When you’re a Curves member, amazing things happen—to your body, your health, and your outlook on life. Here are 30. We’re betting you’ll discover more.
BY SUZANNE SCHLOSBERG ( Diane Magazine)
1 YOU LOSE WEIGHT—FOR GOOD Curves members know it and research proves it. In a Baylor University study of 160 overweight, inactive women, the participants who followed the Curves exercise and diet program lost, on average, 10 to 14 pounds in just 10 weeks. Secret Benefit: The women kept off the weight during the maintenance phase, a period when most dieters see those lost pounds creep back, notes the study’s lead author, Richard B. Kreider, PhD, FACSM.
2 YOU LOVE YOUR BODY Winter used to be Jean Schlier’s favorite season for one reason: “I could cover myself up with bulky sweaters,” says Jean, owner of the South Ogden Curves in Utah. “I wouldn’t have been caught dead in a bathing suit.” Now? Fifty-one years old and 50 pounds lighter, Schlier not only feels great in a swimsuit but she also competes in one. Secret Benefit: You might even turn into a superhero: Schlier, for example, completed the 2007 Ironman Canada competition, swimming 2.4 miles, cycling 112 miles, and running 26.2 miles. “Now I feel like I can wear anything and do anything.”
3 YOU MAKE FRIENDS At the Curves in Bonners Ferry, Idaho, members don’t just head for the door after a workout. “We stick around and talk about everything under the sun—it’s like being back in high school,” says Virginia Addams, 76, who joined the club after moving to Idaho from Southern California. “I see many fellow members at church or the stores in town. Belonging to Curves just feels like I’m part of the community.”
4 YOU GET INVOLVED Whether organizing a toy drive or staging a fashion show to benefit a women’s shelter, Curves members are constantly giving back. “If it wasn’t for Curves, I wouldn’t be involved at all,” says Robin Williams, 55, of Pacifica, California, whose club collected more than 3,000 pounds of food last spring and raised more than $14,000 for breast cancer. “There’s so much satisfaction in learning what you can do to help people in your own community.”
5 YOU REACH NEW ATHLETIC HEIGHTS At age 40, carrying an extra 20 pounds from three pregnancies, Curves owner Jennie Geise of Avon Lake, Ohio, decided to take back control of her health. She started the Advanced Workout and nutrition programs and took up running. In six months, she lost 24 pounds, 7% body fat, and two dress sizes. Then she ran the Akron, Ohio, marathon in an impressive time of 3:34, easily qualifying for the prestigious Boston Marathon. “It was Curves that enabled me to push my 41-year-old body through 26.2 miles, injury-free and strong!”
6 YOU ALWAYS HAVE A PLACE TO SWEAT ON THE ROAD Sure, there are no Curves in Siberia (yet), but with your travel pass you can access more than 10,000 locations worldwide. “Wherever I go, whether it’s New Orleans or Toronto, Curves feels like home,” says electronic medical records consultant and frequent flier Kimberley Melbourne, 39, of Bourget, Ontario, Canada.
7 YOU’RE MORE LIKELY TO AVOID—OR SURVIVE—BREAST CANCER. Regular exercise helps protect against both invasive and in situ (localized) breast cancer, according to recent data from the California Teachers Study, which tracked 110,000 women for more than six years. Other research shows that exercise also reduces the death rate of breast cancer patients while boosting their sense of well-being and quality of life.
8 YOU GET “ME TIME” “Curves has taught me to view exercise as an opportunity to unwind and improve my physical and mental well-being all at once,” says Jennifer Iddings, 24, a member of Surrey Center Curves in Augusta, Georgia, who’s lost 109 pounds. “The upbeat music and lively conversations transform the workout from an exercise session to a stress-relief session.”
9 YOU ENJOY EATING Whether you attend 6-Week-Solution classes or follow the CurvesComplete.com program online, you’ll learn to eat healthy foods—even carbs!—without feeling deprived. Secret Benefit: “You can work just about any food into the plan— even chocolate,” says Nadia Rodman, Curves’ registered dietician.
10 YOU CAN PREVENT, OR BETTER MANAGE, TYPE 2 DIABETES Exercise lowers blood sugar by making insulin more effective. Just ask Ruth Butler of New Port Richey, Florida. In two years at Curves, Butler has lost 32 pounds, dropped one diabetes medication altogether, and reduced her dosages of two other pills. “It took me until I was 65 to catch on to what I had to do to get healthy, but I did it,” says Butler. Curves gives me so much hope that I’ll be able to conquer my diabetes.”
11 YOU PROTECT YOUR WEALTH Inactivity costs Americans $76.6 billion annually. The Curves membership fee is small potatoes compared with the $2,200 (or more) per year you can save in healthcare costs by working out 90 minutes a week, according to the International Council on Active Aging.
12 YOU HAVE A HEALTHIER PREGNANCY Compared with inactive women, moms-to-be who exercise through pregnancy have fewer aches and pains, plus a lower risk of gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, and excess weight gain. Goli Beh, 35, knows the difference firsthand. “During my first pregnancy, I didn’t exercise and was very uncomfortable. But while carrying my second child, I didn’t have any back pain,” says Goli, who continued her three weekly Curves workouts even past her due date. “I had more energy, and I stayed toned. I felt very proud that I didn’t give in to the temptation to sit around
13 YOU LOSE FAT, NOT MUSCLE “With a conventional diet, typically 50% of weight loss is in the form of metabolically active muscle,” explains Gary Heavin, cofounder and CEO of Curves International. “The Curves combination of strength training and a high-protein/low-carb/low-fat diet protects muscle.” Even if you’re not on such a diet, your muscles are protected. Secret Benefit: With more muscle, you burn more fat and can eat more food.
14 YOU HAVE MORE STAMINA The Curves workout increases aerobic capacity by 8% in 10 weeks. The upshot: You have more energy for gardening, dancing, walking the dog, shopping at the mall, or playing with your kids or grandkids.
15 YOU CATCH MORE Z’S “Active people sleep better at night,” says Ana Krieger, MD, director of the New York University Sleep Disorders Center. Studies show that compared with couch potatoes, regular exercisers spend more time in slow-wave sleep, the deeper, more restful type of slumber. Secret Benefit: Active people also report falling asleep more quickly and sleeping longer.
16 YOU KEEP YOUR HEART HEALTHY “Regular physical activity is enormously beneficial in preventing heart attack and stroke,” says Samia Mora, MD, coauthor of a major new study published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. The study of more than 27,000 women found that the long-term benefits of exercise start at about 600 calories per week. In one Curves workout, you can burn as many as 500 calories.
17 YOU REV UP YOUR METABOLISM In other words, your body will burn more calories 24 hours a day, whether you’re sweating at Curves or watching CSI: Miami. In a recent study, Baylor Universityresearchers found that sedentary, overweight women who followed the Curves exercise and diet program raised their resting metabolic rate, in some cases by as much as 400 calories per day.
18 YOU HAVE CONTROL OVER ARTHRITIS Active arthritis patients experience less pain and fatigue than sedentary patients, according to studies published in Arthritis Care & Research. Janice Brantley, 69, of Savage, Minnesota, is living proof. “Before Curves, I could hardly walk,” recalls Janice, who often declined social invitations. “My 7-year-old grandson said, ‘When are you getting one of those motorized scooters?’” Having lost 80 pounds and regained her spry step, Janice now bounds up the bleachers at her grandkids’ basketball games.
19 YOU GET AN IMMUNE BOOST “Studies show that regular exercisers have from a quarter to a half fewer sick days than sedentary people,” says David Nieman, PhD, director of the human performance lab at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. That’s because exercise sends disease-fighting cells charging into action throughout your body, ready to stop the pathogens that are trying to infect you.
20 YOU’RE A ROLE MODEL FOR YOUR FAMILY Jan Tompkins, 50, works out at the Mt. Airy, North Carolina, Curves club with her two teenage daughters, who are both starters on their school basketball team. “The incentive for me to continue is to see how amazing Curves has been for my daughters,” says Jan. “Now that they know I value keeping my heart and weight healthy, they’ve begun eating more fruits and vegetables. They seldom get tired on the court, and their schoolwork has improved because they’re thinking more clearly.”
21 YOU’RE SHARPER AND MORE CREATIVE Exercise is good for your brain. In one trial, adults who exercised three times a week scored 25% better than inactive people on memory and judgment tasks. Secret Benefit: Regular exercisers also score higher on creative thinking tests and have a lower risk of cognitive impairment.
22 YOU LOWER YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE Studies show that exercise can reduce high blood pressure by as much as 5 to 10 points, in many cases enough to prevent or reduce the need for medication. Regular physical activity—at least 30 minutes most days of the week—strengthens your heart so it can pump more blood with less effort. The less your heart has to work, the less pressure is exerted on your arteries. Secret Benefit: If your blood pressure is already optimal (less than 120/80 mm HG), exercise can keep it from rising as you get older.
23 YOU LOWER YOUR COLON CANCER RISK Physically active women are 40% to 50% less likely to develop colon cancer than their sedentary counterparts. Among the theories explaining the link: Exercise speeds up the time it takes for food to make it through your system, so your colon has less exposure to cancer-causing substances.
24 YOU ENJOY A BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE AS YOU AGE Pauline Browne says she didn’t want to spend her 90s “sitting around watching televisionand getting fat and depressed.” So at age 89 she joined Curves. “My energy has come back,” says Pauline, now 90, of Tarpon Springs, Florida. “I’m a real multi-tasker and can do six things at once, like washing and baking cookies and doing my taxes and writing and moving my file boxes.”
25 YOU MORE EASILY MANAGE MENOPAUSE any health experts believe exercise can help relieve symptoms such as anxiety, insomnia, and night sweats, and possibly even hot flashes and headaches. “You may not be able to totally eliminate the symptoms, but it seems you can certainly alleviate them,” says Cedric Bryant, PhD, chief scientist for the American Council on Exercise.
26 YOU IMPROVE YOUR CHOLESTEROL Countless Curves members have seen such a drop in total blood cholesterol that they’ve decreased their medications or even quit taking them altogether. Exercise has also proven effective in boosting levels of HDL, the good cholesterol, and decreasing “bad” LDL cholesterol and triglycerides (blood fats).
27 YOU GET STRONGER In a Baylor University study, women who followed the Curves program increased their muscle power by a substantial 15% to 30% in 10 weeks. Secret Benefit: With more oomph in those biceps, abs, quads, and glutes, you can unscrew that stubborn jar of pickles yourself, hoist that 5-gallon jug of water, and pull apart the sofa-bed for your houseguests.
28 YOU’RE LESS LIKELY TO GET STRESSED OR DEPRESSED Exercise may be just as effective as therapy and medication for patients with insomnia, fatigue, and feelings of worthlessness, research suggests. The social interaction plays a big role, experts believe, as do the chemical changes triggered by the workouts. Secret Benefit: Even if you’re not depressed, exercise provides an instant mood boost. Call it the“Curves high.”
29 YOU HAVE A BETTER BODY The Curves workout makes you firmer, leaner, and more toned, which can help you accomplish things you never dreamed possible. “With the support and encouragement of my friends at Curves, I got back in shape and was able to strive to do something extraordinary,” says Jean Schlier of South Ogden, Utah, who ran a marathon at age 50 and did an Ironman Triathlon the next year.
30 YOU CAN SEE MORE OF THE WORLD In 2004, while on a Voyage of the Vikings cruise, Carolyn Propst, age 47, toured the port towns of Iceland and Greenland from the confines of a bus. In 2007, after losing 100 pounds through Curves, Carolyn took the same cruise. This time? She toured those towns on her own two feet, hiking around breathtaking foothills and pristine lakes. “Thanks to Curves,” says Carolyn, who lives in Seabrook, Texas, “I’m so much more adventurous.”
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