As of this writing, two-thirds of Americans are overweight and one-third of us are obese. Only 15% belong to a health club. Statistics indicate that about 90% of our health care costs are from lifestyle-related problems. This means the average American is overweight, headed for obesity and a myriad of other problems because of lifestyle choices, and 85% of us don’t belong to a health club.

We’re not here to scold or shame anyone for their lifestyle choices; we’re here to provide simple solutions that make sense. Blue Moon Fitness wants to help by welcoming those people who know they need to exercise but may not have felt welcome in a health club. We know we cannot reach all of the people who are not members of a club, but we also recognize that many people have yearned for a place where they know they are welcome. We will be that place for many.

We’re going to do that by providing a comfortable, affordable and well-equipped gym. Don’t join just because you like our low prices, because that is just a portion of what we expect from you in return for access to our club. More important than our fees is the respect we expect from our members. You must show respect for yourself, for other members and guests, for our facilities, and for our staff if you want to be a member or guest of Blue Moon Fitness.

And, just as you would expect not to be allowed access if you choose not to pay your fees, you will not be allowed access if you choose not to pay respect. We tell you this up front because we want to be certain that you understand what is expected of you.

Diabetes is an epidemic affecting us all. In adults 20 and over, more than 1 in 10 suffers from diabetes. For people over 65 that number is greater than 1 in 4. Diet and exercise are the key to managing, and in some cases even reversing diabetes.

Blue Moon Fitness wants to come alongside you and let you know we understand your struggle and more importantly, we care. We want to offer you hope and real support.

We are offering a FREE 12-Week Membership to anyone who has been diagnosed with cancer or diabetes. In addition, Blue Moon Fitness will offer a personal training consultation as well as access to small group training during the 12-week period!

For over 25 years the staff at Blue Moon Fitness has been working to improve the health of the communities we serve. Every member of the staff wishes they had the ability to make things better. This offer is an attempt on our part to make a positive difference in people’s lives.

Click here to learn more about this membership offer.

Blue Moon Fitness was established with a focus on making first-time exercisers and women comfortable.

We considered many names before selecting Blue Moon Fitness.  The challenge was coming up with a name that fit, felt right, and was available to trademark and use as a web address.  Here are a few of the names we considered:

Fit Happens – this is the name many people thought we would use.  Fit Happens was initially used for a radio program that Dr. Pat Friend and Joel Potter hosted.  From there it morphed to become a program within the gym.  It was never intended as a name for the gym.

Black & White Fitness – because we try to make everything as black and white as possible – no grey areas to confuse or debate.  We liked this name but decided against it.

CINAR Fitness – using the acronym for Customer Is Not Always Right.  We didn’t think many people would get it and could be hard to spell.

Bell Curve Fitness – we are trying to serve the average American; people who make up the middle of the bell curve.  Another one that may confuse people and, believe it or not, this name was taken.

Average Joe’s Fitness – this spoke to us trying to serve the average American, but was already taken. It also sounded a little too masculine and didn’t really deliver the message we were shooting for.

Mom’s Fitness – this spoke to our customer service goal of treating everyone the way we would want our own mother treated, but was already taken. It also sounded too feminine and wasn’t clear enough in the message.

Non-Athletic Fitness (or Unathletic Fitness) – this was a fun choice that was intended to communicate that we were a gym for people who wanted to be active but weren’t necessarily athletic. This name didn’t feel right.

New Dawn Fitness – this was inspired because after over 3 decades in the industry we have finally found a way to help those who we’ve always wanted to help. It was just an idea and didn’t go very far.

Super Hero Fitness – this name was considered because our staff members sometimes have to act like a super hero. They are mild-mannered Clark Kent types until someone is rude or obnoxious in the gym at which time they don their super hero role and protect the interests of the average member.

Here are a two of my more radical ideas that were considered but quickly abandoned:

Our Better Business Bureau Rating May Suck, But That’s Okay Fitness – this one takes some explaining. This name was ruled out immediately because it was too long. I like the name because it tells people up front that we will not cave to customer complaints in exchange for a good Better Business Bureau rating. We do our best to honor what we tell people we will do when they enrolled and will correct any errors we make as soon as we are aware of the error. Too often people threaten to file a complaint with the BBB if a business will not make an exception for them. That isn’t how we operate, it isn’t what we agreed to, it isn’t fair to us and it certainly isn’t fair to other members. We will bend over backwards for our members, but that is as far as it goes.

Fitness For Fat People – this one probably shocks you. Too many times people think they need to lose weight before they can join a gym. Then there are the ignoramuses who actually make fun of people who show up at a gym out of shape. And while I would never call someone fat, many people will refer to themselves as fat. The idea behind this name was to tell people who think they are fat that they are welcome. It would also get under the skin of some of the ignoramuses. But in today’s politically-correct world, where we want to avoid offending anyone, this name would certainly offend someone. This isn’t the hill to die on, so I abandoned it.

The Fit Happens Bell Curve of Exercisers will help determine if you are in our target market.

People who will never exercise – no matter what – occupy one end of the bell curve. For whatever reason, many of these people would rather die than exercise. Unfortunately for them, they may get their way. We would love to have an opportunity to help these people, but they have to want our help.

People who do exercise, but whose personal habits intimidate or alienate most people, occupy the other end of the bell curve. These are people who drop or slam weights, scream while lifting, leave messy areas or sweaty equipment behind them or are just plain rude. These people are not welcome at our club.

The middle of the Fit Happens Bell Curve of Exercisers is where the average American resides.

Today, the average American is overweight and they know they need to exercise. And while they wish they were in better shape, most of them have no real desire to look like Arnold did in his prime, either.

Some in this group currently exercises, but they’re not fanatical about it. They’re exercising because they know they should and they know how much better they look and feel when they do exercise. There are also many in this group who have never exercised and want to get started. And some of the people in this group are serious about fitness, but not to the point where they are inconsiderate of others.

Most of these people simply want a comfortable, affordable, and clean place to exercise. They know that the support they get by working out around others benefits them. They know that getting away from the distractions of home adds to their focus and their results. Some of these people want to find a workout partner so that they have an increased commitment to their program and added encouragement.

These people do not want to be around people who intimidate, alienate or disgust them. They don’t want to feel uncomfortable, whether that comes from slamming weights, someone making fun of other people, being expected to wipe someone else’s sweat off the equipment or having to pick up after someone else.

These people just want a place to go where they get the same respect that they give others.

If this describes you, we would love to have you as a member of our club!

It means a perfect game in bowling. It’s the number that separates good hitters from great hitters in baseball. It’s a number that has significance for people who lifted weights. A person who is able to bench press, squat or deadlift 300 pounds is in an elite group.

That same number also seems to be a benchmark for weight gain or cholesterol. Weighing 200 pounds is not a really big deal to most people. It’s easy enough for the weight to slowly creep on, pound by pound, but when a person steps on the scale and the number 300 is achieved, it seems to be a gut check for most people. Round numbers tend to do that to us, whether it’s our age, our weight, or our cholesterol. A person with a cholesterol level of 300 has a 5 times greater risk of heart attack.

In the 80s and 90s we did our best to serve people who hoped to lift 300 pounds– and everyone else who wanted to come along. Today we are doing our best to serve people who want to avoid weighing 300 pounds – and everyone else who want to come along.

Interestingly enough, some of those who hoped to lift 300 pounds in the 80s and 90s are now focused on trying to avoid weighing 300 pounds. That only makes sense as two-thirds of America is overweight and one-third is obese, with 30% of children overweight or obese. Most of America has a weight problem.

While we will gladly serve people who weigh much less than 300 as well as those who weigh much more than 300, we are particularly fond of serving people who tell us that they were overweight, obese, pre-diabetic or Type II Diabetic but are now living healthy lives after losing weight. Diabetes from lifestyle choices is at epidemic levels in the US and diabetes takes years off of a person’s life.

In November 2018, the Journal of American Medical Association published the results of studying 122,007 patients over 23 years. This study indicates that not exercising is worse for you than smoking, diabetes and heart disease. That’s startling, since we know patients with diabetes will shorten a person’s life between 10 and 20 years. And not exercising is worse!

The point everyone involved with Blue Moon Fitness needs to understand and must respect is that we are striving to create facilities where people who want to exercise to regain their health know they are welcome. Walking into a new gym can be terrifying for anyone. Walking into a gym for the first time, especially for an overweight or obese person, is one of the most courageous things a person can do. We get that, we respect that, and we will do our best to honor those people.

If this sounds like something you can support then you are welcome to be a part of Blue Moon Fitness. If this makes you uncomfortable, if you think gyms are only for athletes, or if you think you have more of a right to the gym than others, then Blue Moon Fitness is not the place for you. We’re not going to say our way is right and your way is wrong, but we will acknowledge that we are definitely not a good fit. We will not apologize for our position nor will we compromise, so we respectfully ask that you find a gym that better suits you. If you tell us what you want in a gym, we can probably make a recommendation.

Blue Moon Fitness works. It has a nice sound to it and it feels right. We want the gym to feel right, too. We’re going to do our best to be comfortable enough and cheap enough that even those who exercise “once in a blue moon” can belong at Blue Moon Fitness.

Welcome to my gym. If you feel out of place, that’s okay. I know I sure did the first time I walked into a gym.

I was a very unlikely exerciser when I started working out in 1976, but I quickly recognized the benefits of what I now know as fitness. Jack LaLanne, the world famous diet and exercise guru was also an unlikely exerciser. As a kid, he was addicted to sugar and junk food. Jack suffered from blinding headaches and had no energy. He was so sickly that they kept him out of school for 6 months. His mother finally took him to a health seminar that planted the seed that would become his life’s vocation. All the way up to and into his 90’s, Jack exercised 2 hours a day!

You may not be the next Jack LaLanne, but we need to get you exercising either way. I probably would have never started if I didn’t have a comfortable and reasonably friendly place to work out. Part of the reason my first gym was friendly was because it was nearly empty. There were few exercisers, very few gyms, and the equipment was mostly homemade. Many looked down on the fitness industry. They thought it was a fad or a scam. But I saw the value of diet and exercise so I decided to venture into the gym business in 1989, despite what the “experts” were saying at the time.

The opportunity to introduce first-time exercisers to fitness is the biggest reason I got in the gym business. Today it is my goal to provide you with the kind of facility where you feel welcome. I am going to do my best to make you realize that you are important to my staff and me. I am sincere when I tell you that I get more excited when we enroll a first-time exerciser than any other type of member. I believe fitness can change anyone’s life, but he or she must get started in order to experience the almost endless benefits of exercise.

You are not expected to know everything and I encourage you to ask others for help. Everyone who works out today started somewhere, so we know what it is like to feel overwhelmed. Those who are truly knowledgeable tend to enjoy helping others, so don’t be afraid to ask for assistance.

You have some responsibilities, too. You are expected to be polite and respectful towards yourself, others, the equipment and the facilities. You are expected to share equipment, pick up after yourself and wipe down equipment when you are done using it. If that doesn’t happen, we won’t get along and eventually you will be asked to leave.

I’m willing to bet that if you stick around awhile that you will make a few friendships that last many, many years. I’m proud to say that I know many people who met in my gyms that have gone on to become lifelong friends. There have been many romances, marriages and children come out of people meeting in the gym, too. But don’t think of this gym as a meat market, because it isn’t. It is okay to think of it as “meet” market. You can “meet” many great people here.

Welcome and thanks for being a member. If you’ve been exercising for any length of time, you know most of the rules that come with working out in a gym.

Nevertheless, I expect that you have been to a variety of facilities and recognize that some of the rules vary from gym to gym. I want to stress to you that I expect everyone to follow the typical etiquette and safety rules here but my standards are higher than most gyms. I expect everyone to do the normal stuff that includes picking up their weights, not dropping or slamming weights, and wiping off equipment after they are done using it. But I am going to be more intolerant of not doing these things than other gyms and I expect everyone to act like a nice person – even if they have to fake it some days. Life is too short to be mean by choice.

I also want to remind you of what it was like the first time you stepped into a gym. I expect you were nervous – most of us were. My goal is to offer facilities that are clean enough, comfortable enough, friendly enough, and helpful enough that first-time users feel welcome. If that happens, then I expect you will feel comfortable, too. If you treat everyone with the same respect that you would like to be treated with, you will probably get along well here. I ask that you treat new exercisers with extra consideration so they stick with the program long enough to realize the benefits. Your kindness and encouragement just may save someone’s life.

Blue Moon Fitness strives to improve the lives of those in the communities we serve. Since we launched our first club in 1989, we have actively sought out good causes that align with our mission and values. From the Muscular Dystrophy Association, to Toys for Tots, to supporting first responders, from various food drives to our cash support of the Open Door Mission, to our long-running radio show, Fit Happens that we viewed as a community service and was hosted in Omaha on KKAR and KFAB, we have looked to spend our time and money in smart ways that help those who need it. We have also offered thousands of free memberships to first responders as well as military personnel. We do not take supporting a charity lightly, as our resources are limited and we want to make certain we support causes that are operated with both dignity and integrity.

Since 2016 we have been offering free 3-month memberships to anyone who has been diagnosed with Cancer or Diabetes. This includes cancer survivors and diabetics who have managed to become symptom-free. If someone is a member and they prove that they qualify we will upgrade their membership for 3 months.

We believe this effort aligns very closely with our mission due to the ties between diet, exercise, diabetes, and cancer. Not convinced? Do you know that some medical oncologists recommend that their patients undergoing chemotherapy maintain or increase their activity levels during chemo treatment?