Gold's Gym Flexes Muscle in Competitive Fitness Center Market in Virginia.

By Jenny Kincaid, The Roanoke Times, Va. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Nov. 4--Big biceps not required.

That's the message James Miller, owner of Gold's Gym, wants to get across with the opening of the Roanoke Valley's newest health club Wednesday.

The first Gold's Gym opened in Venice, Calif., in 1965 and is still called "The Mecca of Bodybuilding." Gold's is lauded as the largest gym chain in the world with more than 650 facilities in 46 states and 32 countries.

But Gold's Gym wants to create a new image, one known less for