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Working It All Out Is A Snap

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By PAUL CATALA pcatala@mediageneral.com

The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 27, 2009

Mike Higgins likens the access to the fitness center he uses to having a personal gymnasium, state-of-the-art workout equipment and personal trainers in his own backyard.

Higgins is a member of Snap Fitness, a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week, health club that opened in FishHawk Ranch in Jan. 1. Like other customers, Higgins takes advantage of the proximity of the center to his home and the ability to use it whenever the workout bug bites.

Located at 16317 FishHawk Blvd., next to FishHawk Crossing in Lithia, Snap Fitness is one of the newest of the fitness center chain's approximately 900 facilities nationwide and one of about 13 in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.

As he went over scheduling during a workday last month, Scott Lameier - who co-owns Snap Fitness with his wife, Karen - said the club's location and accessibility is what makes it special. He said unlike some of the "big box" fitness centers, because of its smaller size, Snap can offer more affordable and personalized services than larger gymnasiums or wellness centers.

"We're an alternative to the full-service clubs," said Scott Lameier, 44, a Cincinnati, Ohio, native who's lived in Lithia for about 10 years. "We offer the same state-of-the-art exercise equipment, but we're able to keep our membership costs low by offering quick, no-hassle services that a lot of the larger fitness clubs cannot do."
Snap Fitness offers members full-time access to the club without long-term contracts and staffs on-site board certified fitness professionals Cindy Valencia and Robert Feltner. Lameier considers the center to be a "neighborhood facility"

"If you live in the community, we can accommodate your schedule," said Lameier, also co-owns a Tampa automobile transmission company. "There are about 5,000 homes in FishHawk, so this is needed in the neighborhood."

In Snap Fitness, customers have access to elliptical machines, treadmills, free-weights and strength equipment, tanning beds, interactive cardio machines and plasma screen televisions to watch while building bodies. To help motivate customers, Lameier implemented a "Fitness Challenge," in which members move up a chart as they reach certain goals and eventually win a prize.

Higgins, said the Fitness Challenge is a way to encourage training, while Snap's proximity and personal services are motivation enough.

"You feel like it's your own place; sometimes you go in and you're there almost alone," said Higgins, owner of a Tampa technology company, whose wife, Melissa, and children, Josh, 16 and Macy, 14, also work out at Snap Fitness. "It's like having your own gym with the latest equipment in it."

Lameier said being open 24 hours brings up security concerns, but the club always is locked and members can get in only with a keycard. The security system includes cameras, alarms, panic alarms and portable panic alarms members can keep with them during workouts.
Snap Fitness was created in Alexandria, Minn., by Peter Taunton in 2004, who said on the Snap Web site that about 90 percent of its customers live within a two-mile radius of its clubs and the "facilities are not geared for any one gender or age, but our product really lends itself well to anyone who is interested in improving their health."

There now is a network of clubs in 45 states and Taunton projects the company will reach $17 million in revenues with 1,300 stores by the end of 2009.
Snap Fitness memberships are $40 per month for individuals; $59.95 for joint; and $69.95 for family. Snap at FishHawk Ranch is offering to drop the $75 enrollment fee for customers bringing in a copy of the FishHawker newspaper.

For information, call (813) 341-7627 or see snapfitness/lithiafl.

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