People find inspiration for getting fit in many places: a wedding, a vacation at a tropical resort or a health warning from their doctor. But Barbara Cleough says she found her motivation for a healthier lifestyle in a less likely place: the Bible.
"I was reading the Bible and I made a commitment to follow the standards of Christ," said Cleough, 65, a member of the Heart Mind Soul and Strength Fitness Center in Anaheim. "It's made a huge difference in inspiring me to get into shape."
The gym is one in a growing number of health clubs and private trainers in Southern California that are incorporating religion as a motivational tool for people who want to live healthier -- and more spiritual -- lives. For many of their members, these gyms offer an environment more in keeping with their spiritual beliefs -- one in which Christian rock tunes rather than obscenity-laced rap music blare over loudspeakers and dress codes call for conservative attire.
Aaron Brown, a 26-year-old exercise physiologist and founder of the Heart gym, describes his health club as "my business and my ministry of how I serve God."
Brown said he was influenced by a biblical passage in Luke (10:27) in which Jesus instructs disciples to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind."
With $30,000 in savings from his work as a personal trainer, Brown leased a modest space in an Anaheim strip mall two years ago. He began with five pieces of exercise equipment (the club now has more than 85) and five original members (150 today).
In addition to Christian-inspired music and a strictly enforced modest dress code (no Britney Spears-like bare midriffs or visible cleavage allowed), Brown's gym includes prayer sessions before and after classes. The gym, closed on Sundays, has daily catechisms posted at its entrance.
John P. Crossley, director of USC's School of Religion, said it's no surprise that religion plays an active role in people's quest for optimum physical health. "It's long been known that serious religious faith is a motivating factor for a lot of things," Crossley said. "Religion has helped people stop smoking, drinking, doing drugs. That Jewish, Christian and Buddhist ethics all stem from religion is proof positive of the motivating power of religion. Whether or not God wants people to use it in this way is another story altogether."
