Health club on the cheap: a bigger and better fitness bargain you can't resist in Texas

American Fitness, Sept-Oct, 1993 by Jay Williams

A bigger and better fitness bargain you can't resist in Texas.

Okay, here's the deal. If you act now, we'll give you this four-month health club membership for $40 What do you get? How about your own massage service--expert fingers working over your tired muscles, taking the kinks out. Not enough? Add access to weight rooms, three gyms, 12 basketball courts, over 20 racquetball courts and more. Still not enough? Okay, buy the annual membership for $99 and we'll throw in discounted fees for outdoor trips and tons of activity classes.

Looking over the benefits of the Non-Student Program at the University of Texas, you'd think you were joining a private health club. However, this isn't a health club--it's better. The Non-Student Program offers an archery range, two swimming pools, dance and exercise rooms, basketball courts, a martial arts room, multi-purpose rooms for fencing, volleyball and badminton, a massage area, 31 handball/racquetball courts, weight and steam rooms, two squash courts, plus two tracks and over 30 tennis courts.

Even with all the great facilities and classes, convincing the university's staff and faculty to take an interest in their health is a full-time job. "It's really exciting to work with people making the change to an active lifestyle," says Celeste Hamman, director of the Non-Student Program "The program used to offer only eight classes every semester. We expanded in September, 1990 and introduced more variety. Now we have 17 exercise classes, plus strength conditioning, sports skills and wellness classes."

As proof, she waded through her paper-flooded desk and found the eight-page program brochure. It lists 29 classes, not counting the facility orientation courses or sports leagues. The selection includes "dancercise," "aquaerobics," aerobics and "Mind/Body Workouts" such as tai chi. A class titled "Move It" focuses on flexibility, relaxation, strength and cardiovascular conditioning.

With a gigantic array of facilities and wide-ranging classes, you might think the staff would break down the doors to join. However, the Non-Student Program includes only 1,800 faculty and staff members--less than 10% of those eligible.

Motivating people to take part in this program presents a challenge. Hammman works relentlessly to overcome office workers' urge to slouch home to the couch. One of her efforts is to incorporate modern ideas into the program.

"It's important to give people who don't normally go out and join a gym an opportunity to slide into health and fitness through a back door--through something they find enjoyable," says Hamman, who once owned a fitness consulting firm and earned a master's degree in exercise physiology. "They'll participate not necessarily because it's good for them, but because it's fun."

This idea Hamman hints at comes from Healthy Pleasures, a book by Robert Ornstein and David Sobel. According to Ornstein, a psychologist, and Sobel, director of patient education for Kaiser health maintenance company, the healthiest people take time to enjoy life's pleasures, not just exercise. Influenced by this book, many health organizations and fitness programs now combine fitness with pleasure.

"The philosophy is called the 'Pleasure Principle,'" says Hamman. "An emerging philosophy health promoters are moving to. For too long we've tried to encourage people to make healthy choices from a negative point of view, based on fear of disease or what will happen if they don't exercise. We've put a lot of rigidity and structure into programs, demanding self-control and will power in order to be healthy. That's a negative approach. The Pleasure Principle is very positive.

"People innately know how to take care of themselves," she adds. "By listening to their own inner workings, they can tell a lot about their own health and wellness instead of someone imposing it on them."

Hamman described the university's "poker walk" held in conjunction with National Employee Health and Fitness Day as an example of the Pleasure Principle. Employees are sent scrambling across campus to various locations to pick up poker cards. At the final station, the participant with the best hand wins a prize. "The goal was to get people out doing something that felt good and maybe make a connection with someone else in their office, which might parlay into a regular office walking group," says Hamman.

During the poker walk in May, 1992, over 600 people participated, and 75% weren't members of the Non-Student Program. With this turnout, more people are expected to join those who have discovered the program's benefits.

"For just $99 a year, you can't beat it," declares Mickey Gonzales, a senior office assistant for the School for Nursing. "I paid $30 a month at a private club and all I did was lift weights. Here there are many different facilities and things to do."

A member since 1987, Gonzales enjoys elbowing for rebounds on the basketball courts and pumping iron with the modern Cybex and Nautilus equipment. He was also introduced to exercise classes. "I signed up for 'benching' and didn't know what to expect," he says. "I thought it was just stepping up on benches, but it was full of energy!"