sarahmichigan | Curves gym boycott based on facts?

It has been circulating around the Web that the owner of the all-women's gym , Gary Heavin, is heavily anti-abortion and gives to anti-abortion causes. Only, the truth is not so black-and-white. He does give money to pregnancy care clinics that counsel adoption rather than abortion, and he does give to a teen sex ed program that advocates abstinence. But he is not linked with any of the more radical groups that tote signs with bloody fetuses or blockade Planned Parenthood. And he gives money to a lot of other good causes, like health care clinics that treat the homeless.

Good article in salon.com today clarifying the facts, and pointing out that there are other options besides boycotting (which mainly hurts small-time local franchise owners, many of whom are women). Other options are to donate to Planned Parenthood in Hevin's name, or wear pro-choice gear to your workout, or encourage other gym members to donate to pro-choice causes.

I still wouldn't go there, because I think the plan is too "one-size-fits-all" and I hate that their program book is sprinkled with scriptural passages. But, maybe they're not *quite* as evil as I'd thought.

Edited due to

anisoptera's input: Saying he's "not linked" with radical anti-abortion groups is not entirely accurate, either. He does talk with some anti-abortion wackos, and they support what he does. However, *according to the piece in salon.com*, he doesn't actually give money *directly* to any group whose main mission is opposing Planned Parenthood or lobbying against abortion rights.

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Good post. I'd heard about this, but did not know if it was really true.

Now I'll concentrate on the rumor that Home Depot's home office employees are highly "encouraged" to give to Bush / Cheney 04.

Yeah, from what I've read, franchise owners give a flat amount of $ to corporate on a monthly basis, so having less members just hurts them - I think the thing to do in this situation is to find out just what the individual franchise owner is supporting with their earnings, if anything.

I never bought pizza from Domino's when Tom Monahan owned it so until Heavin sells Curves I probably will not go back there. One the groups he supports claims Planned Parenthood is a haven for pedophiles.

BTW, the Curves plan is no more one-size-fits all then the two personal trainers I have worked out with. I really liked the place. Sigh.

Yeah, I still wouldn't support him either, but I just thought it was interesting that the issue wasn't as black-and-white as some people were making it out to be.

On the one-size-fits-all thing: I just can't get into their circuit-training idea. I have to have variety in my workout or I'll get bored, and have to be able to skip some parts and vary the weight-lifting to cardio ratio, etc.

I walk around the neighborhood, do a little yoga, do the treadmill at the gym and do some resistance training. I think the Curves program would work well for a lot of women, but I think I'd get frustrated and bored.

You can vary the workout, whatever gave the idea you could not?

They only have their machines in there, don't they? No separate stairmasters or treadmills or freeweights?

Just using their combo equipmment doesn't appeal to me.

Yes, but you can vary what you do. And bring your own weights. Several people did.

Trainers always had me go in set pattern so I'm not sure what you are getting at. Trainer, Curves it was boring either way.

The point is it makes you actually go. What good is having lots of freedom if you don't actually go and work out?

I know the Curves program works for a lot of people, but I don't like the concept. I've been in one, I know what the equipment looks like, I've seen the program guide. It's too narrow for me. I like lots of variety. I'm not saying a personal trainer is any better. I'm sure I wouldn't like that, either.

What motivates me is having an exercise partner, and not being stuck in a routine. Variety is essential to me not being bored; if I'm bored, I don't work out.

Here is the link to a very nasty group Heavin give money to

http://www.operationsaveamerica.org/articles/articles/decline-pp-central-tx.htm

The salon.com article says that he did NOT give money to that group (there is some confusion about the name of a group Heavin does support that's similar to something the group you linked to supports). The group approves of what Heavin does, but he's not directly linked with them.

"Gary Heavin made a five million dollar grant to Family Practice, Carenet, and McCap."

"The next piece of good news came from Planned Parenthood's abortion mill on Wednesday, September 24th. An inside source approach me as we were holding church at the gates of hell. This person informed me that for five weeks straight Planned Parenthood's "business" has suffered a decline. In fact, since last year, they have lost half of their "business." What makes this significant is that the collaborative effort sponsored by Mr. Heavin has not been implemented yet. Couple that with the fact that the most stringent state laws in the United States against abortion will not be enforced in Texas until January."

Seems pretty clear to me he is in bed with these folks.

Right, but he did NOT donate to the operationsave america, or whatever it's called. The three places you noted that he donated to provide abstinence-focused sex ed and general health care (not including abortion), but none of those three groups is a militant anti-abortion group.

I'm not saying that Heavin is a goood guy. I abhor his politics and values. Just pointing out that there are gray areas here in this debate.

FYI: I edited my entry in response to your links, information and arguments.

Noted. :)

Still reading through the journal...
I signed up for Curves a while back. I was leery at first as I heard they play mostly Christian rock..but mine doesn't, and neither do either of the other 2 I've been to.

The plus side is, you go in, you do the workout, which isn't too hard and you can take it easy or really work it however you want, you are there maybe 30 minutes and then you go home. They don't push things at you, and there is no rah rah. I went to Weight Watchers once and the rah rah drove me away.

But, you have a definate point about the repetitiveness. You can vary it some, but not that much. You still need to go in a circle and change when the thing says or you would mess up other people. On one hand if you can get into that sort of meditative auto-pilot thing where you go in a circle and just aren't really thinking about it, its fine. But if you can't get into that mode then it is a bit dull. Which may explain why I haven't been in a while. And on a nice day I'd rather walk outside anyway. As I don't like exercise anyway though, getting it over with and having it all pre-defined is kind of a bonus for me. So far.

And oh, the people that work there can't measure for anything. They told me my arm was 8 inches bigger from one session to the other..surrrre it is. And it has nothing at all to do with them measuring it in a totally different spot huh? So anyone going there, watch out for that.

I like being able to go to a unisex gym because my husband and I are each other's exercise buddies. We keep each other on track.

I dieted between age 10 and age 27 or 28, and all it ever did was make me completely obsessed with food. I've given up completely on traditional dieting for weight loss. I'm convinced that rather than focusing on "losing weight," that it's much healthier for your mind and body to be active and forget about the numbers on the scale.

"Exercise" has an "ick" factor, but there are plenty of things you can do that are fun and get your heart rate up and will make you more fit. I take a walk twice a day on my breaks at work, walk on the treadmill at the gym and read a magazine while I'm doing it, do a little yoga, play mini-golf, take walks out in nature, garden, mow the lawn, and generally just try to make sure I move my body between 10 minutes and an hour almost every day.

I haven't lost any weight, but I have improved my cardio fitness level and I'm the strongest I've ever been. Since I stopped going to a yoga class regularly, my flexibility has decreased, so that's another thing I've been working on. Stretching really helps with the aches and pains I get from doing data entry, too.

Curves gym boycott based on facts?

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