Perfect Body Fitness Center expanding

By Denice Thibodeau

Published: July 5, 2008

A Danville fitness center is about to undergo its third expansion since 1999, adding an 11,000-square-foot sports complex to its current 18,000-square-foot building.

Perfect Body Fitness Center, owned and operated by Tammy Wiles and her family is beginning construction this month that will add a full basketball gym surrounded by three walking/running tracks and two racketball courts. Volleyball and indoor soccer are other sports that will be added to the center’s fitness regimen.

The flooring in the new addition will allow it to be used for roller-skating as well.

“It’s not going to be session skating,” Wiles said. “It’s going to be structured skating, like roller-rock and lap-skating, and it will be incorporated into the aerobics schedule.”

The sports complex has been a life-long dream for Wiles — but she didn’t waste any time on daydreams; she has worked hard for 30 years to make it a reality.

“I knew in the seventh grade what I wanted to do,” Wiles said.

Always athletic, in her teens she ran track and managed a skating rink, then got into her lifetime career of fitness.

“Back in 1979, I really wanted to join a fitness club, but it was $300 a year for membership,” she said, shaking her head as she remembered the bank loan it took to join. “Three months later, I was assistant manager of that club. I was 19 years old and I’ve been in it ever since.”

Her mission at Perfect Body has been to make fitness accessible for all ages and fitness levels — and to make it affordable.

“I’m not about money,” Wiles said. For $150 a year, “I operate like the dollar store — volume,” she said with a grin, members have access to all 300 workout stations in the club, free weights, aerobics and all classes. She said she doesn’t plan to change the membership rate when the addition is complete.

There’s even a complete cardio workout area, where people recovering from heart attacks or strokes can use treadmills, step mills and ellipticals at their own pace — while watching the big-screen TV overhead.

“If people don’t have their health, I don’t care how much money they’ve got, they can’t buy it back,” Wiles said. “All it takes is just a little moderation, taking care of yourself and eating correctly.”

She hopes the expansion will bring more young people to the center.

“When I was growing up, we didn’t have computers or sit in front of the TV. We were outside, riding bikes, playing in the yard, coming in at night when the moon was up,” she said.

She wants entire families to make use of the complex, coming in together to get their bodies moving, either shooting baskets or using the other equipment.

“I want to hit the youngest, youngest, youngest generation,” she said. “I just want to give them something to do that’s active.”

Wiles said she also plans to hold dances for teens one Saturday every month, and that those won’t be limited to just members — the dances will have a small admission charge for any teens, members or not.

It’s truly a family business. Her husband, Mike, teaches classes in between being a minister and a full-time life saving crew member. One daughter managers the center, another runs the on-site beauty salon and Wiles hopes to bring in a third daughter when the current addition is done.

“I could have retired this year,” she said, looking around the center. Instead, she took on a million-dollar expansion.

And she has other dreams that include basketball, volleyball, racketball and indoor soccer tournament — so don’t count on this energetic woman to retire any time soon.

Contact Denice Thibodeau at or (434) 791-7985.