Albany, N.Y. – At age 65, Lillian Doran knows what she doesn’t want from a gym.
“I don’t want a place that just caters to the young and thin,” she said. “I don’t want to be around these babies who are a size 2.”
Doran, a petite, fit-looking woman herself, wants a place that makes people her age feel comfortable – and these days, that’s not so hard to find.
People over 55 now represent nearly a quarter of all health- club members, according to the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association. The increase has been the defining change in the fitness-center industry over the past 15 years.
Gyms that vied for the youth market with snazzy juice bars and tanning salons now offer low-impact courses like water aerobics, walking and chair aerobics, which aren’t so tough on the joints.
Even major chains are lowering the adrenaline to make seniors feel at ease.
This month, Bally Total Fitness will launch its “Build Your Own Membership” ad campaign largely aimed at aging baby boomers – the 78 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964.
“We’re moving away from that ad that only shows young, beautiful people with a Greek- god physique,” said Jim McDonald, the company’s chief marketing officer.
While seeking to lure boomers, the “Build Your Own” campaign features people from a variety of demographics and is careful not to alienate Bally’s younger members.
Gold’s Gyms, the Southern California-based chain that touts its young celebrity clients, also began enlisting older people for ads.
Many Gold’s locations also partner with Silver Sneakers, a fitness program offered through health insurers to Medicare recipients.
Started in 1992, Silver Sneakers offers classes that focus on problems caused by aging, such as poor balance and loss of muscular strength.
“One of the barriers we have is getting this population comfortable going into a fitness center,” spokesman David Goodspeed said. “It’s really foreign to them, of another generation.”
The program was offered at 400 fitness centers three years ago; today, it’s in 1,260 centers. Nearly half are YMCAs or similar nonprofits that seniors often feel comfortable with, but more major chains are signing up, Goodspeed said. “When the gym craze hit 20 years ago, (gyms) were targeting a specific population – the yuppie type,” he said. “Now they’re all coming around and seeing value of having this older population.”
