Published August 10, 2000 OC Metro, The Fitness Business by Liz Goldner

The soft sell works well for Fitness Concepts

Exercise is big business in Orange County. So much so that your local gym/fitness center is standing room only during peak hours, while staff members and personal trainers hawk hour-long training sessions to wary members.

Gyms are so prevalent in these environs that owners and managers often employ the hard-sell approach to members, with little regard for their real needs and feelings

At least that's what Robert Burns and Doug Katona believe about many gyms. They are co-owners of Shape-Up Fitness Centers in Corona Del Mar and Newport Beach and of Fitness Concepts, a company that designs and installs quality health clubs in hotels, luxury apartments complexes, master-planned home communities and corporations.

Bucking the "meat market" mentality so common in health clubs today, they have created two fitness centers that cater to the needs of their clients in a low-stress, semi-private atmosphere. Their centers and Fitness Concepts (an off-shoot that was started in response to the needs of a Shape-Up member) are so successful - financially and in customer and employee satisfaction - that they prove the adage, "less is more." Or soft-sell and nurturing of clients yields big bucks, as well as respect by the community that they serve.

A passion from an early age

Burns and Katona have spent much of their teenage and adult years learning about and participating in physical fitness. For both, careers in the industry are a natural outgrowth of hobbies they developed early on, that became the passions of their lives.

Robert Burns, 47, grew up in the fitness industry with a family that owned and managed American Health Studios in Akron, Ohio, Toronto, Buffalo and other Eastern cities. Along the way, he met famous body builders, such as Steve Reeves, while Jack La Lanne was a friend of the family.

In 1968, his father opened a European Health Club in Reseda - one of the first clubs in the country to feature luxury accouterments such as whirl pools and saunas. Burns worked there as a shoe shine boy and soon after, at age 16, was promoted to personal trainer. As a dedicated body builder, he also qualified as a Jr. Olympic weight lifter.

In the late 60's, strength training as we know it today was still in its infancy: professional athletes were discouraged from participating, while doctors believed that people with heart problems should do little more than mild aerobics. But by observing his own workouts and by training others, Burns understood the value of building muscles as an essential part of overall fitness programs.

Trusting his instincts, he encouraged heart transplant clients to work out with small dumbells. According to Burns, "They all improved in stamina and strength, and some continued to use weights for years afterward - even though their doctors discouraged it." He kept in touch with many of these patients, and believes that strength training enabled them to extend their lives.

A health-club manager

Undaunted by the exercise trends of the time, and relying on his keen skills of observing the needs of clients, Burns quit professional body building and forged ahead as a health club manager and owner.

By age 18, he was running health clubs in Southern California, and taking classes in nutrition and in exercise physiology. He also took the time to attend other exercise clubs and classes, observing the techniques and routines had the most benefit.

In the 70's, Burns attended several group classes taught by Richard Simmons. "It was quite a scene," Burns says. "People were packed into the classes, moving and dancing to the music, enjoying themselves immensely." He decided to offer group exercise classes at his clubs, and over the years has added a variety of different classes, including SPINNING®, STEP, Ultra Kickboxing, Yoga and the newly popular Pilates classes.

Burns opened his first Shape-Up Fitness Center in 1982 in Costa Mesa. Two years later, he moved the club across the street to its current location in Newport Beach. Last month, he and partner, Doug Katona, opened a second larger, more luxurious club in Corona Del Mar. The club will eventually offer physical therapy, chiropractic, massage and an aesthetician.

In spite of - and perhaps because of - the low-key, soft-sell approach to fitness, Shape-Up continues to thrive and to build its membership. The staff of personal trainers and managers enjoy working there, and several have been with the center since it first opened.

Burns has difficulty articulating exactly how he developed his soft-sell approach to fitness. Basically, he says that he saw what worked best for clients early on, and believed that keeping customers happy would yield financial success. He is also a religious man, running retreats in his spare time, and applying altruistic principles to the running of his fitness centers.

He eats, breathes and lives fitness

If Burns is the laid back, soft-sell entrepreneur, his partner, Doug Katona is more like a dynamo who eats, breathes and lives his philosophy of fitness

Katona grew up in Mission Viejo and participated in sports from early childhood. At age 16, he was a personal trainer, and at 18, he entered the University of Southern California, majoring in sports information/exercise science and broadcast journalism. In 1988, he was voted "Student of the Year" in the USC Sports Information Department.

The talented Katona played professional baseball in Taiwan for the year following graduation with the USA Ambassadors. He would have continued to play pro ball, had he not torn a rotator cuff in his shoulder.

In 1990, Katona was hired at Shape-Up Fitness and was soon running the Personal Training Department. During his first year, he increased the training department by 400 percent and personally trained more than 200 people per month.

In 1991, became a manager at Shape-Up, eventually working his way up to vice president of Operations. In spite of his 60-to-70 hour work week, Katona maintains an air of composure and serenity that he attributes to hard work, discipline and an almost religious devotion to consistent daily exercise, particularly bicycling and SPINNING®. He explains that the sport, with its roots in martial arts, enables the participant to fully experience the mind/body connection.

The semi-professional cyclist rises at 5 a.m. seven mornings a week and rides his bike from 5:30 to 8 a.m., rain or shine. As a SPINNING® Master/Presenter, he is qualified to certify instructors nationwide. Katona is also proud of the fact that he carried the Olympic torch in 1996 from California into Arizona on bicycle.

Fitness Concepts fills a niche

In 1989, a manager of the William Lyon Co. asked Burns to create an on-site fitness center for the company's luxury apartment complex in Laguna Niguel. The executive was impressed with Burns' knowledge.

Burns studied the demographics of the complex, and designed a complete center for the site and the needs of the residents. The luxury center became popular with the residents and the Lyon Co. asked Burns to design similar clubs for 30 of its apartment complexes in various parts of California and on the East Coast.

Recognizing the potential for a company that designs on-site fitness centers, Burns created Fitness Concepts in 1992 - the first company in Southern California to offer on-site fitness services. He put Katona in charge.

Through word of mouth and a sterling reputation, Fitness Concepts has created more than 200 luxury fitness centers in the last 11 years. The company's only advertising/marketing tool is a website.

Fitness Concepts describes itself as a company that creates on-site corporate wellness programs for luxury apartment hotels and corporations, while providing customers with a full range of services, including resources, programs, design, consultation, management and staffing. Among its 75 clients are Hoag Hospital and Community Centers, the 3 M Companies, Grand Pacific Resorts, the Irvine Ranch Water District, Taco Bell and the Marriott Coronado.

Both Shape-Up Fitness Centers and Fitness Concepts are under the umbrella of a larger company, Magic Movement, Inc., also owned by Burns and Katona.

Looking ahead

Burns' and Katona's dynamic lifestyle extends naturally into the community. Among their many volunteer activities are the teaching of CPR and nutrition classes, working as advisors for fitness certification programs in universities, and volunteering for the American Heart Association: Burns has been a past president of the Newport Beach Chapter of the American Heart Association.

While working with the Heart Association, he became familiar with Hoag Hospital's rehabilitation programs for heart patients. He worked with Hoag personnel to improve "phase one" and "phase two" rehabilitation programs that are offered to patients within the hospital. Through this association, he became aware of the need for life-long exercise programs for former heart patients.

Burns created a "phase three" program at Shape-Up. The long-term, three-times-a-week program is designed to help former heart patients build strength and stamina for the rest of their lives. Currently, more than 100 former Hoag patients participate in the program.

Over the next five years, Burns and Katona hope to open a half dozen more Shape-Up Fitness Centers and to continue to expand Fitness Concepts. In their typical upbeat manner, they talk about their future. OC Metro