Work Out

September 2013

The UK’s No 1 fitness industry magazine

Record year for newcomers to Fitness Awards

By Christina Eccles A RECORD number of newcomers have entered the 2013 National Fitness Awards – indicating encouraging signs for the industry.

A wide range of individuals and clubs who have been in the fitness industry for less than two years have put themselves forward for the Newcomer of the Year award – with entries from as far afield as Somerset, Birmingham, London and Reading all vying to make the shortlist and put themselves in with the chance of picking up a trophy.

The awards – organised by Script Events in partnership with Workout and headline sponsor Servicesport – have also seen nominations from many clubs entering for the first time throughout the rest of the categories, with all corners of the country represented.

National Fitness Awards’ director Judith Halkerston said: "It's been a great year so far for the Fitness Awards – we have been delighted by the sheer volume of nominations and it has been brilliant to see so many new names among the entries.

“Once again gyms the length and breadth of the country have been nom-

inated – and we are delighted to report that our northern-most nomination this year has come from a gym in the Shetland Isles.

"Another hugely encouraging sign, not just for the awards but for the industry as a whole, has been the strength and volume of entries in the Newcomer of the Year category. It has been a real struggle to choose just six for the short-list as the innovation and enthusiasm shines through in so many."

The Workout team is currently contacting clubs who have made the shortlist to arrange the next phase of the judging process – a visit to their facilities to take a look around and chat to members and staff – and will be spending the next few weeks out and about visiting clubs who have made it through.

Bookings are now also being taken for the awards’ night, which takes place at The Palace Hotel in Manchester on Friday December 6, hosted by presenter and former TV Gladiator Caroline Pearce.

To book your place at the event, visit the website www.nationalfitnesswards.co.uk or contact event organiser Liz Lee on 01226 734459.

No 240 £3

Employers encouraged to take on apprentices

West End star and TV personality Denise Van Outen launched the UK’s first Cinigym, a concept which allows time poor Brits to combine exercising with watching a film. The event, created by insurance company Direct Line, saw participants working out on equipment including treadmills and rowers, while watching a series of film clips, chosen for their ability to motivate and inspire during a gym session.

For full story see page three.

LONDON based health and fitness employers have been urged to take on more young apprentices, following an increase in the amount of funding companies are eligible to apply for.

The National Apprenticeship Service, in conjunction with the Greater London Authority and London Enterprise Panel, has increased the Apprenticeship Grant for Employers (AGE) 16-24 Grant for fitness businesses in the capital.

This means that the £1,500 available through the existing AGE 16 to 24 Grant has been matched by £1,500 from the LEP to create an enhanced grant of £3,000 for the London area.

CEO of Lifetime Training Alex Khan said: “Apprentices can form the bedrock of fitness businesses offering them extra support where they need it most and can be used to fill skills gaps. The enhanced grant is great news for London employers and young people. Thanks to the NAS, there’s no better time than now for businesses to take on their first apprentice and start reaping the benefits of enthusiastic and motivated learners.”

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Denise launches the UK’s first combined cinema and gym

By Christina Eccles INSURANCE company Direct Line created the UK’s first Cinigym at an event in London, combining the top two activities which Brits say they would like to do but haven’t got time for.

According to research, respondents listed watching a film or going to the cinema as the number one activity they would like to do if they had more free time, followed by going to the gym or a fitness related activity.

The Cinigym – a cinema complete with kit such as treadmills and rowers and healthy snacks instead of the traditional popcorn – combined working out with watching scenes from popular films, selected by Direct Line’s director of achievement – UCL psychologist Dr Tomas ChomorroPremuzic – to enhance the workout and provide motivation and excitement during a gym session.

He said: “Films are a powerful motivator and by choosing the right scenes it's possible to provide people the motivation to work harder and therefore get more out of a workout.

“It also takes the mind off boring or monotonous tasks such as jogging

allowing you to go for longer without feeling fatigued.

“Lack of time is a major problem for modern Brits who feel more pressured than ever. Combining tasks can not only ensure you're able to do more things in a single day but can actually make each thing more effective, some things are just better together."

The Cinigym was the first in a series of events by Direct Line aimed at highlighting the power of multitasking to ensure the public is able to make the most of their precious little free time.

The concept was launched by TV personality Denise Van Outen, who added: “I've really enjoyed working on this. I love watching films but never seem to get the chance.

“We're all so busy and going to the gym is something we all have to do but it can be the first thing to drop off the list.

“The Cinigym just makes it all that bit more enjoyable.

“You can just take your mind off what you're doing and watch what's on screen, at the end of the session you've done a great workout and you don't even realise it."

Denise Van Outen helps to launch the Direct Line Cinigym.

£100 birthday prize up for grabs AS part of Workout’s 20th birthday celebrations, we’ve teamed up with Bodybuilding Warehouse to offer a great prize.

One lucky winner will get £100 to spend on the company’s Warrior range of products and all you need to do to be in with a chance of winning is answer the following question: Who is presenting the 2013 National Fitness Awards?

Email your answer to ce@script-

media.co.uk or post on our Facebook or Twitter feeds using the hashtag #workoutbirthdaycompetition The team at Bodybuilding Warehouse said: “Bodybuilding Warehouse has worked alongside Workout for several years now and we are happy to be involved in the prize giveaway as part of the magazine’s 20 year celebrations.”

The closing date for entries is Tuesday September 17.

www.workout-uk.co.uk

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Editorial

Sales and marketing director: Tony Barry

Group Editor: Judith Halkerston Tel: 01226 734639 jh@scriptmedia.co.uk

Sales manager: Daniel Lloyd Tel: 01226 734699 dl@scriptmedia.co.uk Assistant sales manager: Chris Hartley Tel: 01226 734709 ch@scriptmedia.co.uk

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Editor: Christina Eccles Tel: 01226 734463 ce@scriptmedia.co.uk Reporter: Dominic Musgrave Tel: 01226 734407 dm@scriptmedia.co.uk

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UK FITNESS SCENE

Geraldine leading a class in 1985 (left) and at her recent ‘Let’s Get Physical 1980s Style’ themed leaving party.

Country’s ‘first’ women’s gym closes as Geraldine retires

By Christina Eccles AN independent club, billed as the first women’s gym in the country, has closed after 29 years in business, following owner Geraldine Waring’s decision to retire.

Geraldine originally set up Sequinpark with business partner Nicola Porter, at one stage having four ladies only gyms around London.

The Islington gym is the last of the four to close, marking the end of an era in women’s fitness in the local area.

Geraldine explained: “I started my fitness interest in the early 80's in a weights gym and went on to competitively body build.

“I transformed my body, built selfconfidence and that is when I thought

it would be a good idea to open a women's gym and give other women the opportunity to achieve fitness goals in a friendly, relaxed women only club.”

According to Geraldine, those early days were a lot of fun, with the pair running weight training courses for women, as well as fitness holidays in locations such as Spain, Portugal and Tenerife.

And over time, members became like family, with Geraldine telling Workout, she hopes to stay in touch with many of them who fondly remember their time at the club.

She added: “29 years on, I still have the same passion for fitness. I am delighted that so many women chose my gym. It really excited me to see members progress and change their

body shapes.”

Geraldine is now looking forward to retirement, but says she will still be finding new ways to keep fit – enjoying activities such as running, swimming, yoga and Pilates.

She added: “I have completed three marathons, two Olympic triathlons, 12 half marathons and numerous 10K runs. Running gives me a focus to keep in shape and I find it a good way to be outside and relax.

“I believe that you always have to try something new to keep yourself fresh and motivated and that it is never too late to incorporate fitness into your lifestyle.

“We are lucky these days to have so much variety in fitness, so hopefully everyone can find something they enjoy.”

Geraldine Waring

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Majority of customers happy with operator KIRKLEES Active Leisure has revealed the results of its annual customer service survey, undertaken by almost 1,700 customers.

Results from the survey showed the majority of customers are pleased with their experience at KAL leisure centres, with the operator achieving an overall satisfaction rating of 78.4 out of 100.

Key improvements from previous years included helpfulness of staff, handling of problems and complaints and being kept informed – indicating KAL has listened to what customers have previously said and acted on feedback.

Chief executive Alasdair Brown said: “We’re committed to improving our customer service even further over the coming months and have recently partnered with the Institute of Customer Service to provide a comprehensive training programme for our front of house staff, who are key to helping customers have a good experience when using a KAL managed leisure centre.”

Further work will be carried out to analyse the results further by site, with action plans produced.

Shoulder pain inspires Maxine’s new outdoor fitness scheme

By Christina Eccles GPs could soon be referring patients to their local park as a result of one woman’s efforts to tackle the pain in her shoulder, which inspired the idea for a new outdoor fitness scheme.

Maxine Guiver from Market Harborough was referred to a gym for a few months by her GP to help ease shoulder pain, reduce her weight and tackle depression. When this ended, Maxine tried to make use of an outdoor gym in her local park, but found it didn’t quite meet her needs.

Maxine contacted her local council for help who, in partnership with outdoor play and fitness equipment specialist Proludic, were inspired to create a new outdoor fitness scheme – the Social Fitness Zone – which is now ready to be rolled out across the UK – helping save the NHS money on gym referrals and increase patient access to free fitness facilities.

Maxine said: “Keeping up a gym membership was an expense I simply couldn’t afford. And yet I was keen to maintain my progress.

“It was great to find free facilities available in my local park, but the instructions on how to make the most of the equipment weren’t very clear and I thought it could be improved.

“The new Social Fitness Zone is ideal. It’s a great place to exercise and ideal for friends and community keep

A new outdoor fitness scheme which was recently opened by Olympian Steve Backley. fit groups to exercise together, helping to improve the health of local people.”

Proludic managing director Michael Hoenigmann added: “The Social Fitness Zone allows you to do the full range of exercises likely to be recommended by a GP to improve fitness.

“It also provides clear instructions on how to use the equipment depending on your needs and level of fitness. People can even download instructional videos by scanning a QR code with their smart phone.

“Crucially for the NHS and local authorities, it’s a really cost effective

scheme that will pay for itself by eliminating the need for referrals to paidfor gyms.

“It is also flexible enough to be installed in a small area, meaning it can be incorporated into the landscaping and design of most community areas.”

What do you think of the idea?

Would you like to see more outdoor gyms installed in communities or is exercise referral an important part of your business which you wouldn’t want to lose? Email ce@scriptmedia.co.uk and we’ll print the best next issue.

UK FITNESS SCENE

A Latino Bambino class in action.

Dance class for new mums and babies proving popular

By Christina Eccles A FUN dance class which new mums can do with their babies is proving popular in London, with its founder now looking to licence the concept so other instructors can teach it.

Created by champion dancer Urska Gestrin Mosquera, Latino Bambino is a 45-minute class, based on popular Latin music and dance styles including salsa, merengue and cha cha cha.

During the class, new mums wear their babies – aged six weeks old and upwards – in a sling or a baby carrier, while moving to simple dance patterns appropriate for postnatal bodies.

Urska explained: “I used my passion for dance to soothe, bond and have fun with my two children when they were babies. I danced with them at home when they were grumpy or simply to entertain them.

“I soon realised that our dancing fun was actually quite a workout for mummy and great fun for both.

“After my competitive Ballroom and Latin dance career, I decided to develop a dance/fitness class for new mums where they can include their babies in their workout, target all the ‘problem areas’, bond with them, socialise with other parents and experience fun and happiness that I felt.”

Urska also said that as well as having benefits for mums, babies also enjoy taking part in the classes and playing with colourful props during the sessions, including maracas and scarves.

She added: “Babies are introduced to dance, music and movement which stimulates mind and senses.

“Many mums have reported that their babies have lots of fun shaking maracas, and also love watching other babies in the class.”

Following the success of the classes, Urska is currently in the process of

Latino Bambino founder Urska Gestrin Mosquera with her daughter. licencing her mum and baby and toddler programmes and will soon be looking for instructors to teach sessions around the country.

She added: “The beauty of this business is that it fits perfectly around family life, allowing you to set up your own working hours, taking breaks during school holidays and on top of

that keeping you fit.

“It is also greatly rewarding seeing the difference you’re making in other mums’ daily lives.

“They feel energized, happy, empowered and reminded about the importance of getting out, having fun, meeting friends – all while bonding with their baby.”

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Tabata to be offered in Fitness First sites FITNESS First has become the first health club chain to partner with tabata – offering the hot new workout at 50 of its clubs across London.

The official tabata workout will be available as both a group exercise class and small group training session at Fitness First clubs in the capital – giving the operator’s 110,000 plus London members the chance to experience it before anyone else in the UK. Head of fitness Lee Matthews said: “Poised to revolutionise how you exercise, we are proud to be the first health club chain to partner tabata.

“Fitness First prides itself on offering our members the newest and most effective workout methods and the tabata protocol is the perfect fitness solution for the busy, time conscious people that we see at so many of our gyms.

“Following the previous success of our athlete based class launches we’re certain that the speed and scientifically proven effectiveness of tabata is going to be a huge hit with our members.”

The 140-station GymWorks in Chorley cost more than £600,000 to refurbish.

Peter opens ‘perfect’ gym in Village

By Christina Eccles A NEW, state-of-the-art club has opened in Lancashire, with owner Peter Guy drawing on his 26 years’ industry experience to create what he feels is the perfect gym environment.

GymWorks is situated in urban development Buckshaw Village in Chorley and is the result of a partnership between Peter and property developer Craig Winstanley.

The 140-station gym cost over £600,000 to refurbish and is situated in what used to be the entertainment room in the historical BAA Systems Aviation House.

The club includes a range of kit from

suppliers such as Precor, Escape Fitness and Safe Space Lockers.

Key features include a Spinning room with 26 Spinning bikes and a 2,000 sqft studio that can hold up to 60 people, featuring a nightclub-style sound system and Light-U LED lighting, which changes the colour of the walls and pulsates with the music.

Peter said: “The lighting and mood of the studio was very important. For example if there is a Pilates class the room glows a reddish orange colour to create a spiritual sunrise effect.

“The colours throughout the gym are very natural, blue, yellow and green and we have used subtly coloured hues of LED lighting to dis-

tinguish each training zone.”

Peter added that after years of setting up gyms on behalf of other companies, he felt the time was right to set up a new style of gym, and when the opportunity arose to do so, he grasped it.

He added: “I instinctively knew that I had to have the brand model right.

The layout coupled with the split and specification of the equipment is what makes a good gym a great gym.

“I feel we have the right model and it’s just a matter of time before we open our next club.

“We’ll certainly be looking to nontraditional buildings as these add character to the gym.”

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Friends overcome health problems to launch gym

By Christina Eccles

The new facility at Saddleworth Pool and Leisure Centre.

Saddleworth invests in sauna and steam OLDHAM Community Leisure has invested £100,000 to transform an old storeroom at Saddleworth Pool and Leisure Centre into a new sauna and steamroom suite.

The new wetside facilities are free for existing members or non members can use them on a pay as you go basis.

Head of customer relations at OCL Peter Howson said: “Our cedar-clad cabin sauna has been fitted with amber LED mood lighting and our steamroom has Italian tiles, colour-

changing LED lights and essence dosing – it makes our whole pool experience perfect for customers wanting to relax. It may be the old storeroom space, but it fits in so well it’s like it’s always been there.

“As well as being able to pay as you go for access to the new sauna and steamroom, we’ve created a new payas-you-go day pass including all our wetside facilities as well as access to the gym and a class, to ensure we’re offering added value to our customers.”

TWO friends from Maidstone, who used exercise to help them overcome serious health problems, have achieved their dream of opening their own gym.

Craig Dixon and Luke Hagreen are busy putting the finishing touches to their fitness centre – situated on the town’s Turkey Mill business park – ready for an official opening.

C5 Fitness is already being trialled by staff from neighbouring businesses and memberships are being opened up to people from the wider area.

Craig said: “We are very excited. This is a dream come true for us. Looking at us now, most people would never imagine that I once had a serious weight problem and that Luke was in a wheelchair following a sports injury.

“We have both managed to rebuild our lives through personal fitness and we want to share some of the secrets we have learned along the way.”

The duo have invested in the latest gym equipment, including Concept II rowing machines, weight training and running machines, and even an official Tour de France training bike that simulates riding up and down mountains.

The club also has a spin studio, aerobics studio, changing facilities and rooms for sports massage, physio and beauty therapy.

Craig added: “Last year’s London

Luke Hagreen, left, and Craig Dixon.

Olympics created increased interest in sport and fitness.

“We want to build on that to create a fitness centre that is not just about working out or training for a particular sport but also shows our members how to enjoy a healthy lifestyle through exercise, relaxation and good nutrition. We call it living the dream.

“To that end, we have deliberately made our membership affordable so more people can enjoy getting fit with us.”

Craig has been a personal fitness trainer for eight years and Luke specialises in physique and nutritional training. The team is made up of sports injury therapist Chris Cattermole, group fitness expert Kerry Yaz and Craig’s sister Hanna Dixon, who is a motivational trainer.

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Equipment pioneered

by Olympian unveiled A NEW piece of kit pioneered by Olympic skier Tim Dudgeon has entered the fitness market.

BODYCarver 2.0 – the world's most advanced ski and snowboard fitness trainer – has been developed by leading athletes, fitness professionals and sports coaches.

The equipment comprises a moving belt on to which you can attach skis or a snowboard, with an interactive screen mounted in front of the machine displaying progress down the mountain and turns per minute – spurring the user on towards their next goal.

Tim said: “We are confident that we are now able to bring an exciting new product to the fitness market.

“Clubs can introduce BODYCarver

either as an innovative new piece of kit to entice members or as a product to generate secondary spend.

“The BODYCarver will always attract the ski and snowboard market, who want to get in shape for a winter sports holiday, but we are now ready to demonstrate that, first and foremost, it is a fun and effective piece of fitness equipment with all year round appeal.”

BODYCarver has been operating at Club Alpine in Canterbury since September 2011 and in that time, over 4,000 sessions have been completed on the machine.

Following this testing phase, BODYCarver machines are now in production and will be available for club installs from October.

Backing for fitness day A women only fitness company has re-branded to better reflect the services it can offer to clients. The Body Retreat, formerly known as Brealy Bootcamps, is a health and fitness retreat run exclusively by women, for women, with the mission of empowering participants to reclaim control of their mental, physical and emotional wellbeing. Co founder Julie Brealy said: “We have helped hundreds of women achieve their goals, and felt it was time to change our brand to reflect the unique service which we offer to all of our clients.” To support the re-brand, the company has launched a new website and is also overhauling its social media presence.

THE Government’s flagship health programme Change4Life has become an official partner of National Fitness Day. Change4Life will offer its support to encourage the UK to get active on Friday September 27, joining other partners including healthcare company Sanofi, ukactive and the énergie Group.

On National Fitness Day, the public has been urged to take part in an ‘empower half hour’ at 1pm, which consists of 30 minutes of physical activity.

As part of this, the énergie Group will open its 100 clubs to the public for free and its teams will arrange a series of events to inspire the public to get into shape.

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WORKOUT – CELEBRATING 20 YEARS

Birthday greetings we’ve received “Congratulations on 20 years of phenomenal service and reporting on the UK fitness industry. Your ongoing evolution of providing the latest and best news to the largest and most relevant audience has meant many clubs and suppliers consider Workout as the ‘bible’ of the UK fitness scene. We only wished you expanded to the rest of the world so they could experience what a great magazine should look like!

Looking forward to supporting you guys for another 20 years!”

Dave Wright and all the crew at CFM and MYZONE “Congratulations WorkOut on your 20th birthday! You are a vital source of information on latest news, products, suppliers, services, campaigns and initiatives for the fitness industry. We thank you for your continued support and look forward to working with you in the years to come, and celebrating many more birthdays!’

Jason Worthy, UK managing director, Life Fitness “Congratulations on turning 20.

WorkOut has consistently and loyally represented every part of sector, from start ups, to PTs, to those working front line on the gym floor raising standards each and every day. Well done on making it this far and here’s to another successful 20 years reporting this fast moving sector.”

Dave Stalker, CEO, ukactive “For any magazine to celebrate 20 years in circulation is a fantastic achievement, so a huge congratulations to the entire Workout team from Precor. Their in-depth coverage of the UK fitness industry, and in particular the independent sector, makes Workout just as relevant to readers and suppliers today than ever before. Our main contacts Christina and Dan are a pleasure to deal with, and we are proud to continue our support and partnership of this great publication.

Happy birthday Workout!”

Jonathan Griffiths, UK marketing manager for Precor “Thank you Workout for keeping us so entertained and informed, and congratulations on another year of success. It’s a big birthday for us this year as well – 25 fantastic years in fitness and leisure – thanks for all your support along the way. Happy Birthday!”

Everyone Active

“I’ve had involvement with Workout from Issue Two which, if nothing else, ages me alarmingly. From those earliest editions Workout became an influential, interesting and entertaining read and it has evolved to become an indispensable part of our industry. As a writer it has remained a first port of call for my material and I have always urged PR clients to make it a priority to collaborate with Workout.

Congratulations on two decades of informing and industry shaping!”

Guy Holland, PR professional

“Congratulations to Workout on your 20 years of excellent articles, an informative focus on best practice, and importantly ‘relevant’ advice to the fitness industry… a go to guide for our profession, always an entertaining and worthwhile read! Looking forward to the NFAs in December, good luck to all those who have entered!”

James Foley, Alliance Leisure “Happy Birthday Workout! You do a brilliant job of covering industry news and we rely on our monthly copy to stay up to date. You’re a wonderful reflection of a wonderful industry, and a pleasure to work with. We wish you many years of continued success.”

The Action PR team “I’ve been working with the team at Workout for more than 14 of their 20 years and during that time have seen the title reshaped and tweaked, inside and out, to fit the changing times of its readers. So it’s no great surprise that everyone from industry leaders, fitness professionals and lifeguards to equipment suppliers and representative bodies read it to keep abreast of their sector. It’s great to see any magazine thriving after 20 years and we wish you all the very best for next 20 too. Happy Birthday Workout magazine!”

Abigail Harris and the team at Big Fish PR “Happy 20th anniversary Workout magazine! It’s produced by a great team and at SIV, it’s one of the first places we go to for the latest industry news. It’s a must-read for anyone working in the fitness industry. Enjoy all your birthday celebrations!”

Steve Brailey, chief executive of Sheffield International Venues

Editor’s Comment WELCOME to a very special edition of Workout – our 20th birthday issue.

This month, marks 20 years since the launch of the magazine, so we felt it was only right we celebrated such a milestone achievement in Workout’s history.

Read on to see some of the lovely birthday greetings sent in to us by our readers and advertisers, as well as a timeline highlighting Workout’s key moments over the years.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this issue. It’s been great to hear about others – such as Creatability and GB Fitness’ Cain Leathem – who are also celebrating their own 20 year anniversaries in the industry, as well as speaking to

many gyms around the country which are flourishing.

We’ll be continuing our birthday celebrations throughout the month, so look out for our special giveaway on Facebook and Twitter, and feel free to drop us a line at ce@scriptmedia.co.uk with your memories of Workout over the years.

It’s also an exciting few weeks for us as the team will be out and about visiting our shortlisted National Fitness Awards’ gyms for the next phase of the judging process, as well as exhibiting once again at Leisure Industry Week.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Christina Eccles

“I have been reading Workout for around 13 years since I started fitness.

It’s such a great magazine filled with everything that is happening in the fitness industry. Thank you for always keeping the industry together and filling it with passion BUT most importantly – HUGE Happy Birthday Workout Magazine!”

Carly Thornton, fitness model and healthy living ambassador “Workout uses the most passionate individuals to tell their stories and successes. They have never forgotten their vision and continually strive to serve the independent and in return we support Workout. The perfect partnership in my eyes and one that will last another 20 years I am sure.”

Neil Godly, owner of Oxygen Fit health club “Congratulations to Workout from Leisure-net, you have been great at carrying interesting and stimulating news from the sector over the last 20 years. Keep it up!”

Mike Hill, managing director of Leisure-net Solutions “Congratulations to Workout Magazine on a successful 20 years. Freedom Leisure has been delighted to be associated with a publication that consistently delivers interesting and engaging content to the fitness industry – including some great coverage on us!”

Karen Burrell, sales and marketing director at Freedom Leisure “Workout Magazine does such a fantastic job for independent gym owners. The news, concepts and real voices from the industry help build a community of small operators across the country, including an ever growing network of studios that offer GRAVITY. Great to work with, and great to read: here’s to another 20 years!”

The GRAVITY UK team

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UK FITNESS SCENE

Sue’s gamble pays off as Group Kick is a hit with members

By Christina Eccles

CFM Memberdrive fitness consultants Steffi Crouch (pictured above) and Chris Gill have celebrated working with the company for five years, selling over 15,000 memberships between them in that time. Having started as sales assistants in 2008, the pair have worked at over 60 clubs across the UK and Ireland. CFM Memberdrive general manager Dean Godfrey said: “Steffi and Chris are shining examples of people who have a great mix of tenacity and drive to generate sales but also genuine empathy and rapport with every prospective member who walks through the door. This is why they have helped so many members across the UK change their lifestyles for the better. We are lucky to have a great crew that work for CFM and they have been valued members of our family over the last five years.”

MEMBERS at an independent club in Warrington have been trying out a new style of fitness class after the loss of their most popular Zumba teacher led to the introduction of Group Kick sessions.

Fit In Gym was the first local health club to introduce Zumba and, to meet demand from its 3,000 members, had to timetable the class seven days a week in its 50capacity studio.

After their popular teacher left to work abroad, club owner Sue Williams went looking for a replacement – and came across a different type of class she thought her members would like to have a go at.

Sue explained: “Zumba initially attracted people from outside our geographical area.

“Fortunately my daughter Olivia is exceptional at teaching dancebased classes and very popular within the local town and community.

“But she was offered a job working abroad and so I needed a con-

tingency plan – quickly!

“It was difficult to find a replacement Zumba instructor and so, after watching Group Kick on YouTube, I took a gamble and replaced her Zumba class with Group Kick.”

Group X Systems’ hour-long Group Kick class combines mixed martial arts moves, from the boxing ring to the fighting cage, to build total body strength and improve cardio fitness.

And Sue added that although at first she was apprehensive as to what members would think about the class, she’s had some great feedback via the club’s regular ‘are you being served’ meetings.

She added: “I was nervous about how our members would react but they embraced Group Kick brilliantly.

“We’ve not lost any members and everyone loves the programme. We are very happy to lead the way with new programmes in the Warrington area. We were first for Zumba, Bokwa, Hot Yoga and now Group Kick.”

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UK FITNESS SCENE

Specialist in kettlebell, barbell and body weight training, StrongFirst, has launched in the UK with its first certification course for kettlebells, recently held at Harlow Leisure Centre. Among the participants was a famous face – Olympic gold medallist and Dancing on Ice star Jayne Torvill. Here Jayne reveals to Workout how she got on.

Ice star Jayne completes first kettlebells course Why did you decide to sign up for the course?

Most of my work in the last eight to 10 years has been over the winter months so I usually have the summer off. I like to keep fit and maintain high fitness levels so for the past four years I've worked with a personal trainer and each year we like to try something new, to challenge ourselves.

I was first introduced to kettlebells through a class held near my home in East Sussex. I had used kettlebells before but I didn't really know how to best use them or the benefits they brought to a strength programme.

Angela Craig – a StrongFirst certified kettlebell instructor based in East Sussex – introduced me to a better training method and it became clear that with kettlebell training, good coaching and correct methodology was crucial in achieving the best results.

I found my first class fascinating so suggested to my personal trainer that he come along too. Like me, he'd used them before but hadn't realised quite what they offered. Angela suggested that we look into the StrongFirst course as she considered it to be the best kettlebell certification in the UK. When Chris and I competed, we didn't do enough fitness and weight training – most was ice-based. In the last five years we've recognised the benefits of strength training to improve fitness and reduce injury and in the short time of using kettlebells it's clear they can play an integral role.

How did the course go?

The course was extremely enjoyable and very challenging. I would recommend it for anyone either wanting to teach kettlebells in the right way or

for those who want to improve their strength in a way that lays solid and lasting foundations, regardless of what your sport is. The versatility of kettlebells is one of the real benefits; you can do a huge amount of training with just one.

What were the highlights for you?

The mix of participants there was really refreshing, from fitness professionals and leading performance coaches working in elite sport to professional athletes like me. The reasons for taking part were all different, but the over-arching sentiment among everyone here was the sense of camaraderie and community spirit that filled the hall as each contender embarked on yet another grueling challenge.

I expected it to be tough, and it didn’t disappoint. I, like everyone else here, came ready for the challenge.

There were elements that I would have liked to have done better but I think I nailed the snatch test in particular.

When you’re competing, I’ve always lived by the principle that you should train beyond the level expected in competition, so if the worst-case scenario occurs and you have an off day, it’s not a failure.

With good preparation, a bad day can still deliver a solid performance.

This weekend has been no different; we all trained hard and came prepared, so even when we thought we could have done better, it was still a solid performance.

What is it that appeals to you about kettlebells? Have you been incorporating them into your own fitness routine?

The StrongFirst kettlebell method instills the value of doing the basics right and building a strong foundation. On the show, we work with

Jayne Torvill (centre) with James Breese and Mayyah Shalchi, StrongFirst vice-president of operations.

Jayne Torvill takes part in the kettlebells course with James Breese. celebrities with a range of fitness levels, some of which have little fitness experience. Kettlebells are a great way to lay a solid foundation if approached in the right way. Now I'm qualified to teach – thankfully I passed the Level one certification – I will feel comfortable passing on knowledge if any of our celebrities want to incorporate them into their training regime. I would certainly recommend them for a good grounding in strength.

Chris trains with a coach in America, so when we meet in October, which we'll be doing this year in preparation for the new series of Dancing on Ice, which airs in January, I will definitely continue training with them. I can already tell that kettlebell training will help me maintain the level of strength and fitness I need for my performances on the ice.

Kettlebell practice builds excellent glute, quad and core strength, which is central to being a better skater.

Preparation for Dancing on Ice will be interesting following on from the certification. I'll definitely be recommending kettlebells to the fitness team on the show, as they're an excellent tool if you have a limited amount of time but want to achieve fast results.

For TV, where you don't have the time, or often the space, access to a few kettlebells in the dressing room would really help, so this series might be the first where they're used in training.

We insist that the celebrities spend at least 10 hours on the ice to prepare them for the competition. It’s often the case that the keener ones will choose to practice more than this, though.

Can you tell us more about your fitness regime?

My training is predominantly gym-

based when I’m at home (East Sussex). On a normal week I’ll train three to four times with my personal trainer. Before I started the course I’d do three days with my own trainer and one with Angela to get me ready for what was expected at the StrongFirst certification.

On a busy week, when I’m in a new town or city, I’ll usually maintain my fitness levels by running, or if I’m hotel-based then I’ll make use of the gym facilities.

I feel I want to train most days now; I only really need one day off a week.

When filming starts in the autumn we’ll be flat out so I get used to the intensity of it and I feel like I want to train more.

An element of my regime has always been weights focused, but since finishing the course I feel my weights session could well turn into a kettlebell session alone.

There are only a limited number of exercises to do with kettlebells, but it’s how you do it that counts – it’s all about technique to get the best results. I predominantly used the 12kg during certification, but I felt I could handle the 14kg and 16kg because we’d worked on increasing my weight training in the run-up to certification. Good preparation for the StrongFirst kettlebell courses is crucial.

What are your plans for the future?

The next series of Dancing on Ice will be the last but Chris and I have a few things in the pipeline for 2014, which we can't say too much about yet. It will be another TV project. Needless to say, kettlebells will remain a key part of my current and future fitness regime and I'd like to remain in contact with StrongFirst and help where I can because their certification courses are, as far as I can tell, the best around, certainly for kettlebell practice.

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UK FITNESS SCENE

Danny Withington and Chris Tamm opened No Limits in Liverpool in 2010, which is now home to several top local sports teams.

Gym builds up impressive reputation

By Christina Eccles AN independent gym in Liverpool city centre is going from strength to strength, with its attractive location and open door policy pulling in a wide range of fitness fans.

No Limits was opened in 2010 by Danny Withington and Chris Tamm and has quickly built up an impressive reputation.

The club is the home of several top local sports teams including the Liverpool University Amateur Boxing Club, the strength and conditioning and nutrition team behind Next

Generation MMA – one of the top mixed martial arts gyms in the country – and football teams such as the Everton ladies’ squad.

As owners, Danny and Chris pride themselves on their ‘no nonsense’ approach to training, claiming that although members won’t find the latest gadgets or rows of machines in their clubs, what they will find are friendly, knowledgeable trainers who are dedicated to helping them achieve results.

Danny said: “Our niche is that we are in the city centre and also open to everyone.

“And our elite athletes love it because it’s something so different for them. They can go from boxing to using the astroturf to strength and conditioning.

“It’s going really well. We’ve not really had to advertise – it’s mostly been word of mouth.”

Danny also told Workout he believes the club has been successful because the atmosphere is so welcoming, with everyone from professional athletes to beginners coming along to try the facilities out.

Training fees are also kept reasonably priced; ranging from £3 for an

open training session, to £5 for a single class, £12.50 for weekly membership or £35 for monthly membership.

Currently, new ladies only classes have been going down well, as have regular seminars on healthy eating hosted by a qualified nutritionist, and the pair are now thinking about how they can improve their offering even further.

Danny added: “It’s a people’s gym – everyone feels at home. And in future, we want to keep expanding the brand. We also want to keep on enjoying it. We’re really enjoying having the gym – it’s not a job to us.”

challengechristina

26

The GRAVITY workout on Total Gym equipment is becoming a popular addition in many clubs looking for a fun and effective fitness session to offer members. Christina Eccles found out more about the concept – and gave a class a try.

GRAVITY HIIT taps into high intensity trend TEACHER Sue Wilkie had been a master trainer for Physical Company for many years when she came across the GRAVITY workout for the first time at Leisure Industry Week back in 2008.

Attracted by how diverse the equipment is, Sue said she knew she wanted to be involved with it – and when the opportunity came to join the GRAVITY master training team, she was eager to take it.

She explained: “I love how inclusive and unique the Total Gym is, literally anyone can use it.

“I have personally run GRAVITY sessions with tennis kids, active older adults and athletes – quite often all in the same session.

“The fact you can adjust the resistance to suit the ability of the user is great, it opens the door for so many people.”

According to Sue, GRAVITY classes are a useful addition to a gym’s timetable because they are a good way to optimise trainers’ time – and the adjustable units can be tailored to suit the needs of different members.

She added: “GRAVITY attracts members, creates enthusiasm and puts Total Gym equipment to maximum use.

“GRAVITY's equipment, programming and training support show that clubs of any size can offer a variety of effective, flexible approaches that members love.”

One of the latest additions to the portfolio is a GRAVITY HIIT class,

A GRAVITY training class at David Lloyd Luton (left) and London Kensington trainer Sue Wilkie. which taps into the growing trend for high intensity interval training.

The class consists of Tabata style intervals with cycles of 20 seconds’ work and 10 seconds’ rest, repeated eight times to complete a four minute round.

Each round targets one muscle group with four different exercises repeated twice, performed on the equipment.

Resistance is matched to the users' ability by altering the angle of the glideboard and the percentage of bodyweight being lifted. After each round there is a 60 second rest period before the next round starts for a new muscle group.

Partner at GRAVITY Greg Sellar added: “GRAVITY HIIT is fast paced and gets fast results.

“Studies are finding that metabolic

adaptations resulting from HIIT enable you to use more fat as fuel, improving your athletic endurance and your fat-burning potential whether working or at rest. There is also considerable evidence that it can reduce the risk of major health problems. The appeal is massive – this is something of real, proven health value that will continue to deliver results for all users.”

Tough class was effective and enjoyable MY first experience of a GRAVITY session was a HIIT class at the David Lloyd Leisure club in London’s Kensington.

Having never used the equipment before – but after hearing good things about it – I was excited to see what it could do – and take on this month’s challenge.

I took part in a small group session, with three other people, where we applied the principles of High Intensity Interval Training to the GRAVITY kit.

Swapping between short cycles of work and rest, the session worked everything from the arms to the shoulders, legs and core. And with a variety of exercises, it was impossible to get bored with the class.

GRAVITY HIIT was tough but enjoyable and Sue’s way of

teaching was really encouraging. I felt she kept a close eye on me and encouraged me to push myself and have a go – but if it got too tough she was on hand to lower the resistance and help me out.

Out of my group, I definitely struggled the most with the workout but really felt like I had achieved something at the end of the session.

The biggest achievement for me was to be able to do a pull up on the unit and although my arms and shoulders ached for a couple of days afterwards, it must have proved that I worked them hard!

Although to a beginner, the units can look a bit scary and intimidating, with the right coaching and encouragement, a GRAVITY HIIT class can become a really effective – and enjoyable workout.

Christina takes part in a GRAVITY HIIT class.

Christina put to the test...

UK FITNESS SCENE

28

Renowned inspirational speaker Tony Robbins (author of Unlimited Power) talks about our Four Primal Human Needs and how they dictate every action we take.

Here NLP coach, lecturer and trainer, Miles Grant, shares these four needs in relation to prospective members joining your health club.

The four primal needs of your prospect ...

Top fitness professional Joey Bull has launched a new book – Tidy The Temple. The Tidy The Temple system has been developed from Joey's experiences both with her own training and what she has observed and achieved with hundreds of clients over two decades in the fitness industry. The book includes exercise, diet and motivation tips, as well as over 80 recipes.

CYBEX renews kit at facility CYBEX International UK has installed over 50 pieces of cardiovascular equipment at the Gym Hounslow.

The facility, which opened in 2008, was the first ever Gym Group site.

The new install is an extension to the existing relationship between the two companies after Cybex installed both cardio and strength training equipment when the club first opened over five years ago.

The new equipment, from Cybex’s 625 commercial series, includes treadmills, upright and recumbent bikes and both lower body and total body Arc Trainers.

ALL our decisions to do or not do anything are driven by four primal needs.

How is it that one person can achieve their fitness goals with what seems like little effort and yet another struggles through every diet and training fad there is with no significant return?

What creates an Arnold Schwarzenegger or a Michael Jordan?

A Usain Bolt or a Lionel Messi?

No matter who you are, or what you do, there’s a common force that’s driving and shaping all our emotions and actions and it’s happening for the members and prospective members at your club. It determines the quality of our lives, and ultimately, our destinies.

Day after day we are driven by these four primal needs regardless of who we are, our backgrounds, our religions or our professions.

Although we are all unique, at the core we are all wired very much the same way.

The four Primal Needs are: 1. Certainty When a prospective member considers joining your club they need an element of certainty.

They need to feel certain that they will achieve their goals. Almost all of us have had some form of success and failure when pursuing our fitness ambitions – our job is to persuade our prospect that they can achieve their goals with your club.

important in some way. People seek significance through obtaining recognition from others and from themselves.

If prospects don’t feel there will be significance to be gained by joining your club they will look for a club where they will find it.

A great way to provide significance is by having member appreciation schemes and by publicly sharing member success stories.

This will inspire prospective members to join your club because they will know that their efforts will be noticed.

Miles Grant 2. Uncertainty/Variety As important as it is to feel certain it is just as important to us to have variety. People need to change their body, their state and their emotions and this happens easiest through different life experiences.

We seek variety through a number of means – changes of scenery, entertainment, physical activity etc. Your prospective members/existing members need clarity that you can and will provide them with variety in the form of new programmes/training regimes/classes etc.

3. Significance Everybody needs to feel special or

4. Contribution Humans need to feel connected with someone or something – a person, an idea, a value or a sense of identity.

Your strongest asset is your staff and as a result, the connections they do or don’t build with your prospective members will play a larger factor on how long a member stays with you much more than whether you’ve got the latest cardio equipment.

When a person walks into your club for the first time focus not on the facilities you have to offer but instead on what you as a team will bring them individually in the form of support, encouragement and guidance.

Miles is the founder of Miles More Members, has personally sold over 7,000 memberships nationwide and a practitioner of NLP. He also runs sales workshops for clubs all over the UK.

Fitness4less open new club in Canning Town A NEW Fitness4less club has opened in London’s Canning Town.

The facility is located on the ground floor of a new development of office and retail buildings and includes Precor equipment such as treadmills, bikes and elliptical

crosstrainers.

Director Emma Edwards said: “We are very excited to have secured the location in Canning Town as it has good visibility and signage opportunities and the club will no doubt attract a wide cross section of the

local community.

“We are working with Precor as it allows us to provide our members with high quality and reliable equipment together with a low cost fitness opportunity.”

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UK FITNESS SCENE

Functional areas are becoming an increasingly popular addition in clubs, with both independents and chains tapping into the trend. In a special column for Workout, fitness professional Brendan Chaplin explains why.

Members expect a remarkable experience from their gym visit IT’S not enough to just have a gym these days. People now expect and want more. They want a remarkable experience.

People realise that just plodding away on the treadmill or cross trainer isn't going to cut it when it comes to fat loss or training for function.

Research shows this is the case.

Educators like myself and many people smarter than me have been saying it, teaching it, providing the information for years. It's starting to catch on. So what does this mean?

Well from a gym perspective, it's not enough to provide cardio equipment and a few weights and hope for the best.

Gyms that are thriving are providing more for their members and this increasingly means creating a functional/freestyle area.

I put the growth in this phenomenon down to the Olympic effect and British sporting success – gym users up and down the country now want to train like athletes. After all who doesn't want a body like Jessica Ennis, Andy Murray, or a British Lions player?

And the best way to mould your

body to the desired effect is with the correct weight ratio, provided by free weights and freestyle training areas.

I'm fortunate through my mentorship to work with many gym owners and coaches across the UK both independents and high performance.

Check out Frontier Physical Conditioning in Lincoln, Core Conditioning in Cardiff, AM Fitness in Durham, and The Edge in Leeds.

All these gyms are busy and all of them are providing strength and conditioning and functional training.

Not a small area behind the spin bikes. Not a token gesture. They all have integrated weightlifting as a staple part of their environments. They all have space for people to move and express themselves physically. They all have plenty of strength training equipment, sleds, hurdles, AstroTurf, kettlebells and much more.

And now we have seen a shift on the high street to mirror this. Fitness First now has freestyle areas packed with free weights and room to move in over 80 of their gyms nationwide, with more to follow.

People idolise their football and sporting star heroes and their training

Brendan Chaplin methods and they want to be able to recreate some of this in their local gym – and now they can.

Small independent chains and locally based gyms have started this trend, keen to cash in on the growing trend for intense free weight training.

All these gyms have great coaches at

the helm. Coaches guide their clients, they don't simply bark at them.

Coaches know what right and wrong technique looks like. Coaches get results.

They want to do more, they thrive on it. And the members love this.

They see the results and they want more. They see the environment works for them and they buy in, big time.

And now the larger chains are seeing this and starting to implement coaches into their freestyle areas as well, playing catch up to the independents and grass roots where the trends build.

Two factors work hand in hand. You can't get the results without the correct environment and you also need to have quality coaches to build on that.

Train your staff to deliver results.

Invest in them. Then you might have a business, and a thriving one at that.

Brendan Chaplin is head of strength and conditioning at Leeds Met Carnegie. Visit www.brendanchaplin.co.uk for more on coaching, education and mentoring or follow him on Twitter @brendanchaplin

The refurbished Kent Sport at the University of Kent’s Canterbury campus.

University spends £5m on fitness facilities upgrade THE University of Kent has invested £5m to upgrade its fitness and sporting facilities, which are used by over 7,000 members.

Kent Sport, housed at the university’s Canterbury Campus, now boasts 6,500 sqm of indoor activity space, as well as extensive outdoor facilities such as grass pitches, floodlit artificial pitches and tennis courts.

Director Graham Holmes said: “We made the decision to completely refurbish the facilities on a large scale as we wanted to make a real impact on our members.

“As well as the new gym, the project

has added a double studio, a second sports hall, three indoor tennis courts and additional changing rooms.

“We are delighted about the incredible facilities we are now able to offer our members and local residents.”

The facilities are utilised by a wide range of users, including students, staff and the local community, with new equipment in the gym now including state-of-the-art products from Star Trac, Escape and Rubicon.

Graham added: “It has been tough but a genuine pleasure seeing this project through to its conclusion. The results speak for themselves.”

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UK FITNESS SCENE

Gym offers free sessions to young cancer patients

By Christina Eccles

Scottish fitness instructor Angela Reid set herself up for a busy month of fitness challenges to raise money for cervical cancer awareness. Angela decided to embark on a punishing journey which required her to complete a different physical challenge every day in July, asking her Facebook friends for ideas on what she could do, and encouraging other fitness fans to join her along the way. Her challenges included a 10k backwards run, a 500 sit-ups challenge and a one mile weight pull.

A MANCHESTER independent gym owner is supporting his local community by offering free sessions to recovering young cancer patients who have been treated at nearby Christie’s Hospital.

Colin Reilly has forged links with the hospital and his local council to deliver the sessions at Body Matrix in Blackley, which he’s owned since last December.

As part of the agreement, the participants – aged between 16 and 19 – get a one to one personal training session with an instructor once a fortnight.

But several of them have been enjoying their workouts so much, they have been coming in more regularly – and Colin has told them they are welcome to drop in whenever they want.

He explained: “The kids that participate are some of the most dedicated and enthusiastic clients I have ever seen. You would never know the terrible ordeal they have been through and it is utterly inspiring how hard they train and how nice and grateful they are. They are supposed to have one session every two weeks but some of them have been that enthusiastic, I told them they can come in as many times as they want and there

Personal trainer Javeno McClean, Brandon, who is one of the children taking part, and gym owner Colin Reilly. will always be someone on hand to help them.”

The idea came about when Colin was chatting to one of his members, who works at the council, who told him he was going to be working with the patients.

Colin said he would be keen to get involved and get some of the kids down into his gym and the concept has gone from strength to strength.

The scheme is meant to run for about three months but Colin said it’s been so beneficial for the gym – and he’s had such great feedback from the participants and Christie’s – that he’s going to try and keep it running for

longer.

He also told Workout, he would love to get involved with more community based projects in the future – and he has some ideas in the pipeline he is now hoping to build on.

He added: “I’m looking to set up a few things. This is quite a run down area but I want to try and really push into the community and shake off that image.”

Are you running any community projects at your gym? Let us know more and you could appear in Workout. Email our editorial team at ce@scriptmedia.co.uk or contact us via Twitter or Facebook.

UK FITNESS SCENE

34

With automatic enrolment legislation coming into force, it’s more important than ever that both employers in the fitness industry – and their staff – start thinking about their pension schemes. Minister for Pensions, Steve Webb, explains how the sector can save for later life.

Branston Golf and Country Club has refurbished its gym facilities, with improvements including new equipment from Precor, fresh paintwork, carpets and laminate flooring. The 225sqm gym is located in the clubhouse, with other facilities at Branston Golf and Country Club including a 17m swimming pool, sauna, steam room, aroma rooms and an outdoor hot tub featuring a landscaped fireplace and sundeck.

Association marks anniversary THE Fitness Writers' Association has marked its first anniversary with a street workout in central London with Fitness Playground, followed by a picnic in St. James Park.

The association is made up of about 50 journalists and authors who write specifically about fitness and was launched in 2012.

Members hold quarterly network-

ing events, featuring exclusive insights into fitness trends and the industry itself, and highlights so far include appearances from Sally Gunnell and Richard Callender.

Alongside the networking events, the Fitness Writers’ Association also organises press trips to industry conventions and trade shows, including Leisure Industry Week.

“We’re all in” – helping the sector save for later life PEOPLE often see saving for a pension as something they can put off until tomorrow. But leave it too late, and you won’t have built up very much to live on by the time you retire.

Research shows as many as two thirds of those in the private sector do not have a workplace pension – the lowest since records began.

That is why we have introduced the biggest change to the pensions system in a century, giving up to 11m people a helping hand.

A new duty was introduced in October which requires employers to automatically enrol their staff into a workplace pension.

By 2018 this will cover every workplace – from the largest to the very smallest – and applies to all workers aged between 22 and state pension age earning more than £9,440 a year.

However, anyone can opt in and it’s not always necessary to wait until your firm enrols you. Fitness workers can enrol straight away if their bosses already have a scheme.

For employers, the important message is to start preparing now. It is a legal duty to enrol eligible workers, so check the date for your size of company at the Pensions Regulator (TPR) website www.tpr.gov.uk Employers with 2,000 staff or more are now enrolling their staff. If you have fewer than 50 workers you won’t be staging until June 2015 at the earliest but the rule of thumb is to allow 18 months to prepare.

Employers should also choose a provider that’s right for them. The National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) has been established as a lowcost, low-hassle option. But TPR can help answer any questions you have before you decide, and you may choose one of the many other providers in the market.

We’ve set contributions low to encourage as many people to stay in and start saving. Initially, employees contribute one per cent of their gross monthly salary, rising to five per cent by 2018.

That is matched by one per cent from the employer, rising to three per cent which makes a minimum contribution of eight per cent.

We recognise there are some costs involved in setting up a workplace pension scheme. But we have done

Steve Webb much to ease the burden on employers, including staggering staging dates and an optional “postponement period” of up to three months before a worker needs to be automatically enrolled. This will save businesses around £170m a year in contribution costs.

Offering a workplace pension can also enhance your reputation as an employer, and could provide an ideal opportunity to review the existing benefits you offer employees.

Some have already seen this as a chance to help them attract and retain high-quality employees by contributing more than the statutory minimum.

Others know this can increase workers’ loyalty and morale.

From posters and your intranet, to letters or text messages, we have found employers can make a real difference by communicating with their workers about the pension changes.

There is material to support you with this on the TPR website. It is important to let workers know that money is also paid in by their employer, which boosts their own savings.

One million people have already been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension, and we are seeing stunningly high participation rates among some of our biggest employers. Starting a pension can be a lifechanging event, and as millions more people see the benefits, employers can rightly be proud of the contribution they will make.

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UK FITNESS SCENE

Introducing the mi fitness directory

Co founder of Fitsteps Natalie Lowe.

Picture credit: Simon Howard.

Fitsteps rolled out nationwide NEW dance craze Fitsteps is being rolled out at Rosemary Conley classes nationwide.

The concept – devised by Strictly Come Dancing professionals Natalie Lowe and Ian Waite – combines popular Latin and Ballroom dances into a fun workout and many Rosemary Conley instructors have been personally trained by the pair to deliver the sessions.

Rosemary said: “We like to stay one step ahead of the latest fitness sensation by introducing new styles of exer-

cise into our classes.

“We are thrilled to have teamed up with the creators of FitSteps to offer this exciting new fitness concept and expect it will be extremely popular with our members as it allows them to learn easy-to-follow dance moves that have been combined with proven fitness techniques.”

As well as a 45-minute exercise session, each 90-minute Rosemary Conley Diet and Fitness class also includes a weigh-in and dietary advice.

ARE you a health and fitness professional, run your own fitness establishment or simply looking to get fit?

Then look no further than www.mi-fitnessdirectory.co.uk mi fitness directory is the UK’s first online social media platform for the health and fitness industry.

It will be a place where all fitness professionals and enthusiasts will be able to add friends, promote workout plans, diets, blogs and share everything about their fitness lives.

It will also be a platform for all independent fitness operators and services to showcase themselves on and grow their client base.

Our aim is to build the UK's biggest online fitness community. It will include postings of fitness operators, local fitness classes, fitness courses under which members can gain qualifications and health and fitness related jobs.

We also hope that our website inspires people to take more care of their health and fitness as it makes all their local fitness operators and services far more accessible than before. It is also our ambition to help independent health and fitness operators generate business and help them realise their potential by giving them the exposure they

deserve, so that together we can work towards getting the UK fit and healthy.

Registered business members will be able to provide members with qualifications that are highly recognised within the fitness industry, videos to add a personal touch to their profile and give prospective clients an insight to their work ethic and methods. mi fitness directory is a 24-hour opportunity to log online and research new classes, meet friends and more, while for businesses, it provides them with a chance to promote their business, services and classes all day every day.

So why not go online and register an account today and be a part of the UK’s most innovative, fun and exciting online fitness community.

Love your fitness, love mi fitness.

UK FITNESS SCENE

Business is booming at Howard’s niche studio

By Christina Eccles BUSINESS is booming at a Worksop personal training studio, where the owner has carved out a niche with his functional approach to training.

Howard Hill opened his own studio – 365 Functional Fitness – in March after working as a personal trainer for the last six years.

The studio – designed with help from the team at Escape Fitness – focuses on one to one PT and small group sessions, with a big emphasis on functional movement, funky decor and the use of kit such as kettlebells, powerbags and Vipr. So far, things are going well, with his existing PT clients enjoying using the studio and new clients coming through the doors who are excited about a way of training they may not have tried before.

Howard said: “I’m doing about 55 hours of PT per week, plus six to eight classes, so it’s been quite intense.

“It’s been brilliant. The studio is nice and vibrant, all our existing business came straight across and we’ve grown by about 30 per cent. It’s going really well.”

The studio is situated among a ‘creative village’ of business units and when phase two of the development starts at the end of the year, Howard is hoping it will give him the opportu-

365 Functional Fitness in Worksop. nity to expand into bigger premises – and tap into a wider potential client base.

He added: “The idea is to keep growing. I’d love to open a bigger area, with this functional aspect in mind.

“This type of training gets people interacting and has a bit more of an appeal and interest.

“Personal training is getting bigger because people going to gyms sometimes don’t get that service. The stuff

we do is very results driven.”

Howard also said that the local area has been in the news recently after being labelled as one of the fattest towns in the country – but he would like to do his bit to change that.

As part of this, he is looking to host free health awareness days for local people, as well as expanding his 365 Wellbeing initiative – a year long programme which educates clients on healthy eating and nutrition.

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Defibrillators installed at all The Gym Group sites LOW cost operator The Gym Group has installed Automated External Defibrillators in all of its gyms across the UK. The group has aggressive expansion plans, aiming to open 20-30 gyms each year – and every new club will be equipped with a wall mounted AED on the day it opens its doors.

CEO John Treharne said: “The Gym Group has a membership database of over 600,000 and has welcomed 7m visitors in the last year. Sadly, it is therefore possible that, at some point, one of these will suffer a Sudden Cardiac Arrest whilst on our premises.

“Administering defibrillation via an AED is a simple procedure that can, quite literally, make the difference between life and death.

Frankly, I am surprised that more businesses and public service providers do not install AEDs. “Every member of staff working in our gyms will be trained to use an AED and taught how to administer safe, effective defibrillation.

If we save just one life all resource invested will have been worthwhile.”

UK FITNESS SCENE Advertiser’s announcement

Ffittech’s new Full Power Range was installed at Ilkeston Gym.

Ffittech team helps with refurbishment of Ilkeston Gym ILKESTON Gym in the Midlands has undergone a full refurbishment of their general fitness and strength training area and enlisted the help of the Ffittech team to carry out the upgrade.

Ffittech started by identifying the type of users that Ilkeston Gym were looking to target and selected the most suitable lines of equipment to meet these requirements and budget.

The design team worked out a suitable layout plan to maximise the floor space.

Ffittech also helped with maximising the sale of Ilkeston's old equipment, advertising and showing around potential buyers so John and Claire could concentrate on the day to day running of the gym.

It was decided that Ffittech's new Full Power Range met the criteria and was to be installed. The Full Power Range is Ffittech’s premium range of pin loaded strength equipment. The full set up offers a diverse range of exercise stations to meet the needs

and goals of all clients.

The machines use the belt drive system for the smoothest of movements, are fully adjustable, easy to use and to top all of that the dynamic lines ensure each piece of machinery looks stylish from every angle. The metallic silver paint work combined with the black acrylics and panel stitched upholstery gives the Full Power range that visual impact that customers love.

Ffittech UK would like to thank all that helped with the installation and special thanks to John and Claire who were the perfect clients from start to finish.

Ffittech do not just install fitness machines, they offer a full design and installation solution tailored to the client’s specific needs.

If you are looking to start a gym or refurbish your current facility, contact Ffittech UK today to see what they could offer you.

For more information visit www.ffittech.co.uk

Ffittech offers a full design and installation solution tailored to the client’s specific needs.

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UK FITNESS SCENE

44

Recession proof your club the easy way

By Dave Wright THE greatest strength of this industry is not just in its bricks and mortar, shiny equipment or new trends, but the expertise and knowledge to help people get the results they want. And more importantly it’s not only having that knowledge but being able to communicate it to the masses.

Communicating your message in a world of clutter and the internet has proven to be so critical to survive in today’s market and is often one area that has certainly been taken for granted.

Through international studies, the reason why people fail and cancel their membership is due to a term known as ‘expectation violation’ – they are either sold a ‘dream’ and when that dream doesn’t eventuate, (for whatever reason) they want to cancel. If you think about it, very few people join a health club with the full

intention to fail. Yet they do.

As an industry we sit at roughly 0.8 time usage per week, yet when someone joins we tell them they need to be attending three to five times per week, and when they realise life doesn’t allow them to achieve this, irrespective of the price, they cancel their membership.

To put it into perspective, IHRSA studies have shown that if a member uses your club more than 100 times per year (that’s two sessions per week) versus less than 50 times per year (less than once per week) they will stay on average 18 months longer. If we can communicate to our members to try and help them achieve this, then the financial benefit becomes quite compelling.

Clubs also fail in their communication to potential members through their external messaging. Your cleanliness, your staff uniform, your name tags, your signage, notice boards,

Dave Wright class timetables etc... enable you to communicate with your market place.

Are those messages professional?

Are they informative? Are they spelt correctly? Are they on branded letterhead? Are they the right image that you want to portray? As for member interactions… are they also meaning-

ful? Are they informative? Are they engaging and professional? Are they moving your relationship to a further point?

Business is about relationships, so whatever you do that can encourage you to move your relationship to the next level, the more connected your members will be and the longer they will stay. If you do this, you’ll be able to recession proof your business and the longer members stay – the more money you make.

Dave Wright is the CEO of CFM and creator of MYZONE, a global company with over 300 staff that have served the international fitness community for over 23 years; focusing on either getting new members and/or keeping existing ones. Dave is also the owner of 11 health clubs across two continents, a board director of ukactive and founder of IOU (Independent Operators Unite). He may be contacted on Dave.Wright@cfm.net

Village to install training apparatus VILLAGE Urban Resorts is to introduce the latest in innovative functional training from Life Fitness.

Village will be including the Synrgy360T multi-purpose apparatus into selected Velocity gyms,

enabling users to do a full body workout on one piece of equipment.

The clubs will also be offering Synrgy360T classes for members and incorporating the kit into personal training sessions.

easyGym has reconfigured the Oxford Street site to reflect its model.

Chain opens flagship gym LOW cost operator easyGym has opened a new 26,000 sqft flagship gym on London’s Oxford Street, taking its total number of UK sites to eight.

The gym – formerly owned by Virgin – has been completely reconfigured to reflect the easyGym model, with equipment including treadmills, crosstrainers, bikes and Adaptive Motion Trainers from Precor; Concept II Rowers; two Stairmaster Steppers and an 8.5m TRX frame.

Other features include fixed resistance and freeweights zones, as well as the functional Freedom Zone, which offers Escape Fitness and Absolute Performance kit, as well as a Powerplate Pro 7.

easyGym CEO Paul Lorimer-Wing said: “Our philosophy has always been to provide a quality but affordable experience. Low cost doesn’t mean basic at easyGym. We strip out all the frills to give great value, but still have Precor’s top-of-the-range equipment, tasteful décor and quality fittings.

“We took the site right back to its core then reconfigured it to meet our high standards.”

Monthly membership to the club costs £19.99, plus a one-off £25 joining fee, and members can pay for added extras if they choose to, such as unlimited access to classes for £11.99 per month.

Functional fitness specialist Jordan Fitness has recruited two new members of staff, following a recent move to new headquarters in Kings Lynn. Stuart Barbour joins the team as sales accounts manager and will be responsible for managing key account customers and distributors based both in the UK and internationally. Pam Thatcher joins Jordan Fitness as financial controller and will be ensuring effective control of costs and management of financial processes. Managing director Neil Jordan said: “We are delighted to welcome Stuart and Pam to the team at Jordan Fitness. As our business continues to grow, Stuart and Pam’s experience will help ensure Jordan Fitness goes from strength to strength.”

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UK FITNESS SCENE

Along with Workout, GB Fitness’ founder Cain Leathem and leisure design and construction company Creatability are both also celebrating 20 successful years in the fitness industry. Here we speak to them both about their journeys so far and plans for the future.

Face-to-face service is key to Cain’s successful career CAIN’S motto is ‘don’t just do it, do it right’ – a mantra which has served him well over the last 20 years.

That positive attitude was first instilled in him by his engineer father and reinforced throughout his early career as an aircraft weapons technician in the Royal Air Force, where peoples’ lives depended on his meticulous attention to detail.

The idea of always striving to be your best is something which Cain has also applied to his work in the fitness industry.

He follows the advice himself, as well as teaching it to personal training clients and the students studying his rigorous courses, via the educational side of the business, to become fitness professionals themselves.

He said: “If coaches or trainers are not giving everything then clients receive less – so I need to keep improving. I like the diversity of what I do and need to learn more – I don’t think you can ever know enough.”

Over the years, Cain has worked with everyone from professional athletes, TV Gladiators and champion bodybuilders who want to achieve major success, to ordinary people looking to get in shape, improve their lifestyles and even recover from serious ailments.

His success stories include coaching 84 British champions and six Miss

Universe winners, but whoever he’s working with, Cain believes offering a personal, face to face service is key.

He added: “I love working with people and like to see the changes in them and I don’t think you can do that at a distance. I believe in personal attention and letting them tell me their story.

“There seems to be a current trend for remote training and there is definitely a place for it, but I have clients from Scotland to Cornwall, and even abroad, who come and see me because of that personal relationship and trust.”

Even after 20 years in fitness, Cain says he loves the industry so much it doesn’t feel like work to him and he’s still pushing to drive the business forward and build on its strong reputation, as well as enjoying spending time with wife Claire and young son Oscar. Recently he has been helping clients prepare for the world championships in Las Vegas and is now working with a number of athletes training for next year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

He added: “I wouldn’t have so much passion and energy after 20 years if I didn’t believe in what I was doing. You have to stay motivated and energised.

“It is long hours and can be mentally and physically demanding, but it’s still as rewarding as it was in 1993.”

Cain with wife Claire and son Oscar.

Cain’s top tips for anyone just starting out in the industry: Question everything: Any good tutor will welcome questions and encourage students to communicate with them and other class members.

Discover your passion and focus on it: Cain has studied in areas

including massage, sports therapy and biomechanics to build up a well rounded knowledge base and to learn which areas he wanted to specialise in.

Never stop learning: Keep up to date with qualifications and courses so that you can offer clients the best service possible and stay motivated and energised in your work.

Celebrating 20 years of leisure environments AS a young mechanical engineer, managing director Ian Cotgrave enjoyed a successful career with a construction firm developing leisure facilities... but when the company chose to move away from the leisure sector, Ian wanted to stay.

With a £5,000 loan from his father, a second hand car and a 70sqft office, just big enough for his drawing board, he set up Createability.

Almost 20 years on, the company has delivered more than 500 health, fitness and leisure projects worth over £50m and, through its partnership with Alliance Leisure, is revisiting one of its first ever projects at Stratton Leisure Centre.

Ian said: “It was the second or third job we ever did. A £120,000 redevelopment of the parish council-owned centre, knocking two rooms into one to create a fitness suite.

“Nothing much has changed since then – even the paint’s the same colour!

“Alliance Leisure was already working with Stratton Parish Council and appointed us to carry out the construction work, so now we are back to complete a £600,000 overhaul.

“Gyms have become much more popular and what previously catered for up to 400 members now needs to

Ian Cotgrave, MD of Createability (right) hands over the new fitness suite at Stratton Leisure Centre to Steve Holt 20 years ago (left) and the redeveloped Stratton Leisure Centre (right). accommodate 1,200.”

Createability is expanding the gym by knocking through two under-used squash courts and putting in a mezzanine floor.

New changing rooms, dedicated to the fitness suite, will also be built and the reception area is being re-modelled to include a cafe. Createability is also upgrading the sports hall, installing more cost-effective LED lighting and a new roof.

Stratton St Margaret Parish Council clerk Paul Russell added: “When a Parish Council like Stratton St

Margaret invests substantial public funds into any project it has to achieve value for money and a great end result.

“Hence when looking at the Stratton Leisure Centre project we wanted to work with a company we trusted, which is why we are very pleased to be working with Createability again, 20 years down the line.”

Ian also said he’s seen a lot of changes to the gyms he has been creating over the last 20 years.

He added: “A treadmill is still a treadmill, but if you look at the before

and after photographs of this project you can see how basic it all looked back then. Before, people just built a gym and hoped people would come.

Now there’s more pressure on the revenue per square foot that an area can generate and a technical process to follow.

“Technology has moved things on, particularly on CV equipment, and strength kit is more aesthetically pleasing now too. In the past ventilation was a luxury but now air quality is essential, and of course more economically viable.”

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UK FITNESS SCENE

ukactive calls for activity strategy after £5m boost INDUSTRY body ukactive has welcomed the announcement of £5m of funding to get children and families more active – and is now calling for a national activity strategy to build on this for the future.

The funding comes in response to figures showing that although half the adult population are meeting physical activity guidelines, more than a quarter do almost no activity whatsoever.

“We welcome all funding that gets children more active,” said ukactive CEO David Stalker. “With 25 per cent of children expected to be obese by 2050 we hope that the funding will go some way to tackling the problem of people not getting enough activity.

“The announcement of further funding displays clear progress in the Government’s activity ethos.

“We would like to see this taken to the next stage and encourage decision makers to create a national strategy to

By Christina Eccles

get children and families active.

“Evidence shows that children who actively engage in sport from a young age grow up to be healthier and lead more active lives.

“With indications showing that the NHS will not be able to cope with levels of demand by 2050, this is a positive step in addressing this problem.”

The money will be divided between Play England who will receive £1m to enable the public to organise temporary street closures to let kids play, a £3m top up for Change4Life School Sports Clubs which target the least active and £1m for walking initiatives.

SkillsActive joins forces with CYQ SKILLSACTIVE has formed a partnership with awarding organisation CYQ. The agreement brings both organisations closer together to ensure high standards within the industry are maintained.

Head of CYQ Jenny Patrickson said: “During our 15 years we have contributed to more than 200,000 people developing their careers in our sector.

Reality TV star gives her backing to Squashercise

“We are committed to working in partnership with SkillsActive, as we continue to develop and enhance our suite of health, fitness and well-being qualifications to ensure that they meet the needs of employers, training providers and learners. Working together will enable both organisations to continue the drive for excellence within our sector.”

ENGLAND Squash and Racketball has devised a new exercise class specifically for women – backed by Made in Chelsea star and fitness fan Cheska Hull.

Squashercise is based on squash and racketball fitness, movements and skills and forms part of ESR’s Big Hit campaign, a national programme to engage the public by the sport’s governing body.

A typical Squashercise class begins with a gentle warm-up to raise the heart rate, before moving onto targeting major muscle groups with a range of squash-specific movements, followed by some fun routines to develop squash and racketball skills and stretching to maintain flexibility.

Cheska, who joined a Squashercise class at the Wimbledon Lakeside Club in London, said: “I really enjoyed it, it was great fun.

“When you go to the gym you are usually on your own and it was great to do something with a group of women, it really felt like a team in there.

“This is something you can go to with friends, you can burn the calories and you can have fun while you are doing it. I will be recommending it to people – and I will definitely be doing it again.

“It was interesting in the way it used

Made in Chelsea’s Cheska Hull. short, quick exercises so you didn't get bored. It was constantly changing.

But you are getting a proper workout from it, definitely.

“I am keen to play a game now.

Having had a go, it's definitely something I want to do.”

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group exercise A-Z part three

In the final part of our dedicated A-Z, we reveal the rest of our group exercise alphabet, focusing on letters R-Z.

The A to Z of group exercise

R

– ROCK BOX Fitness

GROUP classes which focus more on fitness than technical climbing moves are popping up on timetables across the UK. Guildford Spectrum, operated by not-for-profit trust Freedom Leisure, is offering ROCK BOX Fitness, a new approach to group fitness that challenges the core and builds strength, agility and flexibility.

Area manager at Freedom Leisure Steve May said: “Our ROCK BOX from High Sports was installed in the footprint of an underperforming squash court in just 14 days.

“Now we are able to offer exciting new fitness classes, which our customers love.”

T

– Tabata

UNDERSTANDING customer trends is vital, according to the experts at Gladstone Health and Leisure, who are providing software solutions which help operators to deliver the right mix of group exercise classes.

The software captures valuable customer data, such as class occupancy, who was in the club at the time and, out of those, who attended the class, allowing clubs to make informed business decisions about their timetabling and in turn improve customer experience and retention.

Head of sales Tom Withers said: “It would be naive to take the view that if classes are free as part of the monthly membership fee that it doesn’t matter how well attended they are.

“The cost of continuing to run unpopular classes or not expanding oversubscribed classes, could be very damaging and is one of the reasons we encourage operators to record customers booking into classes.

“Gladstone customers have access to class viability reports, detailing classes scheduled for the following

U

TOUTING itself as ‘the first fitness system born in a lab, not a gym’, Tabata promises to be one of the hit body-weight classes this year – and has already been picked up by operator Everyone Active.

Based on professor Izumi Tabata’s research into high intensity interval

V

S

– Software Solutions

Tom Withers week, the class capacities and the number currently booked in, at their fingertips. These tools allow operators to give customers exactly what they want by tailoring their class programming to match the workout needs of their customers.”

– Ugi

training, Tabata focuses on bodyweight, more technical capoeira and dance inspired moves.

Each class involves 20 seconds’ intense exercise to 10 seconds’ rest repeated eight times, with a warm up and warm down to make up the 20 minute session.

– Volleybody

DAVID Lloyd Leisure has become the first major UK health and fitness operator to bring Volleybody to its members – a new high-intensity fitness programme inspired by the regimes of the world’s best volleyball players.

Founded on the training principles of professional beach volleyball athletes, Volleybody is an hour long class, inspired by three core moves used during a beach volleyball game – defending, hitting and blocking a ball.

The programme has been devised by the British Beach Volleyball strength

and conditioning coach, Kate Eddy and London 2012 Olympic team Zara Dampney and Shauna Mullin.

THIRTY-minute group sessions using a Ugi ball are helping Virgin Active capitalise on the popularity of fast classes.

Each class is set to music and combines strength, cardio and core training on the 15-inch diameter ball, which has the squish of a beanbag and the bounce-back of a stress ball.

The class comprises a series of one minute exercises — from warm up, cardio, strength conditioning, balance and flexibility to cool down.

There are several variations of the exercises, meaning members will

never get bored, stay motivated and continue to see results.

Head of fitness Alan Holl said: “HIIT classes are growing in popularity at Virgin Active Health Clubs.

“People are time poor and lead busy lives – they want a total body workout that takes the shortest amount of time to do.

“They need a workout that’s functional and effective, yet enjoyable at the same time. Ugi is about small time commitment, yet big results.”

Ugi is available at Virgin Active Health Club Kensington.

group exercise A-Z part three

W

– Wattbike

INSTRUCTOR Mark Fenn has been achieving success with Wattbike classes, run from his dedicated personal training and group exercise studio in Telford.

Mark has 11 Wattbikes altogether, which he uses at MSF Fitness for a range of sessions including Power Cycling and dedicated race nights.

Maximum class sizes of 10 people allow him to maintain a personal

Y

approach with each client and he’s currently running between 10 and 15 classes per week, ranging from pay as you go to a local triathlon team block booking a team session.

He added: “I’m very passionate about other people’s fitness and I think I’ve put together a personal training and group exercise studio which offers that something different.”

– Youth Fitness

OPERATOR Everyone Active has been training its fitness motivators to adapt some of its most popular fitness classes to make them suitable for young people.

The Adapting Gym Sessions for Adolescents course includes an accredited Child Protection/Safe Guarding unit which is delivered by Fit For Sport, the UK's leading healthy lifestyle provider for children.

As a result, Everyone Active fitness teams have the knowledge and skills necessary to adapt fitness classes such as circuits, group cycling and step for the 11-15 age group, to either

run dedicated young adult fitness classes or welcome the 11-15 age group into adult classes.

Group fitness development manager Michelle Bletso said: "We believe fitness, sport and leisure activities should be something the whole family can enjoy together, so we make sure our activities are open to as many people as possible. Young adults are a very important customer group for Everyone Active as we can help them develop a healthy and active lifestyle habit early in life which should be supported by responsible and well trained fitness professionals."

X

– Group X Systems

PENDLE Leisure Trust is keeping members happy with a new series of exercise classes at Pendle Wavelengths, Pendle Leisure Centre and West Craven Sports Centre.

The classes – suitable for all fitness levels – will be run at all three centres, so locals have the freedom to do the same class wherever they are.

Centre manager at Wavelengths, Quammer Iqbal, said: “All the trust’s instructors have been through extensive training over the last few months to qualify to teach this latest craze.

Z

“There will be eight different classes in total, but we are starting with two – Group Power and Group Kick.

“The programme has been professionally designed by BTS in the USA – a division of The STEP Company, which invented the STEP phenomenon – that includes some of the world’s most experienced programmers. New workouts are launched every few weeks, so that the music, moves and programmes never grow stale, and give you the results you want.”

– Zumba

THE appetite for Zumba classes seems to be showing no sign of slowing down – with many clubs still making it a core part of their group exercise timetables.

Zumba Fitness is now the largest branded fitness programme in the world, with more than 14m weekly class participants in over 140,000 locations across 186 countries.

Spin off classes are also popular, such as Zumbatomic – designed exclusively for kids – Zumba Gold for older participants or those new to exercise; Aqua Zumba and Zumba Toning One club achieving success with Zumba is Astley Sports Village in Cheshire.

Facility manager Mark Storie said: “We launched Zumba almost 18 months ago and we schedule this class Mondays 7pm - 8pm, which is the heart of our peak time and day of the week in terms of fitness suite footfall.

“We have one of the best Zumba instructors around who has a wealth of dance experience and teaches all our fitness through dance classes such as Zumba, Bokwa and Step aerobics.

“Fortunately our group training area is quite big which means we attract on average 40-50 Zumba attendees with a wide age range from 16 years to

over 50s. The atmosphere and personalities that attend along with the motivation and enthusiasm of our instructor makes the Zumba class so popular and one of our feature classes at Astley Sports Village.”

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Defibrillators installed at Trust’s four leisure sites LIFESAVING equipment has been installed in all four Northampton Leisure Trust facilities.

New Automated External Defibrillators are now available at each location; Danes Camp Leisure Centre, Lings Forum Leisure Centre, Mounts Baths and Duston Sports Centre and the trust has extended its staff first aid training to include the use of them. This additional training has also been developed to a level that is recognised by the Health and Safety Executive and the trust is now accredited to offer training to others.

Managing director of Northampton Leisure Trust Ian Redfern said: “We attract people from within our communities with a wide spectrum of age and various levels of fitness. Investing in the right equipment means that if there is an emergency our staff could play a crucial role in saving a life. Thankfully these situations are very rare, but our customers can be assured they will get the best possible care quickly if something unexpected happens.”

Expansion dream comes true for studio owner

By Christina Eccles A WEST Yorkshire Pilates studio is to almost double in size, with the owner saying she is excited about the prospect of being able to help more people.

Kirstin Ferrie launched Pure Pilates in Ilkley in May 2010 and in the first month had a two-year waiting list of eager clients.

The studio is located in an upper floor of an old Armoury in the centre of town and to expand her services, Kirstin is now taking over the lower level of the building, increasing the total area to over 1,100 sqft, introducing two new studios and creating disabled access.

She said: “Since I started the studio three and a half years ago my dream was always to help more people and ensure that those injured or with a disability could also benefit from the method. Now this exciting expansion will mean I can finally realise my original vision.”

Kirstin has practised and taught Pilates for over 15 years is one of only two Pilates instructors in the UK to be gold certified with the Pilates Method Alliance.

She currently has a client base of about 150 people, but hopes new equipment imported from American specialists Balanced Body, plus the

Pure Pilates in Ilkley is set to almost double in size. ability to teach bigger classes in a new matwork studio, will help her to expand her reach.

She added: “Currently classes are either individual or for small numbers, but now I can plan to have up to 10 in the new matwork studio.

“I am also considering the possibility of introducing other disciplines with suitably qualified instructors “We will also be introducing classes specifically for runners and athletes, taught by my instructor and elite athlete, Nicky Green.”

UK FITNESS SCENE

54

Solution could save money on music licensing

By Christina Eccles

Fitness expert and model Carly Thornton has a new celebrity personal training client – Chris Drake from hit reality TV show The Only Way Is Essex. Chris is currently taking part in the USN 12-week Body Makeover challenge and has enlisted Carly’s help with his training to ensure he’s in peak condition for the start of the latest series of the show.

Company’s inch-loss event raises money for charity A PERSONAL training company has raised money for the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Scotland by launching a sponsored inch loss challenge.

Get Results: Customised Fitness ran a four week programme where 20 clients signed up and were sponsored for the number of inches each of them shed.

The group lost 101 inches in total and, as well as the funds raised by each participant, Get Results also donated £1 for each inch lost, bringing the total raised to £381.

Owner of Get Results Paul Murphy said: “This has been a fantastic event – the MS Society is a charity which is

close to my heart but everyone who took part showed amazing commitment to the cause. Obviously losing weight has its own rewards but for the group to raise such an amount is excellent.

“This is the first charity challenge that we have undertaken and I’m thrilled with the results, both for my clients, but also, more importantly, for the amount of money that we’ve raised for such a worthy charity. A massive thanks to everyone who participated and supported us.”

Get Results is based in two central Glasgow locations – Time Fitness at City Park, Glasgow and Whitecraigs Tennis Club.

GYM owner and international DJ Paul Glazby has devised an innovative solution which could save gyms vast amounts of money on their music licensing fees – and help class instructors deliver a better experience to members.

Paul’s company – GymSymphonies – provides original music to clubs and instructors, which has been specially created for a variety of workouts including group cycling, dance based classes, MMA, mind and body sessions and bootcamps.

Thanks to his connections in the music industry, Paul has enlisted top DJs and music producers to create the tunes and as all compositions are unique and solely created for GymSymphonies, there are no PPL or PRS fees to pay.

Paul explained: “PPL free music has been available for a while but is often criticised for being unexciting and unoriginal. It also doesn’t free you from PRS charges which are over 40 per cent higher than PPL costs.

“At GymSymphonies, we combine our experience in the music industry with fitness know-how to offer a high quality solution which members will love and will save facilities, on average, 75 per cent on their current licensing spend.”

The music also has its benefits for busy instructors, with automation available on some ranges, which allows the teacher to concentrate on clients as opposed to their stopwatch.

And Paul told Workout, that although the cost saving may be the obvious attraction for some clubs,

Paul Glazby choosing GymSymphonies can also help improve classes for both instructors and members.

He added: “We want to help instructors deliver better classes – and this is a tool that will help them deliver better sessions.

“The music is structured to assist the trainer and specific to each different type of class.”

GymSymphonies is already providing music to Virgin Active South Africa, saving them £60,000 over a 12 month period, and the company is now ready to make its mark in the UK. Paul has recently met with a number of interested operators, as well as successfully using music from GymSymphonies in his own Prime Mover gyms in Sheffield.

UK FITNESS SCENE

Daniel transforms his life after losing eight stones

By Christina Eccles IT worker turned personal trainer Daniel Wheeler has revealed how exercise helped him turn his life around – and led to a new career in the fitness industry.

Aged 24, Daniel weighed over 22 stone and was suffering with personal problems, including the break up of a six-year relationship.

But after becoming tired of feeling low about himself, he vowed to take positive action to tackle his eating issues and in three years has lost 51kg, equating to over eight stone.

He explained: “I was in a long term relationship, wasn’t very active and got very overweight. I’d hit mental rock bottom and something had to change. I went through a phase of crash dieting and fads, but a friend suggested I needed to educate myself on what my body needs, so I started to look into nutrition and exercise.”

Since then Daniel has never looked back and after getting the bug for fitness and healthy eating, decided to become a personal trainer, so his own journey could inspire others to achieve their goals.

Key to that is focusing not only on exercise and nutrition but also on mindset and communication – helping clients to talk through any problems they have or barriers which may

Leisure Trust is recognised for its service

by Quest WEST Midlands’ based Sandwell Leisure Trust has been recognised for offering excellent service by the UK quality scheme for sport and leisure, Quest.

The trust’s sports development and physical activity team is the first in the country to be awarded an excellent rating by the scheme, as part of the new 2012 framework.

The team was recognised for offering a broad range of activities to residents and for working successfully with clubs and national governing bodies to increase participation, health and wellbeing.

In order to achieve the rating, the team went through a two-year rigorous assessment process, with a mystery visit and a two-day assessment in the first year, plus a second visit and one-day assessment the following year.

Team manager Rebecca Clayton said: “To be awarded Excellent in Quest is a fantastic accolade.

“It’s great to receive national recognition for the team’s commitment to delivering high quality services across Sandwell and I am extremely proud of their achievements.”

Daniel three years ago (left) and as he looks today having lost more than eight stone. be stopping them from achieving results.

He added: “I’ve built up a great catalogue of clients and do a lot of online personal training and bespoke nutrition plans, as well as more local clients who I see.

“The biggest thing I enjoy is helping people. Unless you have been obese, you don’t know what it’s like and how to get out of that vicious cycle.

“I make no secret of my story. It’s not just a case of talking the talk, I’ve got experience and have done it myself.”

The long term aim, according to Daniel, is to carry on with his personal training and eventually open his own gym, where he says there will be a big focus on educating clients about nutrition, something which he feels is vital for success.

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58

LEISURE INDUSTRY WEEK PREVIEW

The industry is once again gearing up for Leisure Industry Week, which takes place at the NEC in Birmingham from September 24 - 26. Here, Workout rounds up the latest news from the show and previews what to watch out for this year.

Power Hour added to show’s features FITNESS professionals have been challenged to compete with each other during this year’s LIW, with the launch of a new show feature, Power Hour.

Power Hour will rank participants against one another in 15 minute group exercise challenges across the show’s health and fitness section, each day between 2pm and 3pm.

Exhibitors taking part include Matrix, Escape Fitness and Physical Company, with performance data powered by Power Hour partner MYZONE. Event director James Samuel said: “This challenge has been designed to take advantage of the fantastic array of fitness equipment suppliers on show at LIW. “Visitors have always been encouraged to discover the equipment by

actually having a go at LIW and this Power Hour challenge is a natural progression from that.

“We’re delighted with the response we’ve had from the exhibitors taking part and expect a really competitive atmosphere during the challenges themselves.”

The MYZONE heart rate monitoring system will provide live feedback on training intensity, calories and MYZONE Effort Points during the challenges, resulting in a leader board highlighting the winner at the end of every day, and ultimately an overall winner who will be crowned Power Hour Champion.

Participants can sign up in advance of the event via www.liw.co.uk/phour and winners will be announced via social media at the end of Thursday September 26 using #LIWPowerHour.

Precor to give Preva Tokens UK launch Functional fitness specialist, Jordan Fitness, has announced its three sporting champion guests for Leisure Industry Week. England rugby legends James Haskell and Jason Robinson will be putting Jordan Fitness’ equipment through its paces over the three-day event, alongside professional boxer Jordan Gill.

PRECOR has chosen LIW for the UK launch of Preva Tokens – RFID enabled key fobs that allow exercisers to swipe or tap the equipment to automatically sign in to their Preva Account on any networked P80 con-

sole. Already Preva has seen more than 25m workouts logged worldwide since its launch in 2010, with the tokens now providing an easier option for members than manually entering their personal details.

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LEISURE INDUSTRY WEEK PREVIEW

Physical Company will launch a new functional training rig to the UK market at this year’s Leisure Industry Week. X-Lab, is manufactured

by US company Torque Fitness and will be distributed exclusively in the UK by Physical Company.

Ricky to take part in Q&A LIW education highlights FORMER boxing champion Ricky Hatton will join ukactive for a Q&A session with CEO David Stalker on the Wednesday of Leisure Industry Week.

It is one of a series of events ukactive is putting on that day, with plans for a speed networking session in the afternoon, a keynote speech from David Stalker and the unveiling of the new look Flame awards. The day will be rounded off with ukactive’s annual member drinks reception, sponsored

by Life Fitness, taking place once the show has closed for the evening. ukactive CEO David Stalker said: “I’m delighted Ricky Hatton is joining us at Leisure Industry Week. “As a former athlete turned independent training provider, Ricky has plenty of experience in professional competition and he’ll no doubt be able to offer some unique insight on how the sector operates.”

Tuesday September 24: 10.30am, Keynote Theatre: Disabled people and the leisure industry: Understanding the potential market and how to provide for it.

Emma Sprig, research and insight manager, Inclusive Fitness Initiative.

12.30pm, Keynote Theatre: Royal Marine to Paralympic Athlete.

Joe Townsend, representing Matrix Fitness.

Ricky Hatton

1.30pm, Keynote Theatre: The National Retention Report 2013.

Dr Paul Bedford, research director, The Retention Guru.

1.30pm, Theatre One: Getting the best ROI for your functional space (from conception to usage) Alan Collins, director of education, Jordan Fitness.

Wednesday September 25: 11.30am, Keynote Theatre: RAPs, the new aquatic Single Qualification Framework.

Roger Millward, CEO STA; Tara Dillon, executive director RLSS; ASA (speaker tbc); Ian Taylor, CEO SkillsActive; Stuart Turner, head of standards and qualifications, SkillsActive.

11.30am, Theatre One: Passing it on… priceless global tips and ideas to run a successful health club.

Dave Wright, CEO, Creative Fitness Marketing.

12.30pm, Keynote Theatre: ukactive keynote.

David Stalker, CEO, ukactive.

Star Trac will be offering UK operators an exclusive preview of its three newest releases at this year’s Leisure Industry Week. The company will be showcasing its latest products; the Spinner Blade ION, BoxMaster and TreadClimber. Senior director of marketing and product management Jeff Dilts said: “As a company it’s exciting to be launching new products at such a prestigious event – especially when you can really make an impact with both a cardio and strength offering. The new equipment we’ve developed helps users to maximise their exercise regime with improved efficiency, monitoring and diversity and offers operators a real point of difference.”

Thursday September 26: 11.30am, Theatre One: Exercise and activity in mental health.

Robin Margrave, freelance consultant for Central YMCA Qualifications.

1.30pm, Theatre One: It’s all about timing...

Matt Lovell, sports nutritionist and Kinetica sports ambassador.

UK FITNESS SCENE

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Direct Debit collection THOUSANDS of community sports clubs which run their websites through Pitchero have been offered the opportunity to collect member subscriptions by Direct Debit, taking a fraction of the time associated with the traditional manual collection method.

The company has been developing its online payment collection function for two years, with the flexible process allowing clubs to collect payments on a recurring or one off basis.

Train like a pro athlete SURREY Sports Park is looking for three members to take on a free 12 week personalised training programme, designed to put them through their paces and train like a professional athlete.

The project includes personal training, nutritional advice and diet plans from a registered dietician, strength and conditioning and high performance sports science testing.

Throughout the period, the club will be tracking their progress online and giving members of the public an insight into how they are working towards their goals.

Can exercise really cure the problems caused by sitting?

By Allan Collins ON some of our education courses, like our Extreme Circuits Workshop, we look to promote the benefits of HIIT (High Intensity Intermittent Training) and sprinting, as these types of workouts are hugely effective in causing a rise in RMR (resting Metabolic Rate) over 24 hours and increased response of growth hormone, both of which will facilitate greater fat loss than longer, more conventional training sessions.

But can performing two to four of these undo the issues associated with being sedentary for the rest of the day? Research shows that the answer to this question is a resounding no!

Even if you are already following a training regime that includes multiple HIIT sessions each week, continuing or adopting a sedentary lifestyle, will negatively affect your metabolism and may prevent fat loss or even lead to fat gain. Long periods of being seated and inactivity have been shown to lower the body’s glucose tolerance and negatively affect insulin sensitivity, both of which are closely linked with body fat issues. And reports indicate that 50-70 per cent of people in developed countries, like the UK are considered sedentary (no leisure time physical activity and

Allan Collins

ing the stairs, or even a few squats to stretch out, and this will have a much better impact. For me, the difference is a whopping 400kcals per day greater energy expenditure with eight hours of standing v sitting...

walking much less than 10,000 steps a day), and are seated between 7.7- 8.1 hours a day.

Here are three pieces of advice to avoid the negative impact of sitting down all day:

2. Standing meetings If your job requires multiple meetings each week (or even daily), then maybe you should follow the lead of innovative companies that have removed the chairs from their meeting rooms and put in high tables.

They have found that meetings didn’t last as long (attendees get very settled in the big comfy chairs), but that they were also much more productive in this time.

1. Lose the office chair We all know that being sat down all day is bad for your body (not just insulin sensitivity and body fat, but also negative postural changes and lower back and neck problems), and desk jobs are the primary culprit for fat gain and inactivity during the day for people who engage in high intensity workouts. Many people (myself included) now opt for standing desks or height adjustable desks, so you can limit periods of sitting whilst working, down to less than 30 minutes per day.

Mix this up with a few stretches, tak-

3. Aim for 10,000 steps Grab a pedometer to monitor the number of steps you take, and strive to hit 10,000 a day. A study showed that when a young, healthy population was deliberately restricted to less than 5,000 steps a day, the reduced activity resulted in a significant 30 per cent drop in insulin sensitivity and altered energy use.

Allan Collins is director of education at Jordan Fitness and author of the Complete Guides to Kettlebell Training, Functional Training and Exercise Physiology.

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UK FITNESS SCENE

Michael Lee applies the tape to a client.

Rise in Kinesio Tape sales SPORT and medical tape worn by the British and Irish Lions squad and the stars of Wimbledon has started a new craze in South Yorkshire.

Following Wimbledon and the Lions tour of Australia, Sheffield physio MiTo Therapy has reported a 52 per cent increase in sales of Kinesio Tape, which can help treat and prevent injuries.

Michael Lee, a specialist physiotherapist and certified Kinesio Taping Practitioner at MiTo Therapy, said:

“Kinesio taping is very popular with professional sports men and women but you don’t have to be an elite sports person to wear it. Since Wimbledon and the Lions tour, we’ve seen a big increase in patients using the tape for everyday problems such as shoulder pain, back pain and ankle injuries.

“It’s used as a part of a patient’s physiotherapy treatment plan to accelerate recovery when the patient is away from the treatment room.”

SUPPLEMENTATION AND NUTRITION

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Firm continues to expand The only frozen ready GOPROTEIN continue to grow and expand their customer base of gym and health club accounts.

Nick Mills of Goprotein puts this down to a customer focused approach.

He said: “We work closely with our customers; we listened to what’s important to them and then work closely to bring to the market what they want.”

A classic example of that is the GoPro-Station, a highly profitable option for the gym and health club operator, that meets the demand for a fresh protein shake that so many of their customers now demand. GoPro Whey is a fantastic product; it’s really smooth, tastes amazing and is of the highest quality. This product is available as a fresh shake from the Go-ProStation, in tubs for retail sales and

now in single sachet.

The single sachet whey option is sold to gyms in retail packs of 18 and the GoPro Fuel isotonic powder sachet is sold in packs of 12. Our high protein porridge has had great reviews and we have just added a new flavour, Maple Syrup, that’s available right now.

Goprotein is part of the Be-Well Nutritional Group who have been manufacturing and developing sports nutrition and food supplements for over 28 years for many world champions and Olympic athletes.

For more information contact Goprotein on 01778 560868, email trade@goprotein.com or via www.goprotein.com

RAW Pre-Workout a ‘first’ in its category THE Real Nutrition Company launches RAW Pre-Workout, a ‘first’ in the sports nutrition category. Developed with natural flavours and free from artificial sweeteners through the use of Stevia leaf extracts.

Pre-Workout drinks have surged in popularity over recent years as a means to take multiple sports supplements and charge up before a training session, game or race.

However, some products have hit the spotlight for negative reasons, mainly through ingredients like DMAA that have now been removed from the market.

Real Nutrition Co has spent over 12 months developing a product that was safe yet effective but also challenged the negative taste perception and naturalness of pre-workout

drinks. It is available in two flavours and two sizes – Blood Orange and Raspberry Lemonade.

For more information visit www.realnutritionco.com

meals for athletes GOLD Standard Nutrition have done it again bringing another revolutionary product to the fitness industry.

Keeping it simple but saving time and money.

With their latest product, they bring the only frozen, healthy ready meal with enough carbs to fuel workouts, enough protein to recover from workouts, great tasting with low fat and no artificial additives.

Extensively developed for athletes, by athletes, and based upon one of the most popular meals for bodybuilders and athletes: Gold Standard Nutrition Chicken, basmati rice and mixed veg (broccoli, cauliflower and carrot) will become a staple part of your customers’ diets.

Available with one of three sauce options (Chilli Black Bean, BBQ and Tikka), “naked” or add your own sauce.

We can honestly say these are delicious and have the perfect nutritional

breakdown with low salt, low fat and low sugar whilst remaining high in protein and just the right amount of carbs.

Available on the website or for sale in gyms through a Gold Standard Nutrition freezer.

To become a stockist visit www.GSNTrade.co.uk or call us on 01757 211 740.

Convenient meals high in protein GREAT tasting, all natural, convenient, high protein diet meals for sports and fitness.

Performance Meals are based on clinically tested research that clearly indicates high protein meals help to maintain a lean, toned body.

High protein meals are also suitable for building muscle mass and strength and are especially useful in the repair of muscle after exercise.

These are complete real food meals, containing no additives or preservatives. High in protein, with a minimum of 40g protein per serving, low fat, low salt and ready to eat.

The unique air and watertight sealed pouch ensures the ingredients are kept fresh and keeps the all-important nutrients locked in during cook-

ing. Performance Meals have a shelf life of 12 months and have no special storage requirements. No fridge needed. Simply display alongside existing sports nutrition products.

Visit www.performancemeals.com Trade customers can order direct from www.performancemealstrade.com

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Gyms Kitchen’s healthy menus fill a market gap

By Christina Eccles HUNGRY diners are flocking to an East London restaurant set up by three best friends who spotted a gap in the market for somewhere which offers a tasty, yet healthy menu.

Gyms Kitchen in Leyton was opened last year by Sunny Kudhail, Steven Mavrou and Richard Klein, who between them had always had an interest in fitness and nutrition but struggled to find somewhere to eat which was suitable for both a healthy, post workout meal and also an evening out with friends.

Sunny explained: “We found there wasn’t anywhere to go after the gym other than to eat at home or to eat out somewhere, which might be expensive and there can also be a lot of temptation.

“We thought where can you go to eat out with a group of friends and satisfy everyone? Somewhere healthy where the food is tasty, but which also has that restaurant feel? We thought there was a gap there and that this could actually work.”

The focus at Gyms Kitchen is on healthy, good quality food, with lots of meat, vegetables and complex carbs, and a mixture of dishes; ranging from convenient, on-the-go options such as filled wraps and smoothies to a sit down meal of steak, a mixed grill or tiger prawns.

Sample dishes include Gyms blueberry protein pancakes; whole sea bass marinated with fresh herbs and a lime and chilli dressing; marinated butterflied chicken breast and a range of side dishes such as chargrilled asparagus and garlic spinach.

And although the team originally thought the idea would appeal mainly to local gym members, Sunny told Workout they have been surprised – and pleased – at the variety of people who have become regular customers, attracting fans from all over London

Gyms Kitchen in Leyton. and beyond.

He added: “We initially targeted all our local gyms – such as Fitness First and independent club PMG – and local people, but then we noticed it wasn’t just a restaurant for gymgoers, it was for anyone who wanted to eat healthily.

“From people coming from the gym in tracksuit bottoms to people on a Saturday night dressed up, there’s such a balance here and that’s what we want to keep. We are completely flexible and that’s key.”

The business opened last August during the Olympics and over the past year has gone from strength to strength, with the team now thinking about how they can expand the concept further.

Plans are currently being discussed about opening a second restaurant and also potentially franchising the business model – with the ultimate ambition to have one on every high street.

Sunny added they would also consider taking the concept into gyms, perhaps with a Gyms Kitchen Express model which would be a smaller ver-

One of Gyms Kitchen’s sample dishes. sion, with more of a focus on takeaway or self service options, designed to appeal to gymgoers looking for something quick and healthy.

He added: “We are more than happy with how it’s doing but we are always going to keep striving for more.

“Our ultimate goal is to further our brand around the rest of the country.

“We want to respond to demand and want people to try our food as much as they want to try us.”

Scott back in business after losing 34lbs A COMBINATION of high intensity workouts, a diet overhaul and using a supplements range helped former Coronation Street actor and fitness trainer Scott Wright to achieve his dream physique in just nine weeks.

Over that period, Scott lost 34lbs, reduced his waist measurement from 37in to 28in and lost 20 per cent body fat, with a key factor in his transformation his daily use of Forza Supplements’ fat burning and recovery pills.

Scott said: “I had always been proud of my body and had worked as a fitness trainer keeping stars like Kerry Katona in shape.

“But I had let myself go big-time.

Chocolate was my big weakness and I would not think twice about scoffing eight Kit Kat Chunkies in a day.

“It took its toll on my body and I ended up in the worst shape of my life.”

To help him achieve his goals, Scott stuck rigidly to a 5:2 diet regime – where he exercised regularly during the week and ate carefully before taking a more relaxed approach at weekends.

He added: “The key point for me was not to feel hungry. That is when I would reach for the chocolate in the past.

“What worked for me was cutting my carbohydrate intake right down after noon and replacing it with a slightly higher fat intake – whole eggs and fattier cuts of meat.

“I made sure I had my fruit/natural sugars in the mornings and I always ate greens a few times a day. ”I could hardly be telling celebs how to get in shape when I looked like a gut bucket.

“Now I have got a body to be proud of and I am very much back in business.”

Scott Wright

UK FITNESS SCENE

Outdoor fitness is proving to be a popular alternative to the gym, according to a survey.

Exercising outdoors or at home popular alternative to gyms, claims new survey

By Christina Eccles EXERCISING at home or outdoors is proving a popular alternative to the gym, according to a new survey, which reveals fitness fans’ training preferences.

Online sports equipment retailer Sweatband.com polled 1,662 UK adults, who claimed to regularly exercise, as part of its ongoing research into fitness habits.

Respondents were initially asked ‘How often do you exercise?’ – the most common answer being two to three times a week, which was cited by 46 per cent.

The study then asked ‘Where are you most likely to undertake exercise?’ and asked respondents to select from a list of possible options. They were allowed to select more than one if applicable.

The top five options were: At the gym – 39 per cent.

Home workouts – 36 per cent.

Outdoor training – 33 per cent.

As part of a team, such as rugby or football – 28 per cent.

Sports club, such as tennis or squash – 21 per cent.

The study then looked at those who didn’t select ‘at the gym’ as an option and asked why.

And responses revealed cost was the number one factor putting them off, as 44 per cent said they didn’t want to pay for a gym membership.

32 per cent said they felt too self conscious when exercising in front of other gym users, while about a quarter felt the gym took up too much time from their day, taking getting there, changing and showering into account.

CEO of Sweatband.com Maz Darvish said: “As gym prices increase along

with the cost of everyday living, it's no surprise that people are opting for the cheaper home work out.

“The home provides many opportunities for workouts without having to pay a monthly direct debit for the privilege. I think there will always be a place for the gym, but people shouldn’t regard it as the be all and end all.”

Other key findings included: Of those who claimed to workout at home or outdoors, 62 per cent said they had previously been a member of the gym.

These respondents were also asked, ‘Do you see yourself returning to the gym at some stage?’ to which 56 per cent said no.

The study also looked at factors influencing people to take up the other forms of exercise and asked those that selected home workouts or outdoor training why they preferred it. The top answer was its ‘relative cheapness,’ at 41 per cent, when compared to the gym.

31 per cent said they felt more comfortable exercising without people watching them, while a further 27 per cent felt it was less time consuming than the gym.

However 41 per cent did confess it was sometimes harder to motivate themselves without actually going to the gym.

When asked what form of exercise a home workout consisted of, a mixed circuit came top with 32 per cent, followed by a fitness DVD at 27 per cent and weights at 22 per cent.

Outdoor training was most commonly a run at 51 per cent, followed by a mixed circuit at 29 per cent and a fitness boot camp at 22 per cent.

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PRODUCT NEWS

Some things never change

Personal trainer John Fortey has designed an innovative new Kettlebell training tool.

According to John, Kettlebell Raw Functional Trainers will prove useful as they gives users the ability to hold two kettlebells of any weight comfortably in each hand, making them ideal for strength exercises such as deadlifts, squats, lunges and farmer’s walks.

Matt helps Kinetica launch Pre.Fuel KINETICA Sports Nutrition has launched new product, Pre.Fuel, designed by a team including elite sports nutritionist Matt Lovell.

The supplement should be taken pre-workout and aims to help keep the body fully nourished during exercise, while powering performance.

Matt said: “Optimal sports nutrition is really about fuelling properly for

training and recovering adequately afterwards. Numerous pre-workout supplements rely on high levels of stimulants which fail to deliver real nutrients to muscle fibers – resulting in poor muscle strength, reduced power and quick burn out.

“Pre.Fuel is designed so it doesn’t leave you wired for hours or suffering a post workout crash.”

Creatine Transport combines pure creatine with dextrose AN advanced creatine transport system that is designed to optimise muscle development and performance, Creatine Transport from USN combines pure creatine with dextrose, a high-GI (Glycemic Index) carbohydrate.

Creatine Transport is easy to mix, a great tasting beverage and a powerful athletic performance product that is unsurpassed in quality and potency.

Wholesale stockists include Muscle Finesse, Tropicana Fitness and CLF. For more information visit www.usn.co.uk

Don’t be floored by flooring BUYING flooring or matting for your club can be a stressful process, faced with dozens of samples and brochures it’s tricky to know where to turn.

Escape Fitness offer a dedicated bespoke flooring service with expert knowledge to ensure you make the right decision for your business.

Supporting you from design through to installation.

Regardless of your type of facility, there’s a solution for you. From sprint tracks to functional training floor markings, from traditional indoor setups to outdoor spaces, their customised service means you’ll be heading in the right direction for your gym, your members and your brand.

It’s not just about looking good, your flooring needs to perform to the exercise needs of your members and their expert knowledge means they can

advise on the functionality of each of their flooring options for each area of your gym.

Then, once the decision has been made, professional flooring experts will install your flooring, ensuring it is fitted efficiently and to the highest standard.

For more information about the range of Escape flooring visit www.escapefitness.com/bsw-flooring, call 01733 313535, or experience the products first hand at LIW, stand H405.

TWENTY years ago we were all dancing around to Phil Collins, watching The X-Files and getting to grips with the StairMaster StepMill.

Cindy Crawford was the pin-up choice for teenage boys while Luke Perry and Take That kept teenage girls entertained in an era where the internet was in its infancy.

Today, Lady Gaga and One Direction top the charts, man parachutes to earth from space, the internet has become a way of life and we are compelled to share our every move on social media, where we seem to communicate more, by saying less.

Importantly though we are now seeing more and more people, of all ages and abilities, acknowledging the importance of living a healthy lifestyle.

On the outside the world is a different place but, if you scratch the surface, some things remain unaltered.

Jurassic Park captivated us back in 1993 and, while the film on the screen has changed, we still get our Hollywood fix, it may just come downloaded from the web.

Ally McBeal may no longer be on our screens but we still can’t wait

for the next episode of Breaking Bad. While we may do things differently, we’re still craving a good time.

Our human experience remains true; we want to have fun, we’ve just embraced a new way of doing it.

When it comes to exercise we still want results but we are far more aware of the wider reaching health benefits of achieving them, and that opens up new and different ways of going about it.

Where once the Stepper was the latest and greatest, today there is a more balanced approach with clubs also dedicating space to functional zones and the notion of small group training to offer greater variety to a broader audience.

Ultimately, we all still want to have fun – no matter what we are doing – and that is the underlying factor.

Our end goals remain the same as they always were, to have fun, to get results and have a good time with a smile on our face.

Our aim is the same as 20 years ago, it’s just that the vehicle we use to get there is now a hybrid, rather than a Ford Escort.

Come see the Escape Fitness of today at LIW 2013, stand H405.

Exercise Teachers team up with Commando Fit YORKSHIRE based Exercise Teachers, who specialise in fitness courses and qualifications by Active IQ, have teamed up with Commando Fit to help them expand their service of successful boot camps and fitness classes.

Joseph Rayner of Commando Fit said: “Having used Exercise Teachers to train our staff has been one of the most important decisions we have made.

“They have enabled us ensure that we get the message of professionalism home at all points in their training courses and that newly qualified instructors understand the importance of customer relations and remaining professional and up to date for your clients.

“Exercise Teachers have tutoring

staff that also run their own classes when not teaching so they know exactly how to train our staff even before we get to run our own internal training with them in how to run our sessions, systems and procedures.

“We now have a thriving business and educational support to ensure our quality remains persistently high.”

Exercise Teachers run fitness instructing, personal trainer and CPD courses and are based in Yorkshire.

They can be contacted at www.courses@exerciseteachers.co.uk.

Personal trainers interested in starting a Commando Fit Boot Camp business can register their interest via www.commandofit.co.uk or book one of their Boot Camp Business awareness days.

Shape up the hot way USN is pleased to announce the launch of its first Diet Fuel Protein Soup.

A new addition to the Diet Range, the USN Diet Fuel Protein Soup has a delicious meal replacement formula with whey and soy protein which provides dieters with a complete, nutritious meal for anytime of the day.

It contains all the essential nutrients in adequate quantities to aid a healthy lifestyle and physique.

The high fibre and protein levels in this Meal Replacement Soup contribute to the maintenance of lean muscle and promote healthy, longlasting weight loss.

Additionally, it is formulated with chromium to help maintain a normal blood sugar level.

USN Diet Fuel Protein Soup comes in convenient 55g sachets and is available in delicious Chicken and Herb and Vegetable flavours.

USN products are available to purchase online at www.usn.co.uk and from wholesale stockists Tropicana Health and Fitness, Affordable Supplements and Muscle Finesse.

PRODUCT NEWS

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One monthly cost for water

Life Fitness kits out hotel’s gym THE Headland Hotel is a familyowned hotel establishment which has seen significant change in the last 30 years, with over £30m invested in creating a luxury hotel.

The latest phase of The Headland Hotel’s renovation has seen the development of a brand new spa facility which boasts a cutting-edge gymnasium, supplied with the technologically advanced Life Fitness equipment.

The gym will be available for hotel guests to use, as well as offering a membership to the general public.

When it opens in mid-September, hotel guests and members will be able to experience the very latest generation of the Life Fitness Elevation

Series Treadmills and Cross-Trainers with the new Discover SE Tablet Console which is perfect for holiday makers visiting the hotel as they can plug in their smartphone and go.

The installation of the new Discover SE Tablet console means they’ll be able to plug in their iPhone or iPad or simply log in to LFconnect to continue their tracked workouts with no need for an induction. Discover SE also presents users with a high-definition swipe-activated interactive screen which offers a range of services such as watching music videos, surfing the web or listening to music.

For more information visit www.lifefitness.co.uk

GLUG Glug Glug offer water coolers, water fountains and water boilers for one fixed, fully inclusive monthly cost.

We supply, install and maintain water coolers to businesses of all sizes across the UK. Our rental contracts cover the supply, installation and servicing of your water coolers; for just one, low, annual payment.

Our directors have over 50 years’ experience in the water cooler industry and understand how to deliver consistently high quality service.

This has been recognised by our 100 per cent pass rate in the 2011 and 2012 European Drinking Water Cooler Association audits and IS09001 accreditation.

For more information visit www.glugglugglug.com

Versaclimber gets rugby star back on his feet FITNESS specialist Versaclimber UK has teamed up with England rugby ace James Haskell, after the player chose the machine for his training and rehabilitation, following a recent operation.

The company has supplied the England and London Wasps flanker with a Versaclimber Sportsmedical, which he already uses regularly.

James said: “Because of the uniqueness of the machine, I am able to target either my upper body, just my legs or both together, seated and standing.

It’s also great for getting used to moving again and gently putting weight on my knees.”

Managing director Neil Kelford said Versaclimber UK is looking forward to working with the player in the coming months.

He added: “We’re very happy that James chose to use the Versaclimber, and we’re really looking forward to doing some future projects together.

“As one of the world’s best, he needs

Codelocks to show new addition

to stay on top form and the Sportsmedical will help him do that.”

For more information visit www.versaclimber.co.uk, www.jameshaskell.com and www.jhbodyfire.com

AT this year’s Leisure Industry Week, Codelocks will be demonstrating the latest addition to its KitLock range of keyless locker locks – the KL1500.

Visitors to stand number L266 will see how much more convenient it is to replace standard cam locks with this versatile and functional lock.

Managing director Grant Macdonald said: “Gym, spa and leisure centre managers frequently tell us they spend far too much time and money managing locker keys.

“Using a code on a keypad rather than a key to gain access to a locker is much more convenient.

“Clients can simply enter a code, ‘lock and go’; free to enjoy the fitness

session without the need to carry keys or use coins or tokens. At this year’s show we’ll be demonstrating our new KitLock 1500.

“This sleek-looking lock can be fitted in any orientation due to its patented keypad design. It boasts a ‘real time’ clock that can be programmed to automatically open after a set period of time, which is great if you are limited to the number of lockers you can fit in your changing rooms.

“For extra convenience, the keypad can also be replaced with an iButton for use with wristbands.”

For more information visit www.kitlock.com

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CLASSIFIED EQUIPMENT

CLASSIFIED EQUIPMENT

SUPPLEMENTS

LOCKERS

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CLASSIFIED LOCKERS

FLOORING

MAINTENANCE

INSURANCE

CLASSIFIED DIRECT DEBIT COLLECTIONS

HYGIENE

FINANCE

CLOTHING AND MERCHANDISE

AUDIO / VISUAL

UPHOLSTERY

MIRRORS

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CLASSIFIED EQUIPMENT

MARKETING

SOFTWARE

MANAGEMENT

LIGHTS

WANTED

FOR SALE

LOCKS