Curves was started by Gary and Diane Heavin in Harlingen, Texas in 1992. It started with the mission of providing women a unique place to workout in the company of only other women. They also created a specialized 30-minute fitness concept that combines strength training and sustained cardiovascular activity through hydraulic resistance that is now a key concept at each of the Curves locations throughout the world. The concept grew to be a huge success practically overnight and now has nearly 10,000 clubs in more than 70 countries with over four million members—thanks to smart advertising and franchising ownership opportunities.
The Moraga-based branch, like most other Curves locations, also provides nutritional solutions, healthy recipes and targeted weight goals for its members. It also offers a specialized program called, 'CurvesSmart', which is a personal-coaching system that individualizes and customizes each workout by monitoring one's heart rate, workout intensity, range of motion and range of repetitions. The computerized system provides a progress report with the number of calories burned in order to help members keep track of progress and attempt to faster reach weight-loss goals.