Weekly Workout - 21st January 2022

ISSUE 1 May

WEEKLY

Issue 84 - 21 January 2022

YOUR REGULAR ONLINE UPDATE FOR THE UK FITNESS SCENE

Government urged to help reduce pressure on NHS by backing social prescribing PAGE 2 David Lloyd disrupting the industry with new outdoor fitness solution

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WORKOUT WEEKLY

Government urged to help reduce pressure on NHS by backing social prescribing PUBLIC health initiatives must help raise awareness of social prescribing in gyms, pools and leisure centres in order to reduce the pressure on the NHS, according to a new report published by ukactive.

The report, called ‘Leading the Change: social prescribing within the fitness and leisure sector’, calls for the Government and its agencies to help unlock the potential of fitness and leisure facilities to serve more people through social prescribing.

The report, sponsored by Matrix, makes four key recommendations to develop and grow social prescribing within the fitness and leisure sector so it can play its fullest role in improving the health and wellbeing of the nation. ukactive will share the findings and recommendations from the report with the Government and key stakeholders in the wider network, to drive action and support.

Huw Edwards, CEO of ukactive, said: “As our NHS comes under even greater pressures and the backlog for treatment grows, it is essential that we look differently at how healthcare-related physical activity could be delivered in gyms and leisure centres within our communities.

“We publish this report at a critical moment for the future of our nation’s health, happiness and wellbeing, and we must ensure that every gym, pool and leisure centre is supported to survive the current financial crisis in order to fulfil their essential role in preventative health.

Huw Edwards “Our findings indicate a strong desire and huge potential to expand social prescribing delivery within the fitness and leisure sector, but we will need the full support of the Government and its agencies to support our sector, unlock the appropriate funding mechanisms, and raise awareness of these services in our facilities.

“We will continue to work tirelessly with our partners in the health and social care world so we can realise the full potential of social prescribing within our sector and achieve our shared ambitions.”

Social prescribing connects people to community support based on what interests them, and helps address issues affecting their health and wellbeing.

Working alongside GPs, social prescribing link workers connect people to activities such as fitness groups, swimming, walking, dancing, running,

or gardening, depending on what the person likes and what will benefit them.

The fitness and leisure sector already plays a major role in community healthcare, such as providing rehabilitation from Covid-19 and cardiac, pulmonary and musculoskeletal conditions, as well 66 per cent of the nation’s cancer prehabilitation and rehabilitation services.

Research has also shown that people who were regularly active reduced their risk from dying from infectious diseases such as Covid-19 by 37 per cent – including a study from Glasgow Caledonian University.

However, social prescribing offers a major opportunity to further support health in community settings.

The ukactive Research Institute undertook a consultation with ukactive’s members to understand the current landscape for social prescribing and found that the sector has considerable untapped potential which would reduce the burden on the NHS. The recommendations: n Raise awareness of the role of gyms, pools and leisure centres in social prescribing: The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, The Richmond Group, Sport England and ukactive should collaborate to increase visibility of sector in social prescribing opportunities, focus on management of long-term health conditions and integrate with physical activity public health initiatives. n Increase the knowledge of social prescribing among the physical activity

workforce: Operators should ensure their workforce has strong awareness and knowledge of social prescribing, through training and using professional standards. n Connect more gyms, pools and leisure facilities to community networks: National Academy for Social Prescribing, Active Partnerships, and Sport England need to work with ukactive to create resources that support sector to increase connection with cultural and community groups within local areas, which will provide opportunities for greater crosssector partnerships. n Align the sector-wide measurement of social prescribing to NHS England’s Common Outcomes Framework: ukactive, Sport England, NASP, and OHID to work collaboratively to improve data collection, ensuring consistent reporting and alignment with NHS England’s Common Outcomes Framework for measuring the impact of social prescribing.

Although the Covid-19 pandemic has delayed the sector’s ambitions which were originally outlined in 2020, social prescribing remains a priority area and the recommendations represent the next steps for progress in 2022.

Delivery of social prescribing across the sector will play an integral part in ukactive’s proposed shared ambition for growth with the Government and partners, which would see more than five million new members of gyms, pools and leisure centres by 2030 – an increase from 15 per cent of the population in 2019 to more than 20 per cent.

Setting a new benchmark for the industry

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PerformX Live, a new event for 2022, will combine world class education, thought leadership and networking, with live workshops and workouts to create a truly unique experience for anyone in the fitness industry.

More than 5,000 attendees including health club directors, gym owners, personal trainers, coaches, key decision makers and everyday athletes will come together on March 18 and 19 at Tobacco Dock in London to see the industry’s most innovative brands and leading educators from around the world.

The PerformX Live education programme, which has been created to guide and improve the fitness industry, features speakers and educators recommended by the PerformX Advisory Panel, a collection of industry leaders who have brought the PerformX vision to fruition.…

Topics n Wellness, lifestyle and nutrition n Training and performance n The business of fitness n Mindset leadership and inspiration The speakers Mark Cavendish MBE Mark Cavendish MBE is a British professional road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team.

He is widely considered one of the greatest road sprinters of all time and in 2021 was called “the greatest sprinter in the history of the Tour and of cycling” by Christian Prudhomme, director of the Tour de France.

Sonny Webster Sonny has been lifting and coaching professionally for over 15 years.

He has a Sport Performance BSC and competed at the 2016 Olympic games for Great Britain.

Sonny’s programs have helped thousands of people all over the world learn to lift properly, improve their technique and consistently hit new PB’s.

Jordan Shallow – founder of PreScript and RX’D RADIO Dr. Jordan Shallow D.C. is a

chiropractor, strength and conditioning coach and powerlifter.

Jordan currently works with teams, companies and individuals all over the world, lecturing, coaching and consulting on applied biomechanics, sports performance, and injury risk management.

Understanding the needs of the individual, and the subsequent demands that a particular lifestyle imposes on each person, is the cornerstone on which his clinical practice is built and provides the guidance for him to provide the best care, to everyone.

“The PFCA believes PerformX will provide the stage to truly change the trajectory of the fitness industry, guiding what it means to be a true coaching professional” Coach Jenz, PFCA

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David Lloyd disrupting the industry with new outdoor fitness solution AT THE end of 2021, BeaverFit was sought out to complete a custom-built outdoor fitness solution for 27 David Lloyd Clubs in the UK. During the Covid-19 pandemic, there was a huge surge in outdoor fitness as it has proven to not only be a more Covid-safe way to exercise, but also boasts a wealth of other benefits.

David Lloyd were quick to realise this and so created their ‘bootcampstyle classes’ designed around a dedicated outdoor facility – The ‘Battlebox’.

As these classes gained interest, David Lloyd soon required an experienced and capable partner to deliver a large-scale roll out of their

‘Battleboxes’ to various sites, with a very quick turnaround.

BeaverFit was chosen as we dominate the industry through our varied knowledge and innovative solutions.

We have the ability to adapt and evolve with our customers – transforming a concept into reality through extensive design capability We delivered the ‘Battlebox’ to 27 locations across the UK, from Inverness to the south coast.

The solutions had to be both functionally and aesthetically identical to the existing ‘Battleboxes’.

BeaverFit created an improved model to both overcome some structural and installation issues posed by the

previous supplier, as well as match the required aesthetic to allow David Lloyd to maintain consistency across their sites.

Each ‘Battlebox’ comprised of external rigging, rope climbing towers and wall-ball targets, as well as internal storage for accessories and attachments to facilitate the wide variety of ‘Battlebox Classes’ that David Lloyd offer, while keeping all equipment secure and protected from the elements when not in use.

Our solutions have created a ‘stateof-the-art’ outdoor training facility at each location and has allowed David Lloyd to offer their unique ‘Battlebox Classes’ across more sites.

Due to the fast turnaround provided

by BeaverFit, it has helped David Lloyd to stay current with the latest fitness trends and requirements, as well as maintaining their brand image, through offering industry-leading facilities.

Furthermore, it has created a more ‘Covid-safe’ environment for their members, alongside giving them more choice of how they train.

BeaverFit will continue to innovate and dominate the industry in 2022 and look forward to exciting new opportunities as we merge with our sister company – BeaverFit USA, allowing us to bring even more experience and knowledge to our clients, such as David Lloyd.

Leisure trust appoints new trustees INSPIRING healthy lifestyles – a not-forprofit social enterprise and a registered charity – has welcomed five new members to its board of trustees.

IHL delivers a wide range of leisure and cultural services from theatres to parks and arts programmes to leisure centres in the Selby district of Yorkshire and in the Cannock Chase area of Staffordshire.

The new trustees are joining five existing board members to support and deliver IHL’s vision, values, impacts and aims, which are: n To inspire people to choose healthy, active and creative lifestyles. n To provide experiences that empower people to be responsible for their own lives. n To foster a positive and healthy workforce. n To build close relationships with its partner local authorities in the areas it serves. n To build strong partnerships that deliver impact and meet the needs of customers at its arts and leisure facilities.

IHL MD Chris Derbyshire said: “We’ve come through a period of significant change in the last 12-24 months and our first priority is the recovery and rebuilding process post covid, as well as the development and sign off of a new business strategy for the organisation to

really reflect what we want to achieve as a charity over the next three-year period.

“As this is a new chapter for the organisation we want to ensure that we deliver tangible social impact by promoting good health through participation in physical activity, culture and arts across the communities in which we work.

“We also wanted to re-align our board of trustees to make sure it truly represents the geographical areas where we are providing our key service contracts.”

The new trustees – appointed following a rigorous recruitment campaign – met their existing counterparts for the first time at a board development day at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester.

Among them was Pete Burt, IHL’s former MD who retired from his post earlier this year after 17 years.

The other new trustees are: n Rebecca Boocock – head of delivery at Staffordshire-based Codeweavers Ltd, which provides digital finance solutions for 160 of the UK’s top 200 automotive

retailers. She is passionate about leisure, wellbeing and cultural facilities and is a user of the services IHL delivers in Cannock. She is a full member of Women on Boards and the Association for Project Management. n Stephen Gambles – reward, performance and people experience director at Arrow Global PLC, which is a leading European investor and asset manager. He is a commercial HR professional with significant experience of working with executive leadership teams. Based in Staffordshire, he is a volunteer football coach at grass roots level and an advocate of wellbeing services. n Joanne Green – Head of data, insight and evidence at Spurgeons children charity. She has 20 years’ experience working in the charity sector and is passionate about the value, intelligence and opportunity that data offers. She is originally from Cannock Chase and is still based in the West Midlands. n Louise Peace – Head of strategic HR at Barnado’s, where she leads on volunteering. Based in North Yorkshire, she is an advocate for physical activity and its benefits – and runs every morning. She has significant experience in retail having held numerous roles at B&Q and Sainsbury’s.