For best innovation in Exercise Programming

AEROSport school assembly program showed kids at six Saratoga
Springs schools that fitness is fun and can lead to a healthy future.

When World Gym of Saratoga designed its AEROsport exercise program, it did so with an eye on the future. Not only did its innovative school assembly program make a healthful impact on the young people of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., but it proved to be a cost-effective marketing medium that’s likely to yield future members.

Exercise classes for children ages 4 to 7 and 8 to 11 have been taught in-house for several years, so World Gym’s aerobics team considered it a natural to take youth fitness into the community. From January to June of 1996, a team of certified instructors took their fitness program to seven elementary schools in the Saratoga Springs School District.

“AEROsport proved to be a phenomenal success with the parents, teachers and kids because the program combines an educational component — a nutrition puppet show — with hands-on involvement by the children,” explains Bryan Briddell, owner and general manager.

The hour-long program begins with a puppet show teaching the young audience about carbohydrates, protein and fat, the difference between low-calorie and high-calorie foods, and about the theory of moderation. “We don’t label foods as good or bad,” Briddell explains. “We teach them it’s OK to have a Twinkie or a soda, but not several times a day.”

After the puppets make an exit, the program moves quickly into the exercise component where the kids learn aerobic activities aimed at enhancing body awareness, encouraging physical activity and improving self-esteem. Carney Boyd, director of aerobics at World Gym of Saratoga, customizes the program to fit different age groups and time limits of each school. Equipment such as steps, slides and rubber balls are incorporated into the program to “disguise aerobic activity in the form of games,” Briddell says.

A group of six to seven World Gym staff members attend each program and are frequently joined by physical education instructors from the school, allowing participating students to enjoy personal instruction from a strong team of leaders. The AEROsport staff includes two certified aerobics instructors, two certified personal trainers, one licensed dietician and two World Gym staff members preparing for certification in aerobics and personal training. To help guard against liability problems, the program was cleared with the school district’s county-wide athletic director before World Gym approached any schools.

In addition to reaching hundreds of kids, in its first year AEROsport gained considerable exposure for World Gym in the local media, as well as with more than 500 parents whose children came home from school armed with World Gym frisbees, pencils and stories of their workouts that day. Briddell says the staff also provided teachers with complimentary weekend passes to visit the gym and enjoy a personal training session. “It generates tremendous goodwill in the community and helps us to be seen as a health club not just a body-building gym,” Briddell says.

Designed to use the staffing and equipment resources already available to World Gym, the AEROsport program cost the club virtually nothing to produce.

From a marketing standpoint, it was wildly successful in attracting the attention of four regional newspapers, two television stations and a radio station. This kind of publicity would normally be cost-prohibitive for most clubs, Briddell notes.

Meanwhile, the program addresses what the World Gym staff perceives as a growing concern in the country — an increasing lethargy among young people. “Kids are not growing up with a healthy attitude toward physical activity,” Briddell says.

This unique combination of providing a service and promoting the club to young people is a sort of grassroots marketing plan that could reap financial benefits for years to come.