May 2015
The UK’s No 1 fitness industry magazine
Venue and date for NFAs are revealed
Enthusiasm and a desire to help are key, survey finds By Christina Eccles A GENUINE enthusiasm for keeping fit and a desire to help people are among the biggest reasons why employees love working in fitness – a survey has revealed – with half of respondents switching from another sector to turn that passion into their profession. The Working in Fitness Survey – conducted by SkillsActive and the Exercise, Movement and Dance Partnership – surveyed the 35,000 members of the Register of Exercise Professionals about their careers. And results showed 70 per cent of fitness professionals want to work in the industry because they have a passion for fitness. Head of membership at REPs Greg Small said: “It’s great to see that people are coming into the industry because they genuinely love what they do and want to help other people, showing that the fitness industry continues to be a rewarding and appealing sector to work in.” The survey also discovered 44 per cent of respondents said they came into the sector because they wanted to be a help to other people – and it’s the opportunity to really make a difference to people’s health and wellbeing they love the most.
Greg added: “The fact that 40 per cent of respondents have been working in the sector for more than 10 years and have no plans to leave in the next five is testament that fitness professionals truly are a happy workforce.” The survey’s findings were also echoed by Workout’s followers on social media, who revealed their own reasons for working in fitness. The team at Northern Irish strength, fitness and conditioning gym, Rockpit Fitness, explained that the main reasons why they love their jobs are because of the people they meet and the joy of seeing a satisfied customer achieve their goal, while personal trainer Elaine Froggett added that she loves educating women about the benefits of lifting weights. Yorkshire-based personal trainer Adam Copley also joined the conversation; adding that he loves working in fitness because of the “variety of the people involved and the reward of seeing people genuinely proud of any achievement.” Why do you love working in fitness and what are the best parts of your job? Send your comments to ce@scriptmedia.co.uk or contact us on Facebook or Twitter. We’ll print the best responses next issue.
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Olympic champion Nicola Adams has got behind Sheffield’s Olympic Legacy Park – a multi-million pound project to inspire people to improve their health. The park will house a range of world-class sports and exercise facilities and is a joint venture between Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Sheffield City Council. Nicola, who trains with the GB Boxing squad at EIS Sheffield, said: “I think it’s a fantastic project. It can only help inspire more people to improve their health and become involved in sport and physical activity which is what the legacy of London 2012 is all about.”
THE 2015 National Fitness Awards will take place on Friday December 4, returning to the glittering Athena in Leicester, Workout can reveal. The awards, organised by Script Events in partnership with Workout, are now in their sixth year and already entries are flooding in, with initial interest higher than ever before. So far, we’ve received entries from as far afield as Aberdeen and the Isle of Man, with new nominations regularly dropping in and many enquiries from clubs all over the country wanting to find out more. Workout editor Christina Eccles said: “We’re really pleased with the response we’ve seen to this year’s NFAs so far and are looking forward to receiving many more entries over the coming months. “It’s also been great to find out how some of our past winners have benefited since picking up trophies, more of which you can read about in this issue.” For more details and a first look at our judging panel, turn to page three.
68-page BodyPower issue