FitNet News - May Issue
16 Bally-Owned Toronto Clubs Purchased By Canadian Operators
Extreme Fitness Buys Six Bally Total Fitness and Sports Clubs of Canada Clubs
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| Falconhead Capital, LLC, a private equity firm specializing in investments in consumer-focused businesses, announced that its portfolio company Extreme Fitness, Inc., has acquired six Bally Total Fitness and Sports Clubs of Canada fitness clubs in Toronto from Bally Total Fitness. |
Extreme Fitness currently has six fitness clubs in the Greater Toronto Area and approximately 45,000 members. The six fitness clubs being aquired will double the number of Extreme Fitness facilities in Greater Toronto and increase memberships by more than 30 percent, to approximately 60,000. The Sports Clubs locations to be acquired are The Dunfield, The Delisle and The Wellington. The Bally locations are known as Bloor Street, The Interchange and The Cedarbrae.
Extreme Fitness plans to invest significant amounts in the newly acquired fitness clubs to upgrade their facilities, add state-of-the-art equipment, and ensure that they meet the company’s high quality and member-experience standards.
GoodLife Buys 10 Bally Total Fitness and Sports Clubs of Canada Clubs
GoodLife Fitness Clubs has acquired the majority of the Sports Clubs of Canada and Bally Total Fitness Canadian operations, all located in the Greater Toronto Area. The addition of the 10 clubs will bring GoodLife’s total across Canada to 139 clubs, solidifying GoodLife’s position as the largest fitness provider in Canada.
“The addition of the Bally clubs will not change our primary commitment which is to the health and well-being of our members and our pledge to make Canadians the fittest population on the planet, said David Patchell-Evans, CEO and founder of GoodLife Fitness.” Our goal will be to continue the service provided to Bally and Sports Clubs members but with our own unique GoodLife branding, core values and a staff passionate about fitness.”
New Data On Fructose-Sweetened Drinks and Hepatic Metabolism
According to the World Health Organitzation, in the year 2015 some 2.3 billion adults will be overweight. For some time, the high incidence of obesity has coincided with an increase in the consumption of beverages sweetened with fructose, a powerful sweetener. The University of Barcelona recently published a study in the journal Hepatology which provides clues to the molecular mechanism through which the fructose in beverages may alter lipid energy metabolism and cause fatty liver and metabolic syndrome.
This preclinical study was carried out with laboratory rats receiving fructose- or glucose-sweetened liquid intake, not solid food. “The fructose in fruit has nothing to do with this study,” says Professor Laguna who stresses that fruit is a healthy choice. “Our study focuses on liquid fructose intake as an addition to the ordinary diet.”
Fructose is mainly metabolized in the liver, the target organ of the metabolic alterations caused by the consumption of this sugar. The fructose used to sweeten beverages alters the lipid metabolism in the liver and, according to the authors, represents a calorie overload to which the body’s metabolism is unable to adapt. Specifically, fructose increases fat synthesis in the liver and reduces its degradation through action on a specific nuclear receptor which controls fatty acid B-oxidation. “The most novel finding,” says Laguna, “is that this molecular mechanism is related to an impairment in the leptin signal. Leptin is a hormone that plays a key role in the body’s energy control; among its peripheral actions, it accelerates fat oxidation in the liver and reduces its synthesis.”
New Year’s Resolutions Start in Spring
More than half of Americans have confirmed the “real” New Year for fitness begins in spring, says a consumer survey commissioned by Nautilus, Inc. “Spring is a natural time to begin training because we shed layers of clothing and become more conscious of our appearance,” said Jay Blahnik, a fitness trainer and Nautilus Institute advisor.
The survey also discovered that about one-third of active Americans will be seeking fitness equipment for their homes in the next year. Topping their shopping lists are free weights, treadmills and exercise bikes.
How Exercise Reduces Atherosclerosis
Aerobic exercise is widely recognized as reducing the risk of coronary heart disease, but until now, researchers have not fully understood the biological mechanisms behind the effect of exercise on cardiovascular health. Findings of a new study show how exercise decreases inflammation, which reduces the risk of atherosclerosis – fatty build-ups in the arteries – that cause most cases of heart disease.
In the study, whole blood samples were taken from 46 healthy young adults both before and after participating in moderate or high intensity aerobic exercise over a 12-week period.
The blood samples were stimulated with the infectious agent lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and then analyzed for levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) – an initial step in the inflammatory cascade. Substantially lower levels of TNF were found after aerobic training, in both the moderate and high intensity groups.
After a survey showed a decline in the physical strength of high school students in recent years, the Education Ministry in China is considering including physical tests in students’ academic files. The ministry is considering using the physical test as a way to split university applicants who have the same score on written tests.
It also plans to raise the physical test standards for students who wish to enroll in senior high schools. The 2005 survey, involving 380,000 students, revealed a sharp increase in the number of students between the ages of 7 and 18 who were overweight.
Power Lifter Prepares for World Championships
Andy Childs, a 39-year-old personal trainer and owner of Phoenix Fitness in Ancaster, Ontario, claimed the national master’s powerlifting title by hoisting a total of more than 1,653 pounds in three lifts. His successful lifts were squat 285 kg. (628 lbs.), bench press 190 kg. (419 lbs.) and deadlift 275 kg (606 lbs.). This qualifies him for the IPF Masters World Championships in the Czeck Republic next October.
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