Pilates Studio ranked in top 500 Franchises

     Snap Fitness Inc. topped the fitness club rankings on the 2009 list of Entrepreneurmagazine's Franchise 500. The magazine also ranked fitness as one of eight franchising categories that hold the most promise for 2009. Entrepreneur editors noted that niche fitness centers would be the ones to watch in the coming year.

“Health and wellness have been a top concern ever since headlines warning of obesity took over the nation,” writes Entrepreneur. “But it's not the heavyweights, like Curves and Gold's Gym, that have captured our attention. Instead, we predict the more niche concepts like boxing and prenatal and postnatal fitness will experience the healthiest growth in 2009.”

The top 10 fitness facilities from Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500 are:

• Snap Fitness ranked No. 24 on the list of 500, No. 2 on Top 10 New Franchises, and No. 5 on the Top 10 Fastest-Growing Franchises list

• Jazzercise Inc., which specializes in group fitness programming, was No. 42 on the top 500 list, as well as No. 8 on the Top 10 Low-Cost Franchises, and No. 7 on the Top 10 Fastest-Growing Franchises list

• Anytime Fitness was No. 47 on the Franchise 500 list, and No. 9 on the Top 10 Fastest-Growing Franchises list

• Fitness Today personal fitness training ranked No. 100 on the Top 500 list

• Gold’s Gym Franchising LLC was No. 112 on the Franchise 500

• Planet Fitness was No. 116 on the Top 500 list

• The Little Gym children’s development fitness program was No. 126 on the Franchise 500

• My Gym Children’s Fitness Center was No. 259 on the Top 500 list

• Curves was No. 381 on the Franchise 500

• IM=X Pilates Studio was No. 468 on the Top 500 list

Click link above to take a look at the Pilates Studio website. Actually it doesn't look very attractive.

Chinese Obesity

      Obesity isn't a "Western Problem" like many people claim. It is problem for everyone. There is a really interesting article of Chinese obesity at this link. Below are some choice quotes from the article.

About 30% of all Chinese adults are overweight or obese, says Chen Chunming, a nutritional expert at China's Center for Disease Control and Prevention, part of the Ministry of Health. "We don't need to keep doing new surveys. We know the problem is severe and getting worse," she says.

The causes of Chinese obesity aren't hard to miss. Tianjin, a city of 10 million south of Beijing, increasingly resembles cities in the West -- and so do its people. Next to the Communist Party's School of Socialism is the bustling Buy Now computer warehouse, a McDonald's and KFC.

Chinese and Americans have more in common than they care to admit!

Polestar Pilates 2009 Schedule-Shanghai

The long awaited Polestar Pilates schedule for 2009 is now ready! Click on this link to see the schedule:

2009 Polestar Pilates Schedule-Shanghai

Recommeded Pilates Books

Take a look at this website that delivers books to your door in Shanghai, Cash on Delivery and has huge range of English books.Blue Fountain Books Here are some recommended reading from their website for serious Pilates practicioners.

Return to Life

Anatomy Trains

Body Mind

Dynamic Alignment Through Imagery

2009 Fitness Trends

American College of Sports Medicine Survey Predicts Next Year's Fitness Trends
By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Health News Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD
Nov. 5, 2008 -- Ready for a sneak peek at the top 20 fitness trends for 2009?

Those trends were ranked in an online survey by 1,540 professionals certified by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM).

Here are the survey's results, reported by exercise science expert Walter Thompson, PhD, FACSM, FAACVPR, Regent's Professor at Georgia State University:

Educated and experienced fitness professionals. Certification and accreditation for health and fitness programs and professionals are becoming more common.
Children and obesity. Fitness programs to address childhood obesity are a top trend for the third year in a row in the ACSM survey.
Personal training. Personal trainers are becoming more accessible to more people, according to the survey.
Strength training . Men and women are lifting weights; staying strong while aging is increasingly part of their motivation.
Core training . This trend is about strengthening muscles in the abdomen and back to stabilize the spine.
Special fitness programs for older adults. This trend includes aging baby boomers, frail elders who want to get stronger for daily tasks, active older adults, and master athletes.
Pilates. Done on a mat or special equipment, Pilates trains the core muscles and improves flexibility and posture.
Stability ball. These big, inflatable balls (also called Swiss balls or balance balls) are used for crunches, push-ups, and other exercises. Staying stable on the ball is part of the challenge.
Sport-specific training. This trend is about athletes training in the off-season to build their strength and endurance.
Balance training. In balance training, you might stand on a wobble board or use a stability ball to hone your balance. It's a trend for all ages, Thompson notes.
Functional fitness. A functional fitness workout preps your body for daily activities such as running for the bus or lifting groceries -- not just gliding along on the elliptical machine.
Comprehensive health programming at work. This trend is about improving employees' health -- and lowering employers' health care costs.
Wellness coaching. Wellness coaches support clients in making behavior changes for better wellness.
Worker incentive programs. Some employers are giving their workers incentives to make healthy changes.
Outcome measurements. This trend is about accountability and measuring progress toward fitness goals.
Spinning (indoor cycling). Spinning classes, fast-paced group workouts on stationary bikes, have been around for a while, but they're still going strong.
Physician referrals. Doctors are increasingly referring patients to health and fitness facilities, according to the ACSM survey.
Exercise and weight loss. Sensible or "sensationalized," most diets now include an exercise component, Thompson notes.
Group personal training. Groups of two or three people can often get discounts from personal trainers.
Reaching new markets. Thompson estimates that 80% of the U.S. public doesn't have an exercise routine or a place to exercise, which amounts to a "huge market" for the health and fitness industry.