wellness Foundation is a non-profitmaking organisation for maintaining andenhancing knowledge of Wellness by meansof training and scientific research.

The Wellness Foundation implements targeted projects, related synergistically, within theframework of health, education, regional development, art and culture. The foundation was set up in 2003 by its current president, Nerio Alessandri, who has puthis twenty years of experience at the disposal of the community through a personal com-mitment to use the foundation as an instrument for Wellness education.

13

It took eight million years for

man to achieve an upright

stance and enviable physical

fitness. It has taken just the

last twenty years for obesity

to wreak havoc with human

physiology and generate

very high social costs

Children are the category most at risk

of obesity. Education in healthy

eating habits for the youngest (and

most defenceless) members of society

is imperative if we are to stem the tide

of this pathology


ed”, his report concludes, “is a common nationalstrategy for supporting physical activity, and a co-ordinated plan shared by a range of agencies, involv-ing a tteeaamm ffoorr ccoo--oorrddiinnaattiinngg ggoovveerrnnmmeenntt initiativesrelating to health, education; culture, media, sport,transport, politics and the treasury. The other partieswith a role to play are the ffiittnneessss aanndd lleeiissuurree iinndduussttrryyaanndd tthhee ffoooodd aanndd ddrriinnkkss iinndduussttrryy”..

WHO STRATEGIES...The WWoorrlldd HHeeaalltthh OOrrggaanniissaattiioonn (WHO) has devel-oped a strategy based on increasing rates of partic-ipation in physical activity by means of a powerfulcampaign of sensitisation. The WHO bases itsstrategies on the premise that “within the frame-work of life styles, physical activity plays a vital role.For this reason the organisation recommends anincrease in iinnffoorrmmaattiioonn ccaammppaaiiggnnss aimed at thepublic; promotion of the ‘‘HHeeaalltthhyy cciittiieess’’ PPrroojjeecctt,aimed at increasing the number of parks, cycletracks, etc., and support for the creation of ‘‘HHoossppii--ttaallss ffoorr tthhee pprroommoottiioonn ooff hheeaalltthh’’. Lastly, the organi-sation proposes a ‘‘MMoovvee ffoorr HHeeaalltthh DDaayy’’, in otherwords a day dedicated to health and wellbeingin every country”.

... AND EU STRATEGIESThe1111tthh IInntteerrnnaattiioonnaall WWeellllnneessss CCoonnggrreessss wasattended by WWiillffrriieedd KKaammpphhaauusseenn, Member ofthe European Commission for Public Health. “The European Union’s PPuubblliicc HHeeaalltthh AAccttiioonnPPrrooggrraammmmee 22000033--22000088 has set aside a budgetof 331122 mmiilllliioonn EEuurroo for the purpose of improv-ing health information, rapidly assimilatinghealth agreements, and addressing healthdeterminants” he explains. The latter includesocio-economic, genetic, environment-relatedand life style-related determinants (nutritionand physical activity, mental and sexualhealth) and and health-related determinants

(tobacco, alcohol and drugs). “The action-plans relating to physical activity”, con-cludes Kamphausen “envisage the development ofa coherent and comprehensible strategy, the cre-ation of a network of specialised agencies, a pro-ject for preventing obesity in children and, lastly,support for the Irish Presidency of the Commissionwith initiatives for the prevention of cardiovascularillnesses”.

THE VIEWS OF INDUSTRIALISTS ...The opinion of entrepreneurs was voiced at the Con-gress by one of the world’s most famous industrial-ists, LLuuccaa CCoorrddeerroo ddii MMoonntteezzeemmoolloo, President of FFeerr--rraarrii. “One of the things which entrepreneurs care mostabout is qquuaalliittyy ooff lliiffee iinn tthhee ffaaccttoorryy, because themost important resource of any entrepreneur is hisstaff ...We had one of our most gratifying experiences lastyear, when Europe’s greatest financial daily, theFFiinnaanncciiaall TTiimmeess, awarded MMaasseerraattii, (a companywhich we rebuilt from scratch), the prize for ‘BBeesstt


The figure shows obesity trends

in the European Union, with

reference to adults with BMI

(Body Mass Index) of> 30

14

From left to right: Dr.

Massimo Massarini,

Wilfried Kamphausen and

Dr. Ken Fox


WWoorrkk PPllaaccee in Europe’. What does this mean inpractical terms? First of all qquuaalliittyy ooff tthhee eennvviirroonn--mmeenntt; next, we have taken steps to keep our person-nel in good physical health”, continued the Presi-dent of Ferrari. “In other words, we offered eachmember of staff and their family a medical exami-nation and the opportunity of following a specificprogramme of physical exercise and fitness assess-ment. So we don’t just take care of the diagnosisbut also of the ttrreeaattmmeenntt, and we have madeagreements with all the gyms in the area to encour-age our staff to use them.As for the members of the FFeerrrraarrii RRaaccee TTeeaamm, whoin 7 seconds have to change the tyres, clean thedriver’s helmet, refuel and sometimes even adjustangle of the stabiliser, we have set up an aadd hhooccggyymm, with continuous workouts and checks... To get back to the topic of the day”, concludedMontezemolo, “this means that entrepreneurs areresponsible for keeping their staff in good physical

THE ITALIAN SITUATION

One of the most alarming developments is the increased incidence of obesity, which affects 4 million people, while a further 16 million are overweight (out of a total population of 57 million).This costs the State 65 billion Euro per year and also has a marked effect on work: 7.2% of the above reduce the amount of work they do; 5.5% give up work and 12.5% change their work (Min-istry of Health).Cardiovascular disease causes 250,000 deaths per year (out of a total of 15 million worldwide), and represent 43% of deaths recorded in Italy. It is estimated that 20% of these illnesses areattributable to physical inactivity, while 50% of deaths could be avoided by means of an information campaign on correct life styles (Italian Society of Cardiology).With regard to osteoporosis, 1 woman in 3 and 1 man in 8, over the age of 50 years, suffer fractures due to this illness. Only 19% of women affected by the condition are aware of it. In Europe,this condition costs 4.8 billion Euro per year (“Stili di vita salutari”, Milan 2003).The 2003-2005 National Plan for Health seeks to rectify the situation and states: Within the framework of life styles, physical activity, correct diet and stopping smoking play a fundamentalrole. Efforts will be focused on information campaigns aimed at the general public, improvements in the quality of nutrition and a reduction in calory intake.The 2001-2002 report on the state of health of the nation (Ministry of Health) highlights that 59.1% of the population took part in sport or physical exercise during the course of the year; 33%took part in sport or physical exercise one or more times a week; 19% practise a sport and 14% walk, cycle or swim once a week.


15

The audience at the congress in Cesena

Adjacent: Luca Cordero di

Montezemolo, President of

Ferrari, delivered a speech

based on his own

experience



16

shape and in good spirits too, because the spirit isa vital ingredient. The focus of this Congress is,quite rightly, wellbeing, but wellbeing also has a lotto do with how you feel inside - in other words, thepassion, determination and enthusiasm which peo-ple have for taking up the challenges their lives pre-sent”.

... AND THE VIEWS OF POLITICIANSThe speakers at Cesena included PPiieerr FFeerrddiinnaannddooCCaassiinnii, President of the Chamber of Deputies, whocommented that “Wellness is often associated withappearance, but in reality a person’s value doesnot lie solely in his physical appearance. Majorchanges are taking place all round the world,aimed at improving quality of life. In my view, weneed to focus on pprreevveennttiioonn” said Casini, “andthat’s why a team has been set up at the Ministryof Health ffoorr pprroommoottiinngg hheeaalltthhyy eeaattiinngg. The spreadof wellbeing and Wellness also has to come fromsscchhoooollss and iinnssttiittuuttiioonnss”.

WELLNESS VALLEY‘‘WWeellllnneessss PPaayyss’ is therefore a concept on whichorganisations, the state and businesses all agree.“WWeellllbbeeiinngg hhaass aa ssoocciiaall ddiimmeennssiioonn””,, explained thePresident NNeerriioo AAlleessssaannddrrii in his closing speech,“of which all parties are becoming aware. WWeellllnneessssiiss wweellllbbeeiinngg aass aa lliiffee ssttyyllee,, wwhhiicchh eennccoommppaasssseesspphhyyssiiccaall,, ssppiirriittuuaall aanndd ssoocciiaall aassppeeccttss. By educatingpeople in the benefits of regular physical activity,correct diet and a positive mental approach, it ispossible to achieve genuine psychological andphysical wellbeing. This is the ideal state”, Alessan-dri is convinced, “ffoorr ccoommbbaattiinngg aanndd pprreevveennttiinnggppaatthhoollooggiieess aassssoocciiaatteedd wwiitthh sseeddeennttaarryy hhaabbiittss,, aannddmmaaiinnttaaiinniinngg eeffffiicciieennccyy oovveerr tthhee yyeeaarrss , especially ina society such as ours, in which the proportion of

elderly people is rising”. But it doesn’t stop here: “Ipropose the creation of a ‘WWeellllbbeeiinngg ddiissttrriicctt’ whichcan become a benchmark for the whole of EEuurrooppee.The project is aimed at eennhhaanncceemmeenntt ooff tthhee tteerrrriittoo--rryy, in which tourism, businesses and institutionsbecome vehicles for the pprroommoottiioonn ooff oouurr sscciieennttiiffiicc,,eennttrreepprreenneeuurriiaall,, aarrttiissttiicc aanndd ccuullttuurraall hheerriittaaggee. Amodel starting in Cesena, which we hope to exportto Europe and the rest of the world”. The idea of aWWeellllnneessss VVaalllleeyy finds expression in the ‘‘RRoommaaggnnaaWWeellllnneessss’’ pprroojjeecctt, the aim of which is “to create anew territorial model which would see institutions,authorities, associations and entrepreneursengaged in pprroommoottiinngg aa lliiffee ssttyyllee ggeeaarreedd ttoowwaarrddssWWeellllnneessss ffoorr tthhee ppuurrppoossee ooff iimmpprroovviinngg tthhee qquuaalliittyyooff lliiffee ooff ppeeooppllee,, rreedduucciinngg tthhee ccoosstt ooff hheeaalltthhccaarreeaanndd ddeevveellooppiinngg tthhee ssoocciioo--eeccoonnoommiicc ffaabbrriicc ooff tthheetteerrrriittoorryy” ccoonncclluuddeedd AAlleessssaannddrrii.. ■

Adjacent: Nerio Alessandri,

President of Technogym and of

the Wellness Foundation. At

the close of the congress, he

launched the idea of creating

a Wellness Valley in the

Romagna region

Physical exercise is one of the

cornerstones of Wellness


ellness clubs are one of the strongestpoints of socialisation in modern soci-ety. This is an iimmppoorrttaanntt pplluuss ppooiinntt andmmaajjoorr ssttrreennggtthh which all proprietors,

managers and people working in the sector are try-ing to enhance. Enhancement is achieved by sensi-tising people, so that they become more ssttiimmuullaatt--eedd,, iinnvvoollvveedd aanndd mmoottiivvaatteedd to take part in the lifeof the Fitness/Wellness centre by means of a widerange of experiences aaiimmeedd aatt mmaakkiinngg tthheemm ffeeeell aatthhoommee iinn tthheeiirr cclluubb.Before physical fitness, therefore, the staff of moresensitive centres focus on mmaakkiinngg ppeeooppllee ffeeeell ggooooddaatt aann eemmoottiioonnaall lleevveell, perhaps by helping them tobreak down the ‘barriers’ which, until recently,were a source of reluctance to join a gym, such asthe ffeeaarr ooff ffeeeelliinngg oouutt ooff ppllaaccee aatt aa ggyymm bbeeccaauussee oofftthheeiirr pphhyyssiiccaall aappppeeaarraannccee.

This limitation now appears to have been overcomeand other factors have come into play which are setto ssttrreennggtthheenn tthhee ssoocciiaalliissiinngg rroollee of clubs, andeennhhaannccee ssoocciiaall iinntteerraaccttiioonn between individual mem-bers and between members and their trainers. Inthis way, the WWeellllnneessss CCoommmmuunniittyy is growing,expanding and gaining a fuller understanding ofthe wellbeing which can be achieved within a club.Let’s look at the experiences of a number of largecentres, in which the Wellness Community hasbecome the main driving force behind their activity.

FIGURA“Figura” is a German centre with an area of800 m2, situated in WWaalllleennhhoorrsstt, a few kilometresfrom Osnabrück and Bielefeld (100 kilometres from

Brema).“We’ve created a small community within our club”,explains the oowwnneerr,, CCoorrrraaddoo EErrccoollaannii. “We have afirm belief in this concept and we’re convinced thatit’s one of the best methods of achieving and main-taining the loyalty of members, because wwee’’rree wweellllaawwaarree tthhaatt iitt’’ss eeaassiieerr ttoo rreeccrruuiitt nneeww mmeemmbbeerrss tthhaanniitt iiss ttoo rreettaaiinn tthheemm ffoorr mmoorree tthhaann aa yyeeaarr. And this isthe most important challenge!” According to Ercolani, “Wellness is a concept whichstarts with the mind, and social relations are a vitalingredient which can be cultivated in the gym”.At FFiigguurraa, the areas for socialisation between indi-vidual members and between members and train-ers are the bbaarr aanndd tthhee rreessttaauurraanntt. “At the end ofeach session” continues Ercolani, “the trainer has adrink with the people who took part. We also applythe ‘cclluubb--iinn--aa--cclluubb’ concept: this means, for exam-ple, that we have a ‘save-money-club’, which is


17

S U C C E S S F U L C L U B S

W

Keeping well and socialising: two sides of the same coin.

A strategiccommunity

Below: a training session at a

Wellness centre. Gyms are a

strategic location for members

to socialise: this constitutes a

major opportunity for club

owners/managers.


basically a container in the bar area, which eachmember puts a small sum of money into everyweek, and at the end of the year we organise a din-ner all together. There is also a special area inwhich members can bbuuyy aanndd sseellll ssmmaallll hhaanndd--mmaaddeeoobbjjeeccttss, such as socks or hand-painted glass. Wealso have a ‘bbooookk cclluubb’: each member subscribes tothe service for a fee of 10 € a year, we buy booksand we make them available for everyone to bor-row and take home. What’s more, we organise oouutt--ddoooorr aaccttiivviittiieess, such as roller-blading lessons andbike rides; Halloween and Christmas parties andeven ssppeecciiaall eevveenniinnggss ffoorr wwoommeenn, with cosmeticsexperts, dieticians and beauticians.The effect of these initiatives is that many membersdevelop personal relationships outside of the club,while others get together chiefly within FFiigguurraa”.

YMCA LAKE COUNTY CENTRAL Next we go to OOhhiioo, UUSSAA. We interviewed BBeetthhHHoorrvvaatthh,, ffiittnneessss ddiirreeccttoorr ooff LLaakkee CCoouunnttyy CCeennttrraallYYMMCCAA. It’s a centre of about 88,,000000 mm22 wwiitthh 1100,,000000mmeemmbbeerrss, which belongs to an association thathas further three facilities. “There’s a gym, 3raquetball courts, a 4-lane swimming pool, a learn-ing pool and a hydromassage bath” explains Hor-vath. The Healthy Lifestyle Center (the gym, ed.)covers an area of about 350 m2 and is surroundedby a running track. Both the men’s and women’schanging rooms are equipped with sauna, Turkishbath, massage room and other facilities. Thenthere’s an impressive children’s area with babysit-ting service, known as ‘the treehouse’. Lastly, wehave a large area known as ‘the den’, which weuse as a babysitting area for school-age childrenand also as a meeting place: it’s equipped with TV,table tennis and a wealth of games for childrenbetween the age of 6 and 12 years”.Socialisation has always been a key feature ofYYMMCCAA centres. Horvath continues: “Everything wedo revolves around people, and TTeecchhnnooggyymm hasconsiderably enhanced this aspect. To be honest,we were worried that a computerised system (theWWeellllnneessss SSyysstteemm, ed.) might have depersonalisedthe whole fitness process, but in fact it has had theopposite effect. SSiinnccee wwee ssttaarrtteedd uussiinngg TTeecchhnnooggyymmeeqquuiippmmeenntt,, tthhee bbuuddggeett aatt mmyy ddiissppoossaall ffoorr ssttaaffff hhaassddoouubblleedd,, wwhhiicchh hhaass lleedd ttoo ccoonnssiiddeerraabbllee bbeenneeffiittss ffoorrccuussttoommeerr rreellaattiioonnss: first and foremost, we are cus-tomer service representatives, and our role as train-ers comes second. We often say that our trainersare ‘ssoocciiaall bbuutttteerrfflliieess’!”As far as building a community is concerned, we

see this as part of our mission. Our slogan is: ‘WWeebbuuiilldd ssttrroonngg cchhiillddrreenn,, ssttrroonngg ffaammiilliieess aanndd ssttrroonnggccoommmmuunniittiieess’. “The activities organised at Lake County Centralinclude a wide range of parties, trips for membersseveral times a year, the promotion of conferenceson family matters, marriage, the community, etc. Interms of ccoommmmuunniiccaattiioonn””,, continues Horvath, “wehave a wweebb ssiittee ((cceennttrraall@@llaakkeeccoouunnttyyyymmccaa..oorrgg)) andwe publish a quarterly nneewwsslleetttteerr called The Spirit,which informs our members about courses andactivity programmes. There are already a few socialareas at the centre, but we are thinking of addingothers. On the top floor, at reception, there are vari-ous chairs and sofas, not to mention a whole lot ofgames for small children. The adult changingrooms are also fitted out with tables, chairs andsofas, as an aid to socialising”.

LIFE PLANET Life Planet is a modern club in RRaavveennnnaa with an indoorarea of 2,500 m2 and a total area of 10,000 m2. Out-doors, there is a 300 metre running track and solari-um area; courses are also run outdoors in the sum-mer. The club has 33,,000000 aaccttiivvee mmeemmbbeerrss, 85% ofwhom have annual membership. The indoor sectionincludes a swimming pool (of which the roof is openedin the summer), a physiotherapy centre with medicalconsulting rooms, a bar, a restaurant, a solarium; alarge, well-equipped thermarium and a 100 m2 meet-


18

The YMCA is the largest non-

profit making community in

the United States. The

organisation’s 2,400 centres

are used by almost 18 million

people


19

ing room.Unusually, this room is also used for the work of theppeerrssoonnaall ttrraaiinneerrss and for the ssttaarrtt--uupp ooff nneeww mmeemm--bbeerrss. “This is a vital phase for us, in which we startbuilding a ‘special’ relationship with members”explains the director of LLiiffee PPllaanneett,, AAnnddrreeaa DDrraaddii.All new members are introduced to the activities bymeans of a short series of pprreeppaarraattoorryy sseessssiioonnss. Weset up ssmmaallll ggrroouuppss (maximum 8 people), which weinvite to the club for 5 sessions: during the courseof the first meeting, we show a 30-minute videoabout the centre and the activities it offers, fol-lowed by a further 30 minutes of practical workbased on dynamic techniques aimed at breakingdown ‘bbaarrrriieerrss’, which may be of various types: forexample, the fear of exercising in the presence ofothers, the fear of making mistakes, and dissatisfac-tion with personal physical condition (especially inthe case of new members who are overweight). Thenext 4 sessions last an hour each and are practicalin nature. According to Dradi, this type of approach was par-ticularly challenging for the instructors, “fromwhom we were looking for an iinnnnoovvaattiivvee aapppprrooaacchh--to their customers. We are in no doubt that peoplejoin a Fitness/Wellness centre not just to get inshape but also to ssoocciiaalliissee. For this reason, webelieve that our special approach is well targeted tofacilitate integration, and to make people feel atease with each other: this made it necessary toimplement an iinntteennssiivvee,, oonnggooiinngg ttrraaiinniinngg pprroo--ggrraammmmee ffoorr oouurr ttrraaiinneerrss”.

One of the ‘tools’ used at LLiiffee PPllaanneett to facilitatesocialisation is a mmaaggaazziinnee: “People’s minds areoften elsewhere when they come for a workout, andthey don’t pay much attention to notice boards andannouncements posted on the walls. The magazinemakes a big contribution to our communicationeffort”, adds Dradi: “as well as information aboutcourses, we publish photos, unusual news items,and a bit of gossip, all with a very light-heartedtone. We organise sskkii ddaayyss aanndd bbiikkee rriiddeess; and wehave taken groups of the most active members raft-ing. At first, our members were amazed that a Well-ness centre ran this type of activity, more tradition-ally associated with a travel agent; then they start-ed taking part, had a lot of fun and spread theword to those people who hadn’t joined in. Ourgoal for this year is to organise a ttrriipp aabbrrooaadd.We hold one party in the summer to celebrate the‘birthday’ of Life Planet (which coincides with anopen day for the promotion of membership) andanother two parties in a well-know night-club, withbuffet and cocktails. These events are attended, onaverage, by 800-900 people.Our web site (wwwwww..lliiffeeppllaanneett..ccoomm) is also gearedtowards socialisation in the broad sense of theword: we offer a multiple choice quiz with prizes ofmembership, beauty treatments and entrance tothe solarium. In exchange, the visitors to the siteregister, and we send them updates about ouractivities. In 2003, 1,000 people registered with thesite, half of whom were existing club members, andthe rest of whom were new contacts”.


Gyms can also organise outdoor

activities (see adjacent photo).

Life Planet in Ravenna publishes a

light-hearted magazine to keep its

members informed of the activities

on offer.

The aim is to make them feel

increasingly involved in the life of

the club and make them an active

part of the community.


ADRIA NUOTO Adria Nuoto is a club that grew up ... in reverse - inthe sense that the swimming pool was the hubaround which a Wellness centre was set up and fit-ted out with EExxcciittee eeqquuiippmmeenntt wwiitthh WWeellllnneessss TTVV,,BBiioossttrreennggtthh,, SSeelleeccttiioonn aanndd WWeellllnneessss SSyysstteemm.“Our aim is to provide a wide range of services forthe family, and create a ‘model community”,explained TToonnii BBaallddeettttii,, oowwnneerr ooff AAddrriiaa NNuuoottoo iinnRRoovviiggoo. We’re also equipping ourselves with a beau-ty farm, sauna, hydromassage, chromotherapy andmassage areas.“The activities we organise include an end-of-monthdinner with our members, a Christmas party and aMardi Gras party, and in the summer we hold a kindof ‘It’s a Knockout’ competition, swimming galasand karaoke evenings with swimming in the pool;and for the past 12 years we have been organising acharity marathon (wwwwww..aaddrriiaannuuoottoo..iitt). We specialisein swimming courses” continues Baldetti: “it’s a veryimportant activity for us, because we’re affiliated tothe Italian Swimming Federation, and we have com-petitive swimming and water polo teams involved inregular galas and matches.We aim to mmaakkee oouurr mmeemmbbeerrss ffeeeell aatt hhoommee iinn oouurrcclluubb, by focusing on social events, services and newdevelopments in fitness. As part of this, we’ll soonbe starting hydro-bike and fit-box courses in thewater. So is it a success? Yes, when you consider thatthere are 550000 ppeeooppllee oonn tthhee wwaaiittiinngg lliisstt ffoorr mmeemmbbeerr--sshhiipp and 1,600 existing members (but 4,000 peopleregister every year and use Adria Nuoto on a rotat-ing basis). As far as the gym is concerned, we have chosen thetop ranges offered by TTeecchhnnooggyymm, because our strat-egy is to provide the highest quality. We get verypositive feedback from our members about thisequipment and a number of members have aban-doned our competitors in favour of us”.

ELIXIALet’s leave Italy again, and cross the border intoAustria: EElliixxiiaa AAuussttrriiaa belongs to the EEuurrooppeeaann cchhaaiinnElixia, which has 54 clubs in 5 countries. In Austria,

there are two clubs in Vienna and one in Linz. EElliixxiiaa CClluubb MMiilllleennnniiuumm (in Vienna) is a club of 5,000 m2

and has 4,400 members: it was voted ‘‘CClluubb ooff tthheeYYeeaarr’’ on the web site wwwwww..ffiittnneessss..aatt. The other facili-ty in the capital is EElliixxiiaa CClluubb HHüütttteellddoorrff (4,000 m2 and2,200 members), and the Linz club is called EElliixxiiaaCClluubb AAttrriiuumm (3,000 m2 and 2,200 members). All three clubs have large gyms fitted out withTTeecchhnnooggyymm equipment, and have social areas: a wel-coming HHeeaalltthh CCaafféé (the preferred place for meet-ings between members), a spacious WWeellllnneessss AArreeaa(with sauna, sanarium - not as hot as the sauna andmore humid -, solarium, showers, and a large relax-ation room), aa nnuurrsseerryy aanndd aa mmaassssaaggee rroooomm. “Creating a pleasant atmosphere and a communityis one of the most important objectives of our club”,says AAwweeddiiss CCooccyyaann, mmaannaaggeerr ooff tthhee cchhaaiinn iinn AAuuss--ttrriiaa. “It’s essential that members feel at ease in theirsurroundings and eennjjooyy tthheeiirr vviissiitt aass iiff iitt wwaass aa sshhoorrtthhoolliiddaayy. Only then, will they be genuinely satisfied.The social side of club membership must not be

underestimated: nowadays, relatively few people aresuf f iciently motivated simply by the desire toimprove their physical condition. For most of ourmembers, however, the possibility of eennjjooyyiinngg tthheemm--sseellvveess wwiitthh tthheeiirr ffrriieennddss, is an eesssseennttiiaall ppaarrtt ooff tthheeEElliixxiiaa eexxppeerriieennccee. For this reason”, continues Cocyan,“our services also include events such as toga par-ties, club-nights, dance evenings with a DJ, anindoor triathlon and candle-lit swimming - a partywith 200 candles floating on the swimming pool; notto mention a whole host of other initiatives. OOuuttssiiddeetthhee cclluubbss we organise a torchlight procession, wine-tasting and ski days: these are all important occa-sions for getting together and are therefore a fixedcomponent of the EElliixxiiaann WWaayy”.As far as communication with members is con-cerned, we publish a monthly nneewwsslleetttteerr, which wesend out by email , and we have a web sitewwwwww..eelliixxiiaa..ddee. ■


20

This is the main site dedicated to Wellness inAustria. It was set up by The Fitness Company,

Technogym’s distributor in Austria

Above: the swimming pool at

Adria Nuoto, a centre which

focuses on gym-based and

pool-based activities to

develop its community.

Right: Awedies Cocyan,

manager of the Elixia

chain in Austria.


21

WELLNESS SYSTEMUPDATE

Wellness System is becoming an integral part of an increas-ing number of clubs worldwide. Here’s what the centre ownersand managers who have chosen the system have to sayabout it

ELLNESS CLUB TIME OUT (Rome)Fabrizio Greco, technical and administra-tive managerWWeellllnneessss CClluubb TTiimmee OOuutt is the phenome-

non of the moment in Italy: in just three months,from October (when the centre opened) to January,11,,330000 people joined the club, with a real boom justafter the Christmas break. “Word of mouth tookimmediate effect”, says FFaabbrriizziioo GGrreeccoo,, tteecchhnniiccaallaanndd aaddmmiinniissttrraattiivvee mmaannaaggeerr. “The first people tojoin were so enthusiastic about it that they got theirfriends involved too. SSoo wwhhaatt’’ss tthhee kkeeyy ttoo oouurr ssuucc--cceessss?? TThhee WWeellllnneessss SSyysstteemm”. Greco states this withconviction, based on his long experience in the sec-tor. “The system is used by aallll our members”, he con-tinues “from the youngest to the oldest: they inserttheir TGS key and do the exercise according to theinstructions given. They see it as a very importantaid to their exercise programme, and we haverecorded levels of ccuussttoommeerr rreetteennttiioonn ooff 7700%%”.

The ssttaaffff were thoroughly motivated and trained inthe use of the Wellness System, and they too make asignificant contribution to the success of the centre.At Wellness Club Time Out, they have also adoptedthe mmaannaaggeemmeenntt ssooffttwwaarree ffoorr tthhee SSyysstteemm: for this

reason, the TGS key is used not only for access to theclub but for a whole series of services and activities,from the ssppaa to the sswwiimmmmiinngg ppooooll; and plans are inthe pipeline for using it for access to the rreessttaauurraanntt:“We would like to put a credit on the card and givemembers the opportunity to spend it in the restau-rant area”, continues Greco. “The management sys-tem is also enabling us to iinntteeggrraattee iitt wwiitthh tthhee tteecchh--nniiccaall ssyysstteemm ooff tthhee sswwiimmmmiinngg ppooooll so as to give usinformation about attendance, but also the swim-ming ability level of members”. For Wellness ClubTime Out, the swimming pool is an essential part ofthe centre, and a school affiliated to the IIttaalliiaannSSwwiimmmmiinngg FFeeddeerraattiioonn is also based there. The mainpool (25x12.5 metres) is complemented by a secondpool for rehabilitation and acquagym (6x12.5metres). Both pools are covered by a structure madeof steel and wood, which slides open for the summerseason.Other ser vices include the bbeeaauuttyy cceennttrree,hhaaiirrddrreesssseerr, bbaarr, a few sshhooppss, a bbaabbyy ppaarrkk with bbaabbyyssiittttiinngg service, a ggaammeess ‘‘lliibbrraarryy’’, a 440000 mm22 ccaarrddiioo--ffiitt--nneessss rroooomm, a ssppiinnnniinngg rroooomm, and two rroooommss ffoorrccoouurrsseess. The ssppaa aarreeaa is equipped with sauna, Turk-ish bath, hydromassage for 12 people and chromat-ic, vaporised showers. ■

Wellness Club Time Out issituated in the Olgiata district of

Rome and is part of the AutoHotel group, whose director is

Rosalba Neri

W


by Luca Ravaglia

P R O D U C T S

Personal Selection,the ongoing evolution

volution in the groove of continuity. PPeerrssoonn--aall SSeelleeccttiioonn is the name chosen by TTeecchhnnoo--ggyymm for the latest addition to the strengthtraining range, today presented with an

iinnnnoovvaattiivvee llooookk, the result of meticulous researchefforts. While retaining all of the SSeelleeccttiioonn technical fea-tures most appreciated by the market – the remark-able VViissuuaall SSeett UUpp, the natural f lu idity ofBBiiooMMoottiioonn, the ergonomic BBiiooSSeeaatt and EErrggoommuullttii--ggrriippss – the new PPeerrssoonnaall SSeelleeccttiioonn line raises thequality standards even higher by aiming at ccuuss--ttoommiisseedd WWeellllnneessss DDeessiiggnn. Let’s see how.

EVERYONE HAS THEIR OWN SELECTIONThe line comes in four versions: LLuuxxuurryy,, PPeerrffoorr--mmaannccee,, BBeeaauuttyy and CCllaassssiicc. The matching colours offrames and upholstery gives each model its own dis-tinctive personality. Luxury is characterised by its glossy paintwork andgentle, relaxing colours. The titanium-colour frameand green upholstery evoke the hues of nature anda tteennssiioonn--ffrreeee eennvviirroonnmmeenntt. This version is specifical-ly designed for the more mature hhiigghheerr ccllaassss mar-ket, intent on keeping fit in an exclusive setting, suchas in a luxury hotel or spa, high-level Wellness cen-tre or health club.

E

Wellness Design is the inspiration behind the new Selection versions. No less than four.

22

The four Personal

Selection versions.

The range will be

released to the European

market in late summer,

then elsewhere

throughout the world.


23

Above left, close up of Lower

Back, one of the eight

Personal Selection machines in

the Beauty version. Right, an

example of ‘personalised’ club

layout for a female public.

In the photo below, American

actor Sylvester Stallone, special

guest at the exclusive preview of

Personal Selection at FIBO 2004 in

Essen (Germany).

PPeerrffoorrmmaannccee stands out with its gutsy orangecolour, reflecting the character of those who tthhrriivveeoonn aa cchhaalllleennggee - highly-motivated people determinedto use their training sessions to improve their perfor-mance standards every time. BBeeaauuttyy is designed to meet the needs of wwoommeenn,,wwhhoo mmaakkee uupp tthhee mmaajjoorriittyy ooff hheeaalltthh cclluubb mmeemmbbeerrss.This version comprises a circuit of eeiigghhtt SSeelleeccttiioonnmmaacchhiinneess ffoorr ttoonniinngg the muscle groups most exer-cised by women gym members. The machine isupholstered with a special material with a soft,warm texture. The frames, like the seats, are fin-ished in relaxing sky blue tones.And lastly CCllaassssiicc, the version that is the naturalccoonnttiinnuuaattiioonn ooff tthhee ffiirrsstt SSeelleeccttiioonn lliinnee, offering adegree of quality that has set the standards for theentire market. With its elliptic and distinctivelymade in Italy look, it is designed to satisfy the needsof aallll ttyyppeess ooff uusseerrss.

INNOVATIVE EXCLU-SIVE FEATURESTake a closer look atthe finer details fea-tured on PPeerrssoonnaallSSeelleeccttiioonn machines –you’ll see the meticu-lous effort made tomeet the real needsof club customersand members, whosenumbers constantlyincrease togetherwith the range oftheir requirements.The completion of thewweeiigghhtt ssttaacckk ccoolluummnnccoovveerr made fromrigid plastic (in the

tones matching the particular version) affords totaluser safety and extra colour, while the practicalttoowweell lloocckkiinngg ddeevviiccee fits the towel to the backrest sothat it stays in place during your training session.PPeerrssoonnaall SSeelleeccttiioonn has already been acclaimed forthe visual impact of its design, not at least thanksto the eye-catching yet refined metallic ppaaiinntt ffiinniisshhooff mmaacchhiinnee ffrraammeess.

BENEFITS FOR CLUB MANAGEMENTDesigned largely on the basis of feedback fromhealth club owners, PPeerrssoonnaall SSeelleeccttiioonn meets themany and varied requirements of small and largeestablishments alike.On the one hand, the more exclusive clubs can ben-efit by offering ccuussttoommiisseedd ttrraaiinniinngg sseessssiioonnss, target-ed for the majority of members or ones with morespecific needs. On the other, larger clubs can ddiiffffeerr--eennttiiaattee ttrraaiinniinngg rroooommss into distinctive areas asrequired. PPeerrssoonnaall SSeelleeccttiioonn is infact exceptionally versatile, allow-ing architects and interior design-ers to plan the layout of facilitiestotally in line with the effectiveneeds of management. New materials, Italian style, eye-catching colours – all designed toaddress specific customer types –combine to ensure that training iseven more attractive and stimu-lating for club members, who feelcomplete ly comfor table withequipment. In short, they feel thatthey are receiving ppeerrssoonnaall ttrreeaatt--mmeenntt. ■

We would like to thank DavideNeri, Technogym Product Manager,for his cooperation.

P R O D U C T S


by Marc Wielm

P R O D U C T S

Keeping fit, socialising and having fun

Wellness Ball

lubs are constantly on the lookout for nneewwttrraaiinniinngg aacccceessssoorriieess. The latest of these isWWeellllnneessss BBaallll, designed for fun fitness ses-sions and for alternating the use of tradi-

tional equipment with free-standing exercises. Butthat’s not all. This ball is a valuable tool for ddeevveelloopp--iinngg ffuunnccttiioonnaall ssttrreennggtthh. Through individual or smallgroup lessons (5-6 people), the ttrraaiinneerrbecomes the facilitator of thegame, by recommendingand demonstrating new

exercises, which contribute to the motivation andsocial interaction of members.

WHICH EXERCISESWellness Ball is ideal for ssttrreettcchhiinngg and developingfflleexxiibbiilliittyy and pprroopprriioocceeppttiivviittyy, also known as the‘sixth sense’. The latter is the ability of the individual

to withstand and react to suddenstimuli in daily l i fe: this

capacity is developedthrough the instabili-

C

Wellness Ball is available in 2

sizes: 55 cm (recommended for

people of less than 170 cm in

height) and 65 cm (for people

over 170 cm)

24


25

ty of the ball, and plays an important role in natur-al, everyday movements and in a life style based onthe Wellness model. This is why it’s recommendedfor all types of user, from athletes to the elderly.Training sessions focus on a large number of exer-cises revolving around flexibility, muscle toning andthe mobility of the upper limbs, lower limbs andtrunk. See photos for examples.

FEATURES OF WELLNESS BALLThis accessory, which has already become a trendin America and is rapidly gaining recognition inEurope, is made using a patented ‘double layer’technology, which keeps it eellaassttiicc over time. It isalso bbuurrsstt--pprrooooff (and hence safe): if it gets punc-tured, it deflates slowly and gently. It’s made ofinert, odourless nnaattuurraall mmaatteerriiaallss, of the same typeused for children’s toys. What’s more, if used with RRaaddiiaanntt or other Techno-gym equipment, it extends the available range ofexercises even further. Lastly, the design of WellnessBall bears a ffaammiillyy rreesseemmbbllaannccee to Excite, Selection,Biostrength and Radiant, thus helping to maintainuniformity of image for your club. ■

We would like to thank Attilio Marinoni, TechnogymProduct Manager, for his cooperation.

P R O D U C T S

The trainer, who acts as the

game facilitator, guides

members through the vast

range of exercises that can be

carried out with Wellness Ball


26

by Marta Giovannelli

P R O D U C T S

The latest addition to the Med Strength line offers majornew multifunctional features.

Vario Pulley

t’s the latest product in the MMeedd SSttrreennggtthhline, but its special features mean that it’s notstrictly a biomedical machine. It owes thisdefinition to its vveerrssaattiilliittyy, combined with a

series of features that set it apart from other equip-ment on the market.For this reason VVaarriioo PPuulllleeyy is aimed at rreehhaabbiilliittaa--ttiioonn cceennttrreess,, hhoossppiittaallss aanndd ccaarree hhoommeess; but also atssppoorrttss pprreeppaarraattiioonn cceennttrreess,, WWeellllnneessss cceennttrreess wwiitthhrreehhaabbiilliittaattiioonn aarreeaass,, uunniivveerrssiittiieess aanndd rreesseeaarrcchh cceenn--ttrreess. It is an effective tool for training athletes, thedisabled and people with low levels of fitness.

MAIN FEATURESThe most important new feature of VVaarriioo PPuulllleeyy isthat it is the oonnllyy mmaacchhiinnee in the range to operate

with an iissoottoonniicc rreessiissttaannccee ssyysstteemm (weight stack),eellaassttiiccss or aa ccoommbbiinnaattiioonn ooff tthhee ttwwoo (elastics andweight stack) according to requirements. Forpatients undergoing rehabilitation, as their physicalcondition is restored, they can move on from usingthe system of elastics (designed for users with lowmobility and strength), to the isotonic resistancesystem (recommended once strength and mobilitystart to return). From here, they move on to thecombined system, which enables them to performmany movements at high speed so as to restore fullfunctionality.The gradual load steps allow optimum progressionin training: in isotonic mode, the load incrementsare of scarcely 300 grams for the first four weightsand 800 grams for the others. In elastic mode, resis-

I

LOAD DUPLICATOR

The load duplicator is the patented system for doubling theresistance offered by the weights or elastics. It is controlled bymeans of a lever, which can be set to two positions (see photoand table)

Isotonic mode

PPLLAATTEESS LLEEVVEERR LLEEVVEERRppoossiittiioonn 11 ppoossiittiioonn 22

(kg) (kg)11 . . . . . .1.1 . . . . . .2.222 . . . . . .1.4 . . . . .2.833 . . . . . .1.7 . . . . .3.444 . . . . . .2 . . . . . . .455 . . . . . .2.8 . . . . .5.666 . . . . . .3.6 . . . . .7.277 . . . . . .4.4 . . . . .8.888 . . . . . .5.2 . . . . .10.499 . . . . . .6 . . . . . .121100 . . . . .6.8 . . . . .13.61111 . . . . . .7.6 . . . . .15.21122 . . . . .8.4 . . . . .16.81133 . . . . . .9.2 . . . . .18.41144 . . . . . .10 . . . . . .201155 . . . . .10.8 . . . . .21.61166 . . . . .11.6 . . . . .23.21177 . . . . .12.4 . . . . .24.81188 . . . . .13.2 . . . . .26.41199 . . . . . .14 . . . . . .28


P R O D U C T S

27

Doctors and physiotherapists can

use the considerable versatility of

Vario Pulley to the best advantage

of their patients.

While handicapped users have a

machine with facilitated access

tance goes up in steps of 1.5 kg. This type of loaddivision is extremely important in rehabilitation andfor working with users who are out of condition.Another of the machine’s strengths is the ddoouubbllee,,aaddjjuussttaabbllee ccaabbllee oouuttlleett, thanks to which iitt iiss ppoossssii--bbllee ttoo mmoovvee bbootthh aarrmmss ssiimmuullttaanneeoouussllyy..The height of the cable outlet can be adjusted with-in a range of 37 holes, 5 cm apart. The availablerange of exercises is extended by the llaatt bbaarr fittedas standard at the top cable outlet.Vario Pulley is also equipped with two ppaatteenntteeddddeevviicceess: the first is the llooaadd dduupplliiccaattoorr, and the sec-ond is the rroottaattiinngg ffaasstteenniinngg ssyysstteemm ffoorr tthhee eellaassttiiccss.Let’s take a closer look.

CONTROL AT THE TOUCH OF A LEVERMoving a lever is all it takes to ddoouubbllee tthhee rreessiiss--ttaannccee of the weights or elastics. This is the signifi-cant development offered by the llooaadd dduupplliiccaattoorr, aneexxcclluussiivvee ssyysstteemm which allows a higher degree offine-tuning in identifying the correct work load, andreduces inertia at low loads. The second patented technology is the rroottaattiinngg ffaass--tteenniinngg ssyysstteemm ffoorr tthhee eellaassttiiccss: it is the first time thata machine in this class has been equipped withelastic resistance, which is an extremely effectiveaid to the process of rehabilitation. Thanks to thispatented device, by simply turning a knob, you canbring from one to four elastics into play.

FOR SPORTS PEOPLE AND THE HANDICAPPED ALIKEVario Pulley enables the fittest users (including aatthh--lleetteess) to carry out exercises at hhiigghh ssppeeeedd thanks tothe ffaasstt rruunnnniinngg ccaabblleess, with the added advantageof avoiding inertia drops in the weight stack, thanksto the ssmmaallll ssiizzee ooff tthhee ppuulllleeyyss aanndd ccaabblleess. Theequipment is also ideal for hhaannddiiccaappppeedd uusseerrss,because of its facilitated access. The front base is cir-cular in shape, thus making the machine easy toadjust.Lastly, the machine complies with the EEuurrooppeeaann mmeedd--iiccaall ddeevviicceess ddiirreeccttiivvee 9933//4422//EEEECC, which guaranteesits effectiveness and safety. ■

We would like to thank Davide Neri, Techno-gym Product Manager for his cooperation.


28

EE VV II DD EE NN CC EE -- BB AA SS EE DD WW EE LL LL NN EE SS SS

Evidence-basedWellness

newsletterPsychological support for exercise part three

by Silvano Zanuso*

n this issue, we bring our extensive discussionof ‘Psychological support for exercise’ to aclose.

STATES OF CHANGEA common feature of the majority of theories forinterpreting exercise ‘behaviour’ is the fact thatnone takes account of either the temporal dimen-sion or the process towards action that the subjectgoes through. Process theories or stages of change theoriesattempt to provide a more dynamic picture of theprocess by which people decide to act, on theassumption that this process implies transitionbetween a series of tteemmppoorraallllyy aanndd qquuaalliittaattiivveellyyddiissttiinncctt pphhaasseess.The best-known theory is defined as ‘‘SSttaaggeess ooffcchhaannggee aanndd eexxeerrcciissee’’ , and the starting point for itsdevelopment was a study of the behaviour ofsmokers who underwent psychotherapy to helpthem stop smoking. PPrroocchhaasskkaa aanndd DDiiCClleemmeennttee (1992, 1994) realisedthat behaviour change passed through a series ofstages. This notion was later applied to exercise‘behaviour’ (BBuuxxttoonn 1996; IInngglleeddeeww et al. 1998;MMaarrccuuss et al. 1992).The theory of ‘‘SSttaaggeess ooff CChhaannggee’’ ((SSOOCC)),, oorr ttrraannss--tthheeoorreettiiccaall mmooddeell, is very popular in psychothera-py, and is also used in exercise psychology.

The term ‘transtheoretical’ is used to describe thetask of integration and synthesis between differentsystems of psychotherapy carried out by Prochaskain his first work. The model identifies 66 ssttaaggeess iinnbbeehhaavviioouurr cchhaannggee:

PPrree--ccoonntteemmppllaattiioonn: people who are taking no physi-cal exercise and have no intention of doing so inthe immediate future are considered to be at thisstage. They are either unmotivated or activelyopposed. Pre-contemplators aarree uunnwwiilllliinngg ttooaacccceepptt aannyy iinntteerrvveennttiioonn ffooccuussiinngg oonn ssppeecciiffiicc bbeehhaavv--iioouurraall aaccttiivviittiieess tthhaatt iinnvvoollvvee cchhaannggee.

CCoonntteemmppllaattiioonn: is the stage at which subjectsintend to do something and manifest the intentionto change within the next six months. They are wellinformed about the pros and cons of adopting thenew behaviour, but some may remain in a state ofambivalence that holds them back. Contemplatorsaarree nnoott rreeaaddyy ttoo aacctt,, bbuutt aarree aasssseessssiinngg tthhee ppoossssiibblleecchhooiicceess.

PPrreeppaarraattiioonn: this is the stage at which patientsmanifest the intention to act in the immediatefuture, i.e. within one month. These are the peopleto recruit into a programme of change and uussuuaallllyy,,tthheeyy hhaavvee aallrreeaaddyy ttaakkeenn aaccttiioonn bbeeffoorree aanndd hhaavvee aappllaann ooff aaccttiioonn.

I* Silvano Zanuso has

worked in partnership with

the Technogym Studies &

Research Centre for five

years.

He is completing a Master

of Science in Exercise

Psychology at Manchester

Metropolitan University.


29

AAccttiioonn: this is the stage at which ppaattiieennttss hhaavveemmaaddee aapppprreecciiaabbllee cchhaannggeess aanndd mmooddiiffiieedd tthheeiirr lliiffeessttyyllee wwiitthhiinn tthhee pprreevviioouuss ssiixx mmoonntthhss. In the trans-theoretical model, patients who have taken actionwhich can be quantified by means of a table defin-ing quantitative criteria are considered to be atthis stage. At this stage, subjects need to experi-ment with practical strategies for preventing errorsor relapses which would cause a return to the oldbehaviour and hence to the problem.

MMaaiinntteennaannccee: at this stage, ppeeooppllee aarree lleessss aatt rriisskkooff rreellaappssee aanndd bbeeccoommee iinnccrreeaassiinnggllyy ccoonnffiiddeenntt iinntthheeiirr aabbiilliittyy ttoo ccoonnttiinnuuee ttoo cchhaannggee. The period ofmaintenance can last from six months to fiveyears.

TTeerrmmiinnaattiioonn: this is the stage at which ssuubbjjeeccttssaaddhheerree ttoo tthheeiirr ccoommmmiittmmeenntt aatt aallll ccoossttss aanndd iinn aannyyppssyycchhoollooggiiccaall ssttaattee ((aannxxiieettyy,, ddeepprreessssiioonn,, nneerrvvoouuss--nneessss,, eettcc..)). At this stage, individuals have 100%self-efficacy.Although the theory envisages aa lliinneeaarr pprrooggrreessssiioonnbbeettwweeeenn tthhee vvaarriioouuss ssttaaggeess, what more typicallyoccurs in reality is a ccyycclliiccaall ttrreenndd. According to Prochaska, the cyclical trend in theprocess of change helps reinforce the change itself,on the grounds that people learn from their fail-ures or instances of drop-out. The theory wasrecently criticised (‘98) by WWeeiinnsstteeiinn,, RRootthhmmaann &&SSuuttttoonn, who found it to be of limited value to carryout cross sectional comparison across stages. Inany event, although SOC theory has been appliedto exercise only recently, it can be fairly claimedthat the theory represents an important constructto be taken into serious consideration in terms ofboth study and practice. MMaarrccuuss eett aall., who were among the first to applythe theory to exercise, demonstrated how sseellff--eeffffii--ccaaccyy iiss aassssoocciiaatteedd wwiitthh ggrreeaatteerr rreeaaddiinneessss ttoo ttaakkeeeexxeerrcciissee and that during the progression throughthe stages, it becomes possible to envisage anincrease in the perceived benefits and a reductionin the costs.

CONCLUSIONS AND CRITICISMS OF THE MODELThere is no doubt that the process model consist-ing of various stages is an appropriate and usefulroute to follow, in the study of behaviour change in

relation to physical exercise. The model has alsoproved effective in other areas of health improve-ment.The amount of research carried out on the basis ofSOC in relation to physical exercise is still insuffi-cient, but is on the increase. Only limited informa-tion is currently available with regard to how sub-jects move between the stages and on what is thebest strategy for helping people to progress fromone stage to the next.MMaarrccuuss and SSiimmkkiinn (‘94) identified the followinglimitations:- studies conducted to date quantify exercise on thebasis of self reports;- greater consistency is required in defining andassigning the stages;- it is necessary to study the stages both for struc-tured activities and habitual, unstructured activi-ties;- the majority of studies are lateral; more longitudi-nal studies are necessary in order to study behav-iour change more effectively;- studies are required involving a larger number ofpeople and different samples.NN..BB.. There may be incorrect classifications in the


A meta-analysis conducted by

Marshall and Biddle in 2000,

showed that out of 68,580

subjects, 14% were in

precontemplation,

16% in contemplation,

23% in preparation,

11% in action and 36%

in maintenance


30


measurement of the stages. Pre-contemplators, forexample, are conventionally defined as people whoare not at the standard behaviour level (e.g. mod-erate physical activity for 30 minutes, five days aweek) and do not intend to reach this level withinthe subsequent six months. Some studies, however,define pre-contemplators as people who do nophysical activity and have no intention of doing so.This is a more restrictive definition (because thereare fewer people in this category), which mayexplain why in some studies the percentage of pre-contemplators is lower than the epidemiologicalstudies would appear to suggest.

THE NATURAL HISTORY MODEL OF EXERCISE

Taking physical exercise is a complex behaviourwhich can be studied only by means of multi-faceted models and theories. A number of earlystudies of adherence to and drop-out from exerciseaappppeeaarreedd ttoo ppoossttuullaattee tthhaatt eexxeerrcciissee wwaass aann ‘‘aallll oorrnnootthhiinngg’’ pphheennoommeennoonn rather than a process whichis open to considerable changes over the course oftime. As suggested by the SOC model, however,people move cyclically between the various stages.In their study of determinants of physical exercise,SSaalllliiss aanndd HHoovveellll (1990) produced the ‘‘NNaattuurraall hhiiss--ttoorryy mmooddeell ooff eexxeerrcciissee’’, which is undoubtedly use-ful to an understanding of the processes involvedin exercise.According to this model, there are tthhrreeee iimmppoorrttaannttpphhaasseess ooff ttrraannssiittiioonn, which can be summed up as:- from sedentary behaviour to adoption of exercise;

- from adoption of exercise to maintenance ordrop-out;- from drop-out to re-adoption of exercise.

As acknowledged by Sallis and Hovell themselves(‘90), the model simplifies these processes, but lit-tle is still known about drop-out and maintenance,and practically nothing about re-adoption of exer-cise.When considering this model, it is necessary tobear several factors in mind:1) EExxeerrcciissee iiss ccoonnssiiddeerreedd aass aa ddiicchhoottoommiicc rraatthheerrtthhaann ccoonnttiinnuuoouuss vvaarriiaabbllee (the notion of sporadicexercise and its determinants is an objective forfuture research) 2) The model is simply an instrument for focusingbetter on the dynamic processes which subtendexercise. OOtthheerr ffaaccttoorrss aarree ttoo bbee ccoonnssiiddeerreedd,, ssuucchhaass ssoocciioo--ddeemmooggrraapphhiicc cchhaarraacctteerriissttiiccss aanndd tthhee ddiiff--ffeerreenncceess bbeettwweeeenn vvaarriioouuss ttyyppeess ooff eexxeerrcciissee. 3) The model iiss nnoott aapppplliiccaabbllee ttoo cchhiillddrreenn and hasbeen developed chiefly for structured exercise.

TTrraannssiittiioonn bbeettwweeeenn tthhee vvaarriioouuss pphhaasseessThose who study the factors which determine thetransition from one phase to another must takegreat care to distinguish between one transitionand another, because the determining factors aredifferent for each transition (SSaalllliiss aanndd HHoovveellll ‘‘9900).

EExxeerrcciissee aaddooppttiioonn pphhaasseeSSaalllliiss aanndd HHoovveellll are pessimistic about the knowl-edge of factors which determine the adoption of

The graph shows the various

stages of the natural history

model of exercise

Sedentary Adoption of exercise

Drop-out

Maintenance

Re-adoption of exercise



exercise: according to them, we know next to noth-ing. To explain the transition despite this, tthheeyy hhaavveerreeccoouurrssee ttoo ggeenneerraall tthheeoorriieess, such as SOC, accord-ing to which the self-efficacy of the contemplatorsis lower than that of subjects at the maintenanceor action phase; again according to the SOC theo-ry, the precontemplators have stronger negativebeliefs about physical exercise. The HBM (HealthBelieve Model) and the PMT (Protection MotivationTheory) have put forward the variables associatedwith the vulnerability and the severity of the statesof health.The Natural History Model is appropriate for struc-tured exercise rather than for habitual activity(walking or climbing the stairs), and according tothis model tthhee bbaarrrriieerrss aassssoocciiaatteedd wwiitthh ssttrruuccttuurreeddeexxeerrcciissee aarree ggrreeaatteerr tthhaann tthhoossee aassssoocciiaatteedd wwiitthhhhaabbiittuuaall eexxeerrcciissee.. It is not yet possible to demonstrate that habitualexercise may have more success than providingstructured exercise programmes.

EExxeerrcciissee mmaaiinntteennaannccee ssttaaggeeThe determinants of this stage may be the sameas for the previous stage (aptitude, self-efficacy,social support, perception of barriers, healthworries), but may include a further ttwwoo iimmppoorr--ttaanntt ffaaccttoorrss: ppssyycchhoollooggiiccaall rreeiinnffoorrcceemmeenntt ddeerriivv--iinngg ffrroomm eexxeerrcciissee,, aanndd sseellff--rreegguullaattiioonn.Although several studies show that certain sub-jects derive no pleasure from the physical effortinvolved in exercise (the negative effect of vigor-ous activity is immediate and perceptible, whilethe reinforcement deriving from improved health,or weight loss are delayed and less striking) itappears that a certain ‘mental health’ is associat-ed with physical exercise. In any event, animprovement in mood and the sensation of feelingbetter can also be perceived in the short term.The key to success lies in ssttrruuccttuurriinngg mmoottoorr eexxppee--rriieenncceess iinn ssuucchh aa wwaayy tthhaatt tthhee ppoossssiibbiilliittyy ooff ddeerriivv--iinngg ppssyycchhoollooggiiccaall wweellllbbeeiinngg ffrroomm tthhee eexxeerrcciissee iisshhiigghh.According to DDiisshhmmaann, SSaalllliiss and OOrreennssttaaiinn(1985), enjoyment and a sensation of wellbeingseem to be more important factors in achievinga high level of adherence to an exercise pro-gramme than any health considerations.The capacity for self-regulation is also importantin adherence to exercise. In this respect, it is

important to have an ability for self-motivation andplanning and to implement effective strategies asa consequence.

EExxeerrcciissee ddrroopp--oouuttThe study of exercise drop-out has always been dif-ficult and controversial because it can be due to aconsiderable number of causes. The most impor-tant include changes in life style (change of job,marriage, children) and the belief that for exerciseto be useful, it has to be intense and vigorous.

RRee--aaddooppttiioonn ooff eexxeerrcciisseeSallis and Hovell wrote: this stage of the NaturalHistory of Exercise has been completely neglectedto date both by theorists and experts adopting anempirical approach. No studies have been con-ducted with regard to the determinants of re-adop-tion of exercise. Research is urgently needed in thisfield, both on subjects who take part in structuredactivities and on the population at large. ■

Certain subjects do not consider

the effort involved in physical

exercise to be pleasurable,

because the negative effect is

immediate and perceptible. The

positive effects, by contrast,

- chiefly improved health and

weight loss - are perceived as

delayed and less striking.

However, even in the short term,

an improvement in mood and the

sensation of feeling better can be

perceived

31


The logo which identifies

Technogym’s Environmental

Management System

The cover of Business Week

dedicated to Nerio Alessandri

and, for the first time, to a

company operating in the

Wellness sector

Wellness Lifestyle

A RESOUNDING COVER STORYThe European edition of BBuussiinneessss WWeeeekk of 16th Janu-ary chose a photo of NNeerriioo AAlleessssaannddrriito grace itsprestigious cover. The world’s most important eco-nomic and financial weekly dedicated an article to‘HHiiddddeenn CChhaammppiioonnss’ - the entrepreneurs of the OldContinent who have achieved the highest accoladesin their field, to become ccaassee--hhiissttoorriieess ooff iinntteerrnnaattiioonnaalliimmppoorrttaannccee.

NERIO ALESSANDRI ENTREPRENEUROF THE YEAR 2003Selected from a short-list of hundreds of candidates,NNeerriioo AAlleessssaannddrrii was pprroonnoouunncceedd EEnnttrreepprreenneeuurr oofftthhee YYeeaarr 22000033 bbyy EErrnnsstt && YYoouunngg ““ffoorr hhiiss bbeelliieeff iinn aannddrreeaalliissaattiioonn ooff aa hhiigghhllyy iinnnnoovvaattiivvee aanndd ffooccuusseedd ccoorrppoo--rraattee vviissiioonn, as well as for developing a corporation ofworldwide significance which started life in a garage,aanndd aa ssoocciiaall ccoommmmiittmmeenntt wwhhiicchh sseeeess WWeellllnneessss aass aalliiffee ssttyyllee ccaappaabbllee ooff pprreevveennttiinngg ppaatthhoollooggiieess ccaauusseedd bbyysseeddeennttaarryy hhaabbiittss””.Launched in the United States seventeen years agoand now present in 2277 ccoouunnttrriieess, this award is anaccolade for the excellence of entrepreneurs capableof translating their corporate culture into aa ppoossiittiivveeiinnggrreeddiieenntt ooff ggrroowwtthh aanndd aa ddiissttiinnccttiivvee iinnggrreeddiieenntt ffoorrtthhee ccrreeaattiioonn ooff vvaalluuee, even against the backdrop ofuncertain national and international markets, by con-tributing to the socio-economic development of thecountry in which they operate.In his capacity as National Winner, Nerio Alessandriwill represent Italy in 2004 at the WWoorrlldd EEnnttrreepprreenneeuurrooff tthhee YYeeaarr, the international award organised byErnst & Young, where he will be up against the bestentrepreneurs of each country to compete for the‘bbeesstt ooff tthhee bbeesstt’ award.“I would like to share this award with all of TTeecchhnnoo--ggyymm’’ss staff and thank them for making it possible toturn a dream into reality and to develop a benchmarkcorporate model”, said Alessandri: “I would also liketo thank all those customers who are putting theirfaith in us”.

TECHNOGYM AWARDED ‘UNI EN ISO 14001ENVIRONMENTAL CERTIFICATION’ After obtaining certification of SSoocciiaall RReessppoonnssiibbiilliittyyand TToottaall QQuuaalliittyy, the company is now completing aprocess which is in line with its mission, its visionand its guiding values, by obtaining EEnnvviirroonnmmeennttaallCCeerrttiiffiiccaattiioonn. Compliance with the requirements of UUNNII EENN IISSOO

1144000011, which define eennvviirroonnmmeennttaall mmaannaaggeemmeennttssyysstteemmss ((EE..MM..SS..)), was achieved thanks to constantcommitment to preventing pollution and safeguard-ing the environment and the territory. Goals whichare stil l being pursued by combining oonnggooiinnggiimmpprroovveemmeenntt ooff pprroodduuccttiioonn ssttaannddaarrddss with mmiinniimmiissaa--ttiioonn ooff eennvviirroonnmmeennttaall iimmppaacctt.For this purpose, aa tthhoorroouugghh aannaallyyssiiss was carriedout to identify all factors with ppoossssiibbllee eennvviirroonnmmeennttaallrreeppeerrccuussssiioonnss in the three main production sites. Atotal of about 335500 ssttaaffff were involved, who receivedno less than 330000 hhoouurrss ooff ssppeecciiffiicc ttrraaiinniinngg on thesubject.TTeecchhnnooggyymm is thus preparing to embark on animportant journey in the field of eennvviirroonnmmeennttaall pprroo--tteeccttiioonn, which will also involve its ssuupppplliieerrss, in theconviction that, beyond its primary responsibility asa company to generate profit, contributing toimproving social conditions and safeguarding theenvironment ddooeess nnoott ssiimmppllyy iinnccuurr ccoossttss,, bbuutt ggeenneerr--aatteess bbeenneeffiittss ffoorr tthhee ccoommmmuunniittyy in terms of ggrroowwtthhfor the country.

The Environmental Management System at Technogym®

32


33

RECORD-BREAKING BIKES990000 bbiikkeess ffoorr 990000 ssttaaffff from all over the world. Is it arecord? Maybe. Either way, the 22000033 TTeecchhnnooggyymmCCoonnvveennttiioonn will be remembered for many years tocome by the company’s staff, who went home in thesaddle of a fantastic bike.

FROM ASIA‘EXCITE’ LANDS IN SINGAPOREA few months from Technogym’s inauguration in HHoonnggKKoonngg, the company landed two big supply contracts. Ithas equipped - for the first time in China with machinesfrom the EExxcciittee line - the latest FFiittnneessss FFiirrsstt centre inau-gurated last September in SSiinnggaappoorree. Another inaugura-tion is scheduled for the near future in KKuuaallaa LLuummppuurr(Malaysia). There are about 20 FF centres in Asia, all of which areequipped exclusively with Technogym equipment (cardioand strength, apart from the plate loaded machines).

FROM VENEZUELAISLA MARGARITA WELCOMES TECHNOGYMTwo Wellness centres equipped entirely by Techno-gym have recently opened for business in IIssllaa MMaarr--ggaarriittaa. The initiative is the brainchild of the enterpris-ing GGiiaannnnii MMaazzzzooccccaa, physical trainer for the Federa-cion Venezolana de Futbol. The first centre is calledWellness Club, and now it’s the turn of Palestra. Theequipment installed belongs to the Excite, Selection,XT Pro and Race lines.

FROM URUGUAYIt’s the ‘place to be’ for the Latin American jet set.We’re talking about EEssttuurriioonn ddaa MMoonnttooyyaa, the mostfashionable and historically most famous hotel inLatin America. Technogym has reached an agree-ment to carry out mutually beneficial promotionaland image-enhancing activities. The initiativesinclude an exhibition performance of famous tennisplayers (including Coria, Nalbandian, Calleri, Massú,Gaudio, Chela and Accasusso) with Guillermo Vilas,a historic name in world tennis. Filming was also carried out for FFaasshhiioonn TTVV with theArgentinian model Soledad Solaro.The Technogym equipment installed at Esturion daMontoya will later be ddoonnaatteedd to schools in poorareas of Uruguay. ■

First photo: the closing moments of the 2003 Technogym Convention - all the participants were given a

bicycle. Centre: the entrepreneur Gianni Mazzocca and the girls on his staff in Isla Margarita. Adjacent:

the famous Argentinian model Soledad Solaro training for Fashion TV on Run Excite with Wellness TV.


odern clubs are run using modern tteecchh--nnoollooggyy and the opportunities it canoffer. This is well known by owners andmanagers of centres and/or chains all

round the world, with particular reference to thosewho are already using the MMyywweellllnneessss softwaresolutions WWeellllnneessss SSyysstteemm aanndd//oorr WWeellllnneessss MMaannaagg--eerr. This new ICT solution, WWeellllnneessss IInntteelllliiggeennccee,makes it possible to obtain and manage crucialinformation for increasing control over the corebusiness activities of a Fitness/Wellness centre.Let’s see how.

THREE LEVELS OF SUBSCRIPTION Designed for managers or any other staff memberwho needs information to improve the quality ofservice offered, or to manage customer relationsmore effectively, the service is accessible to anyclub which already has aatt lleeaasstt oonnee MMyywweellllnneessssssooffttwwaarree ppaacckkaaggee (Wellness System, WellnessManager or both). One of its main features is ssiimm--pplliicciittyy ooff uussee: it can be accessed from any comput-er with an internet connection. Anyone accus-tomed to using the internet will therefore find theWellness Intelligence information portal easy andintuitive to use. What’s more, the extensive use ofggrraapphhss ensures that the information provided isimmediately comprehensible, thus giving users aclear and complete view of the performance oftheir club.Wellness Intelligence is available by annual sub-scription, divided into tthhrreeee ddiiffffeerreenntt ttyyppeess whichdiffer from each other in terms of the rraannggee ooffiinnffoorrmmaattiioonn tthheeyy pprroovviiddee and the ddeeggrreeee ooff ddeettaaiilltthhaatt ccaann bbee oobbttaaiinneedd. Not to mention the lleevveell ooffssuuppppoorrtt offered by Mywellness during the phase ofinterpreting information and defining strategiesfor improvement. Subscription levels range fromBBaassiicc, which provides a set of information thatgives a complete overview of the club, to PPllaattiinnuumm,which is the most complete and detailed version interms of the information and support it offers: aconsultant based at the club helps assess the dataand advises on how to improve performance. Theintermediate version is known as GGoolldd, whichoffers a remote consulting service (by phone oremail).

by Tess McGregor

M Y W E L L N E S S

An easy and dependable system for improvingclub management. By focusing on information.

Wellness Intelligence

MWellness Intelligence will be

available in Italy as from

April 2004, and in Europe

from July. Initially it will be

available in Italian or English

versions only

34


35

M Y W E L L N E S S

HOW IT WORKSOnce a subscription has been taken out, Mywell-ness activates the customer on the Wellness Intelli-gence portal. From this moment, and throughoutthe duration of the subscription, the customer canaccess a rreesseerrvveedd aarreeaa ooff tthhee ssiittee, which gives adetailed picture of the performance of their club. In practical terms, the available information relatesto: ccuussttoommeerr rreellaattiioonnss (retention at a given moment,progressive retention and attraction); aannaallyyssiiss oofftthhee vvaalluuee ooff tthhee ccuussttoommeerr (spending capacity, topspenders); ssaallee ooff sseerrvviicceess; uussee ooff sseerrvviicceess; eeffffiicciieennccyyooff mmaannaaggeemmeenntt ooff aarreeaass ooff tthhee cclluubb (see adjacentfigure).Users can choose any of more than 2200 pprree--ccoonnffiigg--uurreedd ggrraapphhss (see figure) or build their own person-alised set, using the analysis function: this is anarea of the site in which each customer can gener-ate their own graph on the basis of the standardindicators provided and then filter them as theychoose, by age, sex and type of service. This givesmanagers a personalised view in line with their ownway of running their business. The indicators can beccoommppaarreedd with each other to highlight correlations,or can be related to ddiiffffeerreenntt ppeerriiooddss in order tokeep a check on progress.The information provided by Wellness Intelligencehelps to interpret the variables which influence themanagement of the club, thus enabling managersto ttaakkee iimmmmeeddiiaattee ccoorrrreeccttiivvee aaccttiioonn to achieve theset targets. The ssiizzee ooff tthhee cclluubb is not important: Wellness Intel-ligence can be an effective support system both forsmall/medium clubs and large chains of clubs. Thecompetitive advantage in the market is obtained bypredicting negative trends, by means of the perfor-mance indicators, and acting pro-actively to reversethem. The information and the way it is managedare thus vital factors in increasing control over allthe business activities of a Fitness/Wellness centre,and Wellness Intelligence focuses specifically onproviding these tools.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS FOR THE CUSTOMER?First and foremost, complete control of the centre’sbusiness performance ffrroomm aannyy llooccaattiioonn wwiitthhaacccceessss ttoo tthhee wweebb. For a chain of clubs, the advan-tage lies in the fact that this permits cceennttrraalliisseeddmmoonniittoorriinngg of the business variables of all the cen-tres. Another important feature is ccoonnttaaiinnmmeenntt ooffccoossttss.. Thanks to the use of web technology: cus-tomers do not need to kit themselves out with anyspecific hardware, but can simply use their existingcomputer to access the internet, thus obtaining ahhiigghh--vvaalluuee sseerrvviiccee aatt lliimmiitteedd ccoosstt aanndd wwiitthhoouutt aannyy

ffuurrtthheerr iinnvveessttmmeenntt iinn tteecchhnnoollooggyy. The facility alsoexists for bbuuiillddiinngg yyoouurr oowwnn ppeerrssoonnaalliisseedd mmaannaaggee--mmeenntt kkiitt by choosing from the indicators madeavailable by Mywellness. Last but by no meansleast, the system affords mmaaxxiimmuumm sseeccuurriittyy aannddccoonnffiiddeennttiiaalliittyy of data, thanks to the use of the mostup-to-date data storage technologies.

THE INNOVATIVE FEATURES OF WELLNESSINTELLIGENCE The main innovation relates to the iinntteeggrraatteedd aannaallyy--ssiiss ooff aallll tthhee iinnffoorrmmaattiioonn ggaatthheerreedd uussiinngg tthhee MMyywweellll--nneessss aapppplliiccaattiioonnss (Wellness Manager and WellnessSystem). This information is managed all togetherby Wellness Intelligence, with the result that it pro-vides a clear and complete view of the business. Butthat’s not all: it also enables users to iiddeennttiiffyy tthheemmaaiinn ffaaccttoorrss tthhaatt iinnfflluueennccee ppeerrffoorrmmaannccee,, tthhuuss ggiivv--iinngg mmaannaaggeerrss ffuullll ccoonnttrrooll ooff tthheeiirr cclluubb.It should also be added that the chosen technologi-cal platform and the software development proce-dures adopted enable Mywellness to ccoonnssttaannttllyyuuppddaattee tthhee ccoonntteennttss of the service in a way that istotally transparent to the customer. ■

We would like to thank Alessandro Olivieri, Mywellness Product Manager.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

100%

60%

30%

0%

85%78%

65%57%

46%

33%30% 28% 27% 26% 24% 23%

MAY JUNE JULY AUGUST SEPTEMBER

78%

54%

56% 60%

63%

51%50% 54%

83%

76%

COMPARATIVE RETENTION

PROGRESSIVE RETENTION

NUMBER OF MONTHS OF LOYALTY TO CLUB

20022003

100%

60%

30%

0%

An example of the graphs

which can be generated

using the new Wellness

Intelligence system


36

Welcome Wellnessinto the family

t’s a monument to Wellness, MMaaddee iinn BBrraazziill.The inauguration day, in October 2003,attracted 55,,000000 ppeeooppllee: the RReeeebbookk SSppoorrttssCClluubb VViillaa OOllíímmppiiaa, in the city of San Paolo, is

an imposing structure with an area of 6,500 m2,spread over two storeys.The Fitness room and the room for activities run bypersonal trainers cover an area of 1,600 m2. Thereare a further six rooms, including one for wrestlingand one for the Pilates method. There’s a heatedOlympic swimming pool and a pool for water-basedexercise sessions (hydrogym) and for children’sswimming: the pool building has glass walls and a

sliding roof, to create a very evocative atmosphere. The facility houses the RReeeebbookk FFiittnneessss SSttoorree, the FFiittFFoooodd RReessttaauurraanntt, CCyybbeerr RReeeebbookk with four PCs con-nected to internet in conjunction with AOL, the OOcccc--iittaannttee SShhoopp, the BBeeaauuttyy CCeennttrree JJaaqquueess JJaanniinnee, aSSppaa with four massage rooms, a JJaaccuuzzzzii, ssaauunnaa andTTuurrkkiisshh bbaatthh, the RRaaddiioo RReeeebbookk studio and the KKiiddssCClluubb, which looks after children aged betweenthree and eight. There’s covered car parking formembers, and for those that wish to do so, the cen-tre can be reached by hheelliiccoopptteerr.“To kickstart the club’s business”, says José OtávioBerça Marfará, the centre’s President and Director,“we ran a promotion offering subscriptions at spe-cial prices for two years. Our instructors, especiallyin the swimming pool and gym, are top-level profes-sionals with considerable experience, trained at theRReeeebbookk AAccaaddeemmyy”.In order to provide a 336600°° WWeellllnneessss sseerrvviiccee, RReeeebbookkSSppoorrttss CClluubb VViillaa OOllíímmppiiaa has entered into a rangeof partnerships, in particular with a tteeaamm ooff ddoocc--ttoorrss aanndd nnuuttrriittiioonniissttss. In addition, several compa-nies in the region have already negotiated Corpo-rate Wellness agreements with the centre. ■

I

Reebok Sports Club Vila Olímpia

Top: the monument dedicated to

Formula 1 champion Ayrton

Senna in San Paolo, the coun-

try’s capital.

Other photos: the most modern

Wellness centre in San Paolo,

Brazil.


eecchhnnooggyymm has launched its new iinntteerrnnaattiioonn--aall ggaatteewwaayy hhttttpp::////wwwwww..tteecchhnnooggyymm..ccoomm. Asin the Italian version already published, it isdivided into three sections. The first, enti-

tled “AAbboouutt tthhee CCoommppaannyy”, gives access to corpo-rate information, while the other two, entitled “FFoorrbbuussiinneessss” and “FFoorr hhoommee ffiittnneessss”, are aimed at pprroo--ffeessssiioonnaall uusseerrss (ggyymmss,, WWeellllnneessss cceennttrreess,, hhootteellss aannddmmeeddiiccaall//sscciieennttiiffiicc iinnssttiittuutteess) and private usersrespectively.

The biggest development is the fact that by meansof the second and third of these ggaatteewwaayyss, all usersoutside Italy can directly access the nneewwbbuussiinneessss//hhoommee ffiittnneessss ssiittee of the ssuubbssiiddiiaarryy or ddiiss--ttrriibbuuttoorr in their own country (provided it is alreadyactive), which gives complete information about thepprroodduuccttss and sseerrvviicceess available locally.

This makes the wwoorrlldd ooff TTeecchhnnooggyymm accessible aatttthhee cclliicckk ooff aa mmoouussee, so that it can be reached byaannyyoonnee,, aannyywwhheerree and can also provide iinnnnoovvaattiivveebbuussiinneessss ssoolluuttiioonnss over the wweebb.To contribute further to this important goal, Techno-gym is now able to offer its users the additionalfunction of ppeerrssoonnaalliissiinngg tthheeiirr wweebb bbrroowwssiinngg atwwwwww..tteecchhnnooggyymm..ccoo..uukk//bbuussiinneessss.By means of the new registration procedure for theItalian site, or by selecting “personalise your home

page” for those who are already registered, you canccoonnffiigguurree your home page so that the ccoonntteennttss ooffmmoosstt iinntteerreesstt ttoo yyoouu are always to hand. You canchoose three topics: nneeww pprroodduuccttss (business orhome fitness); NNeewwss; TTeecchhnnooggyymm SSeerrvviicceess and WWeellll--nneessss aanndd CCoommmmuunniittyy. You can also select thelliiffeessttyyllee or pprroodduucctt image you like the best.

Each time you connect, after entering your username and password, the business home page willappear iinn aa ppeerrssoonnaalliisseedd ffoorrmm, which you cancchhaannggee any time you like. For the moment, thisoption is only available to users of wwwwww..tteecchhnnoo--ggyymm..ccoo..uukk aanndd wwwwww..tteecchhnnooggyymm..iitt...

wwwwww..eeyy..ccoomm is the site of Ernst & Young. A leadinginternational professional services group, Ernst &Young supports its customers in corporate decision-making processes. The group operates in more than140 countries and employs 103,000 people.In the Successful clubs section, we wrote about amajor international organisation, the YMCA.wwwwww..yymmccaa..ccoomm is the address at which to find outmore about the largest non-profit making organisa-tion in the United States, which is used in the USAby 17.9 million men, women and children; world-wide, the association operates in more than 120countries and involves over 30 million people in itsactivities. ■

37

T

New developments at www.technogym.com

The ‘Select your country’ optiondirects users to their nearest nationalsite from the international gatewaywww.technogym.com

A personalised home page of the sitewww.technogym.co.uk/business:

‘Areas of interest’ lists the contentsselected by the user

www.technogym.com

www.ymca.com

www.ey.com


or some time now, social areas in Fit-ness/Wellness centres have been takingbig steps forward, and now have animportant role in modern design. These

areas are playing an increasingly important rolein getting people together: ccoonnvveerrssaattiioonn aarreeaass,,rreellaaxxaattiioonn zzoonneess,, mmeeeettiinngg ppllaacceess,, aanndd rreeaaddiinnggaarreeaass. Areas in which interaction with other peo-ple is aarrcchhiitteeccttuurraallllyy ffrreeee ffrroomm bbaarrrriieerrss aanndd ccoonn--ssttrraaiinnttss.

RECEPTIONThis is the first area visitors see when they crossthe threshold of a modern Fitness/Wellness cen-tre. If correctly designed (and if the size of thecentre allows), the ideal approach is to create assmmaallll wwaaiittiinngg aarreeaa ffuurrnniisshheedd wwiitthh ccoommffoorrttaabbllee,,ddeessiiggnneerr ssooffaass oorr cchhaaiirrss where people can havea chat or wait to be attended to by the centre’sstaff. Especially in large centres, these areas arestrategically important. The large influx of cus-

tomers or potential cus-tomers can mean a bitof a wait: that’s why it’simpor tant to prov idesuitably equipped areas,des igned to g ive theright type of reception.PPllaannttss,, eetthhnniicc oobbjjeeccttss oorrddeess iiggnneerr ffeeaattuurreess arethe hal lmark of theseareas, which can alsobecome soc ia l a reaswhen needed . BBaacckk --ggrroouunndd mmuussiicc and thed i f fus ion o f nnaattuurraa lleesssseenncceess enhance theseenvironments.

38

by Gianluca Baldini

C L U B L A Y O U T

No constraints and no barriers: here are the winning designs

Socialareas

FReception areas are

increasingly welcoming: one

of the most common

architectural features is the

absence of barriers, to make

people feel at ease


39

REFRESHMENT/BAR AREACutting-edge Fitness/Wellness centres are increas-ingly designed to accommodate a refreshment/bararea, within the limitations of available space, sothat customers can grab a good-quality light mealor snack. These areas lend themselves well to get-ting together and socialising within the club. Theyshould be iinnffoorrmmaall aarreeaass, which facilitate conver-sation, and one of the key design elements is toallow ffrreeeeddoomm ooff mmoovveemmeenntt. They are generallyfurnished with ppeenniinnssuullaass oorr hhiigghh ttaabblleess, in whichthe interior ddeessiiggnn factor plays an important role.These areas are normally ffrreeee ffrroomm vviissuuaall bbaarrrriieerrss,in which people can look around them freely andimmediately capture the vitality of the club. Then there are areas with a more private natureffuurrnniisshheedd wwiitthh ttaabblleess aanndd llooww cchhaaiirrss: here, sociali-sation is more intimate and geared towards peo-ple who already know each other. It is still advis-able to create a ‘scenic’ appeal in these areas,although perhaps more discreet and conservativein character.

READING AREASOne of the latest trends affecting the design ofclubs is the introduction of reading areas. Increas-ingly appreciated and exclusive, they are provingto be real meeting places where tthheerree aarree nnoo bbaarrrrii--eerrss ttoo ssoocciiaalliissiinngg aanndd iinntteerraaccttiinngg wwiitthh ootthheerr mmeemm--bbeerrss. These areas are properly equipped withbbooookksshheellvveess and nneewwssppaappeerrss, and are always com-plete with the sports paper or a magazine with thelatest gossip. They are furnished with ccoommffoorrttaabblleessooffaass aanndd ppeenniinnssuullaass where people can sit downand read, often with the intention of striking upconversation with someone, waiting for a friend, orplanning their evening or weekend. RReellaaxxiinngg bbaacckk--ggrroouunndd mmuussiicc, ppeerrffuummeedd eesssseenncceess and cclleeaann,, ttiiddyyssuurrrroouunnddiinnggss characterise these environments,which are often located nneexxtt ttoo rreecceeppttiioonn, but inany event are well integrated into the spatial lay-out of the centre.One of the largest international chains in Europesets up vviiddeeoo lliibbrraarriieess in its centres: it’s definitelyan interesting and original way of facilitatingsocialisation amongst members.

C L U B L A Y O U T

Refreshment and relaxation

areas are becoming larger in

the light of added emphasis

on socialisation between

club members


C L U B L A Y O U T

40

TRAINING AREASEven the layout of the fitness room contributes tofacilitating interaction between members. Herethere are no ‘labelled’ areas, just ssmmaallll ssppaacceesswhere conversation can develop naturally. For thisreason, it can be a good idea to set aside a smallarea near the trainer’s desk, and keep it free fromequipment and barriers, specifically to promote theright conditions. Over the past year, the layout of fit-ness areas has undergone major changes anddevelopments. TTeecchhnnooggyymm was the first to develop

the concept of ffrreeee llaayyoouutt - the possibility of arrang-ing the equipment, especially the cardiovascularequipment, in such a way as to facilitate visual con-tact between people, and more importantly, culti-vate socialisation between members. Arranging theequipment in a cciirrccllee, perhaps around an attractivezzeenn ggaarrddeenn, helps to achieve this aim. In some clubs, even the bbaarr aarreeaa iiss iinntteeggrraatteedd iinnttootthhee ffiittnneessss aarreeaa: and this too is undoubtedly a win-ning solution in terms of socialisation and bringingyour club’s members together. ■

Photo: the most innovative

type of training, in the

opinion of Technogym: it’s

the free layout concept,

which enables members to

socialise and train without

getting bored.


41

CALENDAR

Fairs and EventsWELLNESS TRENDS, INNOVATIONS

AND LEADERSNumber 1, Year 7

EDITORIAL OFFICETechnogym S.p.A. via G. Perticari, 20

47035 Gambettola (Forlì) - Italy tel. ++39 0547 56047 fax ++39 0547 650550

e-mail: [email protected]

PUBLISHERTechnogym S.p.A. EEddiittoorriiaall DDiirreeccttoorrNerio Alessandri

MMaannaaggiinngg DDiirreeccttoorrLuca RavagliaEEddiittoorr--iinn--CChhiieeff

Federica MonticelliPPhhoottoo RReesseeaarrcchhIsabella Farnedi

LLaayyoouuttElena Sasselli

GGrraapphhiicc RReessttyylliinnggMaureen Lacchini

PPrroodduuccttiioonnFaberi Associati

COLLABORATORSSilvano Zanuso, Massimo Massarini, Alessandro Olivieri,

Attilio Marinoni, Davide Neri, Gianluca Baldini,Maurizio Placuzzi, Claudio Bertozzi, Stefano Androni,Michele De Vincenzo, Marc Wielm, Tess McGregor,

Marta Giovannelli, Francesco Brigidi, Federica Vicchi,Life Planet, Adria Nuoto, Elixia Club, Time Out

Reebok Sports Club, Virgin Italia

PHOTOSEnrico Bossan, Marco Onofri, Maurizio Polverelli,Getty Images / Laura Ronchi, Massimo Sestini,

David Lloyd, Silvia Tenenti, Franco Murgia,Guido Harari, Technogym Image Bank,

Technogym Brasil

FOR THEIR KIND CO-OPERATION WE THANK:Technogym Studies & Research Center

Luca Ceccaroni, Eva Stefes, Lea Giesert, Angela Marung, Natali Aal, Marielle Van der Wees, Gonzalo Camps,

Noemi Cortés, Daniele Barbari, Thomas Zani, Logos Group

PRINTED BYARBE Industrie Grafiche S.p.A.

via Emilia ovest 1014 - 41100 Modena

Press Registry Court of Forlì No. 11/98

FAIR LOCATION DATE TYPE

5 - 13June 2004

1166tthh FFIITTNNEESSSSFFEESSTTIIVVAALL

RRiimmiinniiItalia

Fitness &Wellness

9 - 11September 2004

IIHHRRSSAA LLaattiinn AAmmeerriiccaann CCoonnggrreessss

SSaaoo PPaauullooBrazil

Fitness &Wellness

21 - 23September 2004

LLIIWW BBiirrmmiinngghhaammUK

Fitness &Wellness

23 – 24 October 2004

FFIITT FFOORRMM BBaarrcceelloonnaaSpain

Fitness &Wellness

14 - 16October 2004

CCLLUUBB IINNDDUUSSTTRRYY CChhiiccaaggooUSA

Fitness &Wellness

9 - 11June 2004

HHEEAALLTTHH && FFIITTNNEESSSS JJAAPPAANN

TTookkyyooJapan

Fitness &Wellness

18 – 20 June 2004

FFIILLEEXX SSyyddnneeyyAustralia

Fitness &Wellness

22 - 24July 2004

RRIIOO SSPPOORRTT SSHHOOWW RRiioo ddee JJaanneeiirrooBrazil

Fitness &Wellness

23 - 27October 2004

HHOOSSTTEELLCCOO BBaarrcceelloonnaaSpain

Hotel

28 - 30October 2004

IIHHRRSSAA AAssiiaa PPaacciiffiicc SSyyddnneeyyAustralia

Fitness &Wellness

4 - 5November 2004

SSIIGGGG MMoonntteeccaattiinniiItaly

Biomedical

21 – 23 October 2004

IIHHRRSSAA EEuurrooppeeaannCCoonnggrreessss

BBeerrlliinnGermany

Fitness &Wellness

23 - 27October 2004

EEQQUUIIPPEE HHOOTTEELL PPaarriissFrance

Hotel

24 - 27November 2004

MMEEDDIICCAA DDüüsssseellddoorrffGermany

Biomedical

TMMagazineWellness


42

One of the most common barriers to the adoptionof physical exercise as a life style is the belief that toobtain any kind of benefit, exercise has to be intenseand vigorous. For many years now, basic and applied researchhas been attempting to ddeeffiinnee tthhee rreellaattiioonnsshhiippbbeettwweeeenn tthhee iinntteennssiittyy ooff eexxeerrcciissee aanndd tthhee rreessuullttiinnggbbeenneeffiittss, and it is now possible to give some quiteprecise answers.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND PHYSICAL EXERCISEFirst of all, it is necessary to draw a ddiissttiinnccttiioonnbbeettwweeeenn pphhyyssiiccaall aaccttiivviittyy aanndd pphhyyssiiccaall eexxeerrcciissee:these terms are often used as synonyms but, sincethe publication of the 1996 ‘Surgeon General’report, they have taken on two distinct and clearlydefined meanings.PPhhyyssiiccaall aaccttiivviittyy is defined as any movement of thebody generated by the contraction of the skeletalmuscles which causes an increase in energy expen-diture above the basic metabolic rate. The termpphhyyssiiccaall eexxeerrcciissee, by contrast, is defined as struc-tured, planned movements aimed specifically atimproving or preserving one or more componentparts of physical fitness. WWaallkkiinngg,, ddooiinngg mmaannuuaall jjoobbss aanndd cclliimmbbiinngg tthhee ssttaaiirrssaarree pphhyyssiiccaall aaccttiivviittiieess;; aallll ssppoorrttss aanndd ssttrruuccttuurreeddaaccttiivviittiieess wwhhiicchh ttaakkee ppllaaccee iinn FFiittnneessss//WWeellllnneessss cceenn--ttrreess ffaallll wwiitthhiinn tthhee ddeeffiinniittiioonn ooff pphhyyssiiccaall eexxeerrcciissee.

THE RECOMMENDED DOSE OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITYLet’s take a look first of all at physical activity: withwhat level of intensity must it be carried out tomaintain a good state of health or even improvecertain conditions? There has recently been a bigincrease in the number of scientific works whichsupport the ppoossiittiivvee eeffffeeccttss ooff llooww--iinntteennssiittyy pphhyyssiiccaallaaccttiivviittyy. Some of the findings of the most importantworks are as follows: The American Journal ofHypertension (August 2003 16(8):629-33) publishesthe results of a study which demonstrates that, insedentary subjects, modest increases in physicalactivity contribute significantly to the control of

hypertension. The prestigious periodical JAMA (Journal of Ameri-can Medical Association) also publishes two veryrecent works which support the benefits of moder-ate physical activity: the f irst (JAMA,2003;290:1331-1336) highlights how accumulating3300 mmiinnuutteess ooff wwaallkkiinngg ppeerr ddaayy ccoonnttrriibbuutteess ttoo rreedduucc--iinngg tthhee rriisskk ooff bbrreeaasstt ccaanncceerr bbyy 2200%%; the second(JAMA, 2003;290:1323-1330) rreeccoommmmeennddss tthhaatt ttoolloossee wweeiigghhtt,, iitt iiss bbeesstt ttoo ssttaarrtt wwiitthh llooww--iinntteennssiittyyaaccttiivviittyy aanndd llooww wweeiigghhtt--lloossss ggooaallss, before raising thebar at a later stage. Lastly, and of particular inter-est, is the work published in Stroke (Stroke, 2003Oct;34(10):2475-81), which explains how aa ssiiggnniiffii--ccaanntt rreedduuccttiioonn iinn ddiiaassttoolliicc aanndd ssyyssttoolliicc pprreessssuurree ccaannbbee oobbttaaiinneedd bbyy aaccccuummuullaattiinngg aa ttoottaall ooff 1100,,000000ppaacceess ppeerr ddaayy, which correspond to approximately7-8 km. According to the authors of the study, themajority of inactive people accumulate between2,000 and 5,000 paces per day.As the above studies show, therefore, significanthealth benefits can be achieved simply by doingsome kind of physical activity for a ttoottaall ooff 3300 mmiinn--uutteess, and the big news is that, although it is prefer-able for the period of activity to be continuous, the30 minutes can be aaccccuummuullaatteedd by adding shorterperiods of activity together. For sedentary people,it’s not necessary to run a marathon to achieve pos-itive health benefits: all that’s needed is to increasethe level of physical activity to moderate levels. Inpractice, iitt’’ss eennoouugghh ttoo uussee tthhee ccaarr lleessss,, wwaallkk uupp tthheessttaaiirrss iinnsstteeaadd ooff ttaakkiinngg tthhee lliifftt,, ddoo aa ffeeww ssttrreettcchhiinnggeexxeerrcciisseess aatt hhoommee aanndd ppllaann aa ffeeww hheeaalltthhyy wwaallkkss iinntthhee ooppeenn aaiirr ffoorr tthhee wweeeekkeenndd. People who already go to a Fitness/Wellness centreand take part in more structured activities aimed atachieving specific goals (cardiovascular efficiency,strength, flexibility), obviously achieve better resultsthan sedentary people who start to accumulate 30minutes of physical activity a day. But this still meansthat the former group can remain active even on thedays when they don’t go to the gym, thus enhancingthe results they are already achieving. ■

Stamp your club logo here

Half an hour a day ... keeps the doctor away

Copy from Wellness Magazine No. 1 Year 7


wellness magazine 18 2004

Documents

event wellness

wellness company

wellness trends

positive values of wellness

wellness helpsthose

wellness district tookshape

terms of wellness culture

olympic games section