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mr. azoff also was eager to return to a more entrepreneurial role in which he had a big financial stake in his own efforts
in an interview at the time of his resignation from mca he said i 'd rather build a company than run one
part of a series
tom <unk> had a perfectly good reason for not using the $ N <unk> machine he bought three years ago
i <unk> a bad <unk> <unk> got food <unk> and had to have a shot in my shoulder he says making it too painful to row
the <unk> he admits went away about a week after the shot
yet the <unk> machine has n't been touched since even though he has moved it across the country with him twice
a san francisco lawyer mr. <unk> <unk> <unk> when he first got the machine but he complains it left <unk> marks on his carpet and it was boring
it 's a horrible machine actually
i 'm <unk> i own the stupid thing
mr. <unk> has plenty of company
nearly <unk> of the people who own home exercise equipment do n't use it as much as they planned according to the wall street journal 's american way of buying survey
the roper organization which conducted the survey said almost half of the exercise equipment owners found it <unk> than they expected
it is n't just exercise gear that is n't getting a good workout
the fitness craze itself has gone soft the survey found
fewer people said they were working up a sweat with such activities as <unk> tennis <unk> and <unk>
half of those surveyed said they simply walk these days for exercise
that 's good news for marketers of walking shoes
the survey also detected a bit more interest in golf a positive sign for country clubs and golf club makers
the survey 's findings certainly are n't encouraging for marketers of <unk> <unk> tennis <unk> and home exercise equipment but people 's good intentions if not their actions are keeping sales of some fitness products healthy
for instance sales of <unk> exercise bikes <unk> <unk> and the like are expected to rise N N to about $ N billion this year according to the national sporting goods association which sees the home market as one of the hottest growth areas for the 1990s
but even that group knows some people do n't use their machines as much as they should
the first excuse is they do n't have enough time says research director thomas doyle
the second is they do n't have enough discipline
with more than N million exercise bikes sold in the past five years he adds a lot of <unk> <unk> and <unk> must be <unk> with them
still the average price of such bikes rose last year to $ N
mr. doyle predicts a trend toward fewer pieces of home exercise equipment being sold at higher prices
electronic <unk> are key
<unk> international inc. for example <unk> the <unk> electronic cycling <unk> a $ N <unk> cycle
on a video screen riders can see N different <unk> including urban mountain and desert scenes and check how many <unk> are burned a minute
nancy <unk> who works in corporate payments at bank of america in san francisco may be a good prospect for such a <unk>
she 's trying to sell a $ N exercise bike she bought about five years ago for her <unk>
but rather than write off home fitness equipment she traded up ms. <unk> just paid about $ N for a <unk> <unk> bike with a <unk> <unk> showing average and maximum speeds and a comfortable seat that feels almost like a chair
i 'm using it a lot she says
i spent so much money that if i look at it and i 'm not on it i feel guilty
the poll points up some <unk> between what people say and what they do
a surprising N N of people said they exercise regularly up from N N in N
this <unk> up images of a nation full of trim <unk> folks and suggests <unk> potatoes are out of season
of course that is n't really the case
the <unk> may be because asking people about their fitness regime is a bit like <unk> about their love life
they 're bound to <unk>
people say they <unk> and that may mean they 've been to the beach this year says <unk> spain research specialist for the president 's council on physical fitness and sports
it 's hard to know if people are responding <unk>
people are too embarrassed to say they have n't done anything
while she <unk> the fact that more americans are getting up from the television to <unk> or garden she says the percentage of americans who do real exercise to build the heart is only N N to N N
so many people <unk> on answers about exercise the president 's council now uses specific criteria to determine what is considered vigorous it must produce <unk> of large muscle groups must achieve N N of maximum <unk> capacity and must be done three or more times a week for a minimum of N minutes
one of the council 's goals set in N was to see more than N N of adults under N years of age getting vigorous exercise by N
that target has been revised to N N by the year N
but even that goal may prove optimistic
of N activities the journal survey found that N including <unk> skiing and <unk> are being done by fewer americans today than eight years ago
time pressures and the <unk> of the fitness fad are cited as reasons for the decline
only walking and golf increased in popularity during the 1980s and only slightly
<unk> <unk> a california lawyer gave up running three times a week to play a weekly round of golf finding it more social and <unk>
it 's an activity she feels she can do for life and by pulling a golf <unk> she still gets a good workout
i 'm really wiped out after walking five hours she says
most people said they exercise both for health and <unk>
if you sit down all the time you 'll go stiff says <unk> <unk> a <unk> n.c. <unk> who walks several miles a week
and it 's <unk>
sometimes if you have a <unk> you can go out and walk it right off
only about a quarter of the respondents said they exercise to lose weight
slightly more like leslie <unk> a law <unk> in san francisco who <unk> dance <unk> five times a week exercise to relieve stress
working with lawyers she says i need it
but fully N N of those polled felt they did n't need to belong to a health club
they 're too crowded and everybody 's showing off says joel bryant a <unk> student from pasadena calif
the guys are being <unk> and the <unk> are walking around in little things
they 're not there to work out
but at least they show up
nearly half of those who joined health clubs said they did n't use their membership as often as they planned
feeling they should devote more time to their families or their jobs many <unk> are <unk> their <unk> workout
even so the association of quality clubs a <unk> trade group in boston says membership revenues will rise about N N this year from last year 's $ N billion
a spokeswoman adds however that the group is considering offering a <unk> course similar to a <unk> program to teach people ways to stay with it
there are <unk> bodies of course
the <unk> of <unk> west an <unk> studio in san francisco 's marina district which was hit hard by the earthquake says people were going <unk> the minute we opened three days after the quake
the emotional aspect is so <unk> they needed a good workout
perhaps the most disturbing finding is that the bowling alley may be an endangered american institution
the survey reported the number of people who said they bowl regularly has fallen to just N N from N N in N
the american bowling congress claims a higher percentage of the public <unk> regularly but concedes its membership has declined this decade
to find out why the group recently commissioned a study of the past N years of <unk> research
three reasons were <unk> a preference for watching bowling and other sports on television rather than actually bowling <unk> bowling centers and <unk> with bowling itself
people who start bowling expecting it to be a <unk> exercise have been generally disappointed the report said
but not richard <unk> a san francisco <unk> driver who <unk> in two weekly <unk>
he hit the <unk> three years ago on the advice of his doctor
it 's good exercise he says
i ca n't do anything <unk> but i like meeting the <unk>
he says bowling helps him shed pounds though that effort is sometimes <unk> by the fact that when i 'm drinking i bowl better
his tuesday night team the <unk> is in first place
wpp group 's ogilvy & mather expects profit margins to improve to N N in N in the u.s.
yesterday 's edition did n't specify where the improvement would take place
concerning your sept. N article retailers face cutbacks uncertain future the outcome of our leveraged <unk> is looking very positive
unlike most of the other retailers mentioned in the story <unk> a. bank <unk> inc. is not in serious financial problems
we did experience some difficulties with the initial lbo terms and as your article made clear successfully restructured our debt earlier this year something those other retailers have yet to accomplish
your were on target regarding industry problems but wide of the mark in portraying the financial health of this company
chairman and ceo <unk> a. bank <unk> inc. <unk> mills md
private housing starts in japan were unchanged in september from a year earlier at N units the construction ministry said
the flat report followed a <unk> string of declines
the down trend was partly the result of tighter credit sparked by a discount rate increase by the bank of japan in may
the central bank also unexpectedly raised the base rate by half a percentage point to N N oct. N as part of an <unk> move that indirectly increases interest rates charged on new home construction loans
if there 's <unk> strange in your neighborhood
if there 's something weird and it do n't look good
who <unk> <unk> <unk> call