Regular blog readers know that I presented at, and attended, the Triathlon America Conference in San Diego last week.

One of the keynote speakers was Bahram Akradi, CEO of Life Time Fitness. I’ve seen him speak on a couple of occasions now and his passion for fitness is obvious.

What I found most interesting about his presentation was a stated strategy for endurance athletes. Life Time is incorporating endurance events and endurance channels (running, cycling, triathlon) into the health club or gym experience. I don’t know that any other health club that is taking this approach to keeping members active.

Most clubs have offerings for personalized weight training and various fitness classes, but I don’t know of any other fitness organization like Life Time that has a strategy for endurance athletes.

By being involved in the event business (triathlons, mountain bike races, etc.), Life Time has a way to put well-run events, goals, into the future to give athletes a training goal. Within the club, members can focus on these goals as an individual or as a group. Of course you don’t have to be a Life Time member to participate in any of the events.

Cracking the typical gym-rat mold for health clubs could give Life Time the edge to endure an ever-changing, tough market.