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The Weekly Digital Magazine for the Active Lifestyle Market ISSUE 1619 May 9, 2016
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Page 1: SGBW_1619

The Weekly Digital Magazine for the Active Lifestyle Market

ISSUE 1619May 9, 2016

Page 3: SGBW_1619

MAY 9, 2016 | SGBWeekly.com 3

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Copyright 2016 SportsOneSource, LLC. All rights reserved. The opinions expressed by writers and contributors to SGB WEEKLY are not necessarily those of the editors or publishers. SGB WEEKLY is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or artwork. Articles appearing in SGB WEEKLY may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the express permission of the publisher. SGB WEEKLY is published weekly by SportsOneSource.

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Associate Editor | Sports & Fitness EditorJahla Seppanen

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4 SGBWeekly.com | MAY 9, 2016

The Weekly Digital Magazine for the Active Lifestyle Market

ISSUE 1619May 9, 2016

MARKET REPORT

5By The Numbers

7Will Smart Apparel OvertakeFitness Trackers?

Photo courtesy Gaiam

FEATURES

11Recreate, Recover, RepeatAthletes get smart about training and recovery thanks to lightweight gear and increased education.

15Baby Boomers Don't Want Six PacksHow and why health clubs and classes need to shift gears to attract the 50-plus consumer.

8Movers & Shakers

18Industry Calendar

ONE-ON-ONE

9Tony Armand, CEO United Sports Brands

Cover photo courtesy Zamst

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MAY 9, 2016 | SGBWeekly.com 5

MARKET REPORT

BY THE NUMBERS

3 Minutes of exercise can be as effective as 15-, 20-

and even 45-minute workouts for the cardiometabol-

ic health of sedentary men, according to a new study

by researchers at the Department of Kinesiology at

McMaster University in Canada.

2 Percent increase in first-quarter sales for VF Corp.’s

outdoor group, including a 6 percent rise at The North

Face, 2 percent increase at Timberland and 1 percent

decline at Vans.

1.9 Percent decline in same-store sales at Big 5

Sporting Goods during the first-quarter, in part due

to promotional activity from several of its sporting

goods competitors, including Sports Authority and

Sport Chalet, liquidating inventory during their bank-

ruptcy filings.

16.8 Percent increase in first-quarter sales for

Adidas Group, which also announced plans to sell its

TaylorMade Golf business to focus on its Adidas Golf

apparel and footwear in the sport.

2,600 Members of the Sports Turf Managers

Association (STMA), the professional organization of

those who manage the condition, safety and mainte-

nance of sports fields worldwide, will hold their 2020

Conference & Exhibition at the Palm Beach County

Convention Center in West Palm Beach, FL.

$20,000 awarded by Gore-Tex to five expedition

teams as part of its Shipton-Tilman Grant program

celebrating a lightweight, low-impact climbing phi-

losophy.

300,000 Square Feet will be the size of the new

Scheel’s location in The Colony, TX, in the heart of Dal-

las/Fort Worth, slated to open in 2020. The first store

for Scheel’s in Texas will include 85 specialty shops, a

16,000-gallon aquarium, a 65-foot ferris wheel, wild-

life mountain and sports simulators.

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MAY 9, 2016 | SGBWeekly.com 7

WILL SMART APPAREL OVERTAKE FITNESS

TRACKERS?

Throw out your Apple Watch and Fitbit. A new report from Tractica, a market intelligence firm, projected that smart clothing and body sensor shipments will rise to a total of 92.7 million devices shipped between now and 2021 — total-ing 190 million units over the span.

Compared to wrist wearables, which jumped from 7.44 million units sold in 2014 to 24.92 million units in 2015 according to Statis-ta, smart clothing and body sensors may give watch trackers a run for shelf (and body) space.

Does this mean wrist wearables will be-come less desirable or even obsolete? Tractica Research Director Aditya Kaul seemed to think so.

“Unlike fitness trackers, smart watches or smart glasses, which have fairly well-defined form factors and use cases, smart clothing and body sensors, are seeing a greater degree of experimentation and innovation,” Kaul noted. “Smart clothing and body sensors can be con-sidered the ultimate wearables, integrating into your life as a garment, footwear or sensor de-vice that can track or measure a specific physi-ological or biometric attribute.”

In its projections, Tractica anticipates body sensors will represent approximately 70 percent of the total market shipments, with smart cloth-ing accounting for about 30 percent.

The applications for smart clothing and body sensors span the markets of active life-style, mental wellness and health care, to name a few, but no matter the industry, the real value for businesses is the collected data and what it can tell them about consumer habits. Any new technologies must continue to improve ease-of-use, feedback and results for consumers to keep them engaged.

Versatility will also be key, especially on the smart apparel side. Active lifestyle customers are accustomed to owning different styles and color combinations of apparel. Will they be willing to buy 10 smart apparel tees? Or still prefer a single watch? More than likely, as Trac-tica points out, wireless body sensors (which would work with any outfit) will make up a larger share of the market.

Join the debate on our Facebook and Twitter, @Sportsonesource. Which tracking method do you think consumers will rally behind?

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Academy Sports + Outdoors named Thomas "Tom" Lamb, formerly at Lowe's, to the position of EVP and EMO, effective May 23.

Brunswick Corporation named Steve Langlais as President of its Princecraft brand of freshwater boats. He succeeds Donald Dubois.

Dorel Sports appointed Dean Stojanovic to the role of VP of International Sales Operations, which is based at the company's headquarter in Wilton, CT.

Eastman Outdoors Inc., owner of Carbon Express brand products, appointed Kevin Berrgren as Prod-uct Manager, Bow Hunting Division.

Franklin Retail Solutions welcomed Jay Mainwaring as a Manager of Business Development.

Qore Performance, makers of wearable hydration technology for athletes, signed Vonn Bell, former Ohio State All-American and elite NFL prospect, as a sponsored athlete.

Harman International Industries, Inc. signed MLB All-Star Alex Rodriguez as the latest brand ambas-sador for the company's JBL audio brand.

Industrial Revolution hired Addison Nanney as its Marketing Coordinator.

Kahr Firearms Group promoted Jodi DePorter from Regional Sales Manager to National Sales Manager.

Kit and Ace, founded by the wife and son of Lululemon Founder Chip Wilson, appointed Wendy Bennison as its President. She had been President and COO of Roots.

New Era signed Shaq Lawson, a defensive end from Clemson, and Jaylon Smith, a linebacker from Notre Dame, to endorsement deals.

Raleigh Bicycles hired Curt Davis as Director of Product Management, while promoting Rob Kaplan to VP of Sales and Tyler Stetson to Director of Inside Sales and Customer Service.

Surftech, a maker of surfboards, added industry vet-eran John Vance to the position of CEO.

The World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry named Vanessa Garcia Brito, Senior Director of Com-munications and Partnerships at Nike, as the new Chair of its Physical Activity Committee.

To schedule a personal demo or to learn more about the SSI Data Point-of-Sale

trend-reporting platform, contact SportsOneSource Client Solutions

at 303.997.7302 or email [email protected]

or visit SSIData.com

Actionable Weekly Sales Trend Reporting

for the Active Lifestyle Market

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MAY 9, 2016 | SGBWeekly.com 9

ONE-ON-ONE

Tony Armand, CEOUnited Sports Brands

A leading consolidator in sporting goods sees opportunity in training and recovery space.

By Thomas J. Ryan

In April 2015, Shock Doctor completed its biggest acquisition when it merged with

McDavid, the specialist in knee and ankle braces. And in August of that year, Shock Doctor changed its name to United Sports Brands to signify its position as one of the leading consolidators in the sporting goods space. In October, it acquired Nathan Sports, the developer of visibility and hydration solu-tions for runners.

Well before those acquisitions, the com-pany had acquired Cutter, the maker of base-ball and football gloves, and XO Athletic, known for its athletic cups. Overseeing all the M&A action has been Tony Armand, CEO of United Sports Brands (USB), which is owned by Bregal Partners.

Armand took time out to talk with SGB about recent consolidations in the industry and the company’s opportunities in the train-ing and recovery space.

What inspired the USB consolidation model? Prior to joining Shock Doctor, I led a variety of acquisitions and found unique, innovative ways to further organic growth. Those ex-periences have been quite helpful in shaping some of our growth strategies at United Sports Brands. However, our goal of bringing global category leaders in sports performance and protective products together, and producing the best and most innovative products athletes need to perform at their personal best, is an original vision for United Sports Brands. The

timing was right, as the industry is continuing to evolve and grow significantly, and there is a strong demand for technologically advanced products — a demand our set of brands is po-sitioned to meet.

Concussion concerns and overuse injuries have been front-page news recently. What’s your take on sports injury concerns? Con-sumer safety and performance is at the heart of all of the USB brands. It is a shared mis-sion, binding the brands together in a com-mon effort to help educate and promote safety for all athletes, while simultaneously provid-ing the gear necessary for top performance on the field, court or in the arena of their choos-ing. We are committed to the protection of all

Tony Armand, CEO, United Sports Brands.Photo courtesy United Sports Brands.

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athletes, but young athletes in particular, and it is that commitment that forms the base of our brands’ efforts in the sporting goods space. We are proud partners of USA Football and POP Warner, two leading associations charged with the care and safety of young ath-letes. Furthermore, Shock Doctor’s ongoing campaign to increase discussion around the benefits of wearing mouthguards in basketball is an effort that stretches beyond the develop-ment of products to a discussion that implores youth athletes, athletic governing bodies, youth leagues, travel ball organizations, high school federations and players’ parents to make the smart safety choices necessary to keep young athletes happy, healthy and ready for whatever the game might throw their way.

How is USB supporting the team channel? Unified one-stop ordering and invoicing, along with enhanced marketing support that part-ners on a broader, multi-brand category level, are just a few of the ways we envision United Sports Brands benefiting a team dealer. As far as expectations from the brand level, they re-main business as usual. For instance, for more than 35 years, McDavid has offered customiza-tion for our HEX protective apparel and has nurtured strong relationships with athletic trainers, coaches and equipment managers. Team dealers can rest assure that this will con-tinue from our Fountain Valley facility and will further McDavid’s legacy at the highest level of play. Our field promotions team continues to educate and work directly with colleges and pro teams across the country, now offering new products from more brands, including Shock Doctor, Cutters and McDavid.

There’s been some concern about the sport-ing goods channel with the bankruptcy of Sports Authority and others. What do you make of what’s going on in the space? Al-though we are seeing changes and potential consolidation in the traditional brick-and-mortar sporting goods retail landscape, a considerable — even expanding — consumer base for performance, protection and recov-ery sporting goods products remains. With this development, consumers are looking for products to help them stay healthy in a grow-ing myriad of sports and activities. As that is a focus for all of our brands and an area in which we specialize, we remain optimistic. We see this shift in the landscape as a reaction to where and how consumers are shopping, and

luckily less of an indication of interest or de-mand for our products and the way consum-ers are living and playing. If anything, it is just reinforcing that brands must steer their own ship and not be overly dependent on retail partners alone to support them.

Can you discuss the development of in-store athlete care centers? Products that once stood alone are now being embraced and cat-egorized as essentials to all athletes, regardless of season, sport or nation. Natural synergies exist across our brands, so it was a logical next step for United Sports Brands to improve the consumer experience at point-of-purchase by combining offerings where it makes sense, and in some cases, offering a 360-degree total athlete-care concept across retailers. Several major retailers in the U.S. are experimenting with this philosophy now, and we expect it to take on a variety of shapes and forms in the future.

Are you aggressively looking for more ac-quisitions? We continue to review brands that have established a strong, authentic niche, created new categories through innovation and/or could benefit from streamlining their operation to achieve that next level of growth.

Are there a lot of candidates in the sporting goods space? Taking both a strategic as well as opportunistic approach, we find that great candidates continue to surface. However, it is the special one that checks all the boxes.

Is it easy to get deals done? Our experience is that if both parties are committed to getting a deal done, it ultimately gets done to everyone’s satisfaction.

Can you give us a three or five-year plan for USB? Full integration is still underway, as this is a work in progress, and we are learn-ing as we go. Ultimately, it is our goal to set a new standard in the industry for how sport-ing goods customers are served through the newly constructed, state-of-the-art distribu-tion center headquartered in Fountain Val-ley, CA. Featuring a highly-skilled workforce and a more streamlined shipping process across all brands, the warehouse management system boasts best-of-breed technology and the ability to easily scale to serve the needs of a growing global United Sports Brands customer base.

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MAY 9, 2016 | SGBWeekly.com 11

SHARPEN YOUR PERSPECTIVE

Photo courtesy SPRI

Recreate, Recover, RepeatAthletes get smart about training and recovery thanks to lightweight gear and increased education.

By Jahla Seppanen and David Clucas

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Your customers are going longer, harder and faster in their pursuits. You’ve outfit-

ted them with the right apparel, footwear and gear for the day… now how about the night and day after?

The upstart training, recovery and sports medicine active lifestyle category has only really been around for the past decade, coming out of the shadows of the health-care world. But as more amateur athletes get advice from trainers and see the pros wearing compression sleeves and braces on the field, the space has experi-enced notable growth over the past few years.

After a 13 percent rise in 2014 dollar sales for the SSI Data* Sports Medicine category (which includes braces, supports, wraps and compres-sion sleeves), business has cooled some at retail in the trailing 52 weeks (through April 9, 2016) — down 5 percent in dollars and 7 percent in units — but brands say the category is still hot.

A closer look at the category shows there is retail sales growth in brace sales — up 6 percent with strong uptick in knee, elbow and back products over the past 52 weeks. Compression sleeves are also up 2 percent during the period. Compression wear sales (which SSI Data covers as part of its apparel figures) show modest im-provement in compression tops — up 2 percent in units and flat on dollars — and explosive growth in compression bottoms — up 62 percent in units and 50 percent in dollars — for the trail-ing 52 weeks.

So what’s the overall prognosis of Recovery trends to follow? SGB takes a look at what’s driv-ing growth and consumer interest.

Muscles Is The Magic WordAmong the most well known pieces of recov-ery equipment is the roller, and brands report its popularity is keeping stride as the industry

evolves to include new products and players. “Foam rollers and self-massage sticks are cur-rently the category leaders,” said Susan Haney, senior vice president and head of marketing at Gaiam. Moji’s Founder and CEO, Victor Viner reiterated, “companies continue to innovate with hand-held rollers, foam and rolling balls and other muscle therapy products.”

Photo courtesy SPRI

Photo courtesy Gaiam

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MAY 9, 2016 | SGBWeekly.com 13

The key word here is muscle. “The muscles are the most neglected part

of the human anatomy,” said Spring Faussett, founder of Tiger Tail and a pioneer in hand-held foam rolling. Faussett brought her clas-sic 18-inch hand-held roller to the masses in 2006, when the lifestyle recovery category was in its infancy. Beforehand, the products were largely targeted toward the health-care industry.

SPRI, owned by Gaiam, is targeting muscles, along with joints and nerves, in strategies that enhance mobility. “Much of the shift in recov-ery approaches is the result of a deeper under-standing of the significant role the fascia plays in movement,” said Greg Niederlander, director of programming at SPRI. Fascia is a thin layer of tissue covering our muscles, and it’s the buzz-word we’ll be seeing used more in the recovery roller space.

The trend can be credited to an ancient recovery method dating back thousands of years —massage. The goal of foam rolling is to mimic the deep steady frictional pressure of massage to create micro stretch tears that help soothe and repair muscles while eliminating waste.

Growth Drivers In The Space Include: • An aging population living longer and look-ing for ways to stay active;• More marathons, CrossFit gyms and Tough Mudder races pushing bodies to a breaking point;• The adoption of more at-home exercises; and• An efficiency mindset for faster training and recovery with preventive care.

“The average age of the recovery user is 42,” said Jon Graff, director of marketing at SPRI. There is no doubt the aging consumer is number one on the list for targeted users, followed by the athlete.

At Gaiam, officials also see growth in “body part” conditioning, which tells us consumers are looking for condition-specific products that ad-dress chronic pain, most commonly associated with active aging. In Fall 2016, a new Gaiam Re-lax line will look to address physical and mental stress-relief recovery. Meditation will become a “recover” focus — a trend that has picked up momentum after heat maps of the brain proved its tranquilizing affect.

TriggerPoint, owned by Implus is also ex-panding from foam rolling into balls, sticks and

travel-friendly products. “Consumers are calling for it, and it shows society is starting to take roll-ing and mobility enhancement seriously, while taking pride and investing in a self-care routine,” said Implus Fitness Marketing Director Janelle Ronquillo.

Tiger Tail also will come to market with a new ball product — The Curve Ball — departing from its heritage stick roller. Balls are making a surge across the category, as they are both porta-ble and target tight-spots in the glutes and back.

Compression And SupportThe former stereotype of compression socks, knee braces and tape was that of an aging, bro-ken athlete.

As technology has advanced making many of these items lighter and less restrictive, now the gear is viewed to not only aid recovery, but en-hance performance and prevent injuries. With high-profile stars such as Stephen Curry and Von Miller sporting the gear every game day, these high-visibility items have become a fash-ion statement for some consumers.

Compression wear and socks were once only worn to recover - helping increase blood flow through sore areas and reducing inflammation.

Photo courtesy CEP

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Now, they’re also being worn during the activity to help keep muscles in place and reduce vibra-tion, said Mike Potter, U.S. director for German compression sock brand CEP. The key for these socks and apparel isn’t just about tightness, but graduated compression, with a greater squeeze on the body parts farther away from the heart to get blood and waste moving in the right direction.

The difference in a running compression sock versus a recovery one? The running sock will likely have graduated compression in the ankle but consistent compression in the calf so it stays up, Potter said. It’s best for users to switch to a re-covery sock with full, graduated compression all the way up through the calf post run. Synthetic materials mixed with spandex have worked best for compression, Potter added. Other materials like merino can be used, although the company finds that the strength of compression breaks down faster with merino versus synthetics.

Athletes are also wearing braces more often as the products have slimmed down, become less obtrusive and more joint-specific to target prob-lem areas, said Dawn Ferreira, senior product specialist with Zamst. “We analyze 217 points on the body.” Expect to see more customized fits also, thanks to variable compression offered by brands like Boa (the same as in your ski boots).

Kinesiology tape, made famous by KT Tape sponsor and U.S. Olympic Volleyball star

Kerri Webb, is another area of increased interest from consumers wanting to train like the pros. Again, the product started in the injury-recovery space as a non-obtrusive way to support injured muscles, but has moved to an essential piece of equipment for healthy athletes, said Ted Forcum, a chiropractor and member of KT Tape’s Medical Advisory Board.

“From a performance standpoint, you can uti-lize tape to alter the range of motion and help feel the body in space,” he said. “It also creates neuromuscular feedback, called proprioception, that inhibits (relaxes) or facilitates stronger fir-ing of muscles and tendons.”

Advances in tape include better recoil (stretch with support) and water-resistance with syn-thetic materials. Adhesives have also gotten better, allowing users to wear the products for consecutives days.

Training And Recovery 101The numbe one challenge in the training, recov-ery and sports medicine field is education.

The flood of new products in the category does not make the human body invincible, and when the body is really hurt, rest is the doctor’s first order. “But everyone wants to be their own doctor, today,” Zamst’s Ferreira said.

To stop consumers from rushing to WebMD, brands are partnering with medical experts

to develop educational content, increasingly through instructional online videos and virtual training for retailers. KT Tape, for example, has more than 50 videos online on how to apply its product for a long list of injuries. TriggerPoint also has an education portal (tptherapy.com/watch) where specialists provide free, progres-sive training on how to use its recovery products.

Ronquillo at Implus added, “We want to build programming and proper guidance first, because we have a lot of nerves in our muscles, and need to be careful how we treat them.” And as for new brands entering the category she said, “We will see new players trying to creep in with new prod-ucts, but I believe education should be the judge on whether they are beneficial and will last.”

Another trend to watch, digital feedback on how that brace, tape or compression wear is per-forming on the body via sensor tracking. The fit-ness tracking movement was bound to seep into recovery, so keep an eye out for that shift.

More brands are also investing in clinical studies that prove their methods, while looking to clarify use to the consumer. “Retailers want to appeal to the largest audience, so brands can’t get way too technical,” said Faussett with Tiger Tail.

In the next five years, players in the category project to see more technology, like lasers or muscle stimulation, but for now the industry is trying to walk before it runs.

Photo courtesy KT Tape

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MAY 9, 2016 | SGBWeekly.com 15

Baby Boomers Don’t Want Six-Packs How and why health clubs and classes need to shift gears to attract the 50-plus consumer.

By Jahla Seppanen

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The wave of fitness boot camps, music-thumping spin classes and done-in-an-

hour high-intensity workouts have helped re-vitalize the fitness industry, but have they left behind a significant consumer base?

About one out of every three Americans are over the age of 55, according to the U.S. Cen-sus Bureau, and as baby boomers reach retire-ment age with extra time and money on their hands, staying fit will likely be a top priority for the group, experts say. Fitness brands and health club operators shouldn’t overlook the demographic.

Yes, there are benefits to marketing toward youth and staying ahead of the curve, but the industry shouldn’t forget who got it to this point.

Swap Out The Ads Today’s fitness lens has been subtracted to the 20s and 30s market, as clubs and classes focus their marketing jargon on the aesthetic perks of a one-size-fits-all workout, and mo-dalities that emphasize pain and struggle (i.e. CrossFit, mud runs and “burn” “bootcamp” or “bodyweight” hell.)

But “club owners need to step back,” said Colin Milner, CEO at the International Council on Active Ageing (ICAA). Milner told SGB that a shocking number of health clubs do not cater to the 50-plus consumer, although it’s still logical from a business standpoint. The aforementioned struggle-classes growing rampant among young gym rats are actually a turn off for the older market, he said.

“These people are focused on their health and wellness, not the ego, so showing a class flyer of a young, buff person won’t pick up with older adults,” Milner said. “What does resonate are things like helping me fulfill my potential, helping me continue in the work-place, enhance or sustain quality of life, and have a deeper focus apart from exterior mar-keting campaigns.”

Others will go as far to say that today’s hot fitness trends turn off more than just older adults.

“Our industry does a disservice to 83 percent of the population who doesn’t do anything fitness-oriented. And not because they don’t want to, but because they see advertising geared at someone else,” said Josie Gardiner, group exercise instructor, fitness legend and co-developer of Zumba Gold programming for older active adults.

Gardiner has been in the fitness field since the day step was first created (to which she had a hand in choreographing). She turns 70 in July 2016 and still teaches around 10 exercise classes a week, including regular sessions at the luxury Equinox gym. She expressed that if gyms don’t start focusing on the 50-plus population, they’re going to miss out on the biggest growing sales segment for years to come.

“That’s where the money is. They want to feel young, which means being fit and healthy. They want to buy Lululemon clothes and look good. I won’t buy Marshalls. I’ll hit the high-end sneaker stores because qual-ity counts,” said Gardiner. She added that wearables and tracking tech is also a great allure for the active ageing community, who want to set gradual goals and track what they are doing.

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Adapt The Moves Another hurdle the industry will need to ad-vance is the approach to adaptation. Accord-ing to Gardiner and the other co-creator of Zumba Gold, Joy Prouty, most boomers grew up with a fitness regiment of doing sports and don’t want to stop.

“We must design classes that substitute moves, targeting muscles and sensation that are familiar to this ageing crowd, without having them recognize it or feel babied,” said Prouty, who currently acts as Education Spe-cialist for Zumba. “I’m always thinking of how we can take something up and take it down without losing the benefit.”

Prouty said the last big step in program-ming is to make it welcoming. “One of the

biggest challenges in reaching this market is easing the fear of getting hurt or not being successful,” she said.

The popular perception seems to be that people can’t get fit over a certain age. It circles back to marketing choices and the lack of of-ferings for get-started classes and incremental levels. “I watch classes and am absolutely hor-rified seeing people teach intensive workouts, where people are out of alignment and there is no quality of movement,” added Gardiner. “Knowledgeable instructors will select appro-priate movement patters depending on age and tailor movement for different levels, be-cause believe me one size does not fit all.”

Milner with the ICAA agreed one of the leading challenges for fitness operators is the

one-size tendency toward group classes. “The word personalized becomes very paramount when working with this population. Differ-ences in life experiences, injuries, behaviors, all make it very difficult from a program and marketing perspective,” Milner added.

Enlist Old School InstructorsOld school instructors grew with the indus-try, being certified through rigorous training as opposed to today’s quick-hit hour log. The boomer way of thinking about group exercise instruction is a complete 180 from today. And that is perhaps the biggest problem when it comes to incorporating more 50-plus con-sumers into the fold of clubs and classes.

“In this age, we see instructors given a pro-gram and the music and don’t know how to modify because they are given a complete class,” Gardiner said. She uses trending Barre classes as an example of how new training modalities may have little to do with correct form. With a background in the Boston Bal-let, Gardiner attests nothing in a fitness Barre class even resembles a dance barre class. “I see a million repetitions in a pulsing movement, where in ballet we use a full range.”

Health club operators should seek instruc-tors who can back their class with the knowl-edge to adapt. Classes programmed and mar-keted to 50-plus consumers can also boost gym activity during notorious slump hours in the middle of the day. Experts suggest both morning and evening classes don’t land as well as afternoon offerings. Plus, the social el-ement does the enrollment work for you. “For this population, their children have grown up, in some cases spouses or friends have passed or retired, and they are lonely and don’t feel as needed,” said Prouty. “Facilities and class-es bringing these groups together are more successful.”

Know Your BoomerResearch from the U.K.’s Barclay Bank found most operators in the national leisure indus-try (the U.S. equivalent to health clubs) were not serving the 50-plus population, and the reason for that was … they simply hadn’t thought to.

“This market is taking us back to where we started, and that’s with individual solutions,” said Milner. “The boomers are the ones that kicked off the fitness craze. They’ve been there, done that, and are looking for some-thing different.”

Zumba Gold Co-creators Joy Prouty (left) and Josie Gardiner (right).

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18 SGBWeekly.com | MAY 9, 2016

TRADE ASSOCIATIONS BUYING GROUPS

Athletic Dealers of America1395 Highland AvenueMelbourne, FL 32935t 321.254.0091athleticdealersofamerica.com

National Shooting Sports FoundationFlintlock Ridge Office Center11 Mile Hill RoadNewtown, CT 06470t 203.426.1320 nssf.org

National Sporting Goods Association1601 Feehanville Drive I Suite 300Mount Prospect, IL 60056t 847.296.6742nsga.org

Nation’s Best Sports4216 Hahn Blvd.Ft. Worth, TX 76117t 817.788.0034nbs.com

Outdoor Industry Association4909 Pearl East Circle I Suite 300Boulder, CO 80301t 303.444.3353outdoorindustry.org

Sports & Fitness Industry Association8505 Fenton Street I Suite 211Silver Spring, MD 20910t 301.495.6321sfia.org

Snow Sports Industries America8377-B Greensboro DriveMcLean, VA 22102t 703.556.9020snowsports.org

Snowsports Merchandising Corp.235 Cadwell DriveSpringfield, MA 01104t 413.739.7331Snowsportsmerchandising.com

Sports, Inc.333 2nd Avenue NorthLewistown, MT 59457t 406.538.3496sportsinc.com

Sports Specialists Ltd.590 Fishers Station Drive I Suite 110Victor, NY 14564t 585.742.1010sportsspecialistsltd.com

Tennis Industry Association1 Corpus Christi Place I Suite 117Hilton Head Island, SC 29928t 843.686.3036tennisindustry.org

Worldwide 8211 South 194thKent, WA 98032t 253.872.8746wdi-wdi.com

INDUSTRY CALENDAR

MAY

22-25 NSGA Management Conference and Team Hilton Head Island, SC

JUNE 9-10 Womens Running and Fitness Event Chicago, IL

13-17 Grassroots Spring Summit & Connect Albuquerque, NM

23-25 Sports Inc. Athletic Show Minneapolis, MN

JULY

13-17 IDEA World Fitness Convention Los Angeles, CA

AUGUST

3-6 Outdoor Retailer Summer Market Salt Lake City, UT

5 40 Under 40 Park City, UT

11-13 Sports Inc. Outdoor Show Minneapolis, MN

SEPTEMBER

21-23 Interbike Las Vegas, NV

25-28 NBS Fall Market Fort Worth, TX

OCTOBER

20-23 ADA Fall Buying Show Charlotte, NC

28-30 ADA Fall Buying Show Phoenix, AZ

NOVEMBER

7-11 Grassroots Fall Summit & Connect Knoxville, TN

17-19 Athletic Business Conference & Expo Orlando, FL

29-30 The Running Event Orlando, FL

DECEMBER

1-2 The Running Event Orlando, FL

Photo courtesy CEP

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MAY 9, 2016 | SGBWeekly.com 19

THROUGH HIS RECOVERY MISSION VON MILLER

RELIED ON ZAMST TO PROVIDE HIM SUPPORT FOR REHAB,

RECOVERY AND HIS RELAUNCH BACK TO THE GRIDIRON.

SUPPORTING ATHLETES THROUGH INJURIES, OR PROVIDING

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WE ARE ZAMST, PRECISION ENGINEERED PREVENTION &

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REDEPLOYMENT

RECOVER

REHAB

RELAUNCH

MISSION...JK-Band KNEE support

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wristband wrist support

Von Miller3X All Pro LBZamst Elite Force Team Member

PRECISION ENGINEERED SUPPORT

ZAMST.US877-ZAMST.US

Exo-TECH QUAD

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Tech Deck: