Issue 127 - 27 January 2023
YOUR REGULAR ONLINE UPDATE FOR THE UK FITNESS SCENE
New gym a smash hit in its first year
– page 3
Donation proves a knockout for Wigan gym
– page 5
IT HAS been 12 months since the new BH Live Active gym opened at Pyramids, Southsea. And city residents have been snapping up the new facilities to help them get active and enjoy better wellbeing.
The team has recorded a successful year, attracting close to 2,000 new members.
And with 70 group exercise classes taking place inside its purpose-built studios every week it’s no surprise there have been more than 120,000 attendances to exercise classes over the last 12 months.
“Pyramids is so much more than a gym. We are a thriving hub at the heart of the community enjoyed by people of all ages and abilities,” said centre manager Sam Roberts.
“We’ve spent a lot of time this year getting out into the community to share the benefits of being regularly active and how we can help those who might not have considered stepping inside our doors before.
“We’ve encouraged customers and staff to take part in fitness challenges who have, through exercise, helped raise much-needed funds and smiles for other local charities including Macmillan, Sudden Cardiac Arrest UK, the British Heart Foundation, Naomi’s House and Jacksplace hospices.”
Over the year the BH Live Active team has supported lots of community events too including the Love Southsea Fitness
Festival, Victorious and Race for Life.
And working with local colleges and education providers, the fitness team is encouraging more young people to get into regular exercise for better physical health and mental well-being.
There are family yoga sessions to promote exercising together.
And for those living with long-term health conditions such as COPD (Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), there are lots of guided sessions at Pyramids to help improve health and manage symptoms. There is an exercise referral scheme which offers discounted access
and there are classes such as low-impact circuits which gives all the benefits of a challenging exercise routine but without the stress on joints.
Sam added: “To enable more people to use the facilities we have worked closely with the council to get free customer parking for 90 minutes, something which wasn’t available before.
“And we also offer free one-day passes so people can come along and see what we’ve got here and try out a gym session and class.
“We are so proud of what has been achieved this year. Our thanks to our
customers who make every day so rewarding, the BH Live team who give care and support to so many people with such enthusiasm, and of course Portsmouth City Council and our community partners, without whom we would not have had such a wonderful facility and encouraging year.”
Pyramids is managed by registered charity BH Live in partnership with Portsmouth City Council.
The new gym facilities were part of a Portsmouth City Council investment to transform the ageing Southsea facilities into a new attraction for community benefit.
Councillor Steve Pitt, Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure, and Economic Development said: “We’re pleased to work in partnership with BH Live to provide the gym facility at Pyramids to support people to live active, healthy lives, in line with our priority to create a happy and healthy city for our residents.”
Over the next 12 months there are plans to grow the facilities and activities at Pyramids further.
BH Live will be launching a new HIIT (high Intensity Interval Training) programme, with new classes in Pyramids’ dedicated HIIT studio.
A new café area with refreshments and hot drinks will open.
And there will be new classes too including Les Mills’ CORE™ and BODYATTACK™, plus more functional fitness and gym classes.
ABSOLUTE Performance, the Cardiff based gym design and installation business, has unveiled a new management structure as it looks to bolster its position as a leading player in the UK market.
Originally established in 2008 by husband and wife team Siân and Tony Buchanan, Absolute Performance has delivered continual growth and is now looking to further the business’ development with the appointment of Harry Tafota-Nash as managing director and Alistair Rosier as head of sales and marketing.
Tony said: “We’re delighted to grow our management team with the addition of Harry and Alistair.
“Both Siân and I are really excited to see what the next period of Absolute
Director of Operations: Dominic Musgrave Tel: 01226 734407 dm@scriptmediagroup.co.uk
Studio manager: Paul Hopkinson ph@scriptmediagroup.co.uk
Assistant studio manager: Scott Firth sf@scriptmediagroup.co.uk
Sales: Tony Barry
Tel: 01226 734605 tb@scriptmediagroup.co.uk
www.workout-uk.co.uk
Performance’s development brings with their experience and knowledge and our support and input.”
The two appointments have been promoted from within the company and add a wealth of business and
management knowledge.
An experienced leisure and fitness sector executive, Harry has been an instrumental part of the Absolute Performance operations team for more than three years.
He is supported by Alistair, who joined the business just over 15 months ago, quickly establishing himself in the UK strength and conditioning market.
The organisation is looking to accelerate growth this year with an ambitious medium and long term strategic plan.
The introduction of an enhanced brand appearance and marketing strategy is the first step towards what the business is determined will be an even brighter future.
FITNESS First turned the so-called ‘most depressing day of the year’, on its head with the return of its annual ‘Red Monday’ campaign.
Fitness First, celebrating 30 years in operation in 2023, has been turning ‘Blue Monday’ Red for a decade, providing everyone in the UK with free entry to its clubs across the nation. This year, to support people with the soaring cost of living, it added an additional incentive, the chance for members to ‘Burn off Your Bills’
Anyone who visited a Fitness First club on January 16 was automatically entered into a prize draw to win a month’s worth of energy, courtesy of Fitness First.
As a result, Fitness First data has shown that collectively, participating clubs saw a 32 per cent increase in customers on Red Monday, compared to
the same day last year, and six per cent compared to the previous week. The campaign successfully encouraged customers around the country to head to their local Fitness First for a free workout; with residential clubs, such as St Albans, Bedford and Milton Keynes, collectively reporting an increase in attendance of 17 per cent on the day.
However, it was Fitness First’s citybased clubs that reported the most encouraging statistics on the back of the campaign.
In recent years, these clubs have been significantly impacted by the pandemic induced exodus from UK cities. Yet, on Red Monday this year Fitness First city clubs reported almost 5,000 club visits, a 78 per cent increase in performance compared to the same time last year.
Head of marketing Anne-Laure
Kujawski said: “Like many businesses, the state of the economy and the soaring cost of all areas of life is having an impact on our customer base.
“However, we recognise that as a fitness operator, we are in a position to offer an antidote to the mental strain that many are feeling at the moment.
“The aim of our annual Red Monday campaign is to provide all with access to facilities to improve their physical and mental health without worrying about financial barriers.
“This year we wanted to supplement this further by offering customers the chance to have their energy bills paid for by Fitness First.
“We are delighted by the impact of this year’s campaign and the results from our city-based clubs are particularly promising for our continued postpandemic recovery.”
WORK has started on-site at a Hereford college which is building a new gym to keep up with growing student numbers.
Hereford Sixth Form College currently has more than 2,000 students on roll, but it said in a planning application for the new building that this number was expected to grow.
The new building, which will be called Thornbury, in line with the college’s tradition of naming buildings after Herefordshire locations, is being built to improve the sport offering at the college.
A design and access statement submitted with the 2018 approved bid for outline planning permission said the new three-storey sports pavilion would create a dance studio to enable more students to be taught together than is currently provided.
It would also create improved changing rooms and a gym for more students and staff to use.
The plan also wouldn’t decrease existing on-site car parking provision or directly lead to an increase in student numbers, but this was expected due to Herefordshire’s demographic projections.
The new building should also provide a high-quality environment that is flexible and able to meet the evolving learning needs of the college, which is among the topachieving sixth forms in the country.
The document also said the building would continue the redevelopment of the college campus, and provide an enhancement to the character and appearance of the Aylestone Hill Conservation Area.
Now, with building work underway, the college said contractor William Powell and Sons is making great progress, with the internal layout now
taking shape.
It also said it was pleased to partner with commercial gym equipment supplier Dyaco UK which will provide a complete gym package for the spacious ground floor fitness studio to cater to all students, including those in sports academies and elite athletes.
“The new fitness studio will house a range of state-of-the-art bespoke fitness equipment, including lifting platforms, a functional indoor track, fixed weight machines and HIIT conditioning equipment,” the college said.
A RETIRED Barnsley businessman has become a TikTok sensation – at the age of 83.
George Sagar, from Wombwell, has become an overnight sensation on the social media app – picking up thousands of likes and followers for his gym routines.
The ‘powerhouse’ hasn’t been into the gym his entire life and was overweight in his 40s.
His son Shaun said: “He says he had been fit in his 20s and early 30s but business pressures and family life meant that by his late 40s he was overweight and very unfit.
“So much so that he was taken to hospital after a heart scare.
“Now 83 and having had replacement knees and hips and open-heart surgery, he still attends the Muscle Factory in Wath three days a week.”
He’s picked up more than 300,000 views on TikTok and he’s now hoping to inspire the next generation.
“In less than three weeks one video alone has had well over 300,000 views,” Shaun added.
“He said he was amazed at the response and now hopes that his regime of positive thinking, eating well and exercise could help inspire other people of all ages.”
To view George’s videos, search GeorgeSagarPowerhouse on TikTok.
THE University of Bristol’s main gym has had almost all of its equipment replaced in a £180,000 facelift. Users of the indoor sports centre can expect new cardio machines, weights machines and free weights. This includes a 30 per cent increase in weight plates and bars, driven by increasing interest in free weight use, particularly among women. The new machines are energy efficient models which will save a minimum of 10kWh of electricity – or 2.33kg in CO2 emissions – per day. This will help the University meet its ambitious carbon targets by 2030.
James Rowntree, group health and fitness manager at the University, said: “We want gym-goers to have access to first rate, modern equipment.
“The old equipment had been well used so we wanted to make the
change in time for the New Year and new semester.
“In the last five years we’ve seen a big increase in people lifting weights,
including many more women which is fantastic to see.
“That’s why we’ve increased our free weights.
“We hope everyone likes the changes and can’t wait to see you all getting stuck in.”
The old equipment will be reconditioned by a specialist company and sent to gyms that cannot afford new kit.
Most changes are like-for-like swaps, but new additions include an arm curl machine and a calf press machine.
In 2018 the indoor sports centre underwent a £4.9m modernisation project that brought in state-of-theart facilities and increased capacity by 30 per cent.
The centre now boasts two gyms; studios for classes; a sports hall; indoor running track and sports medicine clinic.
Students and staff are given discounted membership and it is also open to the public.
TOP BOXING talents and aspiring youngsters at a successful Wigan Borough community club will be fighting fit with the help of a treadmill gifted by Be Well Wigan.
Team Leigh Boxing Club, based at Leigh Boxing and Fitness Gym, took delivery of the running machine from Wigan Council’s leisure service recently.
The donation coincided with a visit from Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, who is also president of the not-for-profit club.
Councillor Chris Ready, portfolio holder for communities and neighbourhoods at Wigan Council, said: “When we heard the club was looking for a treadmill we were only too happy to step in.
“Our Be Well movement is about helping people of all ages from across our borough lead healthier, happier lives – and we’re also proud of the many local community organisations who share our passion for sport, leisure and wellbeing.
“Boxing is a brilliant way for young people to be active and, as well as producing tremendous talents who have gone on to represent their country, Team Leigh Boxing Club do such brilliant work with so many local boys and girls – helping them improve their fitness and develop the determination, discipline and skills to enjoy themselves and be successful in the ring.
“We hope their new treadmill will help the club continue to make such an incredible impact in our
community.”
Products of Team Leigh Boxing Club regularly shine on the national and international stage; including Team GB training squad member Paddy Hewitt – a three-time national champion who won gold in a European competition in North Macedonia last November – and his twin brother Will who has also won three national titles and represented England.
Others to have flown the flag for their country or earned a place on the national talent pathway include Eloise Edwards, Cain Morris, Ethyn Weaver and two-time national champion John
Dugdale.
The gym’s driving focus, however, is on participation – with anyone able to come along each night for a small fee.
Youngsters don’t even have to step into the ring and can instead simply use the club facilities to exercise and meet others in a fun, safe environment.
Adrian Fleming, head coach at Team Leigh Boxing Club, added: “Winning titles is great, but for the past 22 years this club has always been about getting kids off the streets.
“Over the years we’ve had so many parents say that it’s changed their kid’s life – and that’s why we do what
we do. We’re a real community club, and if some of the kids end up being decent boxers on top of that then it’s a bonus.
“The treadmill is really important because our training isn’t all about punching bags, it’s about getting fit as well and this sort of heavy-duty equipment would cost an extortionate amount for a club like ours that mostly relies on subs.
“We’re really grateful to Wigan Council and Be Well for their support.”
The club continues to look for support, including a new kit sponsor, and also has a Crowdfunder page.
