For the second time in less than 2 years, fitness giant, Bally’s has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Founded in 1983, Bally Total Fitness operates 347 facilities nationwide that serve at least 3.1 million customers. (I wonder how many of those 3.1 million are “regulars)!

In more BK news involving fitness entities, Fitness Holdings International, a retailer of fitness equipment for home use, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday, according to a court document.

Based in Long Beach, FHI runs 67 Busy Body Home Fitness Stores and 44 Omni Fitness Equipment Stores. Under the proposed plan, they propose to close 19 stores in Los Angeles, Orange County, Torrance and San Diego. The store closest to me in Costa Mesa on Newport Boulevard is closed and empty.

Close to home, as I have written, Met-Rx was pulled out of the abyss and has new ownership under the name of Z Fitness Center, or something like that. How long it remains is anybody’s guess with the economy trending as it is. One of the former Met-Rx trainers took over another failing gym, Tommy’s Gym in Newport Beach and will soon go under the banner of American Gym. I hope this works out because Brian Hood is a great guy and I signed up to train here. More on this later, but any place that lets us lift the way we want and plug in our own iPod is as good as it is gonna get at someone else’s “box”.

If I were a personal trainer, I might be looking to solidify my trade to make it recession-proof. Susan Block tells you how, if you are a PT in her article, “The Six Keys to Recession-Proofing Your Personal Training Business“.

With all the economic uncertainty, garage gyms are looking better and better these days.

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