Fitness Management A Comprehensive Resource for Developing Leading Managing and Operating a Successful HealthFitness Club

Fitness industry specialists Stephen Tharrett and James Peterson present an updated edition to the most comprehensive blueprint ever created for developing. leading. managing, and operating a successful health/fitness business. The book is separated into ten distinct sections representing the primary skill sets needed to succeed as a leader and manager in the health/fitness club industry.

Each section contains these and other key topics: Introduction to the Health/Fitness Industry (history, beliefs and behaviors, and consumer attitudes); Membership in the Health/Fitness Club Industry (value of membership and membership retention, variables known to influence attrition and retention, creating and defining positive club-based expediences, defining and creating a service culture, and programming for health/fitness clubs); The Health/Fitness Club Business (legal business structure, business operating models, getting started, financial models and tools, budgeting, forecasting, driving profitability, buying, leasing, selling, and raising capital); Staffing Issues in the Health/Fitness Club Industry (employees versus independent contractors, compensations, benefits, education and skill competency, organizational alignment and structure, and team building and recruitment); Facilities and Equipment in the Health/Fitness Club Industry (types of facilities, design and construction process and associated costs, cardiovascular, selectorized/variable resistance, free-weight, and purchase or lease equipment); Operational Practices in the Health/Fitness Club Industry (risk management, AEDs, operating practice, front-desk, child-care, fitness, aquatics, tennis, locker rooms, laundry, housecleaning, accounting, types of spas, spa facilities and spa staff, sports-conditioning and sports-performance industry, sport participation, injury, and conditioning for youth, and the essential components of a sports-performance center); Overview of the International Health/Fitness Club Market (Asia, Europe, and Latin America); Also includes sections on the future of the health/fitness club industry and case studies

Stephen J. Tharrett, MS, is currently the owner and president of Club Industry Consulting, a global consulting business established in 2006 as well as a partner in Club Intel, a global firm focused on market research and the engagement of customers and members. He is the author or co-author of four management textbooks including Fitness Management, Third Edition and is also the co-editor of ACSM s Health/ Fitness Facility Standards and Guidelines, Fourth Edition. Tharrett is a former president of IHRSA, having served as president of the international association from 1996 1997.
James A. Peterson, Ph.D., FACSM, is a sports medicine consultant and freelance writer who has authored or co-authored over 80 books and more than 200 published articles on a variety of coaching- and health-related subjects. Among the books he has co-authored is Bill Walsh: Finding the Winning Edge with Bill Walsh and Brian Billick. A 1966 graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, he is a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine. Jim was a faculty member at the United States Military Academy at West Point from 1971-1990. From 1990 to 1995, he served as the director of sports medicine for StairMaster Sports/Medical Products, Inc. Since 1997, he has been a contributing editor to ACSM s Health & Fitness Journal ( Take 10 column). He has appeared on several national television shows, including ABC s Good Morning America, the CBS Evening News, and ABC s Nightline. Since 1992, he has served as a fundraiser for the Make-A-Wish Foundation®. Jim and his wife, Sue, reside in Monterey, California.