With the New Year comes a load of resolutions, and always at the top of the list is burning off those holiday pounds.

That makes January a big month for Americans to return to their health clubs and for marketers to reach out to them as they work out, and there's a wide range of opportunities to do so, both through traditional posters and increasingly digital media.

To find out how to get your client’s message in health clubs, read on.

This is one in a Media Life series on buying the new out-of-home venues. They appear weekly.

Fast Facts

What
Advertising in health clubs and fitness centers.

Who
Advertising in health clubs has been around almost since the first days of the fitness boom that swept across America in '70s, and a number of companies offer the service. Some do so through networks spanning a number of outlets, allowing advertisers to reach across the country for one campaign while targeting by region or specific markets for another. 

For this article, Media Life looked at Health Club Panel Network, Alloy Media + Marketing and IdeaCast.

How it works
The most common form of advertising at health clubs is static signage, some of it back-lit, with framed posters ranging in size from 16-by-20 inches to 42-by-60 inches.

Another venue favored by advertisers is the TV screens that are often found mounted in front of stationary bikes, treadmills and other exercise equipment. The sets typically air news and sports programming from the likes of CNN and ESPN, and at some clubs ad messages targeting members can be swapped in to air in place of network spots. These ads can be static, animated or full-motion video.

The new thing at health clubs, as in so many other areas of out of home, is digital signage, which can display animated ads and full-motion video, as well as static images that can be rotated with club information. Appearing pretty much anywhere traditional print signage appears, digital displays offer advertisers a number of advantages, among them the ability to change out creative at will and to target across a network of clubs.

Other options in health club advertising include branded shower mats, column wraps and branded club equipment, such as yoga mats. Marketers can target by gender within a club’s locker rooms.

Advertisers may also hand out samples, typically of new products that appeal to people with active lifestyles, such as body washes or healthy snacks.

For some venues, such as TV and digital, advertisers can target by daypart.

Markets
Advertising in health clubs is available in virtually any market that has a gym.

Numbers
There were nearly 30,000 health clubs in the U.S. as of in January 2007, the latest period available, with 42.7 million members, according to the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association.