Workout June 2016 by Script Media

June 2016

The UK’s No 1 fitness industry magazine

Focus on those who need your help, PTs urged By Christina Eccles

LEADING trainer Phil Learney has urged other PTs to stop trying to impress their peers and start focusing on the people who really need their help. At this year’s BodyPower Expo, which took place at the NEC in Birmingham, Phil delivered a seminar focusing on the fundamentals of a successful personal training business. And his advice to delegates included be honest with yourself and drop your ego, as the negative perception some people have of personal trainers may be putting them off seeking help with their health and fitness goals. He explained: “This industry is driven largely by ego. You have to do this because it makes you appear ‘the best, ‘elite’ or an ‘expert.’ “But guess what our clients don’t really like...? You have to understand the demographic of the people you are talking to. “Stop trying to impress your peers. Personal trainers are trying to impress their own industry instead of the clientele who need our help.” Phil also explained that many clients will fear change and also fear the failure of not being able to sustain a

diet or training plan. But he believes trainers can help change this mindset – if they take the time to listen and understand who they are talking to and put the effort in to service each person’s individual needs. He added: “The people we need to help don’t feel comfortable in our presence – that’s a real problem. We make people feel uncomfortable and people fear the things they don’t understand. “We are in a service based industry. If you can’t establish a good level of service for your clients, forget about your business. “Identify and anticipate clients’ needs and treat them like human beings. Be transparent – transparency in business is a massive thing – and tell people what your prices are. “Define your service offering and do more than what they expect – people appreciate that. “Business is about working hard, working intelligently and working with the people who need your help.” n Do you agree with Phil? How do you go the extra mile to support your clients and gym members? Send your comments to ce@scriptmedia.co.uk and we’ll print the best responses next issue.

No 273 £3

Conference to focus on technology and trends

The new £15m Hinckley Leisure Centre will be officially opened later this month by Olympic medallist Sharron Davies MBE. The centre, which includes a gym, group cycling studio and swimming pool, will be operated by Places for People Leisure on behalf of Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council and has already been well received since opening to the local community last month. Council leader Mike Hall said: “We are delighted to welcome Sharron Davies MBE to the official opening of the new leisure centre. Since its public opening, we have received incredible feedback and welcomed thousands of people through the doors.”

THE growing use of technology in the fitness industry – and the latest trends in this area – will be among the topics discussed at the 2016 National Fitness Conference. Taking place at Leicester Tigers stadium on Friday December 2, the conference precedes the National Fitness Awards at the nearby Athena. And following a successful debut last year, the 2016 conference, in partnership with headline sponsor Harlands Group, promises to be bigger and better than ever, with speaker details and running order announced soon. Workout editor Christina Eccles said: “We’re really excited about this year’s conference and already have big plans in place to build on the success of last year’s event. “This year we have a new venue; creating more exhibition space and greater networking opportunities for delegates, as well as the opportunity to learn from some top speakers who will all be experts in their field. “If you’re serious about improving your fitness business, make sure you have the date in your diary, as it’s an event you won’t want to miss!”

UK FITNESS SCENE

Carly Tierney has created a series of workshops focusing on the areas where people need the most help.

Photo credit: Marram Photography Studio

PT aims to promote a healthier lifestyle By Christina Eccles PERSONAL trainer Carly Tierney is on a mission to promote healthier lifestyles – creating a series of workshops focusing on the areas where people need the most help. After holding her first nutrition workshop earlier in the year, Carly recently organised a second at DW Sports Fitness in Barnsley, in which she focused on the benefits of weight training. A group of 12 attended the event where they learned more about why this type of training is important, as well as taking part in a practical session led by Carly where she demonstrated how to achieve the

correct form when doing popular exercises such as kettlebell swings, barbell presses and dumbbell curls. Participants also enjoyed a healthy lunch and took away goodie bags, courtesy of Carly’s sponsors Zone Nutrition and BSN. Carly said: “What I generally do with my clients is keep a record of any questions or topics that crop up regularly, either by people asking me or on email, and I’ve been designing the workshops around the most common issues. “One of the things I really want to achieve as a personal trainer is to be able to help as many people as I can and really make a difference to

people’s lives.” As part of the event, the group also learned more about the importance of sports massage from guest speaker Karen Casadei – owner of local business Body Revive – who told Workout why she was pleased to be involved. She added: “I think it’s important people know the difference between sports massage and beauty massage, how the muscles work and how to keep themselves injury free. “The workshop was a great opportunity to educate people on the benefits sports massage can offer whether you’re a professional athlete or everyday gymgoer.”

Sweatshop named best national retailer SPECIALIST running retailer Sweatshop has been named Best National Retailer at the 2016 Running Awards. The company was awarded a gold medal in the retail category at a

ceremony at the O2 Arena in London. Sweatshop also came second for Best Customer Service and third for Best Website in the independent awards, decided by a nationwide poll, which saw 90,000 people take part.

At Script Media, we try to get things right but occasionally, we make mistakes. If you have a complaint about a story featured in our magazine or on our website, please, in the first instance, contact us by email: ce@scriptmedia.co.uk We abide by the Editors’ Code of Practice as demanded by the Independent Press Standards Organisation. For details on the code and what to do should you be unsatisfied with the way we handle your complaint, please visit www.ipso.co.uk

Carly has already planned her next workshop, which will take place later this month with a theme of ‘eat yourself fit’ and she hopes to hold them as regularly as possible and attract a wider audience of people who could benefit from her help. She added: “What I am trying to achieve long term is a fitness community. A lot of the people I train may not have people around them who understand their lifestyle change. “Having people around them who are like-minded can create a real team spirit – you can’t underestimate how important these relationships are.” Advertising

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Origin Fitness adds two to its growing UK sales team ORIGIN Fitness has grown its team with the addition of two new sales managers. Caroline West and Adam Trigwell, both previously with Cybex, have joined the company. Caroline will be looking after customers in the North while Adam will be concentrating on London. Origin Fitness director Jonny Curley said: “As a company we are delighted to have Caroline and Adam join our growing team.

“The experience and skills they bring to the company are first class and I am in no doubt they will add to the impact and growth of the Origin Fitness brand.” Origin Fitness, part of Anytime Leisure Ltd, recently announced plans to significantly expand over the coming years with targets to double their turnover to about £20m. This is being supported by the growth of the sales team across the UK.

Walking is the favourite form of exercise for more than 50 per cent of Brits, a poll to coincide with National Walking Month has revealed.

New research reveals UK’s love of walking

WALKING is the favourite form of exercise for over 50 per cent of Brits, a study to coincide with National Walking Month, has revealed. Researchers polled 1,000 people and found that walking tops the list of the nation’s preferred form of exercise, with cycling next in line at eight per cent, followed by hitting the gym and running. When asked what was most enjoyable about walking, two in five said they enjoyed the health benefits, while three in five just enjoy being

outdoors and a further one in five enjoy the freedom walking gives. Head of operations at HF Holidays, who commissioned the research, Matthew Humphreys said: “In today’s busy world, we believe that among the things that matter is an appreciation of natural beauty and a love of the open air. “Walking doesn’t and shouldn’t have to be a means to an end, it has a huge array of social, physical and mental benefits and we want to share that with the people of Britain.”

Founder of Spartan Race Joe De Sena hosted a pop up workout at London’s Marble Arch, putting attendees through their paces in a gruelling workout in the rain. The workout saw the Spartans-in-training do 100 bodyweight exercises including squats, martial arts kicks, core exercises and burpees, with Joe motivating them to complete the workout.

UK FITNESS SCENE

Gym’s free event shows people with disabilities how to get into fitness By Christina Eccles AN AWARD winning Wakefield gym has held an event to inspire people with disabilities and show how they can get involved in fitness. The free Reaching out to Inspire initiative took place at Tops Fitness and Rehabilitation Centre, with a panel brought together by gym owner Steve Johnson to tell their inspirational stories to attendees. Steve said: “As we are a centre that caters for all I thought we would be ideal to cater for this event. “Everyone met in reception and we had a nice meet and greet with homemade healthy protein snacks and soft drinks and got to know everyone. One attendee had driven all the way from Bristol to Wakefield on the day just to attend. “The panel was made up of people who have achieved something after going through big hurdles in their life and I can’t thank them enough for giving up their time and attending.” The panel was made up of Darran Pytlak-Stanesby, who secured second place in The World’s Strongest Disabled Man, disability bodybuilder and personal trainer Josh Goodfellow, and Dean Bromley and Sam Watson who have both recovered from serious road accidents to achieve success in the bodybuilding world. Steve added: “All in all I consider the event was very successful and with a

Tops Fitness and Rehabilitation Centre owner Steve Johnson with the speakers at the Reaching out to Inspire event. bigger marketing campaign next time “Because of this my business I am sure we will be having a very partner Natasha Green, who is a busy event. neuro-physiotherapist and the head “Since Reaching out to Inspire of our rehabilitation department, happened, social media has spread is hosting a presentation to PTs to the word explaining what went down assist them in their knowledge of and we have had many requests to do head injuries and how training can be more. Even personal trainers want to adapted. attend so they can take more clients “We want to make a difference and on with disabilities without being our slogan has always been “We care afraid. about the future you want”.”

Activewear brand XINX has unveiled its first pop-up store in London’s Notting Hill. The shop resembles an old school gym, designed to immerse visitors in a nostalgic training environment, and will be home to the brand’s spring/summer collection. Founder and creator Nick Jelley said: “With over 15 years experience in the fitness industry, I wanted to produce an activewear brand for my clients to wear, something they love to put on every day and enjoy working out in. I wanted to create a brand which embodies the powerful yet graceful nature to training. We want to promote positive body image and give passionate fitness fans the tools to train hard in the right way, and have fun doing it.”

UK FITNESS SCENE

Joseph’s Goal to benefit from Spinathon and family event TOTAL Fitness in Wigan is organising a Spinathon and family charity event in aid of Joseph’s Goal for the third year running. It will take place on Saturday July 9 and will include a special timetable of classes, including an outdoor bootcamp, a raffle and silent auction. The main event will be a four hour spinathon session to boost the charity’s funds, with the club hoping to have 60 participants this year. The charity was set up by the family of Joseph Kendrick, who has NKH,

a rare genetic disorder, and every penny raised will go to funding research into treatments and a cure. Club manager Scott Gray said: “This has become an annual event here at Wigan Total Fitness. This is a charity we are very proud to work with and appreciate all the help from members and non-members on making this a huge success. “The team pull together every year to make this a huge fun day and last year raised around £3000 – and this year we look to excel this.”

Nigel Lynn, chief executive at Arun District Council and Ivan Horsfall Turner, Freedom Leisure managing director.

Trust takes over running of four Arun leisure facilities FREEDOM Leisure has officially taken over the management of four leisure facilities in Arun, West Sussex. The company is working in partnership with Arun District Council to manage Arun Leisure Centre, Bersted Park Community Centre, Littlehampton Swimming and Sports Centre and The Windmill Entertainment Centre for the next 10 years. This is the ninth contract in Sussex for Freedom Leisure, which already operates 25 centres across the county in partnership with eight local authorities. All four facilities will benefit from

upgrade work and new equipment will be added to improve customer satisfaction. In addition, energy conservation measures will be implemented. Freedom Leisure managing director Ivan Horsfall Turner said: “We are delighted to be officially starting our new partnership with Arun District Council. “All four sites have great potential and loyal customers. We are looking forward to working on a wide range of new developments aimed at increasing community cohesion and encouraging positive lifestyles through sport.”

TRX has confirmed a new long-term agreement with FitDist Sports Ltd., who have been named as the authorised distributor for all TRX products and education courses throughout the UK and Ireland. The new partnership will see FitDist expand its portfolio of brands offering all TRX training equipment and accessories, including the new TRX Commercial Suspension Trainer, launched at IHRSA 2016. FitDist will also deliver TRX’s education programme including TRX Suspension Training, Rip Training, Functional Training and Group Training courses.

UK FITNESS SCENE

Operator teams with charity to support cancer patients

Tommy Yule, Ali Jawad, Ashley Metcalfe (British Weight Lifting CEO), Steve Orton (BodyPower sales director), Lori Bavetta and Emily Godley.

BodyPower is British Weight Lifting’s new official partner BRITISH Weight Lifting has confirmed BodyPower as a new official partner. The announcement was made on the opening day of BodyPower Expo 2016, and was attended by BodyPower sales director Steve Orton, British Weight Lifting CEO Ashley Metcalfe and a selection of British Weight Lifting’s elite athletes including European Senior medallist Rebekah Tiler, European under 23 champion Sarah Davies and English champion Emily Godley. As part of the new agreement, BodyPower and British Weight Lifting will work in partnership to deliver bespoke online coaching-focused content led by British Weight Lifting’s performance team. BodyPower will also receive brand-

ing rights at all major domestic competitions, including the upcoming Cybex British Weightlifting and ParaPowerlifting Championships, which will be the last selection opportunity for athletes to be selected for the two coveted places at this summer’s Olympic Games in Rio. Steve said: “We are proud to be named as an Official Partner to British Weight Lifting and to further engage with the sport. “The new agreement fits perfectly with the BodyPower brand and as we continue to grow our presence in the sport, health and fitness industry, working in partnership with a national governing body that is so dedicated to developing its talent and growing the sport’s awareness at all levels is a natural strategic fit.”

BARNSLEY Premier Leisure and Weston Park Hospital Cancer Charity have teamed up to support local cancer patients. The five-year partnership will see BPL and the charity promote exercise as a means of improving the quality of life of cancer patients. The operator will also help promote the cancer charity’s Run and Raise initiative – encouraging members and staff to take part in runs whilst raising vital funds for the charity. Chief executive of Barnsley Premier Leisure Tim Wilson said, “We are

delighted to have this partnership in place and be able to offer our services in support of cancer patients in the region. “As a charitable not-for-profit company ourselves, being able to offer our facilities to those suffering with the disease is something we were extremely eager to get involved in. “We look forward to what will be an extremely successful partnership with Weston Park and hope to help them raise the funds they need – as well as promoting the health benefits of exercise – in the process.”

The Bannatyne Group has signed an exclusive contract with WaterRower to be the only UK health club with the rights to its unique ShockWave class. Created by world champion rower, Josh Crosby, ShockWave incorporates the WaterRower into a high-energy fitness class, which combines aspects of cross-training, along with functional strength exercises to provide a total-body workout in a group circuit training-style format. Group head of fitness for the Bannatyne Group, Scott Niven, said: “We’re extremely pleased to introduce ShockWave to the Bannatyne Group. We are always looking to improve the options available to members and I’m sure ShockWave is going to be a great success.”

UK FITNESS SCENE

Personal trainer holds first successful fitness retreat in Marbella By Christina Eccles

Premier League stars from Watford FC have experienced extreme cold whole body cryotherapy recovery treatment to mark the start of the team’s permanent use of cryotherapy as part of its recovery and training regimes. The treatment, provided by CryoAction and BOC exposes athletes to short bursts of -135°C, helping to speed up players’ recovery times during a busy end-of-season fixture schedule, which included an FA Cup semi-final tie against Crystal Palace and high profile clashes against Arsenal, Everton and West Ham. Head of medical at Watford, Richard Collinge, said: “We have been extremely impressed here at Watford FC with the effects of whole body cryotherapy. It has without doubt contributed towards the optimal recovery of our fit and injured players amongst the other recovery strategies that we implement as a medical and sports science department.”

Hotel’s gym undergoes refurb THE Grand Jersey Hotel and Spa has undergone a full refurbishment including the installation of a stateof-the-art-gym, equipped with Matrix Fitness kit. Open to guests and members, the new-look gym features a range of 7xi Series cardio products including treadmills, ellipticals, and upright cycles. The gym also features the innovative IC7 Indoor cycle

Group health club and spa manager at Hand Picked Hotels, Lesley Bacon, said: “We have had very positive feedback from our members regarding the look, feel and functionality options of the new Matrix equipment at Fawsley Hall alongside first class support for the team running the health club. We have now extended this relationship to two of our Channel Island hotels that are undergoing gym refurbs.”

PERSONAL trainer Victoria Hudson has held her first successful fitness retreat in Marbella. Victoria teamed up with New Wave Fitness Camps to host the retreat and, after advertising the concept to clients, sold all eight available places in just two days. The retreat included yoga and relaxation on the beach, daily seminars on topics such as nutrition and sleep, lifting workshops and training in some of the area’s most popular gyms, including Crossfit Marbella and a club owned by Dorian Yates. On the last day, the group had the afternoon off where they relaxed with some cocktails before enjoying a night out in Puerto Banus. Victoria said: “Since getting back from the retreat, all the girls have said they learnt loads, it’s changed training for them and we have all stayed close friends, which is great.” Victoria has already booked her next retreat for the end of September and has plans in the pipeline for more in the future. She added: “I plan on hosting more retreats next year. It’s been amazing

Victoria Hudson sold all eight available places in two days. not only for me but the value it’s added to my clients who came – and any of my new clients who join me will have an option of taking part in a retreat abroad, which I think is such an amazing opportunity. “I would recommend this to any coach out there – as long as they have the get up and go to be able and want to train and coach every day, as it is hard work! But I loved it!”

Welcome to WorkOut Weigh In – it’s your chance to have your say and share your views on industry issues. You can email us at ce@scriptmedia.co.uk or you can message us on Facebook or Twitter.

This month’s top Tweets...

Picture of the month

@ChristinaEccles: Great seminar on building a fitness business from ‪@PhilLearney ‪@ bodypowerexpo! Look out for full story in ‪@WorkOutUK! @samrgardiner: Really appreciate my feature in ‪@ WorkOutUK Mag ‪#versaclimber ‪#rehab ‪#triathlon ‪@ VersaclimberUK thank you for making my dreams come true

A charity indoor cycling event has broken two Guinness World Records and raised over £30,000 for the MND Association. Rave and Ride saw saw hundreds cycle on indoor studio bikes, with celebrities taking part including Sarah Harding and Calum Best. Over the course of the challenge, as well as raising £30,856, participants broke the records for most money raised in eight hours by static cycling and most mechanical energy produced by pedalling on static bicycles in one hour. The event was organised by entrepreneur Steven Smith (pictured) who lost his mum Genifer to MND, and took place at Stoke Park Hotel, Spa and Country Club.

Editor’s Comment

@serendipity_gym: ‪@ WorkOutUK‪ thanks for the write up on our event for @ YorkAgainstCanc our total is now over £1,600 and still going ‬‪ ‬

@PhysicalCompany: Who’s got their copy of ‪@WorkOutUK yet? You can read all about our latest install at ‪@KOBOX. Download it from ‪http://www.workout-uk. co.uk

HOW has technology changed the way you run your business? From online joining to secure entry systems and direct debit collections, in today’s hectic world, tapping into the latest trends can help busy operators streamline the running of their gyms, while also helping those inside the gym to get the most out of their memberships. This month, in our special feature, we look at technology in more detail to discover how gym owners are using it to make their own lives easier – and really make a difference to their members. A great example of this can be seen on page 24 where we speak to Mickii Edwards, who has recently opened a gym near Blackburn. Installing the latest technology from the likes of MYZONE and Pulse is helping him to successfully engage with the local community – providing fun ways for them to get fit while also equipping them with the tools to measure their results.

If technology is working well for you, we’d also love to hear more about what you’re doing. If you’re a long running operator, let us know how things have changed in your gym over the years and how it’s made a difference to you or if you’ve just started out, tell us why you’ve chosen the latest kit to equip your gym –and how you will be using it. Technology will also be a focus at this year’s National Fitness Conference, which will include a panel discussion on the latest news in this area and practical examples from experts who will be revealing how to make these trends work for you. A couple of weeks ago, we visited our new venue – Leicester Tigers Rugby Club – and we’re really looking forward to bringing you more details on the event in the coming weeks. We had some great feedback from our first conference last December and our new venue will mean more room for exhibitors, greater

Christina Eccles networking opportunities and one or two surprises to make this year’s event even more of a must attend. Look out for further details coming next issue on the conference and National Fitness Awards – and if you haven’t entered yet, there’s still time, so keep those nominations coming in. Have a great month and we’ll look forward to receiving your entries!

Keep up to date with all the latest news on the National Fitness Awards by following @FitnessAwards on Twitter or visiting the Workout Magazine Facebook page. We’ll be announcing more details about this year’s event over the coming weeks, so keep checking our social media channels to make sure you don’t miss out! This month’s hot topic:

@chellejones315: Look who’s on the first page of ‪@WorkOutUK ‪@katiebulmer1 @alison_bledge: Great to see ‪@OliviaGTaylor ‪@WorkOutUK today ‪@elevatearena for some speedy briefings!

How are you gearing up for the summer months in your gym? If you’ve launched a big new marketing campaign or are planning some exciting member or community events, we’d love to hear more. Send your answers to ce@scriptmedia.co.uk or contact us via Twitter or Facebook. We’ll print the best responses next issue.

UK FITNESS SCENE

Wattbike has been appointed as the preferred and exclusive supplier of specialist indoor cycling equipment for Places for People Leisure on a three year contract. Dependent on the site and client base, Wattbike will be installing two, a zone of six or studio based cycling options across the Places for People Leisure portfolio of 113 leisure centres, starting with the newly launched Wycombe Leisure Centre, a £25m project which opened in January. Commercial director at Wattbike, Richard Baker, said: “It’s a real privilege to have been announced as an exclusive supplier for Places for People Leisure and to help them provide high-performance fitness equipment for their members and grow their indoor cycling provision.”

Sexual abuse survivor uses lessons learned to motivate others By Christina Eccles

A WOMAN who overcame sexual abuse and went on to build a successful career competing in bodybuilding competitions is now passing on her expertise to help others get fit and lose weight. Sonia Redpath, who is originally from southern England but now lives in Gosforth, has launched her online health and fitness course Fit Mumma; a 12-week step-by-step programme offering advice on a physical, mental and emotional level coupled with support and guidance on food, exercise and weight-loss. Sonia, who was diagnosed with dyslexia at 43, suffered from posttraumatic stress and depression after being assaulted. But she has also been diagnosed as having post-traumatic growth – the ability to go on and do positive things after treatment. She initially channelled her efforts into bodybuilding and met husband Robbie, a fitness expert who has worked with professional rugby players, at a European championship in Italy. The couple have a 12-yearold son Jason, who came up with the name Fit Mumma to describe Sonia. She said: “To be successful is not about hearing what you want to hear from a counsellor, it’s about real hard work and dedication. “Fit Mumma combines my skills and Robbie’s skills in a course that is doable for ordinary people. I’m there

Fit Mumma creator Sonia Redpath. to offer advice and support all the time but you have to be committed – you have to be accountable and clock in and out and report on your progress.” Users receive phone calls, are set home work, individual action plans and can access webinars. Sonia has also designed a healthy cooking element of the course and is planning to publish an accompanying book. All profits from the business are going towards a place at ballet school to help Jason, a talented dancer, to achieve his dream of becoming a

Photo credit: Paula Rosa Photography professional. Sonia added: “Being a survivor of abuse leads to all sorts of anxieties which can manifest in both physical and mental form, taking part in the competition has helped me to see my true worth and use my new found confidence to focus on my future and not my past. “I am in a great place now with my family life and my career, and I want to use the skills and lessons I’ve learned getting there to help other people achieve their health, fitness and weight-loss goals.”

With a philosophy to deliver fitness without judgement, a Leeds based studio is filling a gap in the market by offering an all-round approach to health and wellbeing. Christina Eccles tried out a class.

BPM Bike Lab in Leeds combines Jen’s love of Spinning with Jon’s background in physiology and sports science.

Lab encourages its members to experiment and try new things JON and Jen Robinson met while working in China and opened their first gym there after combining her love of Spinning with his background in physiology and sports science. And after creating a club which was named best gym in Shanghai by Time Out, they have a lot to live up to with their latest venture back on home soil. Thankfully, the pair have got off to a successful start with BPM Bike Lab, which opened a year ago with the intention of bringing something different to the city’s existing fitness scene. Jen explained: “The idea of a lab is that it is somewhere where you go to experiment on yourself and try new things. Everyone is included here and can come in and see what works.” The business is split into four parts: n Bike Lab – indoor cycling classes. n Physio Lab – a free weights gym, also offering classes such as kettlebells. n Zen Lab – offering classes such as yoga and workshops on issues including mindfulness and wellbeing. n Slim Lab – education around nutrition and growing your own food.

BPM Bike Lab owners Jon and Jen Robinson What was originally the core part of the business – the indoor cycling classes – are still proving consistently popular with busy city workers who pop in for a lunchtime or after work session, but the other parts of the business are also now steadily growing as Jon and Jen work to push the message that mental health and wellbeing is as important as physical fitness. Jen added: “In a gym environment, Spinning is the most effective

workout, as you can burn a lot of calories and increase your fitness quickly. “We also love our music and have spent a lot on our sound system. You have to make it fun and you have to make it effective. “When we first opened, we predominantly attracted ladies from about 25 to 35 but as the year has passed, we have attracted a slightly older clientele and more men, particularly in the 35 to 45 age

tried out – a 30 minute lunchtime indoor cycling session – which although wasn’t full to capacity, still had a great atmosphere thanks to enthusiasm from the instructor and each person taking part. It was good to see that the studio caters for all fitness levels – offering bikes from Schwinn, Stages Cycling and WattBike – which users can choose from depending how technical they want their sessions to be and how far they want to push themselves. Bikes can also be booked in advance, so if someone does have a particular favourite spot, they can make sure they don’t miss out! The session was set to a playlist of motivating, upbeat tunes which makes a difference when you’re trying to push yourself through those uphill climbs! And 30 minutes is just long enough to have a decent

workout, without feeling exhausted. The short time frame of the daytime classes makes it easy for busy professionals to pop out in their lunch breaks and I overheard one participant say how attending a class at this time helped him feel more focused and energised for the afternoon ahead, which I would definitely agree with.

bracket, the reason for this being they feel they have found a place where they can feel more comfortable without some of the younger guys who sometimes go to gyms. “It can be a little bit intimidating when surrounded by bodybuilding type physiques. “We have no mirrors, everyone’s on first name terms and it’s an easy entry into fitness.” The club is also working hard to team up with other local businesses to create offers for members and has plans in the pipeline to host more workshops on topics such as alleviating back and neck pain for office workers. But as the business hopefully continues to expand, their core values will remain of providing a safe space where anyone can feel at home. Jen added: “Our philosophy is fitness without judgement. In order to lead a happier life, you need to invest in personal development and fitness. “Here anyone is welcome. We like to think we have created a comfortable space for everyone.”

Lunchtime session left me feeling energised

TUCKED away in the heart of Leeds city centre, BPM Bike Lab is a small club looking to make a big difference. By combining physical fitness and mental wellbeing under one roof, the business can cater to the needs of every member – helping them to lead healthier and more fulfilling lives – and aiming to create a real sense of community while doing so. This was evident in the session I

Following the class, I headed back to the office with a spring in my step and ready to face the world, having really enjoyed my visit and promising to return for a circuit class with some colleagues in tow. For any indoor cycling advocates, this is the perfect place to get your fitness fix, and I’m looking forward to a return visit.

UK FITNESS SCENE

Academy turns ‘Mr Nice Guy’ into a fighter in 12 weeks By Christina Eccles A DONCASTER MMA academy has successfully taken on the challenge of getting a complete beginner into shape for his first fight – in just 12 weeks. Back in January, two local entrepreneurs agreed to participate in a white collar style kickboxing event for charity. The only issue was that one of the fighters, Liam Grady, had no experience and was going up against an opponent who has been involved with the sport for about 20 years. So with just a few months to prepare, Liam turned to Charles Martin Martial Arts Academy for help. Founder Charles Martin explained: “Because we only had a limited amount of time, we had to see what Liam brought to the table on day one to judge what we were working with. “We have many people who say they want to be a fighter, so we put them through tough sessions at the start to see what we are working with and most of the time they don’t come back through the doors. “Despite Liam going through a very tough session, he returned the next day and was once again put through his paces.” Liam, who runs PR business Bodhi

Communications, trained at the academy about three times a week in the run up to the fight, working with a number of top coaches and fighters including Charles himself and UK title belt holder Richard Herbert. Over the course of the 12 weeks, he was put through his paces with a variety of training sessions; from Muay Thai based drills to sparring and strength and conditioning. He added: “I knew it was going to be difficult but I never imagined it was going to be like this. “On my first day I was really put through my paces but I thought I would just give it my all and show everyone that I did have the heart to go through the next 12 weeks. “I have to admit, sometimes I felt broken and came home like I’d been hit by a car. “However what I could tell straight away about CMMA was the spirit within the camp, they trained champions but they were like one big family and always making sure everyone in the camp was ok.” The bout, which lasted three rounds, was classed as a draw, and after learning so much from the experience, Liam is already planning to continue working with the coaches at CMMA, with the club soon to be moving to a new location in

Liam Grady in action after Charles Martin Martial Arts Academy got him into shape for his first fight in just 12 weeks. Doncaster to expand the business of Liam and we are hoping he and attract more people through the continues to work with us as he has a doors. fighting spirit that can not be taught. Charles added: “We are very proud It helped us on our journey for sure.”

UK FITNESS SCENE

The Spa at Ramside, at Ramside Hall Hotel near Durham.

Award-winning spa launches new mindfulness programme AN award-winning North East spa is launching a programme of mindfulness events. The Spa at Ramside, at Ramside Hall Hotel near Durham, is offering a range of workshops, private healing sessions and a two day retreat aimed at helping people relax and find ways of dealing with every day stresses. The retreat will include sessions with renowned mindfulness teacher Felix Lopez and Wellness for Cancer founder, Julie Bach, who will run morning and evening meditation

sessions. The programme is also offering a range of one day events, including a Silent Night Evening Workshop where participants are able to experience what the spa has to offer â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but in silence. Felix will also be hosting a one day mindfulness workshop, introducing people to the concept and giving them the opportunity to try a number of therapies including breathing techniques, meditation and guided relaxation.

TECHNOLOGY

Wearable technology and the psychology of habit formation By Dave Wright WE know that exercise is good for us; it enables us to lose weight, strengthens our heart, decrease stress and builds more energy. Overall, it’s a very good idea. The new year wipes the slate clean, forgives us of our lifestyle sins over the holidays, and gives us a chance to start afresh. In January things are great, we visit the gym along with nearly everybody else, but by the time Valentine’s Day arrives, the habit has begun to wane, and by St Patrick’s day it’s like it never existed. So given the goal is real and the rational is solid, why is it that the exercise habit just fades to black? Put simply, it’s because most of us don’t structure exercise to fold into the habit cycle of our psychology. We don’t reward ourselves quickly enough, and the payoff is just too far away for it to be motivating. The Cycle: Trigger, Action, Reward The Trigger: What initiates you to go to the gym (it might be walking out of the office at 5.30pm). The Action: Doing the exercise itself. The Reward: The instant pat on the back you get from doing the action. For example: Take an evening chocolate habit. The trigger may be the kids going to sleep, the house

going quiet, the lights being dimmed, and the TV being turned on. The action is to grab a hot drink and a block of chocolate, while the reward is that never fail sugar, cocoa, some TV entertainment and relaxation. Because the reward is so instant, the next day when the kids go to sleep, the lights go off and the TV goes back on again, the urge to pick up that chocolate block is almost irresistible. Scientifically, what is happening is that the reward is releasing the “liking drug” (called opioid) in the brain. When it is triggered again it releases the “wanting” drug known as dopamine. The brain loves rewards and is structured that way. If you like something immediately after a behaviour, when you are triggered again you will want it again. Without this system we would sit around all day with no motivation to eat, socialise, or exist. With that in mind, in order to create the urge to want to exercise, we simply need to begin by providing a reward for the action (creating the “liking drug” opioid) immediately. Leaving the ROI (return on investment) as “weight loss in three months time,” or “lower blood pressure in six months time,” won’t work.

Dave Wright The exerciser will need to rely on willpower in order to maintain the habit, since willpower is a limited resource, the more we use at work that day the less we have that evening, it explains why we skip our workout in the evening and eat the chocolate! The Solution: Wearable Tech This is where wearable technology comes in: Tracking the behaviour of exercise and rewarding the user for

the process. The reward comes throughout the workout to encourage the exerciser’s ‘mid game’ and over time helps focus the user on goal setting and goal attainment. By adding challenges and social leader boards, thus the reward becomes amplified. We all do more and do better when others are watching, because the reward of recognition is multiplied. So the tip this year is to engage with wearables, track what you are doing, set goals, make progress towards your goals, and get others involved. The idea is to reward yourself after every workout so that the urge to do it again is greater—the bigger the reward the more you want to do it again! n Dave Wright is the CEO of CFM (Creative Fitness Marketing), CEO and creator of MYZONE, owner of the Feelgood Fitness and Voyage Fitness Club chains, a former board director of ukactive and founder of the IOU. With offices in Chicago (US), Nottingham (UK) and Melbourne (Oz), Dave’s companies have worked directly with over 5,000 health clubs across 30 different countries, encouraging people to be more and stay more physically active. He may be contacted on Dave@ myzone.org

TECHNOLOGY

Ex-professional rugby player Mickii Edwards has turned to technology to help engage the local community in fitness. Workout editor Christina Eccles paid a visit to his new gym near Blackburn.

Mickii’s Weight Loss Academy delivers much needed service IN an area where nearly 70 per cent of adults are overweight or obese, The Mickii Edwards Weight Loss Academy is delivering a much needed service. Set up by Mickii in partnership with a group of local doctors, the centre caters for both young people and adults; aiming to introduce them into fitness and encourage healthier lifestyles in a non-intimidating, supportive environment. Since opening at the start of the year, the club already has about 400 members, who are enjoying the wide range of kit and classes on offer and are vastly benefiting from the handson support of Mickii and his team. He explained: “I want to change the industry to create something different for people who really need help. People who have problems which mean they can’t go to a conventional gym.” When setting up the gym, Mickii had the aim of making fitness fun for everyone, as well as offering local kids something to do to get them off the streets; meaning interactive equipment was an obvious choice to create workouts which are visually entertaining and engaging for all ages and abilities. Kit installed at the club includes the iDance2 Multiplayer System; spin bikes with SPIVI technology to create an interactive cycling experience for users and a Nexersys Ultimate Cardio Machine, all supplied and installed by Pulse.

Mickii Edwards at his Blackburn gym. The club has also been successfully utilising MYZONE, which is helping members to measure their efforts and track progress – and Mickii has a novel way of ensuring that every person meets their goals.

He added: “The interactive fitness kit is accessible to all abilities, meaning that disabled children and adults can also have fun and improve their mobility. “We are hoping to motivate those

who attend into changing their lifestyle and show them what they can achieve. “We don’t want to do guesswork. When you are working with people such as cancer patients or who are overweight, you can’t guess – you have to do it right. “We use MYZONE and people can’t leave until they have burned the amount of calories we have agreed on. “Every Monday we also hold a two hour workout where people can burn up to 1,000 calories.” Even though it has only been open a short time, the club has already positioned itself as an integral part of the community; something which is very important to Mickii. Every week, he donates money to local food banks and as well as putting on free kids classes, he also arranges regular trips out so youngsters can enjoy everything from a day at the seaside to a visit to the circus. He added: “[The gym is] bringing much needed life to a broken community which has nothing and giving them hope. “Making them believe in better, working on personal development – that is bringing much needed results – has been infectious. “Bringing a community together, wanting better, making change – becoming that difference is my only goal.”

‘Partner portal’ launched to share data with operators PAYASUGYM has launched a new ‘partner portal’ to share powerful marketplace data with operators – helping them to improve their businesses. The portal will use transactional data gathered from more than 2,300 fitness venues over a five year period to power tools such as the price calculator, missed sales analysis, competitive rank and new customer feedback analysis.

It will also enable operators to assess the relative importance of online assets such as photography, venue descriptions and customer reviews in comparison to product and price and will forecast the future revenue impact of changes made based on marketplace data. Co-founder Neil Harmsworth said: “Within any marketplace you need to solve three challenges which are to generate customer demand, provide

supply and then ensure as much demand finds the supply that is right for them as often as possible. “As the UK’s fitness marketplace provider we have unique insight into which products sell for what prices, what search terms are driving traffic, and how operators compare to one another in the eyes of new customers. We want to share this information. “Our new Partner Portal represents

a significant investment into the operators we work with and we view it as a vital component of our proposition and desire to put operators in total control over what they sell, what they charge, how they present themselves to new customers. “Our role is to provide them with the intelligence and data they need to make strategic decisions relating to these factors and be as competitive as possible.”

TECHNOLOGY

In the second part of our feature on sales and service, Workout found out how bringing in the experts and using technology helped a newly opened Derbyshire gym get off to a flying start.

The new Queen’s Park Sports Centre in Chesterfield signed up new members in less than three months prior to opening thanks to Leisure-net Solutions.

Experts help gym get off to a flyer CHESTERFIELD Borough Council tasked founder of Nurturing Skills Lesley Aitken and director of Leisurenet Solutions David Monkhouse with signing up 750 new members for its new £11.5m Queen’s Park Sports Centre in less than three months, prior to the club opening in January. The team recruited three staff from the council’s existing centres and provided them with the skills, tools and leadership needed to hit the target, despite the restrictions of no online joining facility, a small marketing budget and no pre-sale memberships to be sold at less than

£20 per month. They hit the ground running and exceeded the sales target by 33 per cent. And out of the 1,000 new memberships sold in pre-sale, 25 per cent joined following an online enquiry. David said: “We put marketing tactics in place to drive prospective members to a sales-savvy landing page, which enabled prospects to register for a membership offer by completing a web form that captured their contact details. “Once complete, the prospect received an autoresponder explaining

a team member would contact them within 24-hours. The system immediately alerted the sales team when a prospect enquired online. “They were tasked with contacting each one within 15 minutes and providing them with a personal, knowledgeable and friendly touch to encourage them to join.” According to Lesley, with the autoresponder guaranteeing a call within 24 hours, the sales team knew if they didn’t respond quickly it could sabotage the brand reputation. She added: “More importantly, we expressed to them that the prospect’s

desire to buy was higher when they received a quick response. “This meant the team member was more likely to have a meaningful conversation with the prospect as opposed to delaying response times. “As a result, 69 per cent of all online enquirers joined. “It’s a fact that fast response times result in a higher closing ratio. “Responding quickly and engaging with prospects whilst their interest levels in joining were high was a key factor in us exceeding the Queen’s Park Sports Centre pre-sale target by 33 per cent.”

TECHNOLOGY

Why setting a clear digital strategy is key to success By Leon Rudge OVER the last few years I’ve watched the physical activity sector slowly acknowledge that digitalisation is something we should watch. We’ve seen most equipment suppliers investing in hardware, infrastructure and simple apps that allow for basic digitisation. Suppliers have also been busy retrofitting ’stuff’ to create some kind of connectivity in an attempt to call a product digital and then decide on what value it holds. There is certainly a great deal of noise around the increasing impact of digital technology and a growing call from more operators on the need to “Go Digital.” The challenge and an area that is usually overlooked is the question why? If you don’t know why you invested in digital, for example to overcome the threat of disruption or create competitive advantage, then how can you expect your workforce and members to make it a success? It’s no secret that digitisation has changed many industries. It’s changed the way they operate and connect with customers and it’s been doing so for many years. We saw early impact on the most obvious industries like music, photography and print media. Some industries have seen many waves of impact. Take travel for instance, a couple of decades ago we would book our travel at a travel agency, then

Leon Rudge we could book it online with the agency. Next came the websites and apps that would allow you to search multiple vendors for the best price and/or location and now we are seeing a much more personal service where apps and websites become highly personalised and

recommend trips based on your previous habits. Digital is on its way and there isn’t an industry that won’t be impacted. Are you getting ready? Have you assessed the impact? My advice would be to stop trying to cut through all the noise and create your own unique vision. You wouldn’t launch a new service without understanding what it should look like, what benefits it offers and how you would achieve this. Establishing a clear vision and an executable strategy for short and long-term success is essential and the approach to digitalisation should not be any different. Once you have a vision, look at the experiences that will realise it. Next, understand what digital expertise is available that could achieve the experience and then decide on the technology you will need to bring it all together. Setting out on this route will ensure that you know what you need, whether it already exists, when you will need it, how much the investment will be and most importantly but often absent, is the area of operability. Ask yourself if the system can communicate seamlessly as a whole? Starting out with a clearly defined digital vision will mean everyone in your organisation will understand why you have employed one. In the words of the author Simon Sinek, “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.” n Leon Rudge is technology solutions manager – EMEA at Life Fitness.

TECHNOLOGY

Make a difference to your business with EZFacility DO you run a sports or fitness business? If your answer is ‘yes’ then you need EZFacility. You have an opportunity to join thousands of successful facilities around the globe who already use our all-in-one web-based software to manage their businesses. EZFacility can make a real difference to your business. With facility and trainer scheduling, employee management and customer facing tools such as membership management, point-of-sale, online booking and registration, all your technology solutions are covered… and more! The EZFacility difference means you don’t just get another front desk tool, you get to run a successful sports or fitness business the EZ way. Our membership management

product ensures a smooth process for checking-in, attendance tracking and recurring payments. EZFacility will aid you in managing and retaining current members while growing your client database simultaneously. Consolidate the management of your facility, employees and clients to streamline your business operations, delight your members and increase profits with EZFacility’s advanced management software solutions. For more information contact Steve Guscott on 0203 327 0480, email info@ezfacility.co.uk or visit http://www.ezfacility.co.uk

New site offers chance to enjoy live and recorded online classes A WEBSITE has launched to offer fitness enthusiasts around the world the chance to enjoy live and recorded online classes. With over 120 new live classes each month and unlimited access to recorded classes, users can browse the OnlineGym4me site; taking part in everything from yoga to functional training.

CEO and founder Marko Filej said: “I am extremely proud of OnlineGym4me and the opportunity to change people’s lives for the better with what we see as the future of working out. “Our online gym is for people who want to stay active anytime, anywhere and have fun at the same time.”

Time never stands still in IT world ACCORDING to SportSoft’s MD Paul Duncalf, much has changed in the 25 years since he started in the leisure industry. Some changes are obvious like the use of mobile phones to make bookings, the use of email and text messaging for marketing and the use of fingerprints or biometrics to identify and allow entry to customers. One change which is not so obvious, however, is the innovative way some clubs are selling memberships. They don’t simply allow entry to the gym; they package the subscription with various activities such as appointments, classes, tennis courts or gym entry. This expands the number of ways of

selling “memberships” by an infinite amount. From a software point of view, this means a change in approach because when someone signs up online for a £30 per month direct debit, this could now mean that they are entitled to four classes of any type per month, so the software engine in the background needs to know how to handle this rather complex and varied scenario. Paul added: “We can never stand still. Our world is constantly changing.” If you sell memberships packages which include activities, give SportSoft a call on 01423 873873.

TECHNOLOGY

New way to trade old kit Software designed by an owner LIFE just got a whole lot better for gym owners across the UK, thanks to the new way gym owners can tradein their old fitness equipment. WeBuyAnyGymEquipment.Com (We.BAGE) can have used gym equipment packages or individual items in an auction to many UK based traders within minutes. As a former gym operator, managing director of We.BAGE Daniel Jones said: “I know that gym owners are incredibly busy people and selling gym equipment is a notoriously time consuming and often a disjointed and complicated process. “The exciting launch of the only ‘selling’ gym equipment iPhone App in the world has enabled gym

owners to be able to send photos and other information super-fast so we can do the hard work – source the best price for their old gym kit.” The newly launched concept by We.BAGE has enabled gym owners to go to the market via the App and source the best price for their old gym equipment. If the price is accepted, We.BAGE co-ordinate the collection between the seller and buyer and ensure all runs smoothly, ensuring minimal downtime for the members. We.BAGE is taking great steps to help smooth the process of trade-ins and create more transparency for the sector, with the introduction of the iPhone App, the new way ahead is exciting and streamlined.

Successful FIBO launch for FQScore FIBO 2016 was a huge success for FitQuest with the launch of FQScore, an online portal that allows members, personal trainers and gym operators to track progress and share success on social media. Essential fitness data collected from FitQuest is collated and your FQ Score is uploaded to the online portal, FQScore.com which can be accessed by members from anywhere in the world, whether it’s from their desktop, tablet or smartphone. For operators looking to enhance their digital marketing strategy, the

FQScore portal can be incorporated into their website, providing members with a one-stop solution, to book classes, hear the latest club news and also track their FQScore progress. During FIBO, a leaderboard was created to show the best scores of the day and the week, something that can easily be re-created within the gym to get members excited about the progress they’re making and motivating them to out-perform their previous FQScore. Visit www.miefitquest.com or call 0113 279 3710.

WHEN Wayne Heath started his own gym he was confronted with the everyday pressures faced by all small to medium sized clubs. He quickly realised that both he and his instructors needed a software solution to ease the daily running of his business. Finding no credible or affordable systems available he decided to create ClubManager. He explained: “I am a process-

driven person and knew that if I could get the process right, my staff and I could spend a lot more time with our members and more time on increasing the footfall into the gym. “We decided to build ClubManager which has been built around how a gym works, making it really easy to use and logical.” To find out more call 01245 807 360, email wayne@clubmanagercentral.com or visit www.clubmanagercentral.com

UK FITNESS SCENE

Full judging panel revealed for National Fitness Awards By Christina Eccles

LES Mills’ instructor experience director and Lifetime Achievement Award winner Jean Ann Marnoch, celebrity personal trainer Richard Callender and multi-award winning independent gym owner Steve Johnson will complete the line up of judges for the 2016 National Fitness Awards, Workout can reveal. The trio will join Inverclyde Leisure’s head of leisure David McCorkindale and training academy manager for Strength and Conditioning Education Mark Laws in taking on the tough task of picking this year’s award winners. Steve’s gym, Tops Fitness and Rehabilitation in Wakefield, scooped National Fitness Awards in 2011 and 2012, and he told Workout why he believes every gym should put themselves forward for an award. He said: “Once more I am honoured with the duty of judging all the wonderful gyms around the country for the National Fitness Awards. “This is probably the biggest honour I have ever received in all my time in the fitness industry, to be able to use my experience to reward those that deserve it. “If you are lucky enough to win a category the marketing opportunities

Tops Fitness and Rehabilitation owner Steve Johnson and Inverclyde Leisure’s head of leisure David McCorkindale are part of this year’s judging panel. are enormous. also the proud owner of two National “Local papers are keen to cover your Fitness Awards and David revealed he success and your staff and clients will is delighted to be joining the judging exhibit a new found pride in what panel this year. they do. He added: “I would encourage all “When my centre was lucky enough operators to make a submission for to win, it highlighted us nationally at least one of the categories as this as a centre of excellence and now demonstrates your drive, vision and our awards are printed onto all our allows your company to be a part of letterheads, gym clothing and we this year’s awards.” have big signs in reception boasting There is still time to get involved in about our achievements. this year’s awards, which take place “Our clients walk in and instantly on Friday December 2 at the Athena know we are a professional outfit and in Leicester, with support from are very passionate about what we do. headline sponsor ServiceSport. “I look forward to being inspired by To find out more or to all the nominees once more in 2016.” nominate your club, visit www. Leisure trust Inverclyde Leisure is nationalfitnesswards.co.uk

Rugby star and TV pundit Sean Fitzpatrick, futurologist Stefan Hyttfors and customer experience consultant Andrew Macmillan will be among the speakers at the upcoming ukactive Flame Conference. The event, which takes place on June 29 in Telford, will also include breakout sessions around themes such as emerging trends, communication and technology. The conference will then be followed by the ukactive and Matrix Flame Awards where trophies will be handed out in categories including Spark of Innovation, Supplier of the Year and Physical Activity Campaign of the Year.

Professionals tackle physical inactivity at Elevate INDUSTRY leaders, healthcare professionals and performance experts came together for the first Elevate event in London, designed to focus on the goal of tackling physical activity. With backing from leading industry organisations including Public Health England, London Sport, The Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health and Sport England, attendees were able to learn from 138 expert speakers who shared their knowledge and

ideas on the strategies to increase participation, physical activity for health and wellbeing and the future of elite performance. The show also included an exhibition with seven feature areas: Start Ups, Research Uncovered, Active Aquatic, Skills Pavilion, Technology Walk, Performance Path and a VIP lounge. This allowed exhibitors to demonstrate advances in technology, research, analysis, rehabilitation, psychology, biomechanics, training,

sports medicine and service provision. Elevate’s director Max Quittenton said: “The success of Elevate has reflected how tackling physical inactivity is widely recognised as politically, economically and socially more important than ever. “The feedback has been positive and already a large number of influential brands, experts and organisations are confirmed to support the 2017 event at Excel London. Further details to be announced.”

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Protectivity provides cover to PTs PERSONAL trainer management company Club Training has linked up with Protectivity to offer affiliated PTs comprehensive and competitively priced public liability insurance. Club Training has signed an annual agreement with Protectivity to provide cover to their network of more than 1,000 personal trainers. Director at Club Training Andrew Omotajo said: “We are constantly looking for ways to add value to our personal trainer offering. “In addition to providing a quality product, we are also impressed by Protectivity’s administration system and document issuance process.

Firm aims to improve quality of first aid in fitness industry FOUNDED by Tim Setter – a former TA soldier and an established PT tutor and assessor with more than six years experience in the fitness industry – fitness1staid.com was created to improve the quality of first aid knowledge and training within the fitness industry. Tim said: “Whilst the large leisure operators typically have very good staff training and modern emergency equipment on-site such as Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs), there are an increasing growing number of independent and specialist operators and countless amateur weightlifting clubs, CF boxes, martial clubs, etc that could perhaps be doing more to ensure their instructors are sufficiently trained and their members are in competent

hands during an emergency situation.” The number of 50+ year olds exercising is booming and the need to be able to manage cardiac arrests has never been more important. In the UK alone, there are over 30,000 cardiac arrests outside of a hospital setting with survival rates typically less than 10 per cent, which lags behind Norway – 25 per cent – and in Seattle, USA – 20 per cent – (British Heart Foundation study). According to a study by the American Heart Association, immediate CPR and early defibrillation with an AED can more than double a cardiac arrest victim’s chance of survival. For course information contact: tim@fitness1staid.com or visit www.fitness1staid.com

This creates a paperless system and enables us to digitally track who is due for renewal and when, ensuring nobody leaves themselves exposed to risk by missing a renewal date.” Commercial director at Protectivity, Andy Brownsell, added: “We are very excited about this relationship. Insurance is often viewed as a necessary evil and our goal is to make the whole process of protecting against claims as painless as possible. “We hope that this relationship will help hundreds of personal trainers access a specialist product through their membership with Club Training.”

Attract new customers during Drowning Prevention Week OPERATORS have been urged to spread the Royal Life Saving Society UK’s water safety message by supporting its national campaign, Drowning Prevention Week. The week – running from June 18 to 26 – is now in its fourth year and provides a tool to help pool operators attract new customers and engage with the wider community while encouraging the public to stay safe. This year, RLSS UK is providing a Dress Your Pool pack, comprising a range of resources operators can use to host fundraising activities and promote drowning prevention education throughout their centres. In addition to free resources such as water safety lesson plans, activity day plans, access to primary school

resources, posters, leaflets and bunting, this year’s campaign will also feature sponsored Towathon events. The events will encourage swimmers to get sponsored to tow a friend while completing as many lengths as possible. 80 Towathon events are set take place throughout the UK and Laerdal will award free defibrillators to the top three fundraising Towathons. RLSS UK’s deputy director for education Mike Dunn said: “This year’s Drowning Prevention Week promises to be the biggest yet, and by getting involved operators can help to teach people how to stay safe near water whilst driving new audiences to their facilities. It’s a win-win situation.”

BODYPOWER REVIEW

Plans for BodyPower 2017 include a new trade hall and a BodyPower Active hall for sports like cycling, triathlon and athletics.

Record visitor numbers over three action packed days at eighth BodyPower Expo ORGANISERS are celebrating the success of the eighth BodyPower Expo, which saw record numbers of visitors over three action packed days. The likes of Paige Hathaway, Michelle Lewin, Phil Heath, Kai Greene, Steve Cook and legendary eight times Mr Olympia Ronnie Coleman all topped the bill this year, with hundreds of leading brands in tow. The show attracted a record 91,124 people through the doors of Birmingham’s NEC, and plans are already in place for BodyPower 2017 to include a new trade hall and a BodyPower Active hall for sports like cycling, triathlon and athletics. Founder and CEO of BodyPower Nick Orton said: “Yet again I never cease to be amazed by the buzz of positivity around the venue, it’s an amazing atmosphere. “This is the biggest consumer fitness expo on the industry calendar;

we have a following of thousands who attend every year. But we also welcomed new visitors to the NEC across the weekend, and we hope they’ll be back for another actionpacked expo next time around.” In addition to the interactive theatres which held live workouts, demonstrations, talks and Q&A sessions with the stars of the fitness world, BodyPower Expo also welcomed over 450 exhibitors and brands to the event – many of whom brought along their sponsored athletes. From fitness apparel brands to nutritional supplements suppliers, much of the floor space was covered with businesses offering free samples, running demonstrations and holding have-a-go competitions for visitors to get involved in. Co-founder and director Ollie Upton added: “The event is just growing year after year, but it’s not

Idass interlocking matting used at The Athlete Centre THIS year BodyPower continued to have a massive turnout of fitness enthusiasts taking part in a mix of activities and lapping up the sessions put on by the BodyPower team. The CrossFit arena was over 400 sqm of competition space floored with solid rubber interlocking mats. The Athlete Centre – www.theathletecentre.com – organised the event and were so happy to use interlocking mats. Spokesman James Shields said: “The Idass matting was so easy to fit, it went down like a dream. It looks perfect, ideal for the competition.” British Power-Lifting had some records being set and again used the rubber mats for the competition and warm up areas. Loads of chalk was in evidence as some heavy lifts were attempted. It was not just competitions that saw action, there were numerous educational sessions and in the Workout area, the stage was set up for demonstrations. Again Idass provided the flooring for this area.

If you would like some CrossFit or functional flooring for your gym then Idass hold stock in the UK for immediate delivery. Having been in the industry for over 25 years, Idass know the challenges of gym operators and aim to help. Details on the interlocking mats can be found at www.idass.com or email info@idass.com with a floor plan for a free quote.

just about the event. Our brand is growing extremely quickly and, after all, the fitness industry is one of the fastest growing markets in the world. “BodyPower is the brand for anyone interested in fitness, nutrition and sport.

“We can’t wait for a strong end to 2016 with our bodypower.com platform and other projects in the pipeline and then, of course, to bring this great event back in 2017 with an even bigger floor plan and an even better line-up.”

Cambridge graduate Tom invents ‘weight loss donut’ A CAMBRIDGE graduate has created a new low calorie, high protein donut, which offers all the taste of a regular donut but with a precise list of natural ingredients and smart cooking process. After a brief stint in investment banking, Jim Buddy creator Tom Neal left to become a physique coach and personal trainer at an exclusive studio in Canary Wharf. His fitness modelling work led him to experiment with cooking with different ingredients in 2015. The goal: to re-create some of his favourite foods with much better nutrition – cutting out calories, sugars and unhealthy fats to make a “cheat” food that was actually as clean as can be. The donuts come in five flavours; vanilla bean, chocolate orange, peanut butter, banana cinnamon and pumpkin pie and each donut contains 97 calories and 10g of protein. Tom launched Jim Buddy to the public at Bodypower Expo and the donuts are now available for mail

Tom Neal order across the UK. For more information visit www.jimbuddy.co.uk

UK FITNESS SCENE

Company puts Ireland on map as health and wellness destination SPABREAKS.COM is set to add 25 new spa partners to its growing portfolio of Irish spas after experiencing a massive increase in demand for bookings. Receiving over 300 enquiries every week for their 44 Irish spas, the company is now working to position Ireland as a leading spa destination. Co-founder and managing director of Spabreaks.com Abi Wright said: “The increased interest we are seeing in our Irish spas from both domestic

and international travellers is hugely encouraging and has allowed us to expand our portfolio within the market. “Our goal is to further educate the UK and Irish market about the hidden spa gems available in Ireland, continuing to position Ireland as a leading wellness tourism destination and through the implementation of our online booking offering, helping Irish spas to develop and grow their business through us.”

Event attracts record numbers THIS year’s Natural and Organic Products Europe welcomed a record 10,226 attendees from 86 countries through its doors, figures have revealed. Thanks to a 10 per cent increase in attendees for 2016, the 20th anniversary edition played host to the biggest trade showcase and celebration of the natural and organic industry the UK has seen. Event director Carol Dunning said: “The aisles were packed with

thousands of knowledge-aware retailers and buyers ready to do business, and many of our exhibitors have had their best show ever. “Consumers are showing increasing awareness of the benefits of following a natural and healthy lifestyle, and this sector is constantly innovating and evolving to meet that demand. “These are very exciting times for natural and organic and I cannot wait until next year’s show already.”

Nathaniel Leney, divisional sports and community development manager – Charnwood, Mark Munday, divisional business manager – Haringey and Tim Mills, director of business development.

£4m Haringey centre named best new facility at Sporta Awards FUSION Lifestyle’s New River Sports and Fitness facility in Haringey is celebrating after being named best new facility at the Sporta Awards in Bournemouth. The award recognises the charity’s redevelopment of local facilities, which includes investing £4m into the centre – previously known as the White Hart Lane Community Sports Centre – which just two years ago was under threat of closure. Commercial and operations director at Fusion Lifestyle Penny Arnold said:

A ladies only gym manager has been recognised with a local business award. Michelle Goodyear from Curves Eastleigh was voted most inspirational woman of the year at the Southampton Venus Awards 2016. She said: “To say I was proud is an understatement. I live and breathe the job I do, and I feel so lucky to be a real inspiration to others. Curves has changed my life – this isn’t just my story, this is my dream.”

BMF launches new qualification BRITISH Military Fitness has launched a Level Four qualification in Strength and Conditioning. The qualification has been written by BMF Academy tutors, Mark Wood and Andy Kay, and is aimed at fitness professionals who want to advance their career in the industry. Open to qualified professionals with a Level Three Diploma in Personal Training who want to take their career to the next level, the course covers areas including Olympic lifting, speed, agility and quickness, plyometrics and more. The award will be available at the BMF Academy, which has locations

in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh and is four months long, with practical sessions taking place over four weekends Operations director at British Military Fitness, Garry Kerr, said: “We’re always looking at new ways to upskill our own staff at British Military Fitness, and this new qualification will offer not just our own instructors but other personal trainers and sport coaches in the sector the chance to take their training to another level, including the ability to train athletes and those looking to improve their sports performance.”

“It is fantastic that this project has received the recognition it deserves. “This year alone, we expect to increase participation levels three fold, allowing community members to enjoy a huge range of facilities for all ages, abilities and at a price they can afford to pay. “Our goal in Haringey has been to provide local residents with a sustainable, diverse facility they can be proud of. “This award is recognition that we have achieved this.”

Gym provides kids a safe haven from gangs and crime By Olivia Taylor

A GYM in Bedfordshire is providing local kids with a safe haven alternative from gangs and organised crime. Owners Dorian Alexis and Sam Nutt work with young people at Samsons Gym; offering them boxing classes, Muay Thai classes and strength and conditioning sessions. Dorian said: “There’s been a few murders in the area between the Afro Caribbean and Asian kids and here at the gym we wanted to do something about it. “We went to local schools and now the local authorities and council will refer kids to us. We wanted to do something for the kids in the area.” Discipline is at the forefront of the help that Dorian and Sam provide and as well as boxing and other combat sports, yoga is also offered to youngsters who come through the gym doors.

Dorian added: “We have quite a wide variety of different people coming here to train, when you work with these different kids you do form a bond with them.” Sam and Dorian are doing their best to get people through the doors and training in the gym, with open days to showcase the community work they’re doing. In the future, the pair would like to provide young offenders with a new path and the opportunity to change their life. “Working with young offenders and putting them through their level one personal training course and other access courses to get them into university would be fantastic. If we could get even one child into university then it would all be worth it. “We have one kid who’s a semiprofessional boxer and he comes in to help us in the summer when he’s not at university.”

UK FITNESS SCENE

The visuals of the £5m facility are part of a new public exhibition at Newcastle Civic Centre.

Pool and Turkish Baths’ new look revealed FUSION Lifestyle, the charity behind the redevelopment of Newcastle City Pool and Turkish Baths, has officially unveiled how the proposed £5m development will look once complete. The visuals are part of a new public exhibition in the customer service area of Newcastle Civic Centre, which

includes information on the plans and the CGIs of the proposed development. The public are encouraged to give their feedback via forms at the exhibition and online. Chief executive of Fusion Lifestyle, Peter Kay, said: “We’re delighted to launch the start of our public consultation process. “We’re pleased with the plans

for the development and these new CGIs show how we’ve worked with the structure of this iconic building to create something the public will be proud of. Interest in the site and public support for our involvement has been wonderful and we look forward to hearing feedback from the public on our exciting plans.”

Group fitness providers unite to get nation’s inactive exercising By Olivia Taylor GROUP fitness providers are set to unite to achieve one common goal, getting the nation’s inactive engaged in exercise. Training providers, group fitness brands and other industry decision makers will come together at a national Summit held by FitGroup UK and the Exercise, Movement and Dance Partnership (EMDP). EMDP and FitGroupUK – a body of key stakeholders involved in the group exercise industry – launched the summit to realise the full potential of the group fitness sector, and discuss key challenges for those working in the industry. CEO of Exercise Movement and Dance Partnership, Ross

Perriam, said: “This whole idea is about organisation A and organisation B who are competitors coming together with the rest of the industry to see how we can do something good and get the nation more active.” To accommodate as many delegates as possible, the event will take place at two locations, The Studio in Manchester on June 14 and Sport England’s central London offices on June 17, with attendees concentrating on driving participation numbers and strategies to engage inactive parts of the UK population with group fitness.   An online platform is available for people who can’t attend the summit and both organisations

are urging as many people as possible to come forward and share their ideas. Ross added: “The online platform is giving people that have ideas a chance to speak, not just the decision makers, but the gym instructors as well. “We’re bringing these people together and asking them the question of what can we do to engage 47m inactive adults? “FitGroupUK’s Summit promises to identify a number of significant topics affecting the sector and we urge colleagues from the industry to sign up and pledge their support of this landmark event so we get more inactive people engaged and embracing the benefits of group fitness.”

Sport England’s new strategy revealed KEY industry figures heard first hand about Sport England’s new strategy during property director Charles Johnson’s keynote speech at the third active-net, which took place in Loughborough. During the talk, he explained how the strategy will focus on broadening the impact and benefit of physical activity to deliver against five key outcomes: physical health, mental wellbeing, individual development, social/community development and economic development, with the overall aim of getting more people from every background regularly and meaningfully taking part in sport and physical activity. Charles said: “At the same time, we need to deliver a more productive, sustainable and responsible sport sector. The

sector really needs to focus on the customer and where they are in their journey of exercise.” Referring to the five stages of the behavioural change model, which shows the process people go through when attempting to change their behaviour – precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action and maintenance – he explained how the new strategy meant a greater focus on the pre and contemplation stages than in the past. He added: “These are the hard to reach groups but if we can get to them, we can show the Department of Health how we are saving them money by keeping these groups healthy, which opens doors to funding.” Charles also praised the success of existing facilities funded by Sport England, and

said the big message now is about co-location – creating community hubs that comprise health and fitness facilities with a range of local services such as GPs, police stations and libraries to attract people who would not usually visit a leisure centre. “The new strategy won’t have all the solutions, but it will have the direction of travel. This year is one of transition; we are looking at where we want to be in 2020 and then we can set medium to long term goals to get us there. “In the end, the evidence is our calling card. We need to show we can deliver against mutual objectives and demonstrate we are the better solution than, say, gastric bands. We all need to work collaboratively, but it’s difficult. We need much stronger evidence.”

SUPPLEMENTATION AND NUTRITION

Veganism up 350 per cent THERE are now over half a million vegans in Britain, new research has found, making veganism one of the country’s fastest growing lifestyle movements. According to research commissioned by The Vegan Society in partnership with Vegan Life magazine, at least 542,000 people in Britain are now following a vegan diet and never consume any animal products including meat, fish, milk, cheese, eggs and honey. This is an increase of over 350 per cent since the last estimate of 150,000 10 years ago, making veganism one

of Britain’s fastest growing lifestyle movements. The study, carried out by leading researchers Ipsos MORI, surveyed almost 10,000 people aged 15 or over across England, Scotland and Wales – the biggest ever poll quantifying the vegan community. Vegan Life magazine publishing director Keith Coomber said: “The public perception of veganism is changing fast. “It’s no longer an extreme lifestyle, it’s easy and accessible – walk into any supermarket and you’re greeted by a huge range of dairy-free milks and other vegan-friendly products.”

GSN’s high protein ostrich steak, spinach and melted Mozzarella sandwich Ingredients: n One GSN Ostrich steak. n Half a mozzarella ball (low fat optional). n One handful spinach. n Two tsps English mustard. n Two slices Dr Zaks high protein bread.

Method: Who doesn’t love a steak and cheese melted sandwich? This is high in protein with a little bit of heat. You can toast the bread for extra texture and to help the cheese melt but this is optional. Spread a tsp of English mustard on your bottom slice of bread. Place a

handful of spinach on top. Your Gold Standard Nutrition Ostrich steak does not take long to cook. Cook the steak in a frying pan in coconut oil. Keep on a medium low heat and sear each side. Whilst your steak is cooking, carefully slice your mozzarella ball. When the steak is ready, place it on top of the spinach and put the mozzarella on top of the steak. If you want it melted a little more, pop the open sandwich under the grill for a few minutes. When ready, place your top slice on the top of the sandwich and enjoy. For more information visit www.mygsn.co.uk

Company launches first vitamin and protein bar with nine multivitamins A REVOLUTIONARY protein bar, which is the first in the world to contain nine recommended multivitamins has been created by an Irish company. Fulfil, a protein bar that includes 100 per cent of an adult’s recommended daily allowance of nine vitamins, was created by a group of Irish entrepreneurs with the help of former Irish Olympian David Gillick. The vitamin and protein bar is the brainchild of Niall McGrath and Tom Gannon who have been working on the product for nearly two years. Niall described FulFil’s target market as health-conscious, on-thego consumers looking for tasty but low sugar, low calorie snacks with the benefit of 20g of protein and a full multi-vitamin. He said: “It is the ultimate convenient and tasty treat, without any of the residual guilt from a chocolate bar.” His ambition has been echoed by the new company’s chief product developer and former Irish Olympic sprinter David Gillick. He added: “We wanted to redefine healthy snacking in Europe by

MaxiNutrition has unveiled a new marketing campaign, the Ibiza Challenge, to help the public shape up for summer. The 30-day body transformation competition will be rewarding two lucky winners and two of their friends with an all-expenses paid trip to Ibiza. Running for three months, the campaign is set to help retailers capitalise on the peak summer period by creating engagement with consumers and driving sales of its sports nutrition products. MaxiNutrition will support all entrants with complimentary workouts devised by expert personal trainer Dan Lambert, as well as tailored nutrition plans by nutritionist Gareth Nicholas. To enter, consumers must upload a before and after photo of themselves on day one and 30.

Sweets turned into healthy treat launching a range of great tasting ‘Snacks with Benefits.’” Fulfil is available in four varieties; Peanut and Caramel, Coconut and Chocolate, Strawberry and Vanilla and Cookies and Cream. For more information email Info@bodyshocker.co.uk call 0121 709 0433 or visit Bodyshocker.co.uk

TWO classic sweets have been reinvented as healthy high protein treats after being given a 21st century makeover by online retailer MuscleFood.com Each of the pear drops and rhubarb and custard sweets are packed with protein and are fat and sugar free, with less than half the calories of a regular sweet. Each bag contains the same amount of protein as two slices of multi-grain bread, half a cup of kidney beans or a handful of raw pistachios.

Darren Beale from Musclefood.com said: “Just because you’re into fitness, you’re training for an event or you’re just watching what you eat, doesn’t mean you can’t have the odd treat every now and again. “We developed these sweets after our customers said one of the things they really missed was sweets and especially the retro classics they grew up with. They’re never going to be as nutritionally perfect as something like a chicken breast but as an every now and again treat they’re ideal.”

UK FITNESS SCENE Advertiser’s announcement

Getting your gym layout right is key to meeting the needs of your different customers, says Rory McGown, founder of GYMetrix. Here are the most common pitfalls to avoid.

Gym set-up – six faux pas 1. Relying on suppliers to determine your layout There is an assumption among health and fitness operators that equipment suppliers have an innate knowledge of exactly what kit, and in what quantities, facilities require. Having measured customer satisfaction and usage of equipment in gyms in the UK, Europe and the US, I can tell you that they don’t, and there is a tendency to fill spaces with more expensive cardio equipment than is needed, and undersupplying stretching mat areas. Using Equipment Heatmaps we have been able to see what works and what doesn’t, and how and where to position equipment to please all customer groups and to ensure you don’t alienate users. 2. Functional rigs taking central stage If you want to increase usage of your functional rig, don’t place it in the middle of the gym floor. The majority of members are still learning how to use functional equipment and are not confident about working out with it. The last thing they want to do is perform in front of the rest of the club and, in their mind, risk looking foolish while other members are watching them. Gyms that position their functional rigs around the edge of the gym appear to have a better adoption of the kit. People like to be entertained in gyms; they don’t like to be the entertainment. 3. Crowding out females There is growing demand for free weights among both male and female users. Most of the gyms that I come

across fail to dedicate enough space to free weights resulting in maledominated environments where female users feel uncomfortable. Solve the problem by creating one main area with a full selection of weights for the big guys who want to do some heavy lifting. Supplement this with a series of smaller spaces around the gym housing light and medium weights. Ensure the medium free weights area offers dumbbells up to at least 18kg (not just up to 10kgs) and has a good number of benches. In the lighter free weight spaces, limit the number of weights plates in items like squat racks to prevent the big boys from migrating to the lighter weight areas and crowding out females. 4. Inadequate mat space Our studies reveal that mat areas

for stretching are consistently too small (perhaps because there is little money to be made selling mats). Operators absolutely need to provide more matted areas for stretching and general exercise. Customers want to perform their exercises on large, soft mats – our surveys show that the thin ones are very unpopular. And please don’t locate them next to the entrance, walk ways or the maledominated areas of the club. Female customers don’t want to feel that they are being looked at while they are stretching. 5. Lines of sight Be aware of the lines of sight in the club and who has a view of who. We know that women don’t have a problem sharing gym spaces with men, but they do have a problem being looked at when they are

working out. The person with the view is the person with the power, so give women a view over the men and not the other way around. Give some thought to where you place each item of kit. For example, abductor and adductors don’t need to face the free weights area, but it’s amazing how often they do. Power Plates are extremely sensitive to their location. Predominately used by women, the more discrete their location, the higher their usage. Ensure women can use Powerplates with their back facing the wall so they have a view of the room in front of them. They are much less likely to use the kit if they have to face wall giving the rest of the gym a view of their vibrating derriere. Designing a female-friendly environment will give women a view of the equipment most used by men, while the reverse is true with a more male-friendly gym design and layout. Choose what’s best for your users. 6. Mirrors In the majority of cases our surveys are picking up requests for more mirrors, however there are also many customers who dislike mirrors, there is no one size fits all here. Certainly in free weights areas there is a demand for more mirrors but also in stretching areas. However we do not recommend covering the gym in mirrors, also cater to the customers that do not like them, by having certain areas without mirrors so the customers that do not like to see themselves working out can use these areas. www.gymetrix.co.uk

PRODUCT AND INDUSTRY NEWS

ServiceSport strengthen Northern Irish presence Firms team up to create digital fitness solution CONNECTED Fitness Labs and Wexer Virtual have teamed up to create a digital fitness solution which can be white labelled by gym chains anywhere in the world. The two companies have combined Connected Fitness Labs’ intelligent health and fitness app and Wexer Virtual’s platform and exercise content from top brands to create a product which can develop personalised workouts, set goals and provide access to a library of hundreds of exercises, video demonstrations and group exercise classes. It will also track members’ progress and provide feedback on their fitness. From an operator’s perspective, the app will provide data on

member behaviour to help clubs improve the overall gym experience and drive retention. Additionally, the solution will soon have an online booking system and allow clubs to create in-club challenges and engaging digital leader boards. CEO of Wexer Virtual Paul Bowman said: “We work with the majority of the biggest club groups worldwide and they are more or less all looking to expand their digital ecosystems to meet an increased consumer demand for mobility, flexibility and support. “It was clear to me, when I understood how strong Connected Fitness Labs’ app is, that we, by combining our technologies, can meet that need in our industry.”

SERVICESPORT have extended their relationship with Belfast-based health and fitness club, Gym Co, after securing a maintenance and servicing contract with the gym. After supplying Gym Co with fitness equipment back in 2014, ServiceSport will now carry out the servicing of the club’s equipment, under their ‘allinclusive’ package. Regular servicing is proven to reduce the number of breakdowns and increase the longevity of equipment. During a service, engineers follow a checklist for each item of equipment and look for any potential faults or wear and tear. On ServiceSport’s all-inclusive package, customers pay a monthly charge to have all equipment serviced and maintained, allowing them to forecast equipment running costs in advance with no unexpected costs. Gym Co is a state of the art gym and spa based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. In 2014, 89 pieces of remanufactured and brand new equipment were installed at the site

to provide high quality facilities for Gym Co members. ServiceSport supplied the gym with a range of cardiovascular and resistance equipment, as well as various free weights, benches and a functional training rig, the largest in Belfast. All equipment was finished in the black and pink Gym Co branding and included a comprehensive two year parts and labour warranty. ServiceSport managing director Colin Marriott, said: “The extension of our relationship with Gym Co is great news and highlights the quality of the work we do. “Our service packages offer affordable quality and are known to dramatically increase the life-span of fitness equipment. We’re happy to have strengthened our presence in Northern Ireland and look forward to doing more work in that region.” If you’d like to know more about ServiceSport’s competitively priced servicing and maintenance packages, go to www.servicesport.co.uk or call 08453 884 66

Total signs distribution deal TOTAL Gym Commercial has signed an exclusive distribution deal with Ethics Leisure for the UK and Ireland commercial markets. Ethics Leisure will be responsible for growing sales and providing quality service for the Total Gym Commercial product range of incline bodyweight training equipment including; the award-winning Total Gym GTS and Total Gym PowerTower and the Total Gym Elevate Circuit. Director of Ethics Leisure Andy Gill

said: “We’re delighted to be working with Total Gym to service the commercial markets as the exclusive distributor for UK and Ireland. “With Total Gym pioneering incline bodyweight training 42 years ago and functional training here to stay, Total Gym provides an unrivaled offering to supporting these types of exercises. “We’re excited for the growth of Total Gym and look forward to being an integral part of that growth in the UK and Ireland.”

Popular facility for sale HILTON Smythe introduce to the market Future Fitness Ltd, Leek, Staffordshire (leasehold) Known for being a premier gymnasium and health centre in the area, this state of the art centre is equipped with Cybex equipment and offers a host of facilities including a cardio area, resistance area, Flabelos vibrating training, free weights area, sauna, a popular large dance studio offering a range of classes and exclusive ladies only area. Future Fitness is laid out over two floors in this charming building, offering a relaxed, stylish environment. The business opens seven days

a week to ladies and gentlemen of all ages and at all fitness levels, guided by a team of qualified and experienced staff. This flourishing business currently boasts a client base of between 550 to 600 members. Contact Hilton Smythe on 0845 519 8809.

Investment leads to membership growth for Horizon Leisure sites HORIZON Leisure Centres, based in Hampshire, are benefiting from continued membership growth and award wins following an investment in premium performance Life Fitness equipment. Its Havant Leisure Centre, which opened in 2014, was a shortlisted for the Leisure Trust Gym of the Year in the 2015 National Fitness Awards and its Waterlooville Leisure Centre was named Gym of the Year in 2016 in a local competition less than 12 months after opening. Chief executive at Horizon Leisure Centres Howard Broad attributes much of the success to the addition of innovative Life Fitness equipment. He said: “Equipping a new gym with state-of-the-art equipment on trend with the industry today makes a massive difference. Members are impressed with the variety available as well as the aesthetics. We’ve seen

our member base double across the two sites since installing the Life Fitness range.” The comprehensive selection of equipment includes Integrity Series Treadmills, Integrity Series PowerMill Climbers, Circuit Series Strength Equipment and the highly popular SYNRGY360, which incorporates eight popular fitness trends including group personal training, bootcamp training, exercise and weight loss, functional training and sport specific training. Howard added: “Crucial for our gyms’ success is the engaging training sessions. SYNRGY360 is one of the most-used pieces and we run three classes a day incorporating the frames; it’s a great way to combine fitness and strength work using multiple stations.” To find out more visit www.lifefitness.co.uk

PRODUCT NEWS

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Are classes and group exercise a major draw at your gym? DOES your gym solely specialise in classes or are you a traditional gym where group exercise is one of your biggest draws? If so, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d love to hear from you for our dedicated feature coming up next issue. Within the feature pages, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be profiling the hottest new workouts to hit the industry, revealing why group exercise is consistently popular with members up and down the country, as well as speaking to experts in this area who will be sharing the secrets to group exercise success. There will also be the opportunity for fitness brands and suppliers to promote their latest products and

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services in this area, with advertising space available. Also coming up next month, watch out for features on membership marketing and branding and cleaning and hygiene, so if you have a story on any of those topics or are interested in advertising within the features, get in touch. For editorial enquiries email ce@ scriptmedia.co.uk or for advertising dl@scriptmedia.co.uk You can also keep up to date with all the latest news at www.workout-uk. co.uk or share your views with our team via social media by visiting the Workout Magazine Facebook page or following us on Twitter @WorkOutUK.

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