A couple of weeks ago, we posted this Huffington Post link on Twitter listing the U.S. cities with the most gyms and fitness centers. We received a retweet from a company that was surprised that Denver and Boulder were not on the list. Boulder, by the way, is home to many of Club Industry's trade show staff, and I'm sure they also wondered why it wasn't on the list.
Upon further review of the list from Kansas City at No. 10 through Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington at No. 1, Colorado cities were absent. That was surprising, especially since Coloradoans are some of the fittest people on the planet. I believe hospitals in Colorado are required to put baby skis in infants' cribs the day they are born. I also believe toddlers' first solid food there typically is granola.
Thomas Plummer provided an interesting nugget about Boulder during the National Fitness Business Alliance traveling show in Kansas City a couple of weeks ago. Based on his own research, Plummer said there are 100 fitness offerings in Boulder, and that includes traditional fitness facilities, rock climbing schools, martial arts, yoga and Pilates studios, and bike groups. Plummer also accounted for 150,000 people within a 20-mile radius of Boulder, which would mean one fitness option per every 1,500 people. That should have put Boulder on the list for sure.
If it makes Coloradans feel better, Denver-Aurora, CO, was ranked ninth among the healthiest habitats in the United States in a study released by Russell Athletic and fielded by Sperling's BestPlaces. (The Northern California Bay Area was ranked No. 1.) Also, the Denver metro area was ranked ninth on the American College of Sports Medicine's annual American Fitness Index data report. (Minneapolis-St. Paul was No. 1 in this report, too.)
So what's your take on these studies? Was your city represented? Or did it not get enough love?