US health club membership is booming

Preliminary findings from American Sports Data indicates that US health club membership grew to 32.8 million Americans in 2000, a 7.4 per cent increase over 1999. The study, sponsored by the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA), has tracked US health club membership since 1987 and indicates that total membership in clubs and fitness centres has risen nearly 90 per cent during the past 13 years. John McCarthy, IHRSA executive director, says that health and sports clubs have evolved and become dramatically more professional during the past decade: There has been an explosion in the kinds of creative programmes and equipment clubs have to offer their members. IHRSA is celebrating its 20th anniversary with the annual international convention and trade show, on 21-24 March, 2001 in San Francisco.