Byline: Ken Cleveland

Fitness clubs are no longer just racks of weights. Although classic free weights are part of many workout programs, today's fitness centers offer a variety of equipment to challenge every muscle without necessarily going for the body-builder look.

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And fitness centers such as Anytime Fitness, Ciccone Family Fitness Center and Curves have grown to incorporate other things to bring customers in and ensure a better result.

After all, a workout that gets results, whether it's a goal of losing weight or keeping fit, is more likely to be a long-term commitment.

And many fitness centers are incorporating another key component of fitness: Nutrition. That comes in the form of extensive nutrition consultations, online programs and even shakes designed to taste good and deliver needed nutrients.

Geared to women

Even the equipment is geared for women at Curves, a chain with many affiliates, including one in Clinton, at Woodruff Plaza in Clinton. There are also sites in Bolton, Westboro, Leominster, Marlboro and Grafton, according to the international Web site.

"The reason Curves is so successful for women of all ages and body types, is the equipment is specifically designed for women. It's not the same old fitness routine," Clinton Curves owner Tracey Holder said. "It's a fun, motivating environment. You really get out of our program what you put into it. The harder you work, the more the hydraulics are resistant."

At Curves, the plan is for a 30-minute workout. The workout is more attractive since it is a limited commitment of time.

Holder said health care professionals stress women need more than just cardio. They need weight training as part of the program.

"Because the program keeps the heart rate elevated, they can get cardio and weight training in one workout," she said. "In half the time they get the same workout they'd get doing the two separately."

Nutrition

Anytime Fitness, which has several area locations, including Clinton and Northboro, offers an interactive, online nutrition program to ensure people are addressing the diet part of the get fit program.

"We have an online nutrition program for all members," Anytime Fitness Clinton-franchise owner Jim Buck III said. "Members can select foods they like to eat; it tells them what type of nutrition they're missing, and they can add them in as they want. It tells them what they should add to their diet, what's missing and what are the best foods to add."

That component is half the fitness equation, Buck said.

"Nutrition is very important. Exercise is half of fitness; nutrition is the other half."

The diet component is not about trend diets, Mayra Ciccone of Ciccone Family Fitness Center said.

"We keep you going with motivation. People eat normal foods, healthy foods. We just provide the education. People think they have to go on this crazy diet, not at all. We use the food pyramid."

Ciccone said she uses metabolism retraining with a twice a month meeting to see how members' routines are going.

The nutrition adds an important component to any fitness plan.

"We have a six-week program about learning how to eat healthy, so you don't have to diet for the rest of your life," Holder said, referring to the book by Curves founder, "Permanent results for permanent diet."

"You should be able to use a diet to lose weight and then eat appropriately to maintain where you're at," Holder said. "If you do both workout and eating program, you get much better results and much better health."

Curves also offers supplements and protein shakes and the company has partnered with General Mills to create healthy foods that are available at the club.

Motivation

Part of the program is keeping people committed to the routine.

"I keep it upbeat," Holder said, with games and activities, "So people forget that they're working out."

She offers personal encouragement, and "members motivate each other." She encourages three workouts a week.

"You see all kinds of results from weight loss, including better blood pressure," she said. She noted that with conditions such as osteoarthritis, exercise could help stop degeneration of disks.

Ciccone stresses the benefits of the Thin and Healthy Total Solution available at Ciccone Family Fitness Center on High Street in Clinton.

But the key to long-term success, she said, is "motivation. Sticking with it is the problem."

Ciccone said she teaches people about food and retraining their metabolism.

It is about "life success, life coaching. The biggest element here is to keep people on track."

Ciccone has researched options. "Dennis (her husband and co-owner) and I have researched every weight loss program." Having been in business for over 20 years, "We've seen people come and go and not reach their goals. The question is what can we do to help them reach their goal."

She often suggests little things to add exercise, like adding walks around the house while gardening.

"Getting people to move instead of thinking of exercise as a chore," Ciccone said.

Ciccone also offers a variety of classes at different levels. "We have something for everybody."

The Friday night Zumba "combines high energy and motivating music with unique moves and combinations that allow the Zumba participants to dance away their worries. It is based on the principle that a workout should be fun and easy to do."

In addition to the motivation focus and weight loss programs, Ciccone will call anyone who doesn't show up. "We stay on top of you."

And adding in some nutrition can be as simple as a shake.

Ciccone said, especially in the summer, "we have families that will come here for shakes. They want to teach their children to be more healthy. It tastes good, and is good for you."

Beside the variety of flavors, there are various supplements or vitamins. Protein is good, she said, since, after a workout, the metabolism is still going for several hours. Different kinds can help those who want to lose weight as well as those who - and there are some - want to gain weight.

But Ciccone stresses the need to maintain motivation and keep people on track to reach their goals.

"The motivation has got to be there, too," for there to be long-term success.

Buck also stresses motivation at the Anytime Fitness location at 300A High St. in Clinton, which is open 24 hours a day so members can exercise whenever they want to.

"You've got to want to do it," Buck said. He adds motivational incentives for members using contests, including promotions to benefit charities.

"A lot of people are coming together," Buck said. "It forces the other one to go." Partnering up is a good way to make sure it is not too easy to stop exercising.

"We set them up on a program, instead of them coming in and being by themselves," Buck said. "That's the plus of the gym."

Still, he cautions, "Nothing's going to happen overnight." That means building it into a routine.

Holder stresses the importance of making the time to work out: "I like to tell members to schedule some `me' time."

And starting early helps as well.

"The earlier in life you start, the better off you are," Holder said. And the rules apply to young people as well. She said she has a couple of mother-daughter teams who work out at Curves, gaining a family add-on discount for the daughter.

With Curves now open seven days a week, Holder said, it should be easy for a person to make three workouts a week.

At Curves, the Curvaceous clothing line is also available; members can buy workout outfits for use in the club or outside.

Holder, who has owned the Clinton Curves for almost a year, stresses the benefit of the training owners get, including a partnership with Baylor University for courses in which they can get a degree as a certified physical trainer. The result, she said, is "people who know what they're talking about. There's somebody always there during your workout. We're really hands-on."