The Fastest Routes To Weight Loss Are Sometimes Curves

By Kaaren Valenta

Gary Heavin was in the fitness business in Texas when he came to some conclusions. With today’s busy lifestyles, women didn’t have a lot of spare time to fit in an exercise program, and they didn’t want to have to drive long distances to a gym.

The result became Curves for Women, the fastest growing fitness franchise in America.

“The first year there were 10 facilities, the second 250,” said Roberta Allen, who owns Curves for Women in Newtown in the Sand Hill Plaza. “There were 1,350 facilities in February 2000 when I bought my first franchise in Waterbury, and now there are over 2,700 in all 50 states, Canada, and in Spain.”

 A unique concept in the exercise fitness industry, Curves combines an exercise facility and weight loss counseling in the same place, frequently a 1,000-square foot storefront in a local shopping plaza. Curves offers a 30-minute workout through circuit training, alternating a series of hydraulic resistance machines with aerobic recovery stations, and ending with a three-minute stretching routine.

“Curves says the program is good for women ages 9 to 109. Any fitness level can work out here – that is true,” Roberta Allen said. “It’s good for all shapes and sizes and ages – and it is fun!”

Roberta Allen had worked for 13 years as a comptroller for a Brookfield businessman who owned 27 NutriSystem weight loss centers. When he sold the business, Ms Allen went on the Internet to find a business that she might be interested in starting. She found Curves.

“I went to look at ones operating in Connecticut,” she said. “The owners were very friendly and spent tons of time with me.”

At the time she was dealing with several personal health issues including high cholesterol and weight. “Curves helped me lower my cholesterol without having to take any medicine,” she said. “Now I’m helping other women. I call this my feel good business.”

The Curves exercise program consists of five parts: a warm-up, 20 minutes of cardio strength training at the client’s sustained target heart rate, three complete repetitions on all major muscle groups, cool-down, and stretching.

“We say that Curves is the hour and a half workout in 30 minutes that was designed with a woman’s body in mind,” Ms Allen said. “You can do it every day, because it is safe, but we recommend that the minimum is three times a week. It’s fast fun fitness.”

 The Quick Fit Circuit consists of nine hydraulic resistance machines separated by nine aerobic stations. Clients move around the circuit three times, listening to lively upbeat music and performing the exercise at each station for only 35 seconds.

“It takes 30 seconds to overload a muscle,” Ms Allen explained. “You can stand to any exercise for 35 seconds. And because these are hydraulic resistance machines, not weight machines, they are suitable for all ages and fitness levels. Once you are trained, you can jump into the circuit, on any machine, to start.”

When clients join Curves, there is an individualized program.

“We do a health history first,” Ms Allen explained. “We weigh and measure you, set goals, and do a body fat analysis. We do this on a monthly basis to check your progress.”

“Strength training burns stored body fat and builds lean body muscle,” she said. “The more muscle you have, the higher your metabolism. For every pound of body fat lost, you can raise your metabolic rate – the rate you burn calories – by 50 calories. The 30 minute total workout burns as much as 500 calories.”

Strength training also helps prevent osteoporosis by reducing the risk of bone loss.

“We get a lot of clients who are referred to Curves by their doctors,” Ms Allen said. “The health benefits are there. Some HMOs are picking up the cost, and some companies give their employees memberships.”

The exercise facility operates from 8 am to 12:30 pm and 3 to 7:30 pm, Monday through Friday, plus 8 am to 11:30 am on Saturday.

Most Curves franchises offer a six-week weight loss program, too. Roberta Allen plans to offer it at the Newtown Curves soon. The program, Fit & Slender, was developed by registered dietitian Elizabeth Sommers, author of The Nutritional Desk Reference.

“The class will follow the book and meet once a week,” Ms Allen said, explaining that clients will have the choice of a class that meets after the exercise sessions end at 12:30 pm or 7:30 pm.

Cheri Ross has been a member of Curves since it opened in Newtown last April.

“I run a lot but I found it didn’t get rid of my ‘baby belly.’ It’s been three years since my baby was a baby,” she said, laughing. “I can’t run in this [summer] heat, so this gives me another option. I think I came in the day it opened; I wasn’t going to waste time.”

Roberta Allen said her customers all seem to be as enthusiastic as Cheri Ross.

“Members say they can’t wait to come here. They say ‘It’s part of my life now,’ which is what you want exercise to be,” she said.