Keeping Women Trim Spurs Franchise's Growth

Penny Panlener has what she called an "incredible shrinking friend." She'd see her friend every few months and couldn't help but notice that the woman was dropping pants sizes like others drop Reese's candy wrappers.

"Every time I'd see her, it was amazing," Panlener said. "She went from a size 16 to a 4 in about a year."

The shrinking wonder didn't drop those pounds with the Atkins or South Beach diets, or any of the latest easy-weight-loss diet pill plans. She did it through Curves for Women.

Panlener joined the club in September, and has since seen her own muscles tighten, clothes loosen and her metabolism speed up.

According to Curves for Women, the company is the fastest-growing franchise in history, with more than 8,000 locations and about 4 million members from around the world - about one Curves for every two McDonalds Restaurants. Alaska has 17 clubs. Vic and Jill Harling own the four in Anchorage , which employ 16 people and have about 3,000 members.

Peg Saam owns franchises in several other communities along the road system around the state.

Curves offers a unique, but complete, aerobic and strength training workout in only 30 minutes. The clubs are built around easy-to-learn hydraulic resistance machines that are designed especially for women.

Machines are placed in a circle around the room. Between each machine is a recovery pad. The routine is this: Spend 30 seconds on a machine, then move over to spend 30 seconds walking in place on the pad, then on to the next machine, and continue the rotation. There are 12 machines and 12 pads. Go around twice for a full workout, then off to about 3 minutes of stretching exercises - to ward off achy muscles - and you're out the door.

Thirty minutes can't be that hard, right? Although it doesn't sound like much, a trial run once around the machines is enough to get your heart pumping and your muscles screaming.

"People come in here all the time and think, that's nothing," said Sandy Clark, manager for the Anchorage Curves clubs. "But they find out it's a hard workout."

Shirley Staten joined Curves in September and comes in several times a week. As of Dec. 15, she had lost 5 pounds, 10 3/4 inches off her waist and 5.24 pounds of body fat.

It's a workout that virtually everyone can do, and each woman can determine her level of intensity, Clark said.

Anchorage-area members range in age from about 90 years old to 10.

"I can do this with my mom, but I can work at a higher intensity than she does," Clark said. "My mother-in-law is in her 70s and has two hip replacements, and she can do this. You're going to get out of it what you put into it. I've had people complain that they've been a member for a long time and haven't lost any weight. But when you look at their workout history, you see they only came in four or five times in four months.

"That's the thing - you can't just belong to a club, you have to work out at it."

What makes Curves so popular, Clark said, is that you can work at your own pace and on your own schedule. The workout covers both and you work on cardiovascular and strength training at once. But maybe the best part: No men and no mirrors. Why no mirrors?

"Mirrors? Do you like seeing things jiggle when you're moving?" Clark asked. Enough said.

The "no men" rule was set to make women of all ages and sizes more confident and comfortable during their workouts. It allows women to focus more on the workout than the latest workout fashions or if their hair is getting frizzy, Clark said.

"Women are already self-conscious when they are around men and they start jiggling," Clark said. "Here, there's no intimidation, and we're definitely not a meat market."

Clark said she used to be a member of a local co-ed gym, but found it to be too intimidating and time consuming. She would have to sign up to use a machine, have to wait around if she missed the beginning of an aerobics class. And too often saw women, while waiting for a stair-step machine, fixing their hair in the mirror.

"I'm not working out for a man," she said. "The goal here is fitness and health. You're not just a number to us. If you don't show up, we call you. We care about these ladies."

Older women, especially, don't feel comfortable in a conventional gym, Clark said. "Others are saying they are tired of playing the dating game. Here, we have a safe, comfortable, positive environment."

Curves also hosts nutrition classes that focus on ways to avoid fad diets and focus instead on better eating habits. Pay for the class once and you can attend as often as you like, never having to pay again.

The Anchorage Curves clubs every month adopts a charity, allowing staff and members to help others in the community. In December, for example, each club adopted a family through the Salvation Army. Clark wound up having to rent a U-Haul truck to hold the donated items from all four clubs.

The clubs have also had turkey drives for Bean's CafZ, collected toiletries for Abused Women's Aid in Crisis and Standing Together Against Rape, and gathered stuffed animals for the Alaska Psychiatric Institute.

Curves membership is also reasonable compared to other clubs. To join the Anchorage clubs, you pay a one-time service fee of $149 and $29 a month, with a one-year commitment. You also get a guarantee of no fee increases for as long as you maintain your membership.