URL: http://www.nytimes.com SUBJECT

1178 of 1258 DOCUMENTS

The New York Times
February 1, 2007 Thursday

Late Edition - Final

Suspension Training: How Risky Is It?
BYLINE: By NICK BURNS
SECTION: Section G; Column 1; Thursday Styles; Pg. 8
LENGTH: 1432 words
NAVY Seals are legendary for their tiptop physical condition, but have you ever wondered how they stay fighting fit out in the field?

Aaron Baldwin, 43, who retired in December as a master chief in the Seals, used to make barbells out of nothing more than plastic milk jugs, fresh concrete and a sturdy tree branch.

''We'd make one weight and use it until we had to move and start over,'' Mr. Baldwin said.

Things changed in 2002, when a Navy Seal turned entrepreneur sent Mr. Baldwin a test model of the TRX system, a suspension gadget made of a pair of straps with handles joined by a metal clasp ring. To set it up, he only had to wrap the straps around a freestanding pole or over a thick branch. Strength training became as simple as placing his feet in stirrups to suspend them off the ground, then performing dozens of exercises like knee tucks or pushups.

After 45 minutes of so-called suspension training, Mr. Baldwin exhausted his body from shoulders to calves using just the 170 pounds of his weight. Better yet, the two-pound straps rolled up to the size of a military bag lunch.

In the last year suspension training has entered the mainstream after two kinds of straps landed on the market: TRX and Inkaflexx. They have attracted the attention of personal trainers and group fitness directors as strengthening tools that also improve balance and flexibility. Suspension workouts consist of either hanging the legs or leaning back while gripping the straps and then performing a variety of moves.

The beauty of suspension training, its advocates say, is that you can't help engaging your core to steady yourself. On the other hand, critics warn that the instability of suspension straps can result in injury, especially if you have a history of joint or back injuries, or inadequate core strength.

Personal trainers use TRX equipment at over 1,000 gyms nationwide, according to Fitness Anywhere, its maker. Roughly 10,000 $150 sets of straps have been shipped.

Group classes for suspension devotees have begun to crop up nationwide. At Crunch, a class called BodyWeb With TRX is in full swing at two San Francisco outposts, and so is a pilot class featuring Inkaflexx equipment at Equinox in Darien, Conn. By mid-March, Equinox plans to offer TRX or Inkaflexx classes in Boston, Los Angeles and a new Manhattan club on Park Avenue. This summer, Life Time Fitness will add suspension training classes at a handful of its 60 locations in 16 states.

''It's like yoga on ropes because it takes a lot of balance,'' said Mark Undercoffler, 32, a public relations executive in San Francisco, who has attended the Crunch BodyWeb class for three months. ''The TRX works every part of your body in 50 minutes, especially your core. It's the quickest way to get a cardio and muscle workout in less than an hour. I sweat as much in BodyWeb as I do in spin class.''

The BodyWeb With TRX class -- which involves lunges, chest presses and one-legged squats to high-energy dance music -- is so fast paced that some say it amounts to a cardiovascular workout. At Equinox a mellower class called Inka focuses more on flexibility. To Andean flute music, participants are led through a series of stretches and a handful of strength-training moves.

Suspension training is having a moment partly because some trainers and clients are bored with the ubiquitous balance equipment like stability balls. Interest in suspension straps is also high because a theory called functional training has been making slow but steady inroads in the fitness business. It advocates strengthening muscles synergistically, rather than in isolation.

''With so much emphasis put on core and functional training, the timing is right'' for suspension training, said Kathie Davis, the executive director of IDEA Health and Fitness Association, a trade group. ''It has staying power because it has good education and programming behind it. Usually the trends that come and go are the ones that don't have good educators putting together interesting programs to go with the equipment.''

Randy Hetrick, the inventor of TRX straps, and his company, Fitness Anywhere, have developed over 300 exercises and taught 200 personal trainers and instructors in daylong seminars. After taking one, Susane Pata, a group fitness director at Crunch, designed the BodyWeb class.

Not everyone agrees that suspension training is appropriate for the masses.

Fabio Comana, a research scientist at the nonprofit American Council on Exercise, said that it might be valuable for well-conditioned athletes and gymgoers who regularly train their core, the muscles closest to their spine. But at best it is inappropriate for people who haven't built up their core and at worst is potentially dangerous for them. ''A segment of the population doesn't have joint integrity and the ability to stabilize their entire body,'' he said. So instead of using their core, they use the wrong muscles, aggravating their risk for injury.

Mr. Comana, who has a master's degree in exercise physiology, added, ''I don't mean to doubt it, because I do like it, and I've been using it for the last year.'' But he counts himself among the experienced athletes who stand to benefit from the straps.

Walter Thompson, a professor of kinesiology at Georgia State University in Atlanta, who reviewed instructional videos of TRX exercises, sees benefits but also risk. ''My impression is that this would be effective for a small group of highly fit men and women,'' Dr. Thompson said. ''But I see potential for muscular, skeletal and joint injuries. Particularly hyperextension of wrists, elbows, shoulders, ankles and knees.''

Fraser Quelch, the director of education at Fitness Anywhere, disagreed. To avoid injury, he suggested that deconditioned users perform moves with one leg behind the other, reducing instability.

Advocates of suspension training also say that adjusting body position can make movements easier. For example, standing at 90 degrees and holding TRX straps keeps upper-body exercises manageable.

Mr. Baldwin, who spent five years in the service teaching recruits conditioning and combat skills, said, ''It's easy to do a pushup with your hands against a wall, and it's a lot harder to do one on the ground.'' Suspension training, he added, ''allows you to do exercises at every angle between the two.''

Kurt Dasbach, the creator of Inkaflexx, argues that its trapezelike design -- straps hanging from a wall joined by a bar -- makes it inherently a bit more stable. ''Inkaflexx is secured to the wall or ceiling by two anchors, so you're not countering instability in every direction,'' said Mr. Dasbach, a personal trainer at Equinox. ''As a result, it makes a lot of the movements accessible for many people because it offers more stability than the TRX.''

In a decade of working with Michael Carson, a personal trainer at Pro Gym in Brentwood, Calif., Jennifer Roth has tried dozens of new new things like stability balls and resistance cords. But Ms. Roth, 42, a carpet designer, said she likes the suspension strap best. ''There's always something new and more advanced you can bring to it, whether that is trying a new move or simply making it more difficult by changing your body angle,'' said Ms. Roth, a college gymnast and swimmer. She has used TRX twice a week since July and credits it for leaner muscles and increased strength in her obliques.

The two systems on the market differ in design, not least because they are products of starkly different hothouses. Mr. Hetrick was a Navy Seal squadron commander in the late 1990s, when he created the first prototype of TRX out of parachute webbing and a carabiner ring.

''We were deploying throughout Bosnia and Southeast Asia in submarines, ships, warehouses and safe houses, all of these space-constrained environments where it's hard to do well-rounded training,'' he said.

In 2005, four years after he left the service, Mr. Hetrick began marketing his product to the fitness business. Coincidentally, Mr. Dasbach created a similar apparatus inspired by his years as a professional soccer player in Chile, where a coach tied ropes to a wall to help players stretch.

Marke Rubenstein, 53, an advertising executive in Stamford, Conn., was intimidated when she first saw the Inkaflexx straps. ''I'm not very athletic and I'm not great in various difficult yoga poses, but I feel very comfortable with this,'' she said after six visits to Mr. Dasbach's class. ''It's challenging but not too difficult, and I can always modify the straps to make them work for me.''
URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: EXERCISE & FITNESS (90%); ARMED FORCES (79%); PLASTIC BOTTLES (57%) Exercise; Accidents and Safety; Exercise
COMPANY: LIFE TIME FITNESS INC (51%)
TICKER: LTM (NYSE) (51%)
PERSON: Nick Burns
GEOGRAPHIC: BOSTON, MA, USA (74%); NEW YORK, NY, USA (51%) CONNECTICUT, USA (85%); CALIFORNIA, USA (85%); MASSACHUSETTS, USA (74%); NEW YORK, USA (51%) UNITED STATES (85%)
LOAD-DATE: February 1, 2007
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: Photos: A GOOD WORKOUT -- At gyms across the country suspension training is gaining. Left, a class with TRX straps at Crunch in San Francisco. Far left, Kurt Dasbach, the creator of Inkaflexx straps, with Kathy Lee Bickham at Equinox in Darien, Conn. (Photos by Darcy Padilla for The New York Times

left, Thomas McDonald for The New York Times)

PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper

Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

1179 of 1258 DOCUMENTS

The New York Times
February 1, 2007 Thursday

Late Edition - Final

When in Doubt, Offer a Nice Perk
BYLINE: By DALIA FAHMY
SECTION: Section C; Column 1; Business/Financial Desk; SMALL BUSINESS; Pg. 5
LENGTH: 1176 words
A few summers ago, Indu Navar, founder and chief executive of the Silicon Valley software maker Serus, paid for her employees to jump out of an airplane. None of them had sky-dived before, and Sumeet Haldankar, a program engineer, said the 14,500-foot plunge delivered such an adrenalin rush that people hugged and laughed giddily when they landed safely.

''We couldn't stop talking about it -- the high was just incredible,'' said Mr. Haldankar, who joined Serus three years ago fresh out of graduate school. He said the dive, one of many activities that Ms. Navar organizes for her employees, created a bond with his colleagues. ''The energy of the people here is tremendous.''

Small-business owners are becoming increasingly creative in how they reward their staff members. In a tight labor market where large employers can lure workers with bigger salaries and the opportunity to work for a known company, entrepreneurs said they could gain an edge by offering generous perks. More affordable than cash gifts, today's treats range from pet sitting to spa visits and luxury cruises.

''Everybody gets bored with a 9-to-5 job, even if it's high paying,'' said Ms. Navar, who added that tangible rewards, as opposed to cash bonuses, made employees feel more appreciated.

Ms. Navar recalls a perk she received in her first job out of college. To thank her for successfully completing a project, Ms. Navar's boss hired a chauffeured limousine to drive her to an elegant restaurant for breakfast. ''This perk probably cost them $300, but you know what? I remembered it,'' Ms. Navar said. ''I don't even remember the cash benefits I got.''

Human resource specialists estimate the use of perks has jumped more than 20 percent in the last decade. Richard S. Wellins, a consultant at the human resources firm Development Dimensions International, said they became popular in the late 1990s when booming Internet companies fought over a small pool of qualified workers.

Entrepreneurs said they offered perks for a variety of reasons. Some want to attract and retain workers. Others want to increase productivity, or rally their staff through a busy season. Perks also help save money by reducing the need for bonuses.

Jil Wyland, founder and chief executive of Litigation Presentation, a company in Atlanta that makes graphics used in courtroom trials, said she offered perks because she wanted work to be fun. She has treated her employees to office massages, personal trainers and maid service. To help the staff through a particularly busy week, she took them to a Nine Inch Nails concert.

Such gestures make work more enjoyable, she says, and as a result, few of her employees quit. Cash bonuses wouldn't yield the same result. ''It's like a parent who throws money at their child instead of giving them attention,'' Ms. Wyland said. ''What they really want is the attention.''

It's difficult to say with certainty whether perks motivate employees more than cash. While studies usually show that perks are more effective -- indicating that workers either can't remember how they spent their cash bonus or that they spent it on bills -- such research is usually commissioned by companies in the perks industry.

But business owners confirm the studies. They say perks are more effective because they give employees an experience they will savor and not easily forget. Plus, giving money can backfire, they said, because employees who are rewarded with a bonus come to expect one regularly and feel snubbed if they do not get one.

Small businesses seem particularly suited to perks. Entrepreneurs usually know what kind of a treat their employees might like and can assess whether a perk is working. At the same time, they often can't afford the first-class health benefits or lavish expense accounts offered by larger companies.

''What I see most often is people at first saying 'I can't do anything; it takes money to motivate people,' '' said Bob Nelson, author of ''1001 Ways to Reward Employees.''

''But they can do quite a lot. They don't have a 300-page policy manual to hold them back. They can get creative at a very small cost.''

Serus, which has annual revenue of $5 million, spent about $7,500 on the sky-diving trip, while Litigation Presentation, with $2 million in revenue, paid $4,000 for the Nine Inch Nails tickets.

Most entrepreneurs write off their perks as a business expense, and they say the benefits far outweigh the costs.

Thomas J. Schulte, chief executive of the Los Angeles accounting firm RBZ, hires a full-time concierge who runs errands for employees during the busy tax season each spring. The concierge, who charges about $15 an hour, picks up dry-cleaning, takes the dog to the vet and gets the car fixed. The service helps employees focus on work, Mr. Schulte said, adding that the expense was ''incidental'' to the billable hours he could squeeze out of his staff as a result.

A growing number of companies reward their employees with the biggest luxury of all: extra time off. One business in Connecticut ''requires'' employees to attend their children's recitals and other important family events; another near Lake Tahoe lets skiers take mornings off so they can take advantage of fresh snow.

RBZ offers workers two months of paid leave after their sixth year. Mr. Schulte said he introduced the sabbatical when he began losing employees to Internet companies in the late 1990s. Turnover has dropped sharply since. In fact, while up to half of RBZ's workers left each year in the past, fewer than 5 percent quit in 2006.

''One thing we noticed about the new generation is that they value time more than they value money,'' Mr. Schulte said.

Managers who want to start offering perks shouldn't trade employee paychecks in for cruise tickets yet. Entrepreneurs suggest doing some research first to find out what kind of perks employees want. (Zane Safrit, chief executive of Conference Calls Unlimited, offered his staff 30 minutes off after lunch so they could go for walks. The idea, he said, ''met with a resounding yawn.'')

Setting expectations early helps avoid misunderstandings. Specialists said companies should clearly explain to workers what the perks will be, how they are to be used and who qualifies for them. Entrepreneurs should also be willing to offer alternatives. Ms. Wyland gave an employee who opted out of the Nine Inch Nails concert the value of the ticket in cash.

Dozens of companies have sprung up to help businesses manage employee perks. Firms like O. C. Tanner, Loyaltyworks and Perks.com do everything from engraving anniversary watches to booking cruises. They also train managers how to make employees feel appreciated and offer software that tracks the success of perk programs.

But Mr. Wellins, the consultant, warns against using formal perk programs too often, complaining that they sometimes replace what should be a personal interaction. ''It provides a little bit of crutch versus just getting out of your seat and saying, 'Boy you did a good job.' ''

URL: http://www.nytimes.com
SUBJECT: HUMAN RESOURCES (89%); SOFTWARE MAKERS (78%); EMPLOYEE TURNOVER & RETENTION (78%); WAGES & SALARIES (78%); SMALL BUSINESS (90%); ENTREPRENEURSHIP (74%); LABOR SECTOR PERFORMANCE (73%); PET CARE SERVICES (66%); RESTAURANTS (64%); INTERNET & WWW (62%); EXERCISE & FITNESS (60%); INCOME ASSISTANCE (73%); COMPUTER SOFTWARE (78%) Small Business; Bonuses; Fringe Benefits; Productivity; Small Business
COMPANY: DEVELOPMENT DIMENSIONS INTERNATIONAL INC (52%)
PERSON: Dalia Fahmy
LOAD-DATE: February 1, 2007
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
GRAPHIC: Photo: Sumeet Haldankar, a program engineer for Serus, said the perk of a 14,500-foot plunge delivered quite an adrenalin rush. (Photo by Serus)
PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper

Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

1180 of 1258 DOCUMENTS

The New York Times
February 1, 2007 Thursday

Late Edition - Final

Dell Chief Is Replaced By Founder
BYLINE: By DAMON DARLIN
SECTION: Section C; Column 6; Business/Financial Desk; Pg. 1
LENGTH: 938 words
Michael S. Dell has taken back the leadership of the computer company he founded, succeeding Kevin B. Rollins after more than a year of mounting problems at Dell.

The company announced yesterday that Mr. Rollins had resigned as chief executive and as a director. Mr. Dell, who is the chairman, immediately assumed Mr. Rollins's duties as well.

The company presented the change, which had been speculated about by Wall Street analysts and industry insiders for more than a year, as a decision by the board, which met this week. Sam Nunn, the former Georgia senator who is the presiding director of Dell's board, was quoted in a company release as saying: ''The board believes that Michael's vision and leadership are critical to building Dell's leadership in the technology industry for the long term.''

The company also said that it expected fourth-quarter revenue and earnings to fall below the consensus predictions on Wall Street. That was also not an unexpected announcement after industry analysts said several weeks ago that other PC makers had strong sales in the fourth quarter, while Dell's sales lagged.

Mr. Rollins is not entitled to severance or a pension plan. Still, he will walk away with stock options worth about $30 million that he earned during his tenure, according to earlier company filings. According to Equilar, which analyzes executive pay, Mr. Rollins earned $42 million in total direct compensation as the chief executive. A Dell spokeswoman said Mr. Rollins's departure agreement had not yet been completed.

Mr. Dell and Mr. Rollins had a close relationship, sharing an office at company headquarters in Round Rock, Tex., even after Mr. Dell turned over the chief executive job to Mr. Rollins in 2004. Mr. Rollins joined the company 10 years ago as Mr. Dell's top lieutenant and had served as a consultant to Mr. Dell for three years before that.

The question of how long Mr. Rollins would remain in the top job was asked frequently after Dell began disclosing problems, beginning in late 2005. They included slowing revenue growth and, last year, accounting problems that have spurred investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department.

Mr. Rollins's departure ''is an expression of dissatisfaction with the current status of the company and its rate of change,'' said A. M. Sacconaghi, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Company. Wall Street seemed to applaud the news, pushing the company's shares up 3.88 percent, to $25.16, in after-hours trading.

Mr. Dell, who founded the company in 1984, had stood steadfastly by Mr. Rollins. During a company technology conference in New York City in September, he said, ''Kevin and I run the business together, so if you want to blame somebody you can blame me, too. But, more importantly, we believe we have a very strong team in our company. Kevin is obviously a key part of that, as am I.'' He added that speculation about changes at the top of the company was useless, ''but feel free to speculate, because everyone else does, but it's not going to happen.''

In a brief interview yesterday after the news was announced, Mr. Dell refused to comment on what had changed, and he declined to reflect on the long relationship he had had with Mr. Rollins.

Mr. Dell said he was excited about coming back to run the company. ''It feels like 1984 and I am starting over again,'' he said. ''Only this time I have a little more capital.''

Mr. Dell said that he intended to push the company to do more in the business of providing consulting services to its larger corporate customers. Services are a high-margin business, but the sector is currently dominated by I.B.M. and business consultants like Electronic Data Systems. Hewlett-Packard, Dell's biggest rival in the computer business, has recently revamped its services business because it sees it as an important way to sell more hardware and software. Dell recently hired Stephen F. Schuckenbrock, an E.D.S. executive, to head its services business.

According to IDC, a market analysis firm, Hewlett-Packard's worldwide share of the PC market increased to 18.1 percent in the fourth quarter, from 15.9 percent a year ago, while Dell's share slipped to 14.7 percent, from 17.5 percent.

''Consulting and outsourcing would be a departure for Dell,'' Mr. Sacconaghi said. But he added that it could make sense ''to grow the part of the company that has twice the profit margins of the rest of the business.''

Mr. Dell did not rule out the possibility that the company would be willing to re-examine its direct-sales business model, which he developed to build the company. ''It is an interesting question,'' he said. ''That's where you'll see new ideas and some experiments.''

The company recently opened two mall storefronts where Dell products are displayed. The stores do not carry inventory; products are ordered there or online for delivery later.

While the consumer market makes up only about 15 percent of Dell's overall global business, consumer sales, particularly notebook sales in the United States, have been the strongest segment of the PC industry, growing well over 50 percent in 2006. Dell has not been particularly strong in that segment, hurting its profits.

Samir Bhavnani, research director at the electronics industry analysis firm Current Analysis, blamed Mr. Rollins for missing the industry shift to more distinctive industrial design and for cutting back customer service. The company has made a concerted effort in the last year to fix both problems.

The company ''is well positioned to right the ship,'' Mr. Bhavnani said.

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