Workout November 2019

November 2019

The UK’s No 1 fitness industry magazine

No 314 £3

Tickets selling fast for annual fitness awards TICKETS are selling fast for the fitness industry’s biggest end of year celebration.

Finalists in this year’s National Fitness Awards sponsored by ServiceSport are now just weeks away from finding who will be taking home trophies at the 2019 event.

It also represents the end of our initial judges’ journeys across the country, visiting venues from Aberdeen in the North to Cornwall in the South, racking up thousands in miles and pages of reports in the process.

Those reports are now with our final judging panel, who have the difficult task of picking from the best the UK has to offer.

This year the awards are making a triumphant return to Leicester’s Athena venue and they will have the theme of Winter Wonderland.

Tickets are currently on sale for the event and include welcoming drinks, a three course meal, Winter-themed entertainment on the night and the glitzy awards ceremony itself.

The evening ends with a party and a midnight breakfast for anyone who works up an appetite on the dance floor.

Script Events runs the NFAs in partnership with Workout magazine.

National events co-ordinator

Katie Walters had the chance to take a look at the Athena ahead of the big evening.

She said: “We are so excited to welcome everyone to the Athena and share in what is sure to be a night to remember. But don’t delay in getting your tickets: they are on a first come, first serve basis, but the good news is you can purchase as many as you want.

“The Athena is actually an old picture house, so it is quite a grand place anyway.

“But for the awards ceremony itself it is decked out in all the finery you would expect, and it should be particularly fun this year as they bring a Winter Wonderland to Leicester.”

The event is black tie and encourages attendees to turn up looking their most glam, as they potentially could be taking to the stage to collect a national award.

This year’s event is hosted by the UK’s number one celebrity fitness couple, Jenny Pacey and Wayne Gordon.

Group table bookings of ten can also be made. The National Fitness Awards take place on November 29 starting at 6.30pm with the welcome drinks.

For more information and to book tickets, visit www. nationalfitnessawards.co.uk or call Katie on 01226 734630.

Olympic gold medal winning athlete Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill (pictured) was one of three speakers who took part in ukactive’s National Summit in Westminster recently. The London 2012 gold medallist and founder of Jennis Fitness was joined at the Queen Elizabeth Centre II by Sport England CEO Tim Hollingsworth and Kate Hardcastle MBE – better known as The Customer Whisperer. They addressed more than 600 decision makers and influencers from across public health, sport, leisure, construction and infrastructure. This year’s National Summit addressed how physical activity impacts and is impacted by how we live, where we live and how we work.

Franchise to open in Scotland GLOBAL fitness franchise F45 will open its first studio in Scotland next month.

The concept is backed by Hollywood A-lister Mark Wahlberg, who has invested in the Australian franchise, and England rugby international James Haskell who has opened a F45 training studio in Bath.

F45 Glasgow will open its doors in the city centre’s West Campbell Street in early November.

It offers unique team-based, highintensity interval training classes which each provide 45-minute workouts. Eight personal trainers are being hired for the new venture, with additional cleaning staff to be employed once doors have opened to the public.

F45 has been brought to Glasgow by Scottish multi-franchisee businessman Michael Quigley.

Plans are also in place to expand the franchise across Scotland in the coming months. He has secured a loan a £120,000 loan from HSBC UK .

Michael said: “I’m passionate about health and fitness and I have witnessed first-hand how F45 is taking the global fitness world by storm. The brand has grown exponentially in the UK and Europe over the last two years so there was an obvious opportunity to extend this to Scotland.

“HSBC UK has been extremely easy to work with and enthusiastic in supporting our plans to open in Glasgow. I’m delighted to be a part of the F45 family and look forward to opening our doors to the public shortly, and to hopefully start looking at more locations across Scotland in the near future.”

UK FITNESS SCENE

Fitness guru is on a mission to help men lose their ‘dad bods’ A NAVY fitness guru who unwittingly let his weight balloon while caring for his terminally-ill father has written a book to help other men slim down.

Dan Fallon, a former physical training instructor, piled on more than three stone after ‘losing control of his life’.

Now, the 36-year-old Navy veteran has pledged to do his best to help 5,000 men lose their ‘dad bods’ and become ‘dad gods’.

He said: “I really want to help as many people as I possibly can.

Fitness can be huge in turning your life around.”

Dan knows firsthand what it’s like to struggle with fat; his weight soared from 14st of ‘pure muscle’ to 17st 4lb in the space of two years while he travelled from his Eastney home to be with his dying dad, Terry, who had lung cancer.

All the while Dan was trying to juggle his family life with his wife Sharlotte and their baby girl Poppy, and set up his own business after having retired from his 12-year Navy career.

“My life was chaos,” he added. “My dad had cancer and was on his way out, I had just started a new business and had a child.

“I was travelling from one side of the country to the other to be with my dad. My life was out of control.

“I didn’t realise I was overeating.

Before I knew it, I was 20kg heavier.

I was out of shape – mentally and physically.”

Determined to make a change

Dan with his wife Sharlotte and daughter Poppy.

and get back in shape, Dan started walking as much as possible.

It was a remedy that reinvigorated him and inspired Dan to turn his attention to helping others.

Heading online, Dan set up the Super You Online Dads’ Fitness Community on Facebook, a community support page for other dads trying to lose weight.

He devoted hours guiding members on the most practical ways to drop the pounds through friendly fatbusting competitions.

Following the success, Dan created his new book, Start with One Thing: The Dad’s No BS Approach To Fat Loss And Fitness.

The book contains stories of how

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dads have lost weight and tips on how people can change their lifestyles.

Dan added: “Most of the dads I deal with were sporty when they were younger but have just taken their eye off their own health as they look after their family.

“This is just about getting people to realise how easy it is to lose weight by changing one small thing at a time.”

Dan’s book is available on Amazon as a hard copy or on Kindle.

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Operator is shortlisted for awards

PARKWOOD Leisure has been shortlisted for two awards at the upcoming 2019 Energy Awards.

In recognition of the company’s efforts, Parkwood has been nominated in both the ‘Energy Data Collection and Analysis’ and ‘Behavioural Change/Employee Engagement’ categories.

Parkwood’s Energy Performance League Table initiative has been shortlisted for the ‘Energy Data Collection and Analysis’ award, which recognises the importance of monitoring and targeting, metering and measuring energy use.

Parkwood’s Triad Avoidance scheme has also been nominated for the ‘Behavioural Change/ Employee Engagement’ Award for the second year running.

The campaign, which was awarded the 2018 Energy Award for Employee Engagement, aims to reduce the organisation’s peak electricity demand – in-line with the National Grid’s Triad periods throughout the winter – from within the operating leisure centres.

Since winning last year’s award, the initiative has continued to grow with greater participation and awareness levels in new and existing employees.

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Europe’s first UFC GYM opens “We’re so pleased to have opened EUROPE’S first UFC GYM® has the first UFC GYM in the UK as part officially opened its doors in of our development schedule and are Nottingham – offering fitness, health excited to announce more locations and lifestyle enthusiasts of all ages soon,” said Joe Long, UFC Gym UK and abilities – a new and unique way director. to TRAIN DIFFERENT®.

“UFC GYM has options for the The fitness facility with more than whole family to Train Different, and 18,000 sq. ft. of floor space provides UFC GYM Nottingham is rapidly state-of-the-art equipment and becoming the ultimate fitness amenities, and a wide range of group experience destination” exercise and MMA classes with Since debuting in 2009, UFC GYM training and personal coaching. has opened more than 150 locations This marks the first UFC GYM throughout the United States, location to be opened in the UK Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Chile, as part of an exclusive 10-year Mexico, Oman, Philippines, Taiwan, partnership with TD Lifestyle plc, Vietnam, the United Arab Emirates. with plans to open more than 100 Inspired by the training regimes locations throughout the UK and of world-class UFC® athletes, Republic of Ireland in the largest Nottingham’s UFC GYM offers a wide development partnership in UFC FreedomClimber_220_158:Layout 1 27/08/2014 17:44 Page 1 variety of high intensity mixed martial GYM history to date.

arts training programmes available to all ages (from six upwards) and fitness levels, including a UFC GYM Octagon, indoor turf area, free weights, cardio equipment, bag rack and matted area, strength and conditioning equipment and MMA-style youth programming.

The amenities also include fullservice locker rooms which have private change areas, family change and saunas.

UFC GYM Nottingham will also feature unlimited access to popular UFC GYM Ultimate classes such as Boxing Conditioning, Kickboxing Conditioning, DUT (a high-intensity interval training class), TRX®, and more, with all traditional group exercise classes available in a high specification facility, for fitness enthusiasts to move, get fit and live a

healthy life.

To further assist a healthy lifestyle, a UFC GYM Recovery area, providing pre and post-workout treatments and the Armbar restaurant, a fuel replacement food and drink outlet. Recovery services include cryotherapy, compression, and more.

“I’ve been hoping for some time now that we get UFC GYM in the UK,” said Dan Hardy, former UFC welterweight and UFC GYM UK ambassador.

“The facilities I’ve seen around the world are outstanding, and to have the first one in my hometown of Nottingham is amazing.

“I couldn’t be more excited for the city and the people that will benefit from it.”

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UK FITNESS SCENE

Personal training for people living with cancer launched CANCER charity Penny Brohn UK has teamed up with The Bodyworks Project to offer gym based physical activity advice and programmes to people living with cancer.

The new scheme will be based at Penny Brohn UK’s National Centre near Bristol and will include drop-in clinics, one-to-one or paired training sessions and small group classes.

Research shows that being active before, during and after cancer treatment can help reduce fatigue, improve quality of life and reduce the risk of recurrence.

It can also improve confidence and sense of control and reduce anxiety and depression.

The project is being run by personal trainer and co-founder of The Bodyworks Project, Alisa Burke, and is designed to establish a safe and effective physical activity programme that is tailored to the needs of individual at any stage of the cancer care pathway.

She said: “The BodyWorks Project and Penny Brohn UK have created a welcoming inclusive and uplifting boutique gym environment for anyone undergoing cancer treatment where they can be active, get specialist advice and feel part of a supportive community.

“There can be huge mental and physical benefits from exercise. I look forward to bringing all my experience and learnings from working in fitness and wellbeing the last 12 years to my work at Penny Brohn UK.” Marian Naidoo, services director at Penny Brohn UK, added: “We recognise that people affected by cancer need more than medicine to live well and

Alisa Burke, co-founder of The Bodyworks Project.

empower them to have more control over their health and wellbeing.

“Regular physical activity provides a range of physical and mental health benefits and can help manage side effects and even reduce the risks of cancer progressing or retuning.

“We are delighted to be partnering with The Bodyworks Project to provide tailored exercise programmes and support to people with cancer to live well.”

With nearly 40 years’ experience, Penny Brohn UK recognises that people with cancer need more

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than medicine.

Its whole person approach offers personalised care from the point of a cancer diagnosis into treatment and throughout survivorship.

Exploring areas like diet, exercise, emotions, relationships and managing stress, our free courses, one-to-one therapies, and group sessions, work alongside standard medical treatment to achieve the best health and wellbeing by supporting the holistic needs – psychological, emotional, spiritual and physical – of people affected by cancer.

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UK FITNESS SCENE

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Advertiser’s announcement

Fitness Systems kits out Elite LOCATED in the middle of Wigan town centre, Elite Fitness Factory is a stateof-the-art gym that was co-founded by Mike Grundy and Danny Casey.

Having been involved in sport from a young boy at six-years-old, Mike, who is a freestyle wrestler and professional mixed martial artist, always had a dream of wanting to be a gym owner and to be in a position where he can pass on all of his knowledge that he gained from training.

At first, Mike was the owner of an MMA gym were he hosted circuit classes, before he and the other co-founder of Elite Fitness Factory, Danny Casey, decided to revamp the facility a few years ago, buy more gym equipment from us at Fitness Systems and expand the facility into one of the best gyms in Wigan that caters for everyone from beginners to everyday gym-goers, and to competing bodybuilders.

Thanks to our service at Fitness Systems being “very organised and quick”, Elite Fitness Factory decided to work with us for their new gym equipment.

“Fitness Systems always deliver a good service, so when we decided to revamp, they were the only ones for the job,” he said.

Elite Fitness Factory has three 4,500sq. ft floors inside its facility with the ground floor being an all weights gym, the middle floor being a functional training room that has world class personal trainers available, such as a Commonwealth Games representative Sarah Clossick (Grundy), and the

top floor being an MMA gym, which includes a 20ft cage and 20ft boxing ring with 15 different boxing bags, as well as a clear viewing space for the parents to watch their kids train in classes.

After originally using the second floor for a freestyle wrestling club, which was moved into the top floor, Elite Fitness Factory decided to create this into a functional training room for members to make good use out of it and for their classes to be held.

Fitness Systems kitted out this functional training room with all new equipment to give their members the right gym experience. We supplied the facility with a bespoke two-lane sled track, two sleds, multiple assault bikes, a tyre flip, rubber flooring with bespoke lane marking, multiple punch bags, TRX suspension trainers, and much more.

We also supplied the facility with plenty of new machines from our FORCE CEVR range, such as the Standing Calf, plate-loaded Chest Press and plate-loaded Lat Pulldown, for their ground floor.

A few of the classes the gym currently holds are: Kids Strength & Conditioning, F.I.I.T., H.I.I.T. Step, Boxfit, Strongbox, and more. With its classes, Elite Fitness Factory has created a suitable environment that welcomes all ages to the facility including introducing a healthy lifestyle to kids. They support the local community by letting them train at their gym, such as Orrell St James rugby club and Team Kaobon mixed martial arts team. World-class guidance is offered throughout their training.

Members of Elite Fitness Factory also

have access to two retubed sunbed rooms, a physio/massage room, a healthy eating café, a smoothie bar, a spin room, MMA and boxing training facilities, and modern-style clean changing rooms and showers. On-site personal training courses to become a qualified PT are provided at the gym.

After the new revamp, the Wigan gym is now exactly how Mike envisioned, and he has received a lot of great feedback about their facility including how it has created a great family atmosphere, which has resulted in them receiving more enquires about memberships. One certain member had the following to say on social media: “Over the years I’ve been to lots of gyms from big commercial giants to small sawdust on the floor type places but I have to say that Elite Fitness Factory tops them all. It’s a great set up, lots of weights and a variety of cardio machines and bikes and classes from HIIT Step, Spinning and Strongbox to name a few - there is something for everyone!

The challenges that they run are hard but fun, as they should be, and I’ve made some great memories. But what makes EFF so special is the staff and members. Everyone is so friendly and welcoming that you feel like family.

Best gym by far, come down and see for yourself, you won’t regret it.”

Over the next following months, Elite Fitness Factory’s main goal is to reach 500-1000 new members and for them all to have a great experience at the gym. The Wigan facility look at all their members personally and “not just another number.”

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UK FITNESS SCENE

Creating the perfect gym environment THE mention of a gym seems to garner one of two reactions – absolute horror or a ‘let me at it’ attitude.

For this reason, gyms must be everything to everyone, treading a fine line between being welcoming and friendly whilst creating a challenging environment without being overly intimidating (and that’s just the equipment!).

A new breed of gym is pushing the boundaries of the concept, both in the use of space and their approach to fitness. Here are our top tips for creating a motivational and friendly space that also keeps new clientele coming through the door.

Getting the basics right There are some essentials that simply can’t be overlooked. Cleanliness, in both the main gym area and the changing facilities, is an absolute must.

Using materials that are easy to wipe clean will minimise the effort needed and make deep cleaning a simpler task. If you’re refurbishing or part of a new build, think about whether a prefabricated approach to the facilities would offer a more cost-effective and practical solution given the space and budget you have available.

The other key area is the ambience you create.

Lighting is critical in a workout environment and with the vast range of lighting systems available it’s relatively easy to convert harsh, overly-bright warehouse-style lighting into something much more sympathetic to being in workout mode.

Equally important is the quality of your sound setup and any other media you have in place such as TVs or tablets. Wi-fi is a must, even for those working out (treadmill selfie?!), so make sure yours has the bandwidth to cope with the volume of customers you have, especially at peak times.

Keeping things secure Building on the technology and infrastructure side of things, security is an important feature for many gym-goers, especially for those facilities that are

something new, from yoga in a swelteringly hot room to balancing upside down on a rope to build up core strength. Carving out a space within your gym to embrace something new could be part of your USP, whether this is using technology to create an on-demand training space or setting up a physical sand room (yes, it’s a thing!). Some simple refurbishment work could create a whole new vibe for your gym and appeal to new clientele as well as offering something new for your existing members.

open 24-hours and often unmanned for a period of time through the night. It’s important to make sure the capability of your building will support a CCTV set-up that keeps people feeling secure but without being intrusive.

Kerb appeal The external look of a gym makes a real difference to its appeal, particularly for gym novices. The old adage of ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ rings true here, as an old, converted brick building or non-descript industrial unit will, rightly or wrongly, create a different perception to a newly constructed glass and metal development. Any environment can make an amazing gym, but thought should be given to the look and feel, signage and first impressions a visitor will make.

Innovative space Fitness is sector that is always willing to try

Embracing technology Setting the infrastructure of your gym up to allow you to adopt the latest in fitness technology could see you stand apart from the competition. From 3D body scans to smart equipment, the kit is there to be purchased so the key is making sure the environment can properly accommodate this.

Concentrate on the electrical setup and wow your customers with a whole new level of fitness data.

Creating the perfect gym environment doesn’t have to be a case of making do with what you have and just tinkering around the edges. The latest modular innovations mean you can refresh and refurbish discreet areas or whole buildings quickly, safely and at a much lower cost than you’d expect.

Whether you’re starting from scratch with a new build or conversion of a building, or embarking on a refurbishment to modernise an existing environment, you have the luxury of being able to utilise the latest innovations in building space transformation right from the concept phase to create a truly inspirational and motivational space. Pleasing everyone isn’t easy, but by paying attention to the details that matter in the space you create, you can do a pretty good job. n With more than 20 years’ experience of transforming commercial space, Sigma provide a true end-to-end service; from fixtures and consolidation, to construction, projects and M&E. www.sigmagrp.co.uk

UK FITNESS SCENE

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Advertiser’s announcement

Health on the high street: how EMS can help recovery

By Phil Horton THE number of shops lying empty soared by more than 7,500 last year, deepening the crisis facing our high streets.

Research from PricewaterhouseCoopers said that about 16 stores close their doors every day in the UK. This shocking number is seeing the closure of many shops, pubs and restaurants and it is rising at the fastest pace in nearly a decade.

In fact, in the first half of 2019, there was a net decline of 1,234 chain stores on Britain’s top 500 high streets.

The decline is due in part, to a shift in how consumers spend their leisure time. Spare cash is now spent on “experiences” over physical items.

The cost of this culture shift is thousands of jobs and a general decline in the cohesion of the community.

The newly vacant spaces present an opportunity for electro-muscularstimulation (EMS) operators.

20-minute, full-body EMS sessions are perfect for any demographic – young and old, new-to-fitness or elite athlete and they are innovative, accessible and well suited to the sorts of spaces now vacant on the high street.

They align perfectly with today’s experience-driven consumer and could be a real driver to get people back to the high street.

EMS studios are also very space efficient. As little as 100 square feet is all that’s required to run a successful EMS operation.

This allows prospective operators to consider former retail shops or restaurants as possible locations – locations that would not be suitable for traditional fitness providers.

As the high street continues to struggle, I think there is a real opportunity for EMS studios to occupy spaces in desirable city centre locations at favourable prices.

However, I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the challenging planning regulations associated with these spaces.

Current regulations make it easier to open takeaways or betting shops than a fitness studio.

Under England’s National Planning Policy Framework, gyms and leisure centres can only occupy buildings designated under the ‘Class D2’ category.

Many of the vacant spaces available are designated as a ‘Class A1’ category of building. Sadly, this blocks many prospective EMS providers from using these spaces.

This is a sad reality, especially because we know the model works.

To prove it, all we need to do is look at the more than 500 EMS studios in Munich alone to see how the city has embraced this sort of facility on their high street.

Here is a perfect opportunity and yet, we’re constrained by complex administration.

We need an urgent rethink of our outdated town planning laws which are blocking fitness studios from boosting physical activity on our country’s high streets.

Of course, changing the category of a building is a complicated and timeconsuming process.

I support ukactive’s recent call for a radical overhaul of planning regulations. This is a worthy pursuit and one that will inevitably make it easier for fitness businesses like EMS operators to have a positive impact on England’s high streets.

More EMS studios can help get inactive people more active. It can stave off injury or chronic conditions like osteoporosis or sarcopenia.

It can help people lose weight, tone muscle, and reach fitness goals.

Success in this area would also mean an opportunity to capitalise on the strong social benefits of physical activity to bring communities together.

At a time when physical activity rates are shockingly low in major British cities, we could certainly do with more opportunities for fitness on our country’s high streets. n Phil Horton is the country director for the UK at miha bodytec.

University of Brighton receives endorsement for Sports programme THE University of Brighton’s BSc Sport Management programme has been successfully endorsed against the sport and physical activity sector’s professional standards framework by CIMSPA. The professional standards that form part of the endorsed degree programme cover a wide range of skills and knowledge including coaching, working with children in different age groups, safeguarding and working in the school environment.

An endorsement enables and ensures employability for sport and physical activity-related programmes, such as the BSc Sport Management degree, in partnership with the sector’s chartered professional body.

This employability benchmark means that the students on the course will receive an education that enables them to be deployed in one or multiple roles within the industry’s workforce.

Professor Jo Doust, head of the University’s School of Sport and Service Management, said: “We have been very pleased to be a CIMSPA Higher Education Partner for the last two years and are delighted that the BSc Sport Management degree is the

first of our programmes to receive endorsement.

“The course offers students wideranging opportunities to develop personally and professionally.

“Endorsement against the CIMSPA professional standard of general manager confirms that the course meets industry standards and provides graduates with the chance to start their careers in a positive way.”

Helen Hiley, the higher education officer at CIMSPA, added: “Brighton’s degree endorsement represents another step forward for CIMSPA. “This endorsement will allow students to realise their potential by having a clear route into and through our sector.”

CIMSPA is ambitiously seeking new partnerships with higher education institutions in an effort to provide more opportunities for students and graduates.

An expanded, more diverse and more inclusive workforce begins at UK universities.

With this partnership, selected Brighton students will receive an introduction to their sector’s chartered professional body and an increase in engagement that links employers with students.

Marcus appointed new CEO MARCUS Kingwell has been appointed as EMD UK’s new CEO. For the last five years he has held the position of managing director at AoC Sport, a not-for-profit company which represents, promotes and supports further education and sixth form college sport and physical activity. Marcus brings a wealth of experience to the role with more than 20 years’ experience in sport, health and wellbeing, leisure and cultural projects.

He said: “Participation in group exercise increasing and the social and health benefits that it brings are widely recognised.

“By supporting and expanding the workforce of instructors, I want group exercise to be enjoyed by even more people, in particular the harder to reach groups.”

Marcus started his sports development career with Hampshire

County Council in the mid-1990s before moving to sport and leisure consultancy for 12 years, focusing on strategy and facility development.

Other roles include interim CEO for London Sport, interim executive at Welsh Cycling and an associate with The Sport Leisure and Culture Consultancy.

Nigel Wallace, chair of EMD UK’s Board, said: ‘We are delighted that Marcus has joined the EMD UK team at such an important phase in our development.

“He will add impetus and foresight to grow our footprint and influence.

More directly he will build upon the existing platform to make a significant difference in supporting our industry’s instructor base and a positive contribution to the quality of exercise delivery across the sector. He is the right leader at the right time, and we have exciting times ahead.”

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John Treharne with Pip Black and Joan Murphy.

Virgin get active with STA

VIRGIN Active and STA have announced a new partnership which will see the health club chain become the first to roll out the new Pool Lifeguard qualification nationally as part of its commitment to raising professional standards and providing enhanced, and more flexible training opportunities for its workforce.

The partnership will see Virgin Active create its own national training framework, powered by STA, a national governing body and an official awarding organisation partner for CIMSPA. Further, as part of Virgin Active’s aims to consolidate training providers and work with a single awarding organisation for aquatics that is both nationally and internationally recognised, STA’s First Aid and Pool Plant qualifications will also form an integral part of the new partnership

moving forward.

This is all in addition to STA’s Swimming Teaching qualifications, which are already successfully embedded into Virgin Active’s health club network.

Pip Werbinski, people development director at Virgin Active, said: “By creating our own national training framework under the governance of STA’s Approved Training Centre model, we can radically transform how we manage and deliver staff training across our national network.

“Importantly, this will enable us to control, plan and standardise the quality of training our internal tutors deliver, in line with our own staffing and commercial requirements – in addition to opening up opportunities for us to deliver external STA training courses and new local recruitment channels.”

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Frame announces John Treharne as its new chairman PIONEERING fitness brand Frame has appointed John Treharne as its chairman as the company plans to expand outside London for the first time.

A former England squash player, John is a fitness industry specialist who disrupted the industry in the same way as Frame when he launched The Gym Group in 2008, introducing the low-cost gym model with contractless, 24/7 operations and online sign-up.

He started his first gym business, Dragons Health Clubs, in 1991, taking it public before it was sold in 2000.

The Gym Group listed in 2015 and was later named a finalist and Ruban d’Honneur recipient in the 2015/16 European Business awards.

It has more than 170 sites nationwide and was the first listed health club operator in 14 years.

John stepped down as CEO in 2018, but remains on the board as founder director. He also sits on the board of UK Active, with the aim of increasing participation across the sector, linking back to Frame’s vision of ‘Getting more people moving more often’.

Frame was launched by Pip Black and Joan Murphy in 2009 with its own pay-as-you-go model. Its central ethos is that keeping fit and healthy should be fun, positive and never a chore. Backed by consumer brands specialist investor Piper since 2017, Frame currently has six London Jenny Davies, executive assistant at Matrix Fitness, took full advantage of its employee volunteering scheme and spent 14 days in Namibia at the Naankusê Wildlife Sanctuary caring for animals, conducting environmental research, building enclosures, joining wildlife enrichment projects and attending night watches to support the Sanctuary’s anti-poaching values. “My experience at Naankusê was nothing short of incredible, a truly rewarding experience and hugely encouraged by Matrix,” She said. “I can’t wait for my next volunteer project.”

Matrix Fitness is proud to support nonprofit charitable projects as part of its CSR strategy.

studios and offers 30 different class types across fitness, dance, barre, yoga and Pilates.

Its volume of classes (more than 1,400 per week) and accessible price point have enabled the brand to thrive in a competitive market, building loyalty and a particularly strong sense of community among its customers, known as ‘Framers’.

Pip said: “We’re so excited to have John, a fellow disruptor, as our chairman. He shares our passion for making it as easy and fun as possible for people to get and keep active.

“His guidance will be immensely valuable as we continue to grow Frame, while retaining all the elements that make us stand out in this marketplace and create a worldclass experience for our Framers. We are really looking forward to working with him.”

The company will soon open a seventh studio in Angel, with its first two studios outside London, in Brighton and Bristol, planned for 2020.

John added: “I’m delighted to be joining Pip, Joan and their talented team at Frame. They have done a tremendous job in building their brand and gaining such a devoted following among their customers.

“There is so much potential to develop this unique business further and I’m excited to be helping them along the journey.”

UK FITNESS SCENE

FunXtion launch online coaching tool DIGITAL interactive fitness experts FunXtion have introduced a new online coaching tool – an advanced platform with high quality content to help personal trainers work more efficiently and effectively, increasing their contact time with clients.

Content can be tailored and adapted to members, helping them reach their goals and receive coaching that fits in with their busy lifestyles.

Ernst De Neef, FunXtion CEO, said: “In this modern world, where connectivity is king, being able to stay in contact with your members 24/7 and not limit yourself to just the four walls of the gym, is a necessity and no longer an option.

“With this tool, clubs can now deliver a superior service by providing more efficiency at a lower cost.

Clients across all demographics are living busier lifestyles, but are more demanding when it comes to their exercise experience.

“They want professional, personal support that is affordable, resultsfocused and delivered digitally at their fingertips.

“This tool provides an additional revenue stream, added value and is a strong retention tool.”

The platform provides a ‘chat’ option allowing for 24/7 connectivity to all members and a training plan editor so your team can manage, edit and add training plans through an easy-to-use interface, sharing these to either individual members or to groups and a database of nutritional recipes.

Trainers can monitor a client’s

progress through the platform, enhance training plans to ensure progression and identify when members may need a little extra support and intervention to keep them motivated, helping at every stage of the member journey.

Ernst added: “The level of individualised content that the trainer can provide the member with through this online tool provides the member with a more advanced effective customer journey.

“They receive knowledge, advice and content that feels personalised to them and helps them transform their performance.

“We also considered the benefits to the coach in our development of the platform and have ensured an easy and efficient way for them to create training and nutrition plans and schedule them into clients’ calendars.

“Knowing that no one-size fits all in fitness, we have also linked this platform with our FunXtion Workout

Creator tool to provide the trainers with an extensive library of exercise content that they can customise for each client or group programme.”

With the option to be white labeled and branded in company colours, this platform can act as an extra revenue stream for all clubs, budget through to premium, with products included as an up-sell option and overall, the ability for the personal trainers to support members for efficiently acts as an effective retention tool.

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UK FITNESS SCENE

In part three of our four part series on customer retention, Retention Guru, Dr. Paul Bedford explains the impact of visits and interaction on retention…

Visits and how they affect retention ULTIMATELY, if you want to stay in business, people must use your facility, and, as I’ve mentioned previously, you want members to visit a minimum of once per week or four times per month and upwards.

My Retention VIP project focusses on just three areas: visits, interactions and programming. In conversation, the staff’s responsibility is simply to drive visits, because if they don’t attend, it doesn’t matter how welleducated your staff are or how beautiful your club is, it’s irrelevant.

So a lot the of work I do with staff is based around about asking customers when they are in next.

When they are next training, and when they were in last – trying to get them into a routine.

People who follow exercise on a routine behaviour, for instance, same day / same time, adhere to their exercise programme, what we prescribe for them, much more strongly.

Plus they retain their memberships much, much longer.

Vice versa, people who train on an ad hoc basis drop in and out much more quickly.

So we ask people ‘when are you in next?’ ‘are you in over the weekend?’ ‘when are you in next week?’ ‘will I see you tomorrow?’ because we want

Dr. Paul Bedford them to start planning their next visit in their heads, before they’ve even left your facilities.

Even if they’re not writing it in their diary, mentally they are making an appointment to visit.

Group fitness classes are often the first thing that comes to mind when

we talk about a fitness routine.

But I believe some of the reasons people attend classes is because it’s simply the time and the day they can fit in, as opposed to their actual preference for a class.

Yes, people want the social interaction and yes, they want to reduce the cognitive load; they don’t want to think about their exercise, they want someone else to do it for them and lead them through it.

But in addition to this, once they commit to attending at this time, and their family, friends and work colleagues know they’re committed, they’re much more likely to continuing visiting at that same time.

In the work we’ve done with boutiques we’ve seen that people who attend on the same day and same time continue using their clubs far longer than people who come on an ad hoc basis.

With large operators it’s often difficult to know who’s doing group exercise once they’ve passed through access control.

But data from clubs that can access the stats show people in more of a routine stay longer in group exercise than even the people who attend group exercise ad hoc.

But getting them into that routine in the first place is the challenge.

You’ve probably heard me say this before, but it’s so important: when customers visit we must interact with them. If I interact with them just once in February, the chances of them still using the facility in March goes up by 20 per cent.

If I interact with them two to three times, chances increase by 50 per cent.

If I interact with them on four or more occasions, which means they need to visit at least four times, the chances of them still using the facility in March goes up a staggering 80 per cent. The impact just talking to people has on their behaviour is astronomical.

This shouldn’t just be your personal trainers and fitness instructors.

Regardless of your position you should interact with the members.

It can become quite repetitive and you have to find different ways of saying ‘when are you in next?’.

But ‘how was your workout today?’ works well too, as it references their current experience, and if that was good they will recall that and think ‘yeah, I had a great workout today’.

They are also more likely to engage with you on their way out than on their way in when they’re trying to get their workout started, and front of house staff can play a big part in this.

Advertiser’s announcement

25 YEARS

LEISURE DESIGN & BUILD

Createability celebrates 25 years in the industry

w w w. c r e a te a b i l i t y. co . u k

LEISURE design and construction specialist Createability is celebrating 25 years in the industry.

As a young mechanical engineer, managing director Ian Cotgrave, enjoyed a successful career with a construction firm developing leisure facilities. But when the company moved away from the sector, Ian took a £5,000 loan from his father, a second hand car and a 70sq ft office just big enough for his drawing board, and set up Createability.

A quarter of a century later and Createability has moved offices six times to cater for the expanding business.

The team has delivered projects worth more than £100m, ranging from small refurbishments to complete multi-million pound new builds, as well as Grade 2 Listed

projects, such as Newcastle Baths (pictured above).

Ian and his team have revisited several facilities, including Romsey Rapids, Beckenham Spa and Stratton Leisure Centre (now The Grange), redeveloping their offerings to keep pace with modern trends.

He said: “We created the first ever fitness suite at The Grange before revisiting five years ago to expand the gym to cope with growing demand.

“Now the team is back on site to create a bang-on-trend immersive studio and a new dance studio, as well as reconfiguring the reception area, remodelling the bar into a new cafe, which includes an interactive soft play area, refurbishing the changing rooms and creating an events bar from a disused storage space.”

UK FITNESS SCENE

20

Advertiser’s announcement

Odyssey Health Club’s Stevenage site has been home to a club since the 1970s, but the venue you will find there today has been thoughtfully developed to offer the true health club experience. Director Ian Riches tells us how the vision has been brought to life.

Using equipment, technology and digital to revolutionise the member experience instructor input, and the entire member journey.

“By creating specific zones we can host skill classes, talk to clients, engage with more people, and demystify types of exercise, so more members give things a go,” he said.

“ODYSSEY Health Club was launched in the late 90s, and I came on board in 2004 to help consolidate the business to focus on the core elements of a health club,” he said.

“Although we have a gym and group exercise classes, we are not just a gym -– we offer leisure, relaxation, food, and the spa which is a huge part of the business.

“It was important that we offer a true health club experience to differentiate us from other leisure facilities.”

The Odyssey Health Club vision Odyssey has always gone the extra mile to demonstrate its loyalty to a full health club experience.

The food and beverage side of the business includes on-site composting and a cottage garden producing food for the menu and the spa encourages mental wellbeing and relaxation.

The gym space is an important part of Odyssey’s offering, providing customers access to a range of gym equipment and group exercise classes. When the club needed to purchase new equipment, Ian turned to Technogym.

“I’ve had a long established relationship with Technogym from my career in the industry,” he added.

“In 1997, I was one of the first operators to bring digital into the UK with the help of Technogym.

Odyssey has always partnered with Technogym as our equipment supplier of choice.

Choosing equipment that offers something different “Last year we were at the stage where we wanted to do something different in terms of equipment and digital.

We have a great relationship with Technogym, and they helped us look at the latest solutions.”

Ian knew upgrading to new digital

offerings would help the total customer experience at Odyssey.

Once he started to look at the software on offer, he began to rethink the gym’s layout and design. Odyssey soon discovered how new equipment and a change in layout can create more engagement on the gym floor.

Layout and zoning to encourage better engagement “We now have a central area which helps us engage with all members,” said Ian. “We run small group sessions using the Technogym Skillbikes, Skillrun, and Skillrow machines. Uptake of group exercise has increased significantly. Having the equipment in the middle of the gym has brought different people into the group element, because they can see what is going on and feel encouraged to have a go.

“We have also changed the way we deliver our inductions since installing the new kit, showing people what the equipment can do. Technogym Skill Line is very different, so we run

workshops where we can focus on each element of the equipment it features and benefits. Uptake has been great, and feedback shows people really appreciate knowing just how much they can do on the equipment.”

With the help of Technogym, Odyssey has changed the gym layout to improve uptake of gym floor classes, and to increase staff and member engagement.

“By creating small pockets of activity around particular zones of equipment, we increased engagement for different demographics and member goals,” added Ian. “For example, we ran summer Skillbike classes which replicated Tour de France hill climbs. These were led by cyclists, and brought in a whole new group of customers who would usually prefer to exercise outside. We have never had the ability to do this before.”

As Odyssey has discovered, changing the layout of a gym’s space can revolutionise the offering and transform customer engagement,

Future-proofing with support and advice from Technogym This round of investment is the latest in a long relationship between Odyssey Health Club and Technogym.

“We come back to Technogym not just because they develop marketleading equipment, but because of their support and training,” said Ian. “Technogym give expert advice on design, layout, and on how to get the most out of the equipment and digital. They are interested to understand what we need, too.

“We feed them ideas, and they give us great advice. It’s a positive professional relationship with support on both sides.”

The feedback on Odyssey’s recent upgrades show they continue to strengthen the health club brand.

“We have great communication with our members,” added Ian. “We will always question what we do. The quality of our customer experience drives our commercial decisions. Ultimately, we want to be a great health club where people get results, enjoy their visits, and improve their health.

“We combine listening to our members with watching what is developing in the industry. We make sure new purchases are futureproofed so they will still deliver value when we make inevitable changes to our gym and studios.

“We never sit still! And with support from Technogym we know we will always offer the best health club experience.”

Centre makes a big splash for GB swimmer TIPTON Leisure Centre is providing a local GB swimming squad member with valuable pool time as she ramps up her training for Olympic qualification.

The Sandwell Leisure Trust facility has welcomed Alice Dearing, who is one of our top female marathon (10km) swimmers having represented Great Britain at numerous international competitions.

Since winning the World Junior Championship for Marathon swimming in 2016, which announced her on the global stage, she has placed 12th at the European Championships in 2018 and earlier in July she came 17th at the 2019 World Championships in South Korea.

SLT answered a call from Team GB for extra training arrangements at local facilities for some of its elite athletes.

Alice said: “TLC has great facilities and there’s ample pool time for me to be able to get a lane swim and go through the extra metres I need.

“The sessions I’ve been doing there over the summer last for 60 to 90

minutes and I typically get through 4-5km of steady swimming to keep my schedule on course.

“The staff are so friendly and the other swimmers in the pool are always nice too and up for a chat, plus there’s really good etiquette in the lane. It’s a very modern facility as well and extremely clean poolside and in the changing areas.

“It brings back fond memories too, as back in 2014 my club was closed for the summer and I swam at TLC leading into the World Junior Championships.

“I had to get through long sessions in order to stay fit for the competition and I ended up coming fourth in the 7.5km competition, missing out on a

medal by less than a second.

“I also learned to swim at SLT’s Langley Swimming Centre in Oldbury and always enjoyed swimming there.

“We then joined Oldbury Swimming Club who trained there at the time, so I have many great memories of that pool as well.”

Lynne McCowan, manager at Tipton Leisure Centre, added: “Alice is a lovely young lady and a pleasure to have around the centre.

“She’s supremely talented, as well as being very dedicated and focused, so if we can play a small part in her achieving that all-important Olympic qualification time and performance then we’ll be both proud and delighted.”

UK FITNESS SCENE

21

Advertiser’s announcement

Why not join the millions of fitness professionals that trust InBody?

Body composition Body composition analysis has long been used as an effective means to determine how healthy an individual’s body is, but only now is it becoming increasingly accessible to the mainstream health and fitness market.

Powered by an influx of research and expert opinion, today’s gym members are better educated, more aware and have an increasing demand for knowledge.

Consequently, body composition analysis is fast becoming a popular service for facilities to offer.

Where the InBody differs is by offering users a technology solution that overcomes the inaccuracies of traditional BIA methods and provides precise, detailed results sheets that help clients customise training and nutrition plans.

World class technology Eight-point Tactile Electrode System This unique patented method of electrode placement controls contact resistance, an essential component when accurately measuring impedance in the body.

Multiple frequencies Electric currents have differing penetration abilities depending on their frequency.

InBody uses multiple currents to account for this which, in turn, provide the most precise results.

Direct segmental multi-frequency BIA Modern BIA views the human body as five ‘cylinders’: the arms, the legs and the trunk.

InBody’s advanced technology allows all devices to directly measure all five cylinders, providing accurate reports not just for each body segment, but for the entire body.

No empirical estimations Unlike other devices on the market, InBody avoids using empirical data in calculation of body composition, such as data related to age and gender, which often excludes individuals with atypical body types, such as high-performance athletes or severely overweight individuals.

Together, all of these technologies allow InBody devices to provide the easiest, quickest, and most precise BIA body composition analysis in the world.

Global network Today, InBody operates in more than 60 countries throughout the health and fitness, sports and medical markets.

The technology is supported by a team of experts who strive for

increasing detail and accuracy in clinical and technology knowledge and are passionate about helping people around the world.

Following the success of InBody globally, the organisation now has direct operations in the UK, with a complete range of devices available, to suit varying facility requirements and budgets.

InBody 270 – its portable and foldable design perfect for health and fitness professionals on the go InBody 570 - offers more points of measurement to provide users with a detailed understanding of fluid distribution InBody 770 - state-of-the-art device used by health professionals worldwide to support diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation InBody now has devices in over 400 UK gyms including Third Space, Bannatyne’s, Equinox, Anytime Fitness, UFC Gyms, Nuffield Health and Hilton Hotels, as well as health, wellness and elite sport facilities.

Its popularity also continues to grow in the medical market, with devices in use at the University College Hospital London and the Centre for Health and Human Performance.

The InBody has proven itself to be revolutionising the field of body composition analysers and continues to help people all around the world see what they’re made of.

E: uk@inbody.com T: 01530 569620 W: www.inbody.com

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Major refurbishment at Pendle Leisure Centre FOLLOWING record membership levels Pendle Leisure Trust has recently invested in extending the gym at Pendle Leisure Centre in Colne, Lancashire.

The extension has created more room for functional training on the popular Spartan Rig, and created space for a new range of plate loaded and HIIT equipment supplied by Gym Gear.

Luke Allwood, health and fitness manager at Pendle Leisure Trust, said: “We felt that the limited space around our Spartan Rig did not enable us to use it to its full potential.

“Since introducing the Spartan Rig and our functional training classes more than years ago, we have seen

a huge increase in demand for this type of workout. We wanted to create more space for a fully functional area with the help of Gym Gear and their bespoke functional range.

“Adding plate loaded equipment and more HIIT equipment has also had a huge impact on the facility and our members. We can now say we are the complete package as we offer a little bit of everything. “ This is the latest in a series of investments by Pendle Leisure Trust to enhance their leisure centres, and it’s proving to be money well spent with record membership levels across all their sites.

Call 01772 653206 or visit http://www.FitnessWarehouseUK.com

Pedalling to peak fitness A NEW partnership between Bupa Health Clinics and Wattbike will give customers access to the world’s most advanced indoor training bike at more than 30 Bupa sites across the UK. The Wattbikes will be used as part of Bupa’s Peak Health Assessment, designed to identify current health concerns and potential future risks.

It also includes male or female health checks for the early detection of gender-specific cancers, with a doctor consultation of up to 60 minutes.

The Wattbike test will predict a V02 max score, maximum heart rate, Cardiorespiratory Fitness (CRF) score, maximum minute power, functional threshold heart rate and functional threshold power and doesn’t require an uncomfortable mask or mouthpiece.

Sarah Melia, director, Bupa Health Clinics, said: “Health assessments are a way of getting a snapshot of your

health and we are always looking for new ways to take them to the next level.

“Our partnership with Wattbike gives our customers the chance to trial cutting edge technology which will help people take control of their health and lifestyle.”

Wattbike can also provide a structured 12-week training plan from beginner to advanced level, which complements the tailored lifestyle coaching offered by Bupa’s team of qualified health and lifestyle advisors.

Richard Baker, Wattbike CEO, added: “Testing to benchmark health and fitness is vital. It’s how we establish a starting point on which to improve.

“We’re providing Bupa with an advanced, non-invasive fitness test to measure physiological responses to exercise which offers practical guidance towards improved levels of health.”

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Advertiser’s announcement

Barnsley Premier Leisure rebrands as Your Space with amazing results ...

THIS year the face of Barnsley Premier Leisure (BPL) has rebranded to Your Space at three of their key sites.

Pontefract, Metrodome and Hoyland Leisure Centres now have a fresh new look, featuring top-ofthe-range Technogym equipment, exclusive digital experiences and a variety of classes.

The fresh new look Your Space has brought to these sites is an exciting start, with Royston and Mansfield Leisure Centres to follow before the end of the year.

Move to feel good The Your Space brand has four key values; local, fun, friendly and innovative.

These values are at the core of the rebrand and the company’s ethos, dedicated to creating an inviting and sociable environment where members can enjoy their free time.

“Our motto outlines ‘We are a local gym, for local people’, with staff always striving to help every member to achieve their personal goals,” said Rachel Rinkcavage, brand manager at Your Space.

“Our rebrand is a vibrant update where we have created an inclusive and welcoming experience on the gym floor that is both an enjoyable and non-intimidating space” Creating an atmosphere To create a sociable atmosphere that is fun, innovative equipment and classes have been introduced to enhance the new and exciting workout areas.

With the help of Technogym solutions, Skillbike and Skillrow gym floor classes were launched at Metrodome to create an immersive training environment.

Metrodome uses the power of digital to promote multiple fast classes throughout the week on the mywellness app.

On the day trainers are proactively encouraging members to take part, as well utilising the club signage as promotion.

Skillbike class is an immersive experience where members can ride together, seeing the actual hill profiles on-screen as well as their real-time performance ranking.

Skillrow class offers members a mix of rowing classes, with the opportunity to row together in total synchronicity as a real crew, using the onscreen performance for encouragement.

Both classes are designed to be motivational, non-intimidating and welcoming to all members.

Tom Galvin, regional manager and head of fitness at Your Space, added: “We wanted to create a format around two core pieces of equipment that were advanced, innovative and non-intimidating.

“The Skill Line meets this criteria perfectly, as the athlete training capability means our members are being pushed to develop their training skills and technique.

“Additionally, the gamification element offers enjoyment and training in an interactive way.”

These new formats are in addition to the existing Omnia group and HIIT training sessions carried out on a variety of Technogym equipment, putting a stronger emphasis on small group training to compliment the Your Space offering.

“Creating a small group exercise format, Your Space is communicating the message of socialising, community and being part of a team,” said Tom. “The dedicated social areas are where people can bring out their inner athlete and perform a great workout on a piece of equipment

they feel comfortable on in a nonintimidating way, which is what the rebrand is all about.”

Your Plan – the new service plan To further enhance the member experience, Your Space has decided to go a step further and simultaneously put digital at the forefront of their member’s journey at all three sites.

Mywellness cloud was launched as the core digital platform to offer a bespoke member journey.

Tom said: “We have been doing a lot of back-of-house work on launching our own service plan.

“This service plan creates a bespoke journey for each member coming to the facility.

“Gone is the one size fits all. Within the new member journey, the experience starts with each member going through an aspiration map, then being provided a dedicated service plan, assigned an instructor and educated on the mywellness app.”

Using the mywellness cloud business solutions Profile, Prescribe, Self and Challenge means Your Space can create an aspiration map, have a prescribed training plan, choose their workout from a library and join a club challenge. Members download the mywellness app to access their bespoke service plans and tracking their outdoor and indoor training.

Crucial to the success of launching

the bespoke service plan and mywellness cloud is how trainers can view the individual members’ plans, including personal workout goals, training programmes and visit frequency.

With the power of this new information, trainers can provide relevant encouragement, advice and support to members.

The introduction of mywellness has been consistently rising, with over 3000 members across Metrodome and Pontefract experiencing the new member journey.

“We have found that mywellness cloud combined with a defined member journey has really helped us move forward with our service offering and illustrates how we are support members through their journey to help them to achieve their workout goals,” concluded Tom. The journey to success A full new branding positioning, new innovative equipment and new class formats, the project required several weeks of planning.

Pontefract was the first of the sites to relaunched, with extensive plans executed around the rebrand, gym floor layout, class styles and fitness team training.

“We closed on the Friday and re-opened on the Monday as Your Space,” added Rachel.

“Doing the rebrand this way ensured members were welcomed into a new modern gym, generated the maximum impact and the real wow factor.

“Pontefract is thriving as a site and social hub now more than ever, six months since the launch the site has seen a 30 per cent rise in members and the NPS score has risen from 59 before and 80 after the rebrand.”

Recently the third site Hoyland has been rebranded to Your Space with further sites to follow.

“The future of Your Space is exciting with clear reinvestment back into these sites, concluded Rachel.

“It keeps members loyal seeing their money being reinvested, keeping up with the digital transformations of the industry and creation of an environment where fitness thrives, and friends collaborate in a fun and friendly atmosphere.”

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Advertiser’s announcement

Matrix launch MX4 Active to target an ageing population MATRIX Fitness has launched MX4 Active, an expansion of its small group training solution, based on scientifically validated research to target the ageing population and the de-conditioned.

Steve Barrett, director of global education and training, said: “The ageing population in the UK is rapidly increasing, and this group is also largely inactive. The fitness industry needs to do what it can to target and encourage this group.”

“We developed MX4 Active to effectively connect with those with a lower baseline fitness.

“Special considerations were made to ensure the programme can serve the needs of older individuals and the de-conditioned, blending cardiobased modalities with functional training to support improvements.”

MX4 Active aims to ease the transition to an active lifestyle by including movements that are low in impact, yet develop coordination, balance, flexibility and skeletal and muscular strength.

Both MX4 and MX4 Active have similar programming features such as periodisation, the equipment and weekly structures but they key differences are the coaching style and

the portfolio of exercises.

“Trainers of MX4 Active need to be empathetic and reassuring in their delivery. Calm, clear and unrushed instructions paired with physical demonstrations,” Steve added.

“You cannot be the same trainer you are when training a 20-year old, trainers need to adapt to their audience so that they can relate to different abilities and ages authentically.

“From our research, the ageing population prefer familiarity to their workouts, not variety. We therefore focus on a ‘learn it, then work it’ practice which builds confidence.

“Members acclimatise to the exercises and movement patterns before increasing intensity. Overall, we have changed the environment, the experience and the stimulus to engage in the process.”

Incorporating Matrix-exclusive equipment including the Connexus Functional Training System, S-Drive Performance Trainer, Rower and Krankcycle, MX4 Active leverages these versatile, low-impact tools so that participants of any ability can take on weight-bearing exercises that reflect daily activities whilst a variety of attachment points on the Connexus accommodate a wide range of accessories and training modalities.

MX4 Active is an ideal addition to facility timetables, helping older and less fit members form a habit of exercise. Programming can be modified to fit members with different limitations and scaled to accommodate large groups.

MX4 Active is now available across the UK. To find out more visit uk.matrixfitness. com/en/education/mx4-active

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Advertiser’s announcement

Trust installs Precor Spinner® bikes at its three facilities SIV recently installed 25 Precor Spinner® Chrono bikes at its Hillsborough Leisure Centre, 23 at its Concord Sports Centre and 28 at the English Institute of Sport Sheffield, as well as making a small equipment change at its Springs Leisure Centre.

The Trust, which has close to 14,000 members across its seven sites, already offered Spinning® as an integral part of its day-to-day programming and was looking to make significant improvements in its equipment offer.

Tim Hicks, head of health and wellbeing at SIV, said: “In several of our venues, the indoor bikes needed updating.

“Our Spinning® programme is comprehensive and extremely popular so introducing the right replacements was paramount.

“We wanted to ensure new bikes met the changing needs of our class offering and our members.

It was important for us to provide bikes that would help members achieve their goals, so we investigated numerous brands. Ultimately decided the Precor Spinner® Chrono bikes ticked all our boxes.

“We found the Spinner® Chrono bikes to be very smooth when test ridden and the console played an important part in our decision process; we particularly wanted a multifunctional display, indicating power and RPM readings.

“The added capability of intervals, as well as the association with the world-renowned Spinning® brand, helped cement our decision.

“We’ve already seen the impact they’ve had on the way people train and the improvement in their fitness levels.”

SIV’s instructors underwent a

two-day SPINPower® Program Certification.

Bryony Winfrow, Fitness Manager at SIV, took the training course to help her understand the physics behind the bikes as well as how to lead fun and effective rides that encourage members back.

She added: “We learned what power is, how it’s measured and why it’s important, plus the relationship

between power, RPE, heart rate and cadence, and how to determine baseline fitness markers and SPINPower® Training Zones.

“SPINPower® programming allows training data to be tracked by smart phone or transferred to leader boards, helping us to improve member training and the overall class experience.

We’re actively looking to formally

incorporate power training into classes but, in the meantime, we’re utilising the skills learned on the course.”

Tim concluded: “Having received great service from Precor in the past, SIV is excited to be moving forward with Precor, who won a competitive tender to become our equipment partner. Hopefully there will be even more changes in the pipeline soon.”

TRAINING AND RECRUITMENT

30

Advertiser’s announcement

Stand out from the crowd with the Level 3 Extended Diploma in Personal Training PERSONAL trainers looking to broaden the scope of their role and upskill to differentiate themselves from the competition have a chance to extend their learning with the new Active IQ Level 3 Extended Diploma in Personal Training.

The qualification delves deeply into health and fitness-related assessments, group personal training and working with individuals and groups in alternative environments.

In addition, it includes a unit in Nutrition for Sport and Exercise Performance, to enable PTs to support clients prior to, during and after sporting or event-based activities such as endurance races.

All these areas include robust, observed assessments to ensure the PTs improved skills are ready for ‘real-world’ practice.

The entire qualification is underpinned by extended content including a brand-new manual and lecture pack.

In addition, PTs are given access to an extensive library of sample sessions for working with individuals and groups.

“Our Level 3 Extended Diploma in Personal Training is designed to support PTs who want to broaden the scope of their role, offer more skills and services and, in doing so, stand out in the market,” said Ben Jackson,

Active IQ qualification development manager.

“The qualification sits alongside our current Diploma in Personal Training to provide choice and flexibility.

“The broader scope of coverage equips learners with a wider range of skills to offer more to their clients, either on a self-employed basis or when working for employers.”

The Active IQ Level 3 Extended Diploma in Personal Training will

cover: n Anatomy and physiology, functional kinesiology, concepts and components of fitness. n Nutrition for exercise, health and fitness. n Lifestyle and medical factors that affect wellbeing. n Analysis of client information using the most accepted techniques. n Assessment of a client’s current health and fitness status.

n Planning and conducting exercise and physical activity sessions, both one-to-one and with groups, within a range of environments and using multiple resources. n Client consultations using the most accepted methods and providing strategies for successful behaviour change. n Communication skills to effectively build successful relationships with clients and other healthcare professionals. n Legal and professional requirements for personal training. n How to set up and manage a personal training business on a selfemployed basis. n How to manage, evaluate and improve their own performance. n Nutrition for sport and exercise performance.

Personal trainers and employers interested in this extended diploma should visit https://www.activeiq. co.uk/qualifications/level-3/ active-iq-level-3-extended-diplomain-personal-training or email approvalsteam@activeiq.co.uk to find out more.

This qualification is eligible for government funding.

More details at https://hub.fasst. org.uk/Learning%20Aims/Searchresults/Details/Pages/Key-and-Aimdetails.

UK FITNESS SCENE

Company moves from strength to strength A GYM equipment supplier has transformed a former colliery building into its new headquarters – after relocating from the Staffordshire Moorlands.

Staffs Fitness has moved it 25-strong workforce from Leek to a 10-acre site in Fenton, Stoke.

The company took over the premises in 2017, but the site was officially opened this month.

The move is part of a major expansion plan to increase its manufacturing and distribution operations – and win new clients.

Managing director Gareth Mckay, who founded the business almost 30 years ago, said: “Historically this building is one of the old Fenton colliery buildings, but it was most recently occupied by Koch-Glitsch.

“Before we moved here it wasn’t being used to its full potential, so we have been able to design it how we want it.

“We have modernised it and reconfigured the space.

“It has been a significant investment for us.”

Staffs Fitness’ new site boasts an office space, a warehouse, kitchen areas and a showroom.

The company, which sells a wide range of fitness equipment – including its own MYO Strength

brand – has also refurbished a handful of other units on the site, which it rents out to local businesses.

So far, they have five tenants on the site with plans to place to construct more buildings in the future.

Operations director Nicki Mckay added: “It’s a great space and we have added enough room to be able to expand into as we grow.

“We have got five and 10-year growth targets and have ambition to

keep growing. We have a great team of people that are very hard-working and dedicated.”

Staffs Fitness supplies equipment to independent gyms and leisure centers, home gym users, universities and schools across the UK and Europe – in countries such as France and Poland as well as Israel and Africa. Around 30 per cent of its current business is export.

Stoke-On-Trent South MP Jack

Brereton was invited to officially open Staffs Fitness’ new headquarters.

He said: “It’s fantastic to see a building like this, which was practically derelict, regenerated and bought back to use and that some of the original features have been retained.

“It’s also great to see that the company is supporting other local businesses who have been able to move onto the site.”

Advertiser’s announcement

Major growth in 3D body scanning leads to acquisition of Fit3D Ltd How did Fit3D start?

I started personal training sessions at a small studio in Rugby with big goals of improving appearance and fitness level. After months of working out, it seemed that my hard work wasn’t paying off. Although my stats on paper were improving it seemed that when I looked in the mirror there wasn’t much of a visual improvement at all. Slowly but surely I lost motivation to stay at the gym. This spouted the search for a better way to track body change.

It’s a huge problem we face across the fitness industry; one of the main concerns is lack of member retention because people don’t see the results they expect in the first crucial months. Although methods like callipers, manual measurements, tracking BMI and using body composition machines provide an insight, they do not give 90 per cent of users what they want to see – a visual improvement backed with accurate data. I dug my head into finding the best solution out there to tackle client retention, I came across 3D body scanning and with that the most accurate in the industry – the Fit3D ProScanner! After testing it out for a year on myself I needed to bring it to the UK. After just over a year in business we’ve managed to install more than 70 units into fitness facilities and now have merged with 3D-aesthetics in order to further increase growth across the fitness and aesthetics industry. We can now provide our

over each member’s individual fitness journey. Simple. We also provide the gym and PTs with an account we call the ‘Success Hub’. This gives them access to all member results so essentially, they can prescribe bespoke training plans based on that members individual body shape, posture and most importantly their goals. As the body changes, you can notice this and alter the training plan to suit.

gyms with exceptional on-going business and marketing support from our team of 29 staff members.

Why Fit3D? Fit3D is designed to track and notice any distinct body change. We do this by providing gym members with a virtual avatar of themselves along with full body measurements, body composition data, wellness metrics and a visual posture report.

We then compare these over time to track body change and success from working out. The gym member takes a scan every four weeks and from this we notice how the body develops

How do you maintain such high standards?

With the recent acquisition of Fit3D Ltd by 3D-aesthetics, a huge company in the medical aesthetics industry, we have a huge customer support network supporting customers out in the field. Each gym is designated one of four business development managers whose primary job is to ensure you’re getting the most out of your device after purchase. We also invest heavily in software, ensuring that every gym has the latest in client assessment tools via simple ongoing software upgrades post purchase.

How do you differentiate yourselves from other major suppliers?

Surprisingly we don’t have many direct competitors, although we do body composition (and are very good at it), I don’t like to refer to the ProScanner as a body composition machine because we do things differently. There are many things I could pinpoint as being our standout feature, but I have to say, the best thing about the ProScanner is its flexibility in providing every gym

member with what they want to see.

If you are a new starter at the gym, you can simply use the 360 visuals of yourself to track change because, at this stage, body composition may not mean a lot to you. If you’re a competitive athlete you may prefer to use the measurements, posture analysis and body composition features to make sure you have complete symmetry across the body.

Customers that buy from you?

The ProScanner has been purchased by some of the best facilities in the UK including the ‘UK’s best personal trainer’ Mike Hind, ‘London’s most luxurious gym’ Equinox and the largest personal training centre in the UK, Absolute Training and Nutrition.

However the ProScanner provides a good profitable business model for all, in total there are 70 gyms ranging from 50 to 2,500 members.

What are your goals moving forward?

We’re planning a significant ramp up in European sales towards the start of next year, this will start with Germany and eventually grow across several European territories. We are also focussing heavily on Facebook advertising the service across the UK in order to draw attention to our current sites benefiting ProScanner operators massively.

If you would like any further information on the ProScanner, and how it could benefit your business see pages 16 and 17 or contact Toby Cowley, sales director – analysis division, on 01788 220459 or email toby@3d-aesthetics.co.uk

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FINANCE AND INSURANCE

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Advertiser’s announcement

Why your facility requires specialist sports insurance SPECIALIST sports insurance can protect you in case you injure yourself, were deemed liable for an accident or your equipment was lost, stolen or accidentally damaged.

It’s so easy for an accident to happen, no matter how careful you are, and the costs of compensation and legal fees could run into the thousands.

That’s why it’s vital to ensure that you are covered, or you could end up severely out of pocket and your professional reputation could be at risk.

For example, if you’re a personal trainer training a client and they damage equipment at a gym you’re training in, you could be held responsible and someone from the gym could make a claim against you.

If the claim was successful, you could be required to pay compensation.

Self-employed fitness instructor Charlotte knows how important it is to have Public Liability insurance.

A while ago, during a body pump class, one of the participants dropped a barbell from above head height, causing significant damage to the studio floor.

you with up to £10m Public Liability and we include £1m Professional Indemnity cover FREE, so you can cover yourself in case advice you give leads to client or participant injuring themselves.

Get insured with the UK’s most trusted specialist sports insurer today

Thankfully, as Charlotte was insured with Insure4Sport, her Public Liability covered the cost of the damage.

She said: “I just saw it as a no-brainer to protect myself with Public Liability.

“That way I’m covered if anybody in my class damages equipment or injures themselves. I’m not sure what I would have done if I didn’t have my Insure4Sport policy to fall back on.”

With Insure4Sport we can protect

Insure4Sport is one of the UK’s leading and most recognisable specialist sports insurance brands.

Providing cover to thousands of personal trainers, fitness instructors, coaches, players and teams, as well as providing bespoke policies for facilities, clubhouses and gyms.

You can be protected in just a few clicks.

Plus, you can tailor your insurance to suit your needs.

More than 58,000 sportsmen and women choose Insure4Sport to protect them.

So, why not join them with your exclusive 20 per cent off specialist sports insurance today.

Get an instant quote now by visiting www. insure4sport.co.uk/Workout2019 or call Insure4Sport on 0800 158 5530 and quote ‘Workout2019’.

FINANCE AND INSURANCE

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Advertiser’s announcement

The Harlands Effect – making your business more profitable Introducing Harlands Group Harlands is the leading UK specialist in managing membership payments for health and fitness operators.

We do much more than just process payments, we interact directly with your members to help them manage membership payments more effectively.

We have helped some of the fastest growing companies in our industry grow, and quickly become dominant players in the sector, like The Gym Group, Places For People Leisure, Xcercise4less, Energie Fitness, Anytime Fitness and Marriott Hotels.

Each month we process more than two million Direct Debit membership payments for our clients.

What is the Harlands Effect?

Regular membership payments are the biggest source of income of our clients – these are usually processed

by Direct Debit (using the SEPA process in the Eurozone).

Our goal is to make a series of small adjustments across a range of areas that in isolation don’t make a huge difference, but added together, make a significant improvement to the ongoing profitability of our clients.

We call this improvement in business performance – ‘The Harlands Effect’.

The aggregation of marginal gains In order to better understand and make improvements to performance, you must break down the process you are trying to improve into its component parts.

British cycling coach Dave Brailsford famously used this method to turn a failing cycling team into multiple world champions.

Dave coined the phrase ‘the aggregation of marginal gains’ which has been used by sporting teams and businesses to great effect in recent years. He believed that if it was possible to make a one per cent improvement in a whole host of areas, the cumulative gains would end up being hugely significant.

Dave was on the look-out for all the weaknesses in the team’s assumptions, all the latent problems, so he could improve on each of them.

By experimenting in a wind tunnel, he noted that the bike was not sufficiently aerodynamic.

By analysing the mechanics area in the team truck, he discovered that dust was accumulating on the floor, undermining bike maintenance. So, he had the floor painted pristine white, in order to spot any impurities.

Each weakness was not a threat, but an opportunity to make adaptations, and create marginal gains.

When Dave became general manager of Team Sky, he redesigned the team bus to improve comfort and recuperation.

They started to probe deeper into untested assumptions, such as the dynamic relationship between the intensity of the warm-down and speed of recovery. As they learned more, they created further marginal gains.

Team GB used to be also-rans in world cycling, with one pundit describing the team as “a laughing stock”.

By employing this method, between 2007 to 2017, British cyclists won 178 world championships, 66 Olympic or Paralympic gold medals and captured five Tour de France victories, in what is widely regarded as the most successful run in cycling history.

Optimising membership management and payments While we can’t make you go much

faster on your bike, we can take your existing processes around membership payments and improve many of the component parts to improve your net income over and above our costs – The Harlands Effect.

Here are some of the component parts that we improve: n Online membership signup process – We can build a secure joining process from scratch, or improve on your existing one.

A faster process with minimal clicks to signup, combined with adaptive pages, make joining on a phone, tablet or PC as easy simple as using popular apps such as Uber or Spotify. n Data accuracy – With a userfriendly online signup process for all new members, joining both onsite and remotely, your data will be more accurate.

Identify the peak hours that members join, market more effectively to your membership base with accurate email addresses and even entice past and lapsed members back. n Choice of payment date – Allow members to pay on a chosen day to reduce payment failures, this feature can also be used to eradicate the prorata payment needed in many joining processes.

Pro-rata when worked out to the exact day is often discounted as the

first session tends to start later than the join date. By having Direct Debit dates every day we can implement a system whereby the member pays the full month on the date joined.

This has been proven to increase the income taken in the first payment by as much as 20 per cent. n Administration and flexibility of payments – Processes are automated where possible (such as arrears payments, freezes, change of bank details, reinstatements, change of payment date or account), members can self-serve on their smartphone through our Payflex portal or they can speak to our dedicated member service centre.

Payflex can also exist inside your own app, so members can book a class or manage their payments all in one place. As well as improving income directly this will also free your staff up to engage better with your membership base to increase retention and upsell products. You can also reduce staffing costs as many low-cost operators have done if this suits your business model. n Security of critical business processes and data – if systems were compromised and you were unable to perform your usual Direct Debit process, or your membership data was stolen this would likely have a critical impact on your business.

Industry leaders, such as Places For People Leisure, The Gym Group and Anytime Fitness, cannot take this risk and so entrust Harlands to look after this. We are FCA regulated and comply with the highest standards in the world on data and cyber security.

At Harlands, we can help you make these improvements and more – ultimately resulting in increased sales, less administration on site, greater flexibility and better member payments experience for your business. Typically, we can reduce your payment failure rate by an incredible 40 per cent.

We will calculate your ‘Harlands Effect’ and ensure we are making you more money than we cost you, ensuring that your business decision to use us was a good one!

Try our quick online calculator now.

How has a changing fitness market impacted insurance?

THE landscape of the fitness industry has changed dramatically over the last 10 years.

The rise of 24-hour gyms, boutique facilities, wearable technology, HIIT training and a whole host of other trends have revolutionised the way we work out.

Other than a few specialist providers, the insurance market has been slow to react to these changes.

Here is a summary of some of the special considerations that should be made: n 24-hour opening / unmanned gyms – Does your insurer know how you operate and does it note this on the policy? Make sure the business

Neil Adebowale

description on the policy accurately reflects what you do to avoid any issues when it comes to making a claim. n Boutique gyms – Are you heavily reliant on studios being open to

generate income? Many boutique gyms have a “pay and play” offering and if a studio is out of action business interruption could be significant, so your business interruption cover needs to reflect this. A broker that understands boutique gyms should also be able to leverage the reduced risk of personal injury claims due to the high level of supervision from group training and personal training i to obtain more competitive premiums. n Wearable technology / other technology – The increase amount and complexity of personal member data stored gives great insights into member behaviour and interaction

but also creates additional risks.

Have you considered the need for cyber and data insurance? n Children’s fitness – Does your policy have any age restrictions?

Have you considered safeguarding measure appropriate for your activities?

In summary, the needs of each fitness facility will vary and it’s important that the insurance and risk management is tailored to reflect this. This can only be achieved by working with a broker with fitness sector expertise.

Neil Adebowale, director, Independents, 01189 875000, info@independents-ins.com

FINANCE AND INSURANCE Advertiser’s announcement

35 Advertiser’s announcement

Want more members? Time to migrate your I thought so. Give this a read, it will send your sales through the roof…

AT Ashbourne, we are constantly communicating with our clubs to make sure we are developing products that solve the issues people are facing day by day.

As we all know the fitness industry is always developing so continuing to do the right things is imperative for clubs’ long-term success, more so with the huge rise of budget gyms chains!

The million-dollar question we are asked by new clubs is; If you could boil it down why do some gyms fail, and others succeed?

This question can’t be fully answered in 400 words, however there is one mistake many clubs are continuing to make: Undervaluing the role of the sales staff…

We see clubs fail when they try to cut costs by removing dedicated sales staff in favour of personal trainers and gym instructors.

Yes, this seems like a way to improve service and retention, but you should not overlook how a dedicated sales team can increase your bottom line.

They are the first port of call when a prospect enters the club and have the experience and expertise to find out exactly what the prospect wants to achieve and will make them feel that your club is the exact place where they will achieve those goals.

Clubs needs to have a dedicated sales team who will spend time with each prospect.

Clubs spend money on advertising to bring people into the club only to fail when they turn up. Combining Grant Harrison, sales a dedicated director at Ashbourne. sales team with Ashbourne’s NEW custom-made CRM system is the combination that will ensure a smooth customer journey from being a prospect to a member.

Having the ability to delegate leads to your salesman makes the joining process from the clubs’ point of view much easier.

Everyone in the process knows exactly who they are seeing, when they are seeing them and gives the salesman an idea of what the lead is looking for; it makes each member’s joining journey feel personal, the key to any buying journey.

For more information on how Ashbourne can improve your club’s performance give us a call on 01564 638 070 or email us on info@ashbournemanagement.co.uk

processes to online with DFC’s FastDD

By Ivan Stevenson

WITH so many low cost gyms entering the market, it can be difficult for fitness clubs to compete.

How do you manage to increase profits while maximising customer service?

One way to achieve this is to re-examine how you take membership payments.

If you’re still using a paper-based membership system, you could be missing a trick.

This is especially true if you have set open hours.

If your customer must come to your physical location to pay for their membership or even to join your gym, then you will more than likely lose the interest of several potential members.

It’s nearly a new decade. It’s definitely high time to migrate your membership processes to online.

You’ll find this massively increases your profit margin, as you allow new members to sign up 24/7, negate human admin errors, and allow customers to make payments online.

Why shouldn’t you make life as easy as you can for customers?

FastDD is our bespoke online

Ivan Stevenson joining solution which enables your customers to make paperless Direct Debit payments via your website.

Since it is an online platform that is always available, FastDD acts as a 24-hour sales aid to convert potential members at any hour of the day.

For more information on Debit Finance Collections, visit debitfinance.co.uk n Ivan Stevenson is a director at DFC.

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Power Plate celebrates 20 years with London launch event WITH the latest in vibration training, the Power Plate MOVE, took centre stage as a whole host of wellness influencers gathered to learn about the benefits of Power Plate.

The aim of the event was to educate participants on how whole body vibration training can positively impact your body’s muscles, hormones and overall wellness.

Master trainers demonstrated how Power Plate is used by fitness facilities and personal trainers around the world to prepare faster, perform better, and recover quicker, and a number of small group training sessions took place showcasing the latest classes available.

In addition to learning about the products, we also had the opportunity to hear from guest speaker and master trainer, Caroline Pearce – British athlete, sports host

and presenter for BT Sports UFC, who opened a debate on women’s wellness with panellists including; n Celebrity and post-natal PT, Alex P Marks. n Founder of the Happy Body Project, Julie Holl. n Founder of Liferocks, development and energy coach, Aimee Carlton.

Discussion points ranged from pre and postnatal pregnancy, to being part of a community (either through social media or within a health club) and the different generational challenges that women experience from teenage / puberty through to pregnancy and menopause.

One of the most compelling discussions was around how we inspire the next generation to care for themselves by teaching them what the human body is capable of vs what it looks like – this challenge is

certainly recognised by Mental Health Foundation who states that: Discussions around how to inspire the next generation to care for themselves by teaching them what the human body is capable of vs what it looks like struck a chord with many of the guests and this challenge is certainly recognised by Mental Health Foundation who states that: “One in five adults have felt shame because of their body image in the last year”.

One way that this can begin to be addressed is through workplace wellness, which was also high on the agenda. Anna Davison, head of workplace wellbeing at ukactive, said: “It’s never been more critical to support wellbeing in the workplace.”

As part of this discussion, Power Plate introduced the FitStop program on the my7, designed specifically for

employees to use during the working day.

The FitStop solution includes four program options: Rejuvenation, Focused Relaxation, Cardio Boost, and QuickStop. The options consist of simple stretches and movements aimed to help resolve the most common problems caused by sitting at a desk all day.

A recommendation from The Health and Safety Executive states that “Short, frequent breaks are more satisfactory than occasional longer breaks: e.g., a 5-10 minute break after 50-60 minutes continuous screen, and/or keyboard work, is likely to be better than a 15-minute break every two hours” To find out more about how to incorporate Power Plate into your facility or workplace visit powerplate.com or contact sales@powerplate.com

SkiErg now common in gyms IT is rare that the fitness industry takes a new type of workout machine to heart, but that’s what has happened with the Concept2 SkiErg. For a machine that is less than 10 years old, it has now become a common sight in gyms. As well as providing a great workout, the machine’s small footprint and affordability makes it attractive to gym owners looking to add something new into the mix.

So popular has the machine become, that Concept2 runs an annual SkiErg virtual race, the SkiErg World Sprints, and this year’s edition takes place between November 7 and 10.

The SkiErg World Sprints are 1,000-metre virtual races that allow you to compare your time against others worldwide in a one-weekend showdown of SkiErg speed. There are age categories from under 12s to 80+, and adaptive categories, too, with prizes awarded to the top three in each category.

All your users have to do is race 1,000 metres on a SkiErg at your club at any point between November 7 and 10, either as an individual or as part of an event you organised.

If you’re an individual you just need

Diverse database includes advanced diving vessel

to post your time to the Concept2 online logbook at log.concept2.com.

If you’re running an event at a gym or club, enter your results on a special spreadsheet and email them to info@ concept2.com For more information, or to download the spreadsheet, go to concept2.co.uk/skiergworldsprints.

All times need to be submitted by 10pm on November 11.

For more about the Concept2 SkiErg, go to concept2.co.uk/skierg

AS the UK’s leading fitness equipment service provider and remanufacturer, ServiceSport boasts an extremely diverse customer database.

The Chorley-based firm provides independent technical and maintenance support to its clients which is designed to maximise the life of fitness equipment of any make and model.

The company was recently asked to service and repair gym equipment aboard Seven Atlantic – one of the most advanced diving vessels in the world.

They were given a short window to carry out the service while the vessel was docked in Aberdeen, before returning with special non-stock parts to complete the repairs in Peterhead.

The job required in-depth input from numerous departments within ServiceSport, but was pulled together by their experienced team in just a few days.

If you’ve got gym equipment in need of service or repair, call ServiceSport on 0845 402 2456 to discuss your requirements or email your enquiry to sales@servicesport.co.uk

UK FITNESS SCENE

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Highlights from the IHRSA Health Club Consumer Report

By Kristen Walsh IN order to adequately recruit, serve, engage and retain health club customers and members, it’s crucial to understand them – their needs, their wants and their behaviours.

That’s why IHRSA’s annual Health Club Consumer Report is consistently one of the association’s best-selling publications.

The 2019 edition, released in September, is based on a nationwide sample of more than 20,000 interviews and provides demographics and health, sports, and fitness participation data on United States health club consumers.

“US health club usage reached an all-time high in 2018 as more than 71 million people utilised health and fitness services at a fitness centre, gym, or studio,” said Jay Ablondi, IHRSA’s executive vice president of global products.

“In fact, more than one out of five Americans report belonging to a health club last year.”

The report shows fitness activity participation at clubs varies across demographics, including generational groups. Millennials and Gen Xers account for the greatest share of membership at a combined 57 per cent of total members, while Generation Z represents 14 per cent

LFX Academy goes from strength to strength

of members, Baby Boomers 22 per cent and the Silent Generation seven per cent.

As expected, club activity preferences vary across generational groups, providing insight for club operators and fitness directors. While the Z and Millennial generations are more inclined to engage in group-based activities, Gen Xers and younger Boomers prefer to utilise cardio and strength training equipment.

Visit ihrsa.org/publications to learn more and to access the report.

EZFacility helps you to increase your revenue AS a gym owner, or manager, we know you do everything you can to make sure all your members pay promptly, but we know that sometimes this can be more difficult than you had expected.

“Can you give me until next week?”, “I’ll pay the next time I’m in”, and “my bank card’s been cancelled” are just some of the excuses we have heard over the years.

But collecting membership fees doesn’t have to be stressful with EZFacility.

With integrated payments options for direct debits, and credit/debit card payments, you can collect those membership fees automatically each

month on the day they are due.

You can consolidate all revenue sources into one system to track the sale of PT sessions, classes, and point of sale items as well.

As a PCI DSS Level 1 certified company, EZFacility keeps your customers’ data safe, their interactions secure, and your gym protected.

Do you have questions or want to learn more about how integrated payment options can impact your gym facility business?

Contact EZFacility today https://www.ezfacility.co.uk/features/ 0203 3270480 sales@ezfacility.co.uk

THE Academy held its first Intelligent Leadership Intensive Workshop in early October which has received rave reviews.

Including comments such as ‘definitely the most engaging course I have been on’ and ‘staff were taken out of their comfort zone...the benefits of attending as a team are already evident’ have prompted the Academy to schedule another one in late January.

Head of Academy, Lynne Briggs, who observed the two-day workshop, said: “The two days, led by Chris Rock of Excelsior Technologies, provided a safe learning environment for the attendees to explore and expose

their strengths, weaknesses and perceptions – it was a perfect blend of education and humour and enjoyed by everyone...including me.”

The next workshop off the rank is on November 7 and is exclusive to LFX. ‘The NHS Long Term Plan and Your Business’ is a must for anyone involved with working with the NHS. This session will help delegates understand the way local, regional and national strategies work and will be delivered by Ann Cairns, a health economist from the pharmaceutical industry.

For further details of LFX, The Academy or the above workshops, please contact Lynne@mylfx.com

Gym Logistics launches bespoke service for UK SPECIALISING in the movement and installation of gym equipment, whether you require an installation of new/refurbished equipment or an extraction of old, they offer a seamless service to ensure your gym is safe and free from disruption.

The team, which is headed up by founders Phil Johnson and Daniel Hanlon, offer a nationwide service 24/7 to cover your every move.

With more than 14 years of experience between them they are qualified to work on sites such as schools, hospitals, Ministry of Defence bases, leisure centres, gyms and all variations of health clubs.

The specialist team is experienced in all commercial gym equipment from various manufacturers. Whether you require a full gym installation or just a boxing bag hanging they can do it, and offer a no job is too big or small

mentality to fit all budgets.

The services they offer include, INSTALLATIONS – EXTRACTIONS – MOVEMENTS – RELOCATIONS EQUIPMENT SALES Want to give your gym a fresh new look? They can create a floor plan to utilise your gym space to its full potential.

Are you having a refurbishment and need your kit moving to do so then they can either create you a temporarily gym set up or move the kit into storage. Nowhere to store the kit? They can arrange that to! Or if you simply just need a piece of kit moving from one side of your gym to another just let them know.

Speak to Gym Logistics today by emailing your requirements to info@gymlogistics. co.uk or call us on 07903 868152 or 07525 866068. Visit the website to read about recent projects and reviews at www.gymlogistics.co.uk

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Reach Wellness with FIVE Concept at David Lloyd Club Warrington AS part of the extensive gym refurbishment completed recently at David Lloyd Warrington, Reach Wellness installed six stations of FIVE Concept including two Fascial Stimulators, Multi, Hip, Glute and Splits.

FIVE Concept provides ‘the bridge’ between fitness / wellness and therapy on the gym floor.

Located directly outside the “BLAZE” (HIIT) Studio and “Rhythm” (Indoor Cycling) Studio; FIVE Concept affords members the opportunity to perform Movement Preparation, Mobilisation, Recovery, Regeneration, Flexibility and Stretching.

“FIVE Concept has been a great addition to the gym floor at David Lloyd Club Warrington,” said Richard Othen (Platinum personal trainer).

“The equipment has been really well received and as staff we have

LOGISTICS

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used it to educate our members on the importance of recovery and regeneration, particularly those who do BLAZE and Rhythm in the adjacent studios.

“It has been a fantastic way to increase member engagement and has really helped increase the number of Kickstart and PT taster sessions booked by new and existing members.”

Manufactured from the highest quality materials (including oak wood and stainless steel) in the Black Forest Germany, Five Concept is installed in more than 1,000 clubs in Germany.

“We envisage a great opportunity to introduce FIVE Concept to the ‘Active Ageing’ market in the UK,” added Jeff Davis, managing director of Reach Wellness.

“Furthermore there is a latent demand for FIVE Concept equipment.

Given the increasing popularity of

HIIT training and group exercise classes, it is important that members have the opportunity to prepare for and recover after exercise classes to ensure that they are most beneficial and enjoyable. FIVE Concept is designed by physiotherapists so it is

SOUND AND VISION

effective and intuitive to use.”

“We are delighted to supply David Lloyd Clubs with FIVE Concept as they continue to provide innovative solutions to their members and enhance their already market leading facilities.”

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LOCKS

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2019.09.11-John Ansell - Workout Magazine Advert- ST-v1.0 PRINT READY FILE.pdf 1 16/09/2019 16:02:38

INSURANCE

THE fitness industry insurance scheme C

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GYM TOWELS

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Specialist insurance cover for all your business needs

UK Active members discount

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Call us on 0800 140 4541 ansell.enquiries@thecleargroup.com

John Ansell & Partners is a trading name of Clear Insurance Management Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority

If you’ve got a story for a forthcoming issue of Workout email it to Dominic Musgrave at dm@scriptmedia.co.uk or call 01226 734 407 WEIGHING & BODY COMPOSITION MACHINES

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SOFTWARE

TRAINING

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Attract new customers, increase satisfaction, generate income with this sale product (RRP £12.99) all an for annual licence of £38.97 We provide all you need background report, templates and support.

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Nationally recognised Active IQ accredited qualifications from EMD UK Qualifications include: Sport England funded training bursary to significantly reduce course costs A year’s instructor insurance once qualified Support from industry experts

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