Muscle Beach competition
Fitness Capital of the World!
Wallack notes, with interest, that much of what was to happen in the industry was born on the beach in nearby Santa Monica and Venice. Today, Venice Beach is still a showcase and showplace for physical activity of every sort, and includes the beach itself, Muscle Beach, Ocean Front Walk, Skate Dancing plaza, a bike trail, and handball, paddle tennis, and beach volleyball courts. To enumerate every contribution that the people of the Greater Los Angeles area have made to the industry would require a multi-volume encyclopedia. Until someone takes on that daunting task, here, then, are 15 of the highlights of that history, as sug- gested by, among others, Nieto, McCarthy, Wallack, and Stephen Tharrett, the coauthor of Legends of Fitness: The Forces, Influ- encers, and Innovations That Helped Shape the Fitness Industry.
• Originally founded in 1880, The Los Angeles Athletic Club (LAAC) in downtown Los Angeles has operated out of the same building since 1912. “I believe it’s one of the oldest continuously operated athletic club in the U.S.,” says McCarthy. Since its inception as the first private club in Los Angeles, LAAC has subscribed to “a philosophy by which health of mind, body, and spirit flourish.” The club has been honored by USA Today as one of the “Top 10 Healthiest Hotels based on fitness facilities.”
Jack LaLanne, l., and Ray Wilson
• In 1939, the original Muscle Beach, just south of the Santa Monica Pier, attracted a young fitness buff named Jack LaLanne, who went on to become the first person to introduce ordinary Americans, particularly women, to exercise via television. LaLanne broadcast his shows from L.A. from 1951 to 1985. In the 1960s, he lent his name to a chain of clubs operated by Ray Wilson, which were rebranded Jack LaLanne European Health Spas, and he later licensed his name to the company that would become Bally Total Fitness. “Before Jack would let me use his image, he spent a week in my clubs,” Wilson recalled when LaLanne died last year. “He then gave me a list with four items that required we improve our service and fitness instruction to members … Even in his 90s, Jack never lost his dedication to fitness or his tremendous enthusiasm.” “Jack was one of my mentors,” recalls Nieto. “His ability to inspire the world to eat right, sleep more, and move more is his legacy!”
Jane Fonda’s historic Workout
• In 1939, brothers Vic and Armand Tanny opened their first bodybuilding clubs, Vic Tanny’s Gym, in Santa Monica and Long Beach. They touted their offering as “The Largest and Best Equipped Barbell Gym in the West.” After closing the gyms during World War II, the Tannys reemerged, in 1947, with a more modern version—probably the first of its kind, observes Tharrett. “It had mirrors, carpet, chrome equipment, sauna and swimming pools, and was used by men and women on alternate days. By 1960, it had grown into a chain of 84 facilities with annual revenues equivalent to $176 million in 2011 dollars.”
• Rudy Smith, who owned and operated the Las Vegas Athletic Clubs (LVAC) in Las Vegas, was an early Vic Tanny employee and, later, after being hired by a friend, Don Wildman, ran the Holiday Spa Health Clubs, which became part of the Health & Tennis Corporation of America (now Bally).
40 Club Business Internat ional | FEBRUARY 2012 |
ihrsa.org
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