Learning Curves - Women's Fitness Franchise Teaches Healthful Lifestyle, not Weight Loss Once a Year

Tech Savvy - Ashley Baldwin exercises on the recovery board during a workout. Members spend 30 seconds on a machine and 30 seconds on a recovery board throughout the circuit workout. A Curves fitness technician for three years, Baldwin is still a Curves regular by utilizing the machines and stations to maintain fitness.

Kristy Gerhardt doesn’t really think about it until someone asks. Then she is amazed. Gerhardt has been a steady, three-times-a–weeker at Curves, 2100 Washington, for more than three years. She is living proof of the fitness center’s trademark slogan: “The power to amaze yourself.”

“It has made a radical difference in my life,” said Gerhardt, 48, Galatia. “I feel 100 percent better about myself; I have a lot more energy. It has given me a whole new attitude about my life. It is amazing I have been able to stick with it for more than three years.”

Gerhardt has lost a total of 85 pounds – 69 of those since becoming a Curves member. She also has lost 57 and a quarter inches, with a goal of 60.

“A lot of people don’t think you can do that much but I think they would be surprised,” Gerhardt said, noting she also participates in Weight Watchers. “It is total toning, from top to bottom. It is effective through hydraulic resistance. You push and pull on the equipment, instead of lifting weights. It is sustained cardio.”

“And you get so much support from staff and other members,” she added. “You exercise at your own pace and I don’t have to worry about how I look. It is a comfortable atmosphere. Everybody deserves 30 minutes.”

Connie Ruble, Curves owner/manager, predicts that more people will be hitting the center’s 30-minute exercise circuit in upcoming days. After all, it’s time for those New Year’s Resolutions to get a workout.

Curves Appeal – The smiling staff of Curves, Great Bend, is (left to right) Ashley Baldwin, Julie Boxberger, Connie Ruble (owner), Susan Brown, and Rhonda Jackson. Dedicated to women's fitness, Curves offers a 30-minute workout that combines strength training and sustained cardiovascular activity through hydraulic resistance. In addition to its workouts, Curves also offers a weight management program and provides members support in reaching their goals.

“People have too many things going on and they don’t make time for themselves,” Ruble commented in mid-December. “In January we will see

people we haven’t seen in three months.

“The first thing they say is: ‘I am going to lose weight,’” Ruble continued, referring to those ever-popular (for a while) New Year’s resolutions. “But I am promoting getting healthy by eating right and exercising. If you do that, the weight will come off. You don’t have to say ‘I am going to lose X amount of pounds.’ That gets discouraging.”

Ruble understands some people have a difficult time maintaining that first-of-the-year enthusiasm. Therefore, she and staff members offer as much support as they can.

“We try to keep it fun,” Ruble said. “We try to get them in here with specials and the chance of winning something.”
For example, rewards include Curves bucks that members can accumulate to buy merchandise in the center.

Station to Station – Members of Curves, Great Bend, exercise at their 30-second stations during a December morning workout. Founders Gary and Diane Heavin opened their first Curves in 1992 with a women-only fitness center in Harlingen, Texas. The company began franchising in 1995 and now there are more than 7,000 franchises in the United States and nearly 2,500 foreign franchises. With more than 10,000 locations worldwide, Curves boasts more than 4 million members today.

“Everybody is different but when you join Curves, you are making a commitment,” Ruble said. “They have to come three times a week; some do more than that. It is not just a weight issue; it is a health issue.”
Curves weighs and measures monthly and if someone isn’t meeting goals, the staff offers encouragement.

“This isn’t a miracle,” Ruble pointed out. “We do have an advanced workout if they want to be pushed. And some want to be. You get a total body workout in 30 minutes. All the exercise machines are important but those for the waist and abs are the most popular.”

The Curves’ clientele is 100 percent female and about half make the exercise circuit alone while others bring a buddy. “A lot of people don’t make it unless they have a friend,” Ruble said, noting they need to feel accountable to one another. “Some make new friends. Everybody is great; they appreciate each other.”

Ruble also noted that people over 60 might not join specifically to lose weight. They have other goals in mind.

Comfortable Pace – Sister Annette Winter (foreground) operates the dip shrug machine. The Curves Work-out includes all components needed for a complete exercise program - warm-up, cardiovascular, strength training, cool down, and stretching. Curves has brought 4 million women into the gym worldwide, many of them for the first time. Now, the company is moving them to the World Wide Web with Curves Complete, a comprehensive online weight-loss companion to the club membership. Members can sign up at www.curvescomplete.com.

“They want to keep their muscles active and their joints lubricated,” Ruble explained. “It’s also good for their cholesterol, blood pressure and diabetes. They stay mobile and feel better.

“This is all done with resistance,” the owner added. “So you are going to work to your ability. The harder you work the more you’re going to get out of it. We always have staff here and we show people how to use the equipment.”

The fitness center also offers a stretching circuit after the workout that helps participants with mobility and flexibility.

Curves’ hours are 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday; 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday; and 8 to 11 a.m. Saturday. Members make their own schedules. With more than 10,000 locations, Curves is the world’s

largest fitness franchise. The Great Bend location has been in business four years.