San Antonio shedding "fat" image by hitting the gym

[Decemberist]

San Antonio shedding "fat" image by hitting the gym

For years, San Antonio residents have lived with the label of being a "fat city." Now it seems people are doing something about it.

Around 16.4 percent of San Antonio residents have health club memberships, making the Alamo City one of the top cities in the United States for gym members.

The International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association on Thursday released the top 25 states and metropolitan areas with the highest rates of health club memberships.

San Antonio ranked 21st on the list, besting even the state average membership rate of 14.6 percent.

San Diego ranked first on the list, with 24.2 percent of people in that town belonging to a gym. Denver is second, at 23.2 percent, followed by Columbus, Ohio; Minneapolis; and Seattle.

The only other Texas city on the list is Dallas, which ranked 12th on the list, with 17.8 percent of people living in that market holding a health club membership.

"We applaud every American that makes the important decision to improve their personal health through physical activity," John McCarthy, a spokesman for the association, says.

"It's been nearly a decade since the U.S. Surgeon General's Report on Physical Activity and Health called on Americans to make regular exercise a permanent part of their lives, and the rising number of health club members in the U.S. can serve as a strong indication that the messages from that report are still resonating," McCarthy says.

In the last year alone, the San Antonio area has experienced a tremendous amount of growth in new fitness centers being built.

Spectrum Health Clubs is currently building two new multi-million dollar fitness centers in San Antonio -- bringing the total number of clubs it owns to 11.

In addition, Eden Prairie, Minn.-based Life Time Fitness is in the process of building a 150,000-square-foot health club in North San Antonio. It is slated to open in 2006.

San Ramon, Calif.-based 24 Hour Fitness also indicated that it had its sights on the San Antonio market.

http://sanantonio.bizjournals.com/sa...2/daily29.html

[Hantler]

sorry dude but Health Club Memberships doesn't equal Healthy City. Now if SA had one of the highest rates of attendance, then I would be impressed.

[Uncle_Rico]

right. it's one of the fattest cities because studies are done according to parks/rec areas, trails, bike lanes, and number of fast food chains. Take a look around nothing but fast food meccas at every corner.

[To be named later]

Owning a health club membership, and actually using it, are two different things.

[LAfan019]

Originally Posted by To be named later

Owning a health club membership, and actually using it, are two different things.

exactly, and an amazing percent don't go regularly enough.

[Hantler]

Originally Posted by To be named later

Owning a health club membership, and actually using it, are two different things.

which is what I was trying to say. Whoopty do, we have a ton of memberships. Oh and all those clubs come here because they know they can take advantage of our image as a fat city and get people to sign up out of guilt.

[PHANTOM21]

does it count if you just go to watch the girls workout?

[Decemberist]

Do you know how Mens Health gets their "fat" listing?

They take the number of health clubs, bike lanes, parks, rec centers.

All lists are bulll-**** to begin with this.

[Uncle_Rico]

or they also look around sa. just look sh1tload of fat people here. go to dallas and look around, think to yourself man sa is fat.

[Grego]

Originally Posted by PHANTOM21

does it count if you just go to watch the girls workout?

If you run around hiding from the security, yes, it counts!