Sweating for a good cause

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You have a horrible commute, you have child-care issues, gas is expensive, the dog ate your homework, you got kidnapped by aliens. Yes, we’ve heard all the excuses for why you can’t exercise.

So here’s a little incentive: For one day, Aug. 28, the Chicago-based Bally Total Fitness gym chain will open all of its gyms to nonmembers. We see the thought bubble over your head that reads, ‘There’s a catch.’ And there is. But it’s a good one.

You can work out at said clubs if you donate a minimum of $1 to Augie’s Quest, the Muscular Dystrophy Assn.’s research program to find treatments and cures for ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), or Lou Gehrig’s disease, a progressive neurodegenerative illness that affects brain and spinal cord nerve cells. Augie’s Quest is named after Augustine (Augie) Nieto, the co-founder and former president of Life Fitness, now chairman of Octane Fitness. He was diagnosed with the disease in 2005.

Since the beginning of the month, members’ donations have already raised about $150,000. Bally chief marketing officer John Wildman hopes this Thursday’s event will bring the tally to $250,000.

Wildman said he was inspired to offer the donation-requested workout when he attended a fundraiser for Augie’s Quest in Chicago about a year ago. ‘At the time,’ he says, ‘Augie could barely speak, and he was in a room in front of a bunch of people, and I was very touched by it.’

Clubs are also offering a special group exercise class that day, for which donations are $20. Classes will vary by club, but Wildman says it’s likely they’ll feature popular classes, such as salsa, hip-hop or a mind-body routine. He adds that the success of this event might spawn more, so stay tuned.

-- Jeannine Stein