Workout Weekly May 19

WEEKLY

Issue 138 - 19 May 2023

YOUR REGULAR ONLINE UPDATE FOR THE UK FITNESS SCENE

Guidance to support safer spaces for women launched by This Girl Can and ukactive

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Free gym and swim passes offered to people with Parkinson’s

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Club Kingswood embeds InBody 270 device into membership programme

InBody 270 has been fully embraced and integrated at an independent award winning health and fitness club in Essex. For the last 12 months, Club Kingswood has encouraged new and existing members to complete a full body composition scan before embarking on their fitness journey.

The InBody 270 device breaks down an individual’s body composition by providing details on their weight, skeletal muscle mass, body fat percentage and body water levels. Installed at the Club Kingswood premises in Basildon, the device is free for all members to use.

“We always encourage our members to complete an InBody scan when they first join Club Kingswood because it gives a true picture of their fat mass, muscle mass and body water levels,” said Alex Owen, general manager at Club Kingswood.

“With a device on site, our members can regularly track their progress which keeps them motivated and increases the chances of sticking to their fitness goals.

“People often join the gym to lose weight and they’re always a bit disappointed when they jump on the scales and don’t see the weight loss –they tend to give up.

“But, by using an accurate body

composition device that generates its own reports, users can see for themselves how their body has changed.”

Unlike some areas of the fitness industry that are yet to embrace technology, Club Kingswood is ahead of the curve for not only using the InBody device but for also incorporating it into EGYM – the system which delivers a comprehensive workout experience for all members.

“We tried and tested a few different body composition devices and InBody was the best because it was easy to use and we preferred the report it

produced,” added Alex.

“The report isn’t too overly clinical and gives a good overview of a body’s makeup and provides the stats that people are interested in. It’s also fully compatible with our existing members app so everyone can see their reports and progress in one place.”

With almost 3,000 existing members that complete up to 25 scans a day, Club Kingswood has seen first-hand how valuable InBody 270 is within a fitness setting.

“People seem to focus on body fat percentage and while that’s important, InBody gives lots of other measurements

for things they might not be aware of until they have a scan,” said Alex.

“InBody isn’t focused on weight loss, it provides a full body scan and, in all honesty, I don’t know where we’d be without one.

“If you don’t have a device in your gym, I’d definitely recommend making the investment because without one, your members don’t get a true picture of where they are physically at the start of their fitness journey.”

Francesca Cooper-Boden, InBody UK co-director, said: “Club Kingswood has certainly set a great standard for independent gyms. It’s great to see how they’re using the InBody device to help deliver an incredibly valuable membership.

“Our 270 device is fantastic for providing information to help steer and set fitness goals so it’s not surprising to hear it’s being used over and over again at Club Kingswood.

“The fact our software also integrates with EGYM is another bonus for members who can easily see and track their fitness progress.

“We’re pleased to hear the club is having such amazing success with the device and we look forward to continuing working together in the future.”

New leisure centre moves a step closer to completion

MEMBERS of Active Nottingham leisure centres are set to benefit from improvements to their accounts, making bookings and payments easier.

The recent introduction of a new leisure management system at Active Nottingham, part of Nottingham City Council, will offer members more control over their fitness. The new software, provided by Legend, aims to deliver more flexibility, streamline bookings and payments and make it easier for citizens to access leisure centre services. The system will also enable Active Nottingham to gain better insights into its customer base through improved tracking and reporting systems.

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

www.workoutuk.co.uk

John Wileman, head of sport and leisure for Active Nottingham, said: “The introduction of a new leisure management system is an exciting time for Active Nottingham as the improved features will allow residents more flexibility when it comes to managing their account, booking online and via the mobile app.

“Combined with the gym improvement project at Clifton Leisure Centre and Harvey Hadden Sports Village, 2023 is set to be an exciting year for us.”

Implementation of the new system will be rolled out in the near future and further updates will be provided via the Active Nottingham website in the coming weeks.

Leisure centre re-opens after transformation

FARNWORTH Leisure Centre has reopened its doors after a dramatic transformation.

The project to modernise it formed part of the town’s £13.3m regeneration masterplan.

The centre now has a new  exercise studio, an upgraded and bigger  gym area.

The extended gym area includes a range of resistance and cardiovascular Life Fitness equipment, and the group exercise studio will be home to workout classes.

Work at the site has been ongoing since September last year by local construction firm Seddon.

It was funded by the Government’s Future High Streets Fund.

Additional spaces have been created by the removal of a disused multi-use

and welcoming new state-of-the-art

“The car park has been freshly tarmacked and we have new

games area.

A spokesperson for Farnworth Leisure Centre added: “We have enhanced our fitness offering by creating more space, introducing group workout classes,

equipment.

signage on the front.”

The Ken Martin Leisure Centre in Bulwell is one of the sites run by Active.

Guidance to support safer spaces for women launched by This Girl Can and ukactive

SPORT England’s ‘This Girl Can’ campaign and ukactive have released new guidance to help fitness and leisure facilities create safer spaces for women and girls to be active.

The latest initiative from This Girl Can has put the spotlight on the ‘Enjoyment Gap’ experienced by women, with a significant proportion of women reporting safety concerns in its November 2022 survey in relation to exercising in well-lit streets or public spaces alone after dark (65 per cent), non-supervised public facilities (53 per cent), and supervised public facilities (19 per cent).

This in turn contributes to an overall trend of women reportedly enjoying exercise less than men.

Sport England’s Active Lives Survey shows gyms and leisure centres play an essential role in supporting women to be active, finding that more than seven million women had taken part in facilitybased activities, like using exercise machines or indoor swimming, at least twice in the past 28 days.

However, the survey also found that, overall, women’s activity levels remain lower than men’s, growing by only one percentage point last year compared to 2.5 percentage points for men.

Now, a new guide has been produced to help tackle this gender activity gap, called ‘How to make your spaces safer for women: A call to action from the 51’, which aims to address safety concerns experienced by women while getting active.

It builds on the work set out in the previous guide, ‘How to improve your services for women and girls: As told by the 51%’, published in November 2021, by providing practical steps for facilities to help create an environment where women and girls can feel safer and more confident being active.

A mixed-methodology approach including a survey of more than 900 women conducted by Walnut for ukactive and This Girl Can provides the basis of this new guidance, focusing

on women’s experience of sexual harassment and intimidation in fitness and leisure facilities.

While only five per cent of female gym users reported feeling ‘unsafe’ in relation to sexual harassment and intimidation within facilities, four in 10 (42 per cent) women said they have experienced at least one form of sexual harassment or intimidation in their fitness or leisure centre – such as inappropriate comments, staring, or encroachment of personal space.

This almost doubles for those aged 16 to 24, increasing to 83 per cent.

Among those who experienced sexual harassment or intimidation, 76 per cent reported they had changed their behaviour as a result, which varied from changing the time they visited facilities to the way they dressed.

Only around half (55 per cent) of women said that it was clear how to report sexual harassment or intimidation at their fitness or leisure centre, and just a quarter of women who experienced an incidence of this at a fitness or leisure facility reported the behaviour.

More than a third (39 per cent) of incidents were experienced in the weights area.

Research shows that sexual harassment is an issue with prevalence across

society, with 71 per cent of women of all ages having experienced some form of sexual harassment in a public space.

It is important that all industries play their role in tackling this issue, and the new guide and research findings will support fitness facilities to create safer spaces so that more women and girls can confidently reap the benefits of physical activity.

The guidance covers a range of practical advice, including the following areas for fitness and leisure facilities to help women feel safer and more confident:

n Checklists on what a code of conduct should include.

n Advice on how to communicate existing policies, codes of conduct and reporting procedures to members about sexual harassment.

n Details on what reporting processes should include and how to make sure they are easily accessible, so all members know how to report harassment and what to expect from the process.

Marianne Boyle, director of membership and sector development at ukactive, said: “Working with This Girl Can, we continue to seek the views of women so we can support gyms and leisure centres with high quality and reliable insight to ensure women feel

safer and more confident when using these facilities.

“There is already a significant amount of exemplary work taking place across the sector to address what is sadly a societal issue. With this guidance, our aim is to continue this journey of improvement and to increase women’s enjoyment of exercise by fostering an environment where they feel able to report incidents and feel safe in the knowledge that these issues will be taken seriously.

“Any form of harassment in gyms and leisure centres is totally unacceptable and we expect operators to take a zerotolerance approach to sexual harassment and intimidation.

“The fitness and leisure sector is proud of the role it plays in supporting millions of women and girls to be active, and we all want to make sure that every one of them feels as safe and as confident as possible.”

Claire Edwards, head of campaign activation at Sport England, added: “This Girl Can exists so that all women feel they have the opportunity to be active in ways that they love.

“As is shown by our research, however, we know that more can and should be done to stamp out harassment and intimidation and support women in feeling safe when stepping through the doors of gyms and leisure centres.

“In February, we launched ‘This Girl Can With You’, a call-to-arms to sport and activity providers to dismantle the barriers that contribute to the Enjoyment Gap.

“This work is a great example of how we are working with the sector to help tackle the barriers that may prevent women enjoying being active and we are thrilled to be partnering with ukactive to help achieve this.

“Women deserve to get active as much as men – that is why this guidance has the power to play an important role in helping gyms and leisure centres tackle unacceptable behaviour.”

New sound system installed at Temple Park

A NEW cost effective sound system has been installed at Temple Park Leisure Centre thanks to Blaydon Communications Limited.

The Centre needed a sound solution that was easy to use, could deal with a range of audio levels to cater for quiet and busy times, it needed to look good, and didn’t need to cost the earth.

South Tyneside Council, which operates the leisure centre in South Shields, appointed Blaydon Communications Limited to come up with a solution that would benefit all users.

A site survey was completed to make sure the needs of the client were fully understood which enabled the team to get a good understanding of the space to make sure the loudspeaker selection would result in a quality of audio that would make fitness enthusiasts want to be regular visitors.

Carried out by Blaydon’s managing

director,Paul Dougherty he said: “We understand the requirements of most gyms thanks to our experience in this sector.

“There are some gyms you walk into and instantly know that chest compressing bass is what’s needed but this one was a bit different.

“Users range from teenagers to pensioners and the sound system needs to reflect this.

“There was restricted space and low ceilings to consider so the first thing that came to mind was the TOA BS-1030W cabinet speaker, or the universal loudspeaker as it’s widely known.”

The resulting system proposal included a total of nine BS-1030W’s strategically positioned to give a even coverage to all gym members without overpowering any single area.

All cabling was concealed above the suspended ceiling to give the best aesthetic result and loudspeakers were hooked up to a single TOA A-2240DD amplifier which gave more than enough power to the loudspeakers for any level of music.

An audio streaming unit was provided for the source music which runs a bespoke schedule to determine music types based upon the time of day.

New multi-million-pound training environment officially opened at Loughborough University

LOUGHBOROUGH University has officially opened the doors to its new Powerbase gym extension following significant financial investment.

Officially opened by UK Sport CEO Sally Munday, the new facility spans a combined 3,200 m2 , doubling the size of the University’s elite strength and conditioning environment home to Loughborough’s multiple Olympic, Paralympic and world champions.

The world-leading gym space has been equipped with the highest level of training equipment from a variety of sport’s leading gym providers and is fully integrated with the latest technology and training equipment.

The new venue has been developed in collaboration with partners from PLAE, BLKBOX, Life Fitness, Eleiko, Output Sports, VALD and Technogym.

From its outset the facility has been designed to be fully inclusive and accessible, setting new benchmarks in the sector.

Key accessibility designs include entry through new wide access Speed Gates, no raised platforms, increased space around equipment and a single level training environment.

Platform and equipment colour and contrast differentiation has been incorporated throughout to support athletes with visual impairments.

Focus groups with practitioners from national governing bodies, English Institute of Sport and Loughborough Sport has helped to define new accessible rack designs from BLKBOX. These innovations include moving weights to a one level central toaster storage design, wider dip bars and moveable pull up bars – all key

innovations to allow easier access and training for wheelchair users.

The new space includes 46 lifting platforms (combined from both sides of the gym), eight fully instrumented racks and platforms with integrated VALD force plates, Output Sports velocitybased training systems, and the latest in performance analysis technology.

Designed to be a hub for world-leading academic development and athletic achievement, the training space has been created as a robust environment for elite-level sport with the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028 now well on the horizon.

The upper mezzanine of the facility, covering 500m2, is also now home to the University’s Boxing Centre of Excellence and the Athletic Union Boxing club

The state-of-the-art dedicated venue

includes two brand-new boxing rings measuring at 20ft and 14ft respectively.

Jo Simpson, commercial and facilities director for Loughborough Sport, said: “This new facility further enhances the world-leading sporting infrastructure at Loughborough University. We’ve worked with our partners to set a new benchmark for accessible and instrumented training environments.

“Together we have created one of the world’s leading elite strength and conditioning centres. It will enable students, athletes, and squads the opportunity to train together without compromise, whilst creating an important teaching and research environment for our academic ambitions globally.

“Already we are seeing the positive impact of this new facility. With

innovations in accessible training equipment being implemented across our partners networks and longer-term research projects helping to create more accessible training environments across the sector.

“I am incredibly proud of the whole team and our wider network of partners who have worked to create this sector defining facility.”

Professor Nick Jennings, vicechancellor and president of Loughborough University, added: “Today underlines the important role that Loughborough’s facilities play in the UK sport ecosystem.

“Through continual development, innovation, and sector-leading thinking, this incredible new facility will undoubtedly be of great benefit to the future of sport nationwide.

“Not only will this world-leading training environment inspire individual users and campus partners, but it will also provide a long-term impact through both academic research and wider campus inclusivity including our Para sport offer.

“As we look ahead to Paris 2024 and beyond, the whole university community will be immensely proud to see athletes who train within this facility competing on the global stage.”

Powerbase will continue to host Loughborough’s network of 15 performance partners and national governing bodies, including British Weightlifting, NFL Academy, LTA, and the English Institute of Sport.

The University’s wider student body will also benefit from the facility which will be open to all Loughborough Sport gold members.

Free gym and swim passes offered to people with Parkinson’s

FITNESS hubs in Stevenage have launched a free membership offer to people in the local community who are living with Parkinson’s.

Leisure centres run by operator Everyone Active in partnership with Stevenage Borough Council will take part in the new initiative alongside charity Parkinson’s UK. Stevenage Arts and Leisure Centre, Stevenage Swimming Centre and Ridlins Athletics Stadium are set to take part in the scheme.

Now in its second year, the Everyone Active and Parkinson’s UK offer launched in April 2022.

The free membership will provide access to gym, swim and group exercise classes while Synergy Dance online classes are also available. Free carer membership will be available, if needed.

Chris Williams, Everyone Active’s contract manager, said: “We are immensely proud to launch this partnership with Parkinson’s UK and hope it will make a real difference to many people’s lives.

“We want to encourage the whole Parkinson’s community to exercise and

are confident we have an activity for all, no matter what your age, ability or fitness level.

“Being more active will help members to live well with Parkinson’s, improving their physical fitness and mental wellbeing, as well as having fun.”

Parkinson’s is the fastest-growing

neurological condition in the world and there is currently no cure.

It affects around 145,000 people in the UK and there are more than 40 symptoms, from tremor and pain to anxiety.

Being physically active can play an important role in living well with

Parkinson’s. People living with the condition find various activities, from walking to dance, beneficial in managing their symptoms.

Tom Ingram, corporate partnerships manager at Parkinson’s UK, added: “We’re delighted to partner with Everyone Active, who have very generously offered complimentary membership for people living with Parkinson’s and their carers.

“Being physically active is important for everyone. It supports both physical and mental health and depending on what you choose, can provide social support and interaction, all of which can really help people living with Parkinson’s and those providing informal care.

“Developing a regular physical activity habit can make a person feel more in control when living with the condition.

“Quality of life can be enhanced and independence and confidence maintained. We hope that with the support of Everyone Active, the Parkinson’s community can enjoy physical activity and use it to make a real difference to their lives.”