The UK’s No 1 fitness industry magazine April 2014 No 247 £3 Momentum for new North East event growing Excitement building as entries start to come in EXCITEMENT is building for the 2014 National Fitness Awards, with early entries dropping in from clubs hop- ing to win a prestigious award. A widespread range of gyms from Suffolk to Devon and Yorkshire have already sent their nominations in, telling us why they think they deserve to walk away with a trophy this year. The event has also been a hot topic on social media, with Workout’s Facebook and Twitter fans saying how much they are looking for- ward to attending the awards’ evening at The Athena in Leicester. Now in their fifth year, the awards, organised by Script Events in partnership with Workout and headline spon- sor Servicesport, take place on Friday November 28 and recognise excellence and achievement in the fitness industry. Details of this year’s categories, criteria and nom- ination forms can be found on the website www.nation- alfitnessawards.co.uk or keep up to date with the lat- est news on the event by fol- lowing @FitnessAwards on Twitter. London 2012 Paralympic medallist and GLL employ- ee Ben Quilter has set himself an ambitious target; to run the Brighton and London Marathons just one week apart. Ben who retired from competitive judo last year, joined GLL as a disability physical activity and sport development officer in January, and will take up the challenge despite never hav- ing run a race of this length before. He is fundrais- ing for Blatchington Court Trust and the GLL Sports Foundation and said his aim is to raise as much money as possible for the two charities. By Christina Eccles MOMENTUM is gathering for a major new North East based convention, set up by a passionate local instructor who wants to promote a healthy lifestyle to people in her area, while showcasing the northern fitness scene. Project FIT takes place at Northumbria University over two days in November and will include a wide range of classes, equipment, clothing, supplements and products; all of which promote fitness, health and nutrition. The concept was founded by fitness instructor Claire Hanson after she realised she had to travel much further down south to attend other industry events, as there was nothing taking place locally. Claire, who teaches a wide range of classes in the area including Zumba and Fitsteps, also runs an events com- pany – organising fitness residential weekends and smaller masterclasses. She has now taken the plunge to cre- ate something on a bigger scale with her business partner Debra de Luen. She explained: “I attend IFS every year and noticed there is nothing else really up north. “Many fitness conventions are based in the South and the North East seems to be avoided. “I just think it’s time someone did something about it and I have decided that I want to.” Claire added she already has about 20 exhibitors signed up – and is happy to hear from anyone else interested in taking part – as well as securing pre- senters who will be running classes at the event. Interest has also been high from potential visitors – with a dedicated Facebook page already generating more than 1,000 likes – and tickets are set to go on sale on June 1. She added: “I am really passionate about getting people up off the sofa and in to either gyms or community fitness and also I know we have a lot of talent in terms of fitness and want to shout about it. “The interest has been fantastic. I’m so excited for it to happen. “It’s something I have wanted to do for the last two to three years and I thought that if I don’t do it now, either someone else will or I’ll never do it. “I'm not a huge company. I'm just a local instructor wanting to make a dif- ference.”
Transcript
The UK’s No 1 fitness industry magazineApril 2014 No 247 £3
Momentum fornew North Eastevent growing
Excitementbuilding asentries startto come inEXCITEMENT is building forthe 2014 National FitnessAwards, with early entriesdropping in from clubs hop-ing to win a prestigiousaward.
A widespread range ofgyms from Suffolk to Devonand Yorkshire have alreadysent their nominations in,telling us why they thinkthey deserve to walk awaywith a trophy this year.
The event has also been ahot topic on social media,with Workout’s Facebookand Twitter fans saying howmuch they are looking for-ward to attending theawards’ evening at TheAthena in Leicester.
Now in their fifth year, theawards, organised by ScriptEvents in partnership withWorkout and headline spon-sor Servicesport, take placeon Friday November 28 andrecognise excellence andachievement in the fitnessindustry. Details of this year’scategories, criteria and nom-ination forms can be foundon the website www.nation-alfitnessawards.co.uk orkeep up to date with the lat-est news on the event by fol-lowing @FitnessAwards onTwitter.
London 2012 Paralympic medallist and GLL employ-ee Ben Quilter has set himself an ambitious target;to run the Brighton and London Marathons justone week apart. Ben who retired from competitivejudo last year, joined GLL as a disability physicalactivity and sport development officer in January,and will take up the challenge despite never hav-ing run a race of this length before. He is fundrais-ing for Blatchington Court Trust and the GLL SportsFoundation and said his aim is to raise as muchmoney as possible for the two charities.
By Christina Eccles
MOMENTUM is gathering for a majornew North East based convention, setup by a passionate local instructor whowants to promote a healthy lifestyle topeople in her area, while showcasingthe northern fitness scene.
Project FIT takes place atNorthumbria University over two daysin November and will include a widerange of classes, equipment, clothing,supplements and products; all ofwhich promote fitness, health andnutrition.
The concept was founded by fitnessinstructor Claire Hanson after sherealised she had to travel much furtherdown south to attend other industryevents, as there was nothing takingplace locally.
Claire, who teaches a wide range ofclasses in the area including Zumbaand Fitsteps, also runs an events com-pany – organising fitness residentialweekends and smaller masterclasses.
She has now taken the plunge to cre-ate something on a bigger scale withher business partner Debra de Luen.
She explained: “I attend IFS everyyear and noticed there is nothing elsereally up north.
“Many fitness conventions are basedin the South and the North East seemsto be avoided.
“I just think it’s time someone didsomething about it and I have decidedthat I want to.”
Claire added she already has about 20exhibitors signed up – and is happy tohear from anyone else interested intaking part – as well as securing pre-senters who will be running classes atthe event.
Interest has also been high frompotential visitors – with a dedicatedFacebook page already generatingmore than 1,000 likes – and tickets areset to go on sale on June 1.
She added: “I am really passionateabout getting people up off the sofaand in to either gyms or communityfitness and also I know we have a lot oftalent in terms of fitness and want toshout about it.
“The interest has been fantastic. I’mso excited for it to happen.
“It’s something I have wanted to dofor the last two to three years and Ithought that if I don’t do it now, eithersomeone else will or I’ll never do it.
“I'm not a huge company. I'm just alocal instructor wanting to make a dif-ference.”
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02 25/3/14 13:25 Page 1
By Christina Eccles
WORLD Natural Bodybuilding cham-pion Gordie Adam is organising acompetition in Scotland to furtherpromote the discipline north of theborder.
Gordie, who is a full time firefighterand also works part time in aBannatyne’s Health Club in WestLothian, has been a competitive natu-ral bodybuilder for four years.
He decided to stage the show toeducate people about natural body-building and provide a more localplatform for anyone interested incompeting.
He explained: “As the majority of thecompetitions are based in England orAmerica I’m trying to promote it asmuch as I can in Scotland.
“I’ve visited a few high schoolsrecently and spoken to the senior kidsabout diet/nutrition and steroids inorder to educate them that it’s notnecessary to take drugs to be fit andhave a good physique.
“I’ve had a great response from thisand excellent feedback from the PEdepartments about my input.
“To further promote this I amorganising a non profit makingNatural Bodybuilding show inScotland for the United KingdomDrug Free Bodybuilding Association.”
The event will be held at Deans
Community High School inLivingston on May 31 and Gordie toldWorkout he’s received great levels ofinterest from both people who wantto take part and local businesses whoare happy to sponsor or support theshow.
He is also running clinics atBannatynes to help competitors pre-pare, which will help them learn howto pose and diet correctly in the leadup to the event, and hopes to make itan annual event.
He added: “For many people inScotland who have got thefitness/gym bug this will be the pin-nacle of their fat loss goals, allowingthem to get on stage in the best con-dition of their lives.
“I’ve had loads of support from thelocal community and all the localgyms have got behind it; everyonefrom Bannatynes to the smaller inde-pendents and personal trainers.”
Group production editor:Dominic MusgraveTel: 01226 [email protected]
www.workout-uk.co.uk
Official media partner ofukactive
Script Media47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire S70 2AS
Gordie hopesto promotebodybuildingin Scotland
World Natural Bodybuilding champion Gordie Adam.
“As the majority of thecompetitions are based inEngland or America I’mtrying to promote it asmuch as I can inScotland.”
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UK FITNESS SCENE4
By Christina Eccles
A TORQUAY gym has joined the fightagainst childhood obesity by launch-ing sessions for teenagers aged 14 andabove to cater to demand.
Lifestyle Health and Fitness Suite’sJunior Gym provides teenagers withthe opportunity to use its facilities atdesignated time slots during theweek.
The club – located within the RivieraInternational Centre – was previouslyopen to those aged 16 and over, buthas extended the age range who canuse the gym after requests from mem-bers.
Manager Colin Pemberton said:“During the last couple of years, wehave frequently been asked by ourmembers to bring their childrenalong.
“Now, with Junior Gym, we are ableto say yes to an even wider range ofage groups.
“The importance of fitness cannotbe over emphasised and we want toencourage children onto a fit andhealthy path into adulthood.”
All young members will receive aninduction with personal trainer SteveSmith who will design a programmeto suit their age.
They will also benefit from a dis-counted day session of £3 or a month-
ly membership of £17.50. Colin added: “The earlier people get
into a routine of exercising, the betteras they are more likely to stick to it.However it is important thatteenagers are directed to the righttypes of exercise, as their muscles andbones are still developing. This is whyas part of Junior Gym we also want toraise awareness of basic health andfitness knowledge.” � Does your club offer dedicated fit-ness sessions for young people? Howare you bringing this demographicinto your facility? Contact our editori-al team with your stories by [email protected] or via Facebookor Twitter.
Gym joins childhood obesityfight with teenage sessions
“The earlier peopleget into a routineof exercising, thebetter as they aremore likely to stickto it.”
Lifestyle Health and Fitness Suite’s Junior Gym provides teenagers with the opportunity touse its facilities at designated time slots.
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UK FITNESS SCENE 5
THE UK’s first purpose-built indoorparkour centre has been launched inEast London.
The Chainstore Parkour Academy isa collaboration between leadingprovider of parkour facilitiesFreemove and Parkour Generations.
The centre provides a dedicated hubfor parkour activity including dailyclasses, training and certificationcourses, youth academies and park-our holiday camps.
As part of the partnership, Freemovehas supplied the academy with thefirst UK indoor concrete Parkourequipment, which is complementedby a bespoke steel and panelled struc-ture inspired by the materials used in
Freemove’s innovative PortableParkour Range.
Director of Parkour Generations DanEdwardes said: “After weeks of hardwork designing and transforming thespace, we have been able to present afacility which is completely uniqueand truly exciting. The Academy willbe a hub for parkour excellence andhas been built to meet the demandsof a very wide audience – from youngpeople through to older users, andfrom complete beginners through toadvanced parkour practioners.
“It is the first of its kind in the UKand is a space that we are confidentwill continue to help make parkourmore accessible to all.”
Indoor parkour centreopens in East London
The Chainstore Parkour Academy will be a hub for excellence.
Prestigious spa and health club Ragdale Hall has added Fitsteps classes to itstimetable. The dance based classes – created by Strictly Come Dancing professionalsNatalie Lowe and Ian Waite and professional swimmer Mark Foster – take place atthe spa twice a week, with sessions held on Monday and Friday mornings.
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UK FITNESS SCENE6
Leisure centre’sredevelopmentis completedBy Christina Eccles
A POPULAR leisure centre nearSwindon has completed the finalphase of its £800,000 redevelopment –a joint partnership between facilitydevelopment company AllianceLeisure, design and build specialistsCreateability and Physique Sports.
The project included the redevelop-ment of the old gym to create a newreception area and café, as well as therebranding of the site from StrattonLeisure Centre to Grange LeisureCentre.
Alliance Leisure, which specialises infacility development and sales andmarketing support for public sectorleisure sites, has been working withthe leisure centre for four years, grow-ing the membership of its small fit-ness suite from 130 members in 2009to more than 400 in 2013.
As a result, the company wasappointed to deliver the redevelop-ment project, bringing inCreateability, which installed the cen-tre’s original fitness suite as one of itsfirst ever projects 20 years ago, to pro-vide the design and build element.
This time the construction workcomprised knocking through twounder-used squash courts and addinga mezzanine floor to extend the gymto accommodate 1,200 members.Alliance Leisure also continued towork with the Parish Council to boost
membership sales. The new 42-station, 2,230 sq ft fit-
ness suite, kitted out by PhysiqueSports, includes remanufactured LifeFitness Silver 95 series stations, somewith integrated TV screens, and newIFI accredited recline bikes andcrosstrainers from Octane.
The strength area boasts Hoist’s Roc-It ride orientated strength circuit,which adjusts to the movement of theuser simulating a free weights work-out, as well as free weights, kettle bellsand a TRX system.
The sports hall has also beenupgraded with more cost-effectiveLED lighting and a new roof. Newchanging rooms, dedicated to the fit-ness suite, have been built and, in thefinal phase, the reception area wasremodelled to include a café.
In a separate project, a 3G all weath-er pitch has been created at the backof the centre and the centre’s bar areahas also been refurbished.
Centre manager Ian Green said:“The redevelopment was necessary toprovide better facilities for the com-munity. The partnership with AllianceLeisure and Createability has beenboth professional and productive.
“For over 30 years the centre hasoffered an extensive range of servicesand provision but now we have afacility that can provide so muchmore for the people of Stratton StMargaret.”
Stratton Leisure Centre has been rebranded to Grange Leisure Centre.
The Sobell Badminton Club has launched a weekly all girl badminton session. Based atSobell Leisure Centre, which is managed by Aquaterra, Sobella’s is open to girls aged 11-25and takes place on Tuesday nights from 4.30pm to 6pm. Leisure centre general managerDamien Swan said: “Aquaterra have built a strong badminton community at Sobell overthe years with clubs, clinics and pay and play sessions, so it is great that ‘Sobella’s’ hasbeen developed specifically to encourage girls to get involved.” Sobella’s sessions are£2.90 for members and £3.90 for non-members.
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UK FITNESS SCENE8
By Christina Eccles
AWARD winning independent gymRigs Fitness got a taste of the lime-light when it was picked as a filminglocation for popular Sky Sports show,School of Hard Knocks.
The 2014 series of the show, whichfeatures a social inclusion charity andthe work they do using sport to tackleissues surrounding crime, unemploy-ment and health, is based inBirmingham, meaning its productionteam was looking for a local facility to
feature. The team had a club in mindwhich could challenge the individualstaking part physically, as well as giv-ing them an idea of what training inan elite performance facility is allabout and Rigs Fitness – namedNewcomer of the Year at the 2013National Fitness Awards – fitted thebill.
During the day, 25 participants tookpart in a fitness session run by Rigsowner Sam Smith, personal trainerMike Henderson and rugby legendsWill Greenwood and Scott Quinnell.
The SOHK team ran a three-hourhigh intensity interval training ses-sion, which was designed to pushparticipants both physically andmentally and get the individualsworking as one team.
The session was filmed and is to betelevised in the first episode of the2014 series aired later this year.
Sam said: "I'm massively impressedwith the School of Hard Knocks.
“It's a fantastic charity that is reallyhelping people. Here sport is used asa metaphor for life, and teaches all
the participants that when life knocksyou down you have to get back up.I'm a big believer that the disciplineand focus that comes with traininghard towards a goal helps peoplefocus in their lives as well.
“It's also a real buzz to have rugbylegends Will Greenwood and ScottQuinnell train with us at Rigs Fitness,and compliment me on how nice ourset up is. Rigs lends itself very well tothe training needed to excel in allsports so we're always happy to havethe world’s best come and see us."
Gym gets a taste of the limelightGym owner Sam Smith (centre) with rugby legends Scott Quinnell and Will Greenwood (above) and filming the three-hour training session for School of Hard Knocks.
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FITNESS trainer Vicky Martin hasmade a pledge to raise at least £10,000for breast cancer charity Coppafeel!after beating the illness herself for athird time.
Vicky, 38, who was first diagnosedwith breast cancer at the age of 31, isaiming to raise money and awarenessfor the charity by taking part in aseries of fitness events alongside ateam from her Love Life LadiesBootcamp – among them the MiltonKeynes Marathon, Race for Life andStroud Half Marathon.
The first fundraiser they will takepart in will be their own fitness event– Burpees for Boobies – which willinclude a mini class, followed by anoptional burpee challenge.
Vicky said: “Whilst I feel extremelylucky to be alive, my late diagnosis
and treatment have had life changingconsequences for me.
“Treatment for breast cancer is trau-matic for all women but has particu-lar implications for younger premenopausal women.
“The sooner they are diagnosed,often the less treatment is needed andtherefore the less impact it has ontheir life in the short and long term.
“Over the last year I have heard of somany cases of younger women beingdiagnosed at later stages making theirtreatment severe or in some casespalliative.”
Vicky is also writing a blog – Bonkersfor Boobies – about her fitness andfundraising challenges this year.
She is also aiming to compete in theextreme Ironman Triathlon event nextyear.
UK FITNESS SCENE10
Vicky makes charity pledgeafter beating breast cancer
Vicky with the team that completed a recent charity event.
By Christina Eccles
OFFERING small financial incentivesmay make people more likely toadopt a healthier lifestyle, accordingto the results of a study.
A team at Newcastle Universitylooked at 16 previous pieces ofresearch, involving over 30,000 partic-ipants, who were tasked with quittingsmoking or taking up other healthybehaviours, such as physical activityor attending vaccination or screeningsessions.
Financial incentives ranged fromsmall amounts of cash or supermar-ket vouchers to larger amounts ofcash.
In the paper, published in the jour-nal PLOS ONE, the team found thateven small incentives of as little as £3could make people up to 50 per centmore likely to change their behaviour,when compared with usual care or nointervention.
In fact the study, organised by Fuse –the Centre for Translational Researchin Public Health – and funded by theNational Institute of Health Research,found that larger incentives were nomore likely than smaller incentives tobe effective.
Financial penalties for not succeed-ing in the task were also found towork.
With these studies, participants hadto hand over a set amount of moneyand would then get that back as theyfulfilled the requirements of the
healthy behaviour.Currently it is not clear if the effect
works long term, after the rewardshave stopped, or what the idealamount of incentive is.
Newcastle University ResearchAssociate, Dr Emma Giles, lead authorof the study, said: "This was an inter-esting finding and we were surprisedat just how strong the effect was.
“People who took part in thesereward or penalty schemes weremuch more likely to adopt healthybehaviours, and if they continuedthey would have more chance ofremaining healthy for longer.
"Many studies used vouchers forsupermarkets or similar things ratherthan actual cash. This might be amore acceptable way of implement-ing this."
Senior lecturer in public health atNewcastle University and member ofFuse, Dr Jean Adams added: "We weresurprised how few studies we foundwhich had looked at the impact finan-cial incentives can have.
“At this stage we don't know theright level that incentives should beat, so it is not clear if this sort ofscheme would save the NHS andcountry money.
“We try all kinds of techniques to tryto help people to quit smoking or oth-erwise live healthy lives, so why nottry this? It is about nudging people tohealthier behaviours. There is achance this could save the tax payermoney in the long run."
Small financialincentives ‘maymake peoplelive healthier’
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UK FITNESS SCENE12
A GROUP from a Devon independentgym has helped to build a new climb-ing frame for orangutans at PaigntonZoo.
The group of 16 from Winners 2000Fitness in Paignton worked in heavymud to build a new climbing frameon one of the islands used by thegreat apes.
They gave up their free time to helpthe charity, conquering the task three
hours ahead of schedule, and as athank you, were all taken to meet thezoo’s giraffes.
Emily Rogers from Paignton Zoosaid: “They made light work of thehuge task.
“There were more than 20 largewooden poles that needed erecting onthe island and the team workedamazingly well together in very diffi-cult conditions.”
The group from Winners 2000 Fitness gave up their free time and worked in heavy mud.
Operator brings the spiritof Sochi to West LindseyOPERATOR Everyone Active joinedforces with schools in West Lindsey tohost a mini winter Olympics event,designed to celebrate the success ofits Sporting FUNdamentals scheme.
The scheme – which aims toimprove the physical wellbeing ofyoungsters through activity sessionsand exercise and nutrition education– is being funded for two years by theNational Lottery, and is operating inpartnership with West LindseyDistrict Council, Phoenix WeightManagement and Healthy Schools.
300 children from eight local pri-mary schools took part in the event,taking part in modified winterOlympic sports such as bobsleighing,slalom, curling and ski jumping atWest Lindsey Leisure Centre.
Each school competed as a different
nation and took part in opening andclosing ceremonies.
Everyone Active activities andfundraising manager Chris Duncansaid: “Our Sporting FUNdamentalsscheme has proven hugely successful:the children have grown in confi-dence and 70 per cent of those whotook part in the pilot programme sawimprovements in their physical well-being too.
“This has allowed us to continueorganising events such as the miniwinter Olympics. It was fantastic tosee so many children taking part anda great way to celebrate the young-sters’ progress, as well as the successof the scheme. We hope our effortswill encourage even more children tobe active and lead a healthy lifestylegoing forward.”
CIRCUIT based training conceptSpeedflex has announced its expan-sion in the UK and overseas, follow-ing a successful launch last year.
As part of the plans, a new Speedflexcentre is set to open in Leeds nextmonth, while UAE-based hospitalityfirm, JA Resorts and Hotels, has con-firmed it will be bringing the firstglobal Speedflex centre to Dubai inthe spring.
Tapping into the growing trend ofHIIT training and group exercise,Speedflex offers individuals an effec-tive alternative to conventional exer-cise. With an emphasis on motiva-tional group exercise, each 45 minutecircuit based session is led by anexperienced personal trainer andcombines a low impact, high intensi-ty, cardiovascular and resistanceworkout for optimum calorie burn.
Speedflex set to expand
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14
Welcome to WorkOut Weigh In – it’s your chance to have your say and share your views on industryissues. You can email us at [email protected] or you can message us on Facebook or Twitter.
PASSION and commitment to theindustry are key themes for this issueof Workout, with several of the storieswe’ve included this month focusingon people who are working hard tomake a difference and promotehealth and fitness to their wider com-munities.
Starting on the cover, we haveinstructor Claire Hanson who isorganising a two day convention inthe North East after noticing therewere no events of that scale up north,which would promote fitness and ahealthy lifestyle to local people.
Even further north is Scottish body-building champion Gordie Adam whois also looking to promote naturalbodybuilding by staging a competi-tion in his local area. Support frommany of the surrounding gyms ishelping to make this possible and weare looking forward to hearing howboth shows go later in the year.
Another club which is successfullyintegrating itself into the local com-
munity is RigsFitness nearBirmingham.The club wasnamed new-comer of theyear at the2013 NationalFitnessAwards, andwhen I visitedlast year aspart of thejudgingprocess, I wasreallyimpressedwith the effort owner Sam Smith wasputting into making the business asuccess. Since then the gym has gonefrom strength to strength and, as wereport on page 8, will be raising itsprofile even further when it appearson TV show School of Hard Knockslater this year.
It’s always great to see our NFA win-
ning clubs continuing to strive forsuccess after their award wins andwe’re already looking forward to see-ing what this year’s entrants have instore for us.
Speaking of the NFAs, we’ve been sopleased with the feedback we’ve hadsince announcing details of the 2014event. It seems like many of you areas happy as we are to be going back toThe Athena for our awards’ eveningand from the standard of entries wehave received so far, it looks like 2014is going to be another strong year fornominations.
It’s never too early to start thinkingabout your entries for this year and ifyou’re unsure which categories couldbe right for you, our dedicatedawards’ website has all the criteriadetails to help you make your mindup.
Visit www.nationalfitnessawards.co.uk for all the details or keep up todate on our latest news by followingus on Twitter and Facebook.
Editor’s Comment
Follow us on Twitter @WorkOutUK or contact us onFacebook at www.facebook.com/workoutmagazine
@ViamiaUK: Great write up about#Viamia by @ChristinaEccles@WorkOutUK with a mention for@EmperorsYork and@Xercise4Less #job #jobs #recruit-ment
@BrettDSanders: @GymBuzz fea-tured in @WorkOutUK magazineagain
@daldhaliwalPT: I'm featured in thismonth’s leading fitness industrymagazine @WorkOutUK. Thankyou WorkOut mag!
@clubzestfitness: Thank you@WorkOutUK for the write upabout @Fit_Steps here @clubzest-fitness –check out http://www.fit-steps.co.uk for a class near youpeeps!
@SportCheshire: Nice to see coveragefor @BrioLeisure in the latest issueof @WorkOutUK on their Investorsin People status.
@AFNatalie: @WorkOutUK inspiredby #100HappyDays I've started#100fitdays sharing my four minvideos use the hash tag to catch upand RT to #payitforward
@FitnessAwards: We’re excited toreveal that this year's NFAs willtake place at The Athena inLeicester on Friday Nov 28. Get thedate in your diaries!
@AthenaLeicester: Happy toannounce that #AthenaLeicesterwill be hosting the 2014 NationalFitness Awards! @FitnessAwardshope you're ready to party!
This month’stop Tweets...
This month’s hot topic:
This month, we are looking to hear from gyms who are doing their bit for charity... Did you organise
something special for Sport Relief or are there any other good causes you like to support in your club?
Send your answers to [email protected] or contact us via Twitter or Facebook. We’ll print the best responses next issue.
The team from The Core Fitness and Wellbeing Centre are doing their bit to raise funds for Sport Relief.
OVER on our Facebook page thismonth, we have been discussing whatgyms and personal trainers are doingin aid of Sport Relief, as well as shar-ing the excitement about this year’sNational Fitness Awards.
Helen Tite from The Core Fitnessand Wellbeing Centre in Falmouth
told us that the club is running anoutdoor themed fitness festival toraise funds for the charity, whileVictoria Hudson revealed that she isgetting all of her personal trainingclients to run a mile and donating £1for each of them.
Many past NFA winners and finalists
were also pleased to hear about plansfor the 2014 National Fitness Awardsand the event’s return to The Athena.
Carly Richardson said: “Great venue,can't wait!” and Wayne Heath added:“Remember it well. Great location.Looking forward to going back thisyear all the more now.”
Sport Relief and Awards’ excitement
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UK FITNESS SCENE16
A FITNESS fan has devised an innova-tive piece of equipment, designed tomake exercising alone safer.
Cliff Graves from company iicrew,has created the A.L.E.C. Portable Gymafter he spotted a gap in the marketfor a product which would enablepeople to safely work out at home ontheir own.
Cliff said: “I injured myself when Iwas out running and broke my leftshoulder so started to look into saferways to train at home. I came up withthe concept which allows the homelone trainee to work out more safely.ALEC is an acronym “arms legsemphasis core” and aptly describesour product.”
According to Cliff, the benefits ofusing the product include; it is easy todismantle and reassemble, easy totransport and compact, as well asthey key benefit of providing a safeworkout for users.
He added: “I can vouch from per-sonal experience the dangers of train-ing at home without a training part-ner.
“Our system will allow a lone traineewho works out at home completepeace of mind when performingupper and lower body exercises.
“This system is protected via twopatents and we can proudly boast ithas been British Standard safetyequipment tested up to 220 kilos sowill cater for the strongest of athletes.
“The one size fits all shell is ultracomfortable and many exercises suchas squats, lunges, press ups can beperformed whilst using it.”
New equipment to makeexercising at home safer
Cliff Graves and the A.L.E.C. Portable Gym.
James given new roleas Gladstone expandsGLADSTONE Health and Leisure hastaken on a new sales executive tohandle its single-site and smallerchain accounts, as part of changes toits sales and marketing team.
James Phillips has been appointedto the newly created role of internalsales executive at the software com-pany. His main remit is to look afterGladstone’s single-site customers andsmaller chains, giving them a morepersonal service.
He said: “I am particularly lookingforward to making this job my own.As it is a new role, I will have the free-dom and independence to managemy own set of clients and utilise myskills in a productive way. I’m lookingforward to building a strong careerand am very excited to see what thefuture holds at Gladstone.”
In addition to James’ appointment,the company has made some otherchanges to its sales and marketingteam.
Tom Withers, previously head ofsales, has been promoted to sales andmarketing director, and AntonyDavies, who previously looked aftersales for the South West, takes on therole of sales manager, while continu-ing to manage his key accounts.
Tom added: “The move allows me totake full control of sales and market-ing operations, and create a consis-tent approach to client and prospectcommunication. My challenge is toensure we deliver products that meetmarket needs and get customers onboard as early as possible, so that theybenefit from these new developmentsas soon as they’re released.”
The Wetherby People Chase will take place on June 7.
‘Grand National’ ofmuddy races to beheld at racecourseA YORKSHIRE boot camp operatorhas created a new fitness event afterbeing inspired by his members whoentered similar events but were frus-trated by poor facilities and having toqueue at obstacles.
Matt Woods runs Matt Woods BootCamps in Wetherby, Knaresborough,Tadcaster and Boroughbridge and hasbeen involved in the industry for over20 years.
His event – the Wetherby PeopleChase – offers participants the choiceof a 5K or 10K run, crossing a numberof obstacles including a tyre moun-tain and a swamp trek.
The race, which takes place on June7 and will also be raising money forcharity, allows families to enter eitheras teams or individuals, with separate
races for children. Matt hopes up to2,000 people will take part.
He said: "We selected Wetherby RaceCourse because of its great facilities,great viewing of all the course andexcellent course potential – lakes,woodland, fields, as well as the insideof the track itself.”
Matt also plans to attract somecelebrities and sports stars to theevent and hopes it will become anannual fixture, potentially with a win-ter version too.
He added: "These kind of obstaclecourses have become very popular inrecent years as an antidote to thesanitised and pressured lives most ofus live today. Social networking hasalso played an important part inspreading the word.”
RIBBY Hall Village’s Health Club isopening a new sports store thissummer.
The new ACTIVATE store, whichwill replace Sweatshop, will be larg-er in size and situated within the
facility’s award-winning sport andleisure complex.
It will sell a wide range of sport,leisure and lifestyle products andwill be open to the general public,holiday guests and club members.
Sports store to open at health club
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18
A major redevelopment programme has helped a long running Scottish independent gym cement its reputation asthe number one club in the town. Workout found out more about the history of Balbirnie Fitness Centre – and whythe completion of this project will lead to an exciting new chapter.
Balbirnie Fitness Centre in Glenrothes has evolved from being a ‘spit and sawdust’ gym to a club for people of all ages and abilities.
Club attracts wide spectrumfrom the local communityHOUSED in a converted woollen mill,Balbirnie Fitness Centre inGlenrothes, Fife has been a gym forover 30 years; starting life as a ‘spitand sawdust’ strength training facilitybefore evolving into a club whichattracts a wide spectrum of the localcommunity, while still retaining itstraditional heritage.
A place where champions are made,over the years the club has producedthree Mr Universe, two Miss Universeand many Mr Britain, Mr Scotlandand Miss Scotland titles.
But although the gym has alwaysbeen proud of its reputation as a suc-cessful bodybuilding facility, it wasalso keen to move with the times,ensuring it was a place where peopleof all ages and abilities could feel
comfortable working out in.And, according to club manager
Caroline Stewart, the two phase rede-velopment programme has achievedjust that.
She said: “Redeveloping the centrewas part of a whole drive to give thebest we can to each individual user.Regardless of what their passion is ortraining style, the overall aim was togive them excellence and quality.
“Members are delighted at seeingtheir membership reinvested andwe’ve had some really nice com-ments.
“There was a lot of thought from theowner about how they wanted theend product to look and it’s all beenextremely positive.”
Phase one of the club’s redevelop-
ment was the installation of 24 PrecorCV stations in December 2012, tocomplement its 16 spin bikes, whilephase two, which has recently beencompleted, included extending thepremises and redesigning the internallayout to maximise the member expe-rience.
As part of this, an extension wasadded at basement level, increasingoverall floor space by about 20 percent; creating a strength and condi-tioning suite comprising three sepa-rate rooms and housing the latestPrecor kit.
On the first floor is a full range ofresistance equipment, a cardio arenawith 40 stations and a large studio.
Caroline added: “The primary goalof the phase two development was to
create a designer space for ourstrength trainers, inspiring them toachieve their training goals.
“We chose Precor equipmentbecause of the quality and also theextensive range on offer. As well asbeing superbly functional it is alsostylish and looks phenomenal.
“As a private enterprise, to overhaula centre from top to bottom is fairlyunique. We’ve been very hands onand most of the physical work hasbeen done by the owner and staff.
“Now we can put the focus back 100per cent on our members and makesure they develop and can enjoy thenew equipment.
“Our focus is on being excellent andour staff want to be the best – anddeliver the best.”
THE unusual building has been a gymsince 1982 and Caroline added that oneof the secrets of its enduring success hasbeen the unique atmosphere and rap-port built up between members andstaff.
She believes the club has a special‘cafe culture’ where there is always abuzz of conversation and people drop-ping in for the social element of being amember, as well as for their workouts.
She added: “We encourage what wecall ‘Balbirnie Banter’, where membersengage in banter with the staff, whichkeeps it lighthearted.
“Relationships with members isextremely important. With their mem-bership payment, members are buyinginto a feeling from you. If they leave sat-isfied, they are going to keep comingback.”
Atmosphere andunusual buildingpart of success
‘Balbirnie Banter’ is encouraged between members and staff.
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UK FITNESS SCENE20
A cuppa to suit all tastes: maximisingyour facility’s hot beverage offeringsBy John Broad
IT’S fair to say that the days of gymsand leisure facilities serving poorquality tea and coffee out of obliga-tion to its customers, are well andtruly over.
In fact today’s gymgoer is more dis-cerning than ever when it comes tohot beverages.
With vast experience within thisindustry Ringtons Beverages has wit-nessed first-hand a significant shift inconsumer tastes in recent years andexperienced how certain operatorswithin the industry have increasedturnover and profitability by provid-ing gym members with a premiumquality tea and coffee offer nowexpected with their membership.
However, it can be difficult to knowwhere to start when looking to reviewyour current offer.
When it comes to the coffee market,consumer tastes only continue togrow in sophistication, leaningtowards different roasts, tastes andflavours, which is evident in the wayin which coffee is now being boughtand consumed.
Considerations to take into accountwhen selecting a coffee is coffee type.Coffee can be compared to wine inthat beans, like grapes from differentorigins, all have different tastes andflavours. Arabica beans for instance,offer a cleaner and more citrus
flavour whereas Robusta have astrong, earthy and round flavour.
With gym members quite oftenmonitoring caffeine intake it isimportant to be aware that Arabicabeans contain half the caffeine con-tent of Robusta beans. The mix of cof-fee drinks and cup size offered areboth key factors when determiningthe perfect blend for your audience.
Other emerging consumer marketsare the green tea and the fruit andherbal infusions sector – with 2013figures revealing that one in four (25.5per cent) households now buy fruitand herbal infusions. Chinese medi-cine has used green tea for centuriesas it’s renowned for being high inantioxidants while herbal optionssuch as camomile is famous for itscalming properties and peppermintlinked to boosting digestion; makingthem a firm favourite amongst ahealth-conscious gym audience.
In addition more and more peopleare swapping their usual black tea ortraditional coffee for a decaffeinated,or fruit or herbal options at night dueto their caffeine-free nature so theyare often a big-seller in theleisure/gym environment.
Of course there is always going to bedemand for traditional coffee andblack tea, so operators must ensurethis remains a pivotal part of theirofferings and that the quality andfreshness of this is a high priority –
after all tea and coffee can be a greatincome generator and can boost theoverall experience of a customer orvisitor so it’s wise to invest carefullyand provide a good standard of bever-age options.
Whether customers want a simpleblack coffee or a speciality coffeesuch as cappuccino or latte, or even atea or infusions it’s vital that themethod in which tea and coffee ismade available is appropriate to abuilding’s needs and footfall.
Some operators have a full-blowncatering facility with either a tradi-
tional espresso or bean-to-cupmachine, while others only havespace for a self-service solution.
To make sure operators get theequipment that is correct for theirrequirements, customer profile, foot-fall, desired income generation and tomaximise the available space, it isalways advisable to seek expert opin-ion from a third party who specialisein such matters.
Customers today are savvy andknow what they like, many are willingto travel further afield to find a coffeeshop that serves exactly what theylike and who serves it the way theylike it. This presents a prime oppor-tunity for gym and leisure operatorsto gain their share of the market byoffering high quality beverages thatwill keep their audience happy, onsite and spending more money withthem. Look out for the second part ofthe feature next month where thecompany looks at the importance ofbarista training to ensure you makethe most of your beverages offering.� John Broad is barista training anddevelopment manager for RingtonsBeverages, the business-to-businessdivision of British tea and coffee mer-chant Ringtons. John is responsiblefor barista training for clients of the107 year old, family-run business andis passionate about making sureclients have the knowledge to servethe best tea and coffee possible.
John Broad
TOP girl band Little Mix surprisedmembers at a Surrey gym when theypopped in to film their new musicvideo.
The X Factor winners visited DavidLloyd Farnham, where they filmed agym-inspired video for the officialSport Relief single, Word Up.
In the video, the girls are seen caus-ing chaos across a gym, putting a vari-ety of famous sports and entertain-ment stars through their paces in theclub’s gym and sports hall during agroup cycle class and aerobics work-out.
There were also special cameoappearances by celebrities including
gymnast Louis Smith, dancer LouieSpence, rugby player James Haskelland choreographer Arlene Phillips,and David Lloyd Farnham’s indoorpool also features in the video in ascene featuring synchronised swim-mers.
General manager Linden Hensonsaid: “The club was buzzing withexcitement, with smiles all around – itis certainly not every day that ourmembers come for their workout andget to see the UK’s biggest girl bandfilming their new video at their localclub. We are proud to be involved,especially because it’s for such a greatcause.”
Little Mix film video for charity single at gym
Little Mix filmed the video for Word Up at David Lloyd Farnham.
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UK FITNESS SCENE22Advertiser’s announcement
OMNIA from Technogym is the per-fect all-in-one apparatus that pro-vides great functional trainingoptions for all disciplines – such asstrength, resistance, stability, flexibili-ty, coordination and speed.
Flexible and modular in nature, it isideally suited for private training,semi-private training or even smallgroup training.
A centralised unit provides up toeight workout stations that engagethe user in a wide range of functionalmovements while led by an instruc-tor. It is intuitive enough for basic usebut also complex enough to allow forthe most creative and fun experience,all within a small footprint.
Dewsbury Sports Centre, run byKirklees Active, is the latest club tolaunch OMNIA.
To highlight this unique piece of kiton the gym floor, the frame has beenplaced in a dedicated functional areacontaining Pavigym flooring and aunique bespoke lighting and audiosystem that changes according to dif-ferent stages in each group workout.
In order to help Dewsbury SportsCentre’s trainers and members utiliseOMNIA to its full potential,Technogym conducted a full-daytraining workshop with staff to helpthem understand the equipment andformulate programming and content
to suit the needs and preferences ofdifferent member groups.
Following the session, we spokewith Katie Dunford, personal trainerand group exercise co-ordinator atthe centre, to get her thoughts.What did you think about the OmniaTraining Workshop?“I was really excited about the sessionas I have not worked with a trainingframe before. From the training I goteverything I wanted to know aboutOmnia, I got to learn new exercisesand it was really easy to ask theMaster Trainer questions and getideas. “The trainer took us through all theaccessories, gave us ideas on routinesand organising group sessions, andwe got to try everything. I feel reallyconfident that I can go ahead andteach a session effectively now.”
What was the key thing you got fromtoday’s training?“The key thing I got from today is thatI am now 100 per cent confident inevery aspect to promote it and lead atraining session. I am really excited touse it.”
What do you think member response willbe?“I know that when they try it, mem-bers will really love it. It will also be a
great tool to attract different membergroups as well. One of my personalmissions will be to get people fromclasses on to the gym floor on Omnia.
“Helping people experiment ratherthan sticking to what they know willhelp them push their fitness in differ-ent areas and hopefully get morefrom the gym experience in general.”
What are your next steps to make Omniasuccessful?“In the next month I want to get dif-
ferent gym users to interact withOmnia in more group classes to boostthe whole atmosphere and enhancetrainer-member interaction on thegym floor.
“The centre is running expressclasses at peak time for the first twoweeks and we will be running a com-bination of ad hoc as well as pro-grammed 15-minute sessionsthroughout the day to encourageengagement and help members havean enjoyable gym experience.”
Find out more about OMNIA at www.technogym.com/omnia
Technogym and Dewsbury SportsCentre help members get morefrom their workout with OMNIA
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UK FITNESS SCENE 25
SUPER fit couple Carly Thornton andLuke Sandoe have teamed up tolaunch a new business venture.
The pair have created online coach-ing and personal training business –Elite Body and Fitness – after noticinga gap in the market to offer high levelpersonal training to the average gym-goer who wants to further improvetheir health.
Carly explained: “We first had theidea when we saw a lot of individualsthat only really specialised in one par-ticular area whether it be general fit-ness, bodybuilding, contest prep etcand many didn't take on normal peo-ple who just wanted to improve them-selves. Our idea was to put our headstogether and cater to everyone’s
needs. We have bodybuilders, bikiniathletes, cover models but we alsooffer our premium service to theeveryday gymgoer who wants to notonly look and feel good about them-selves but to boost their confidenceand their overall health.
“Between us we have over 15 years’experience and are both fully quali-fied level three personal trainers.
“We’re both well known within theindustry and compete ourselves at ahigh level. We offer monthly pro-grammes, one offs, posing and stagepresentation, contest prep, one-on-one training all with fully customisednutrition, training and supplementa-tion. You name it, I'm sure we canhelp.”
Couple join for new ventureCarly Thornton and Luke Sandoe have launched Elite Body and Fitness.
Community impactcentral to new-lookQuest assessmentBy Christina Eccles
LEISURE providers undertakingindustry quality scheme Quest willnow need to prove they are making adifference in their communities inorder to pass the assessment, follow-ing changes announced at the recentQuest and NBS Conference inLoughborough.
From June this year, the newCommunity Outcomes module will becompulsory for all leisure facilitiesand development teams undergoingQuest Plus, and will look at factorssuch as health education, healthimprovement, populations, commu-nity outreach and partnerships.
A central aim of the new module isto make it easier for leisure providersto demonstrate to local authoritypartners and other stakeholders thatthey offer a solid social return oninvestment.
While most of the areas it coverswere already being assessed underother modules, this will be the firsttime they have been combined undera single umbrella.
Also, unlike some of the previousmodules covering these areas,Community Outcomes will be a coremodule rather than an optional one.
Quest operations director and direc-
tor of Right Directions, which runsthe scheme, Caroline Constantinesaid: “The introduction of theCommunity Outcomes module is asignificant addition to Quest.
“Its goal is to enable managers andstaff to demonstrate the impactthey’re having on the local communi-ty. This may be evidenced in a multi-tude of ways: an improved contribu-tion to health and wellbeing, crimereduction and increased sport partici-pation are just a few examples.
“Leisure facilities have a fundamen-tal role to play in improving the livesof their communities and this modulewill show their commitment.”
In order to make way for theCommunity Outcomes module, twoother core modules – BusinessPlanning and ContinuousImprovement – will be merged toform a new Business Improvementmodule. Meanwhile, the optionalHealth and Wellbeing module will bediscontinued.
Other key changes to the schemeannounced at the conference includethe introduction of an optional mod-ule on Safeguarding Children, devel-oped in partnership with the NSPCC;and the integration of ASA’s swim21accreditation as another optionalmodule.
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UK FITNESS SCENE 27
CELEBRITY trainer Jack Laing hasopened a new studio in Hove, withhelp from functional fitness special-ists Jordan Fitness.
Jack, who has worked with the likesof professional boxer Chris Eubank Jrand model Katie Price, has createdJRL Sports Training to offer a widerange of services including personaltraining, bootcamps, group exerciseclasses and functional fitness for jun-iors; as well as strength and condi-tioning sessions aimed at improvingspecific sporting performances.
The club is also working hard todevelop the professional athletes ofthe future, with equipment from
Jordan, such as Soft Plyo Boxes andresistance tubes, going down wellwith members.
Jack added: “At JRL Sports Trainingwe believe that introducing exerciseto children at an early stage is veryimportant to help with their develop-ment.
“In less than two generations physi-cal activity has dropped by 20 percent in the UK.
“We are working to increase theamount of physical activity young-sters are doing, moving them awayfrom the television and video gameswhich seems to be taking over theyouth of today.”
Chris Eubank Jr
Celebrity trainer Jackopens studio in Hove
A new ladies only gym has opened in Bradford, housed in a restored Grade II listedEdwardian building. The Curve has been opened in the former Manningham Baths, with theclub still maintaining many of its original features, making it a unique space for members.Star Trac has installed a range of state-of-the-art equipment into the gym including E-series CV kit, Spinner NXT bikes and two Steppers. Club manager Helen Moore said: “TheCurve has been designed to act as a safe place for women to work out and socialise in aluxurious environment. I’m confident that the new equipment will inspire our new mem-bers to get fit and stay healthy in 2014 and beyond.”
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UK FITNESS SCENE28
What’s the value of retention?By Dr Paul Bedford
THE worst performing clubs keep 50per cent of their members for lessthan six months, whilst the best per-forming keep their members for morethan 23.5 months. That’s a widerange!
If you own or run a club then hold-ing on to members for as long as pos-sible is a sure fire way to increase rev-enues and decrease pressure on yourbusiness. As an industry we currentlyhold on to 52 per cent of new joinerseach year, which reduces to just 24per cent at the end of two years.
The income generated from reduc-ing the number of cancelations byjust 10 per cent would make it wellworth the effort.
To provide easy examples I will use aclub with 1,000 members. So a clubthat has joined 1,000 new members inthe past two years can expect to lose480 in the first year and another 280in year two, of that original thousand.A total loss of 720 members in twoyears. When members are lost at thisrate the first reaction is to try to sellmore memberships to replace thosethat have left. But investing time andeffort into keeping those you havealready recruited can provide signifi-cant financial benefits.
Let’s have a look at how the num-bers stack up when you increase rev-enue using a targeted retention strat-egy: If you have a club of 1,000 mem-bers and you are charging £35.00 permonth your maximum 12 monthincome per year is £420,000 (1000 x
£35.00 x 12 months) from member-ship fees. Clubs losing members at arate of 50 per cent per year can onlyexpect a membership income of halfthat amount. So that’s £210,000 lostthrough memberships, plus any sec-ondary spend that each of the 50 percent of members who left may havespent within your club.
Tackling this through selling morememberships will replace those youhave lost but you are still losing moremoney, because you haven’t increasedthe revenue per member.
Membership contracts are a methodof securing and/or increasing month-ly revenue. Theoretically at least eachand every 12 month contract shouldreturn £420 per member (see previousarticle for the pros and cons of con-tracts’ effect on retention).
Therefore when you tackle andimprove retention you get moreincome from each member.
The simplest way to illustrate this is
to consider adding one month toeach member life with your club. Sofor every member that traditionallystays just two months they stay threeand those that stay three months stayfour. This can quickly add up to sig-nificant amounts of income.
Using the current industry figuresfrom my white report, increasingmonthly member retention by fiveper cent in our 1,000 member clubwould increase its revenue by morethan £20,000 per year.
So a 10 per cent increase wouldyield an extra £40,000 and 15 per centan extra £60,000. For multi site opera-tors and clubs with more than 1,000members the numbers just continueto increase. An operator with 10 sitesand a total of 25,000 members couldexpect to see an increase in revenueof about £500,000 per year.
So the question is how much wouldyou spend to get an additional£500,000? How much disruptionwould you accept, what new practiceswould you need to incorporate andwhat existing practices would youneed to drop? The next article in thisseries will explain how to identify andthen tackle your specific retentionproblem, and you may not need tospend any money to do it!� Dr Paul Bedford is the fitnessindustry’s leading authority on reten-tion, attrition and customer experi-ence management and the author ofThe National Retention Report. Youcan find out more at www.reten-tionguru.co.uk or by following@guru_paul on Twitter.
Dr Paul Bedford
LEISURE Industry Week has sentout an in depth survey to gaugefeedback from the industry as towhat they want to see at this year’sshow.
Keen to develop and further thesuccess of the show, the results ofthe questionnaire – sent to over58,000 senior buyers, stakeholdersand influencers from the leisureindustry – will be used to ensurethe event addresses the key busi-ness challenges facing leisure oper-ators currently and in the future.
Event director James Samuel said:“As the industry’s leading tradeshow we understand that we can-not stand still. Our offering has toreflect the needs of this fast pacedgrowing industry. It is also impor-tant that we can really offer leisureoperators throughout the UK agenuine return on time, investmentand opportunity when coming toLIW. This is a very exciting time andI’m looking forward to receiving thecompleted surveys and sharingwith the leisure community thefindings and how we will imple-ment this in to the 2014 event.”
Industry’sfeedbacksought byorganiser
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UK FITNESS SCENE30
Kill the monsterwhile it’s tiny ...By Dave Wright
THE old sales analogy of ‘killing themonster while it’s tiny’ is about over-coming a possible objection before itarises and becomes a bigger objec-tion.
This gives you an opportunity toturn what some people may think isan issue into a positive. A quick exam-ple would be if you have a busy gym –so rather than waiting for the end ofthe tour – hit the issue straight on andpoint out that it’s the most populargym in town because people getresults etc.
From a strategic view, killing themonster while it’s tiny or hasn’t evenrisen yet is all about what you offer toyour customers that a potential com-petitor may also provide if theymoved into your territory.
Ask yourself why would a memberwant to move from your club? Is therea new programme that a competitorcould offer?
Is it a perceived lower price andtherefore do you offer a price pointthat may seem as low but is just askeleton membership that has beenstripped down from the services? Itmight not even be from within theindustry, such as a weight loss pro-gramme or a physical activity wear-able technology tracking device.
And as such do you offer the equiva-lent so that you can overcome thatmonster whilst it’s tiny? Either way, nomatter what you do, ask yourself abetter question about what you aredoing.
Even better would be to ask yourexisting members as to why they train
with you and what they would likefrom you. Showing them that theycare is far more productive than reac-tive responses to competition.
I have always said that it is not thebig that eat the small, but rather thefast that eat the slow. So in today’smarket, you must act fast and stayahead of the monsters or it may betoo late. � Dave Wright is the CEO of CFM, aglobal company with offices in theUK, Australia and North America thathas served the international fitnesscommunity for over 24 years; focusingon either getting new membersand/or keeping existing ones. Dave isalso the owner of 11 health clubsacross two continents, a board direc-tor of ukactive, founder of IOU(Independent Operators Unite) andthe creator of the revolutionary indus-try tracking tool MYZONE. He may becontacted on [email protected]
Dave Wright
INDUSTRY supplier Jordan Fitnessis marking its 25th anniversary witha year long celebration of events.
Throughout the year, the compa-ny will be sharing information onits heritage, as well as organising arange of charity events; reinforcingthe Jordan brand and honouring itspast, while also looking towards thefuture.
Founder Neil Jordan said: “As a
business we have worked very hardover the last 25 years to develop a‘can do’ culture, to understand howbest to fulfill our ambitions andgive our customers the best experi-ence we can.
“I believe it’s better to be discreetabout success and ensure we deliv-er on promise; I have grown torealise that it’s the small things thatmake a big difference.”
Events to celebrate 25 years
A FORMER nightclub in Yate, Bristol,has been transformed into a newAnytime Fitness club by franchiseeRobin Drysdale.
Located in the heart of Yate’s mainshopping centre and originally builtin the 1960s as a cinema, the spacehas undergone extensive modernisa-tion and features high ceilings andlots of natural light.
The gym showcases 18 units ofPrecor CV equipment including tread-mills and elliptical crosstrainers, allinstalled with Preva networked fit-ness.
There is also a strength area, as wellas Spinning and exercise studios.
Robin said: “The addition of theAnytime Fitness in Yate increases thespread of my company, TriangleFitness, within the Greater Bristolarea and is an ideal complement toour Anytime Fitness Clifton, BradleyStoke and Cribbs Causeway sites.
“We decided to install Preva net-worked fitness in Yate as we felt it wasimportant to provide state-of-the-artequipment for ease and convenienceof use, and it also defines our offeringto the community as high quality.”
The new Anytime Fitness in Yate.
Franchisee Robin opensgym in former nightclub
FOCUS Training has appointed BenJackson as operations director.
Ben has risen through the ranks atthe Bolton based company, havinginitially joined in 2007 as telephonesupport tutor.
Since then he has gained experienceacross many roles including as anNVQ assessor and most recently asoperations manager.
As part of his new role, Ben willutilise his in-depth knowledge ofcourse content and design to main-tain the company’s reputation fordelivering high quality courses, aswell as to continue to enhance the
company’s rangeof specialistqualifications.
He said: “Thisis an excitingtime at Focusand I am reallylooking forwardto developing anumber of newopportunities.We are planningto introduce more new courses. Inparticular, with our experience, weare very well placed to expand ouroffering of Level Four qualifications.”
Focus appoint new director
Ben Jackson
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UK FITNESS SCENE 32
Cybex UK has launched its new showcase gym in Leicestershire with an invite-only work-out evening. Attended by Cybex clients, staff and friends of the company, the launch nightprovided guests with the opportunity to train and participate in workout demonstrationsrun by Cybex UK master trainer Julia Dalgleish. The event also included a live DJ and wassupported by NRG Fuel, who provided sports nutrition supplements for guests throughoutthe evening.
BRIDLINGTON has become the firsttown in the UK to benefit from anOlympic legacy pool, with nine poolsin total being dismantled and relocat-ed around the country.
The project was carried out by spe-cialist company, Total Swimming,with the legacy pool funded by EastRiding of Yorkshire Council and SportEngland.
The swimming pool will remain atBridlington Sports Centre for twoyears while the £20m redevelopmentof Leisure World, the local leisure cen-tre, is carried out.
The 25-metre temporary pool offerslocal swimmers a way to keep swim-ming during the closure of LeisureWorld during its modernisation pro-gramme.
Sports centre manager AdamMainprize said “We have had a fan-tastic response from people who saythe pool is absolutely brilliant and notwhat they expected.
“It has a constant depth of 1.2mwhich will boost the confidence andsafety of our swimmers. The engi-neering that has gone into the swim-ming pool is phenomenal.”
Bridlington gets firstOlympic legacy pool
The 25-metre temporary pool at Bridlington Sports Centre.
Matrix Fitness supportsOne Big Thing initiativeINDUSTRY supplier Matrix Fitnesshas got behind the One Big Thing ini-tiative, developed by ukactive andBritish Universities and Colleges Sportto engage the student population inphysical activity.
The One Big Thing event, whichtakes place on May 16, requires stu-dents to cover a 5km distance, whileundertaking some form of physicalactivity, which can range from fancy-dress themed runs, and egg-and-spoon racing, to skipping and militarystyle fitness obstacle courses.
With the goal to encourage 50 plusuniversities from across the UK, and
10,000 students to participate in anevent, Matrix Fitness is donating oneof its fitness products to the universitythat attracts the most students.
Managing director Jon Johnstonsaid: “As a company that advocatessupport for physical activity at bothgrassroots and elite level, we alreadysupport the Lotus F1 Junior Team,and the Matrix Fitness – Vulpine rac-ing academy.
“However, our sponsorship of OneBig Thing provides an opportunity tomake a difference to a much widercommunity, and so we are delightedto be involved.”
Companies merge toimprove sector offer LEISURE-net Solutions and DavidMonkhouse Consulting haveannounced a merger of the two com-panies.
The merger is the result of the closeworking partnership forged betweenthe two businesses while workingtogether on Quest, the ukactive Codeof Practice, Flame, BEE – the peer-to-peer and online customer experiencetraining service – and the active-net2014 networking event.
The new company, which will retainthe Leisure-net Solutions name andbrand, will help organisations usecustomer insight to its full capability,assisting them in using tools such asthe National Benchmarking Serviceand Net Promoter Score.
David said: “This is an excellentopportunity for both organisations toimprove the offer we make to the sec-tor.
“I am particularly excited about theability I will now have to support myclients insight needs; as a mergedcompany we will be able to offermany more tools to measure theimpact and outcomes of the changeswe have made.”
Leisure-net Solutions MD Mike Hilladded: “David’s expertise across allaspects of the industry, including gen-
eral and duty management develop-ment, customer experience, healthand safety, operations, leadership andsales training together with changemanagement implementation willallow us to greatly expand the serviceswe offer to the sector.
“Up until now, what we’ve done hasbeen very much about asking thequestions. Now we are able to moveinto suggesting what the answers maybe, and offering training and develop-ment in order to meet our customers’needs.”
David Monkhouse and Mike Hill.
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INDOOR CYCLING AND ROWING34
Concept2 makes debut inthe CrossFit Open eventTHE CrossFit Games begins with theworldwide Open competition.
Everyone in the world is invited tocompete in five workouts over fiveweeks, posting their scores online inreal time.
This year over 200,000 athletes areexpected to take part.
When Open Workout 14.4 wasannounced on March 20, there weremixed feelings among the CrossFitcommunity as, for the first time, theConcept2 Indoor Rower made anappearance.
It was the first component of the14.4 chipper: 60-calorie row, 50 toes-to-bars, 40 wall-ball shots, 30 cleansand 20 muscle-ups, with as manyreps as possible to be completed in 14minutes.
Some were excited to see the rowermake an appearance for the first timein the Open, while others wereshocked to have a new movementintroduced at this stage of the season.
Concept2's Greg Hammond said: “Icould not tell anyone until after theannouncement happened and then Iemailed everyone that it was goingon.
“Concept2 is not a big company andwe have a large percentage ofemployees doing CrossFit now, sobeing a part of the Open means more
to everyone than ever before. We real-ly enjoy playing a part in the CrossFitcommunity."
The CrossFit Games have neverexisted without the rower. In 2007,athletes were required to complete a1,000m row in the first workout.
From that moment, the indoorrower has been a fixture at the Gamesand has been in four of the sevenCrossFit Games to date.
This is the first time, however, thatthe indoor rower has made anappearance in the Open. So why did itsuddenly appear now?
CrossFit Games director DaveCastro added: “There are some move-ments that are staples in determiningand testing fitness. The rower is one
of them.“The trend for the past three years
of Open workouts is that 99.9 per centof all Open submissions are done ataffiliates. In my experience from trav-elling the world and visiting affiliates,almost every affiliate I have ever beento has a Concept2 indoor rower… thetime was right.”
The men's round was won by
CrossFit legend Rich Froning, thewinner of the CrossFit Games for thelast three years, while the UK'sSamantha Briggs came out top in thewomen's event.
She is also the reigning champion,further proof that the indoor rower isone of the best guides to overall fit-ness.
For more on Concept2 visit concept2.co.uk
“In my experience fromtravelling the world andvisiting affiliates, almostevery affiliate I have everbeen to has a Concept2indoor rower… the timewas right.”
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INDOOR CYCLING AND ROWING36
THE health and fitness industry ismoving towards a more data-drivenoffering for members and this is nomore evident over the past 10 yearsthan the transformation of indoorgroup cycling.
Leading the way is Wattbike, theindoor bike developed in associationwith and endorsed by the hugely suc-cessful British Cycling.
The Wattbike helps members tounderstand their own physiologywhile tracking progress in a highlymotivating and engaging environ-ment.
Its scientific development allows PTsto deliver accurate, repeatable andcomparable training and testing to anunrivalled level on the gym floorusing a combination of power, heartrate and cadence.
And it’s in an indoor group environ-ment where this indoor bike reallycomes into its own. Wattbike’s PowerCycling enables members to train at
an optimal intensity based on theircurrent fitness but in a group envi-ronment.
By tracking each member’s key indi-vidual performance variables in real-time on a large screen, the Wattbikeprovides a highly engaging cyclingclass that consistently delivers resultswhich has proven to increase memberretention.
For those competitive members inyour club, Wattbike’s software offersan authentic group racing experienceto match its remarkable feel of ridinga real bike.
Combine this with live pedallingtechnique analysis and it’s not hard tosee why the Wattbike is considered tobe the ultimate indoor training bike.
For more information visitwww.wattbike.com
Wattbike leadstransformationof group cycling
WATERROWER has secured a dealwith Virgin Active, installing 29 of itsmachines across 14 clubs nationwide.
Virgin Active is now the first nation-wide gym chain to invest inWaterRower and the deal follows asuccessful trial of the M1 HiRise row-ing machine at Virgin Active’sChiswick Riverside Club.
Owner of WaterRower Peter King
said: “At WaterRower we pride our-selves in building the highest specifi-cation machines that deliver a uniquerowing experience.
“When gyms invest in our machines,they also receive full training for staffmembers and regular maintenancevisits, and we regularly engage withgym members to help promote thenew equipment.”
WaterRower lands Virgin Active deal
VALE Farm Sports Centre has com-pleted a £1.7m refurbishment tomodernise and improve facilities,with changes including the develop-ment of a dedicated group cyclingstudio.
Work started at the club lastNovember when Everyone Activetook over management of the centrein partnership with Brent Council.
The main gym now offers 103exercise stations, including PowerPlate machines, Wattbikes, TrixterXdream bikes and Precor equip-ment, as well as a dedicated func-tional training area.
The centre has also benefited fromthe development of a new dancestudio and the group cycling studio,complete with 19 Keiser bikes, withthe additional space enabling thegroup exercise programme to beextended to over 50 classes perweek. Other improvements includenew accessible changing rooms and
a Target Group Gym to host specificsessions such as GP referral andrehabilitation patients.
Everyone Active contract managerMark Leahy said: “Re-investment isone of our core principles and weare thrilled with the modernisationand improvements made.
“The redevelopment will offer agreater range of affordable activitiesfor the local community and theinstallation of the TargetPopulations Gym and the IFIaccredited equipment, along withthe more accessible changingrooms, will assist in encouragingmore members of the communityto come and get active.”
To celebrate the completion of theredevelopment, Everyone Activeheld a free open day for the localcommunity, hosted by Olympicswimmer and sports presenter SteveParry and attended by Saracensrugby player Nathan Earl.
Centre’s refurb completedThe new group cycling studio has 19 Keiser bikes.
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INDOOR CYCLING AND ROWING 37
AT Fitness Warehouse we specialise inproviding quality commercial gymequipment at affordable prices.
Our range of gym gear, cardiovascu-lar and strength equipment togetherwith our wide range of accessoriesmeans we can supply both large andsmaller gyms with new equipment atamazing value without compromisingon quality.
Being limited to second hand andrefurbished equipment is a thing ofthe past, with Fitness Warehouse youcan afford new equipment that makesyour gym look great and comes withwarranty for peace of mind.
Our continuing growth and linkswith top gym chains has led to the
introduction of some new innovativeproducts like the M Sport Plus indoorcycle, and the expansion of our plateloaded strength range.
Many of our clients have benefittedfrom trading in their old equipmentto reduce the cost of purchasing newequipment.
The ability to spread the cost of newequipment over a few years throughthe various finance options hasproved popular.
If you like what you hear get intouch by phone, email or call into ourshowroom.
A HARROGATE independent gymhas installed the first KeiserEnvironments site in the UK, trans-forming a dark office space into astudio for its indoor cycling classes.
The Academy Health Club hasinstalled the concept, which allowsclubs to update their surroundingsin a quick and cost effective way,using a range of images, lightingand sound.
National sales director at KeiserUK Gary Oleinik said: “By workingclosely with The Academy, usingthe Keiser Environments ‘template’,bespoke artwork with an atmos-pheric sports style silhouette wasdesigned for the curved back wallof the studio. This has created astunning backdrop for their cyclingclasses.
“In addition, the KeiserEnvironments’ image library of
‘Warm Styles’ was used to createwindow graphics to partially screenthe studio from outside.
“The client’s corporate ID, ‘EnergyStudio’, was also reinforced by cre-ating etch effect vinyls for the stu-dio’s double entrance doors.”
The Academy also purchased 15Keiser M3 Bikes for the new studio,which opened in January.
Managing director PhilippaShackleton added: “By using KeiserEnvironments we have created anew dedicated cycling studio whichnot only looks great but is also atruly motivational space for ourcycling classes.
“The new Keiser Energy Studiohas enabled us to increase thenumber of Keiser Cycle classes, aswell as improving the timings of allour classes to better suit our mem-bers.”
Keiser Environments turngym’s office space intoan indoor cycling studio
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UK FITNESS SCENE38
Supply exceeds demand.But not for long …By Mark Laws, Jordan Fitness
ONLY a few months ago certain fig-ures within the industry were suggest-ing that 'functional' fitness was mere-ly a fad that would fizzle out and dis-appear.
As you may or may not be aware,GYMetrix have recently revealed fig-ures demonstrating that 'functional'spaces are not quite as popular asanticipated.
We are seeing many gyms buyinginto it and installing functional areas,but GYMetrix's founder goes as far asstating that 'when gyms first put themin, the demand is zero. It's a pushtrend, not a pull trend, and it won'tgrow without intervention.'
I am a huge fan of functional areasso when I first read this report I dis-agreed, but on reflection this is actu-ally a very good point.
Functional fitness is definitely apush trend rather than a pull trend.Masses of gym members are not beg-ging for these areas because on thewhole they just don't understand thedifference between one style of train-ing or another.
Therefore the leaders within theindustry have no choice but to pushthe trend upon people rather thanwaiting for the demand. The demandwill never come until the general pub-
lic understand what they actuallyneed, as oppose to what they want.
Implementing change is a difficultthing, especially as human beingstend to like simple tasks that they cando on auto-pilot, so introducing anew method of training that involvesthinking is going to be tough – but ifyour team can do the thinking forthem then that is part of the problemsolved.The key to effectively increas-ing the demand comes down to staffintervention. It is absolutely impera-tive that fitness professionals are con-tinuously upskilling themselves in the
relevant areas. Attending courses and learning from
'experts' will give gym instructors andpersonal trainers the tools to explainto members WHY functional fitnessmethods are more advantageous andteach them HOW they can takeadvantage of these spaces.
Once a functional area is installedthe staff have to encourage use of thespace. This can be done throughinductions, small group sessions, gymfloor classes, posters, social mediaposts etc.
If your staff aren't confident enoughto do this then contact me to arrangea Functional Fitness Workshop ASAP([email protected]) andyou can ensure that your investmenton functional equipment has notbeen wasted, and more importantlyyou can make a healthy return onyour investment
As experts and industry leaders wemay be 'pushing' this trend uponpeople, but it's only because we knowbest – what’s best for the member andthe facility owner.
This isn't the first time that a prod-uct has been 'pushed' by innovatorswho foresee a brighter future for usall. Henry Ford famously said that ifhe asked people what they neededthey would have replied – "fasterhorses". I rest my case.
Mark Laws
Tim Hicks
SHEFFIELD leisure centre man-ager Tim Hicks has become thenew regional chair of CIMSPAYorkshire and Humber region.
Tim, who is general manager ofHillsborough Leisure Centre andConcord Sports Centre, takes overfrom outgoing chair LorenzoClark who is director of opera-tions for Sheffield InternationalVenues, which operatesHillsborough and Concord.
Tim said: “I’m extremely proudto have been elected to such ahigh profile position.
“As chair, I’m keen to ensureboth the board and myself engagepersonally and communicatedirectly with the region’s mem-bers, so we can deliver the highquality events, networking oppor-tunities and a valued CPD pro-gram.”
Top role forHillsboroughcentre boss
PAYASUGYM.COM has appointedGraeme Horne to oversee all ofthe company’s marketing activi-ties.
Graeme was previously chiefmarketing officer at hungry-house.co.uk and said he is reallylooking forward to the challengeof helping build PayasUgym intoa nationally recognised brand.
He added: “As soon as I heardthe name PayasUgym I justthought ‘Wow, what a brilliantidea!’ We offer a clear benefit toconsumers – allowing people tobuild a fitness regime aroundtheir own lifestyle and goals –and for the gyms we send trialiststhrough their doors who can beupsold in a low-pressure way…
The team have created a win-win-win situation, and that’s agreat sign for the success of thismarketplace.”
Graeme joinsPayasUgym
STAFF members from Bath Sportsand Leisure Centre have completedthe Bath Half Marathon to raise fundsfor charity.
The team took part in the race togenerate funds for Mencap, whichruns weekly swimming, games and
exercise sessions at the leisure centrefor people with a learning disability
General manager Barnaby Rich said:“Six runners from Bath Sports andLeisure Centre raised money forMencap which is a great cause andone close to our heart at BSLC.
“I want to say a big thank you andcongratulations to the girls and guysthat participated in the Bath HalfMarathon. I am proud of the effortsyou all put in to raise money and forshowing our company, site and staffin such a positive light!”
Centre staff complete half marathon for charityLiam White from Bath Sports and Leisure Centre runs the Bath Half Marathon.
Co founder Neil Harmsworth andGraeme Horne.
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39 Power Plate 25/3/14 14:13 Page 1
PERFORMANCE Health Systems haslaunched an improved design of itscolumn-free Power Plate pro5 HighPerformance vibration trainingmachine to give elite athletes, profes-sional sports teams and functionaltraining studios a competitive edge.
With no column, the Power Platepro5 HP allows 360 degrees of motionaround the plate surface to facilitateintegration with other training equip-ment, such as a squat rack, ViPR andKettlebells.
This allows users to maximise theeffects of a full range of static, dynam-ic and plyometric exercises on thePower Plate.
Other improvements include a larg-er platform, improved suspensionand a remote control to adjust set-tings without interrupting the work-out. For mobile trainers and coaches,the travel case makes light work oftransportation.
More than 100 professional sportsteams and Olympic training facilitiesworldwide use Power Plate to
enhance their training programmes. Elite athletes including four-time
world champion cyclist SarahHammer, golfer Lee Westwood andtennis stars Serena Williams andRafael Nadal are all known to usePower Plate as part of their trainingregimes.
Gyms and health clubs with promis-ing amateur and professional athletescan also enjoy the benefits of thePower Plate pro5 HP which launchedat FIBO and is now available in theUK.
For more information visit www.powerplate.co.uk
DUTCH company VibroGymInternational has just unveiled theirnew “Evolution” in vibration trainingat this year’s FIBO Tradeshow inCologne.
VibroGym has always been a brandthat excels in superior performanceand durability.
Top executive Guus van der Meer(founder of Power Plate) and his busi-ness partner, Jelte Templaars, havedeveloped and launched the VGEvolution, a cutting edge trainingdevice with smart applications, alongwith a brand new corporate identityfor the company.
Manufactured in the Netherlands,the newly designed VG Evolution isbuilt from precision cast aluminiumproviding strength, quality and a per-fectly harmonious vibration acrossthe whole surface of the plate.
The VG Evolution offers CardioColour Control.
This major innovation is the world’sfirst and only integrated software ofits kind on any type of fitness equip-ment.
Whilst wearing a Bluetooth heartbelt, the software accurately monitorstraining intensity and displays it incolour.
It’s based on Heart Rate Variability –the time difference between peaks inthe ECG of consecutive heart beats.
This is much more precise thanHeart Rate Frequency monitoringwhich can be strongly influenced byfactors such as stress, coffee con-sumption, infections, sleep patternsetc. Therefore it ensures that youalways train in the right zone toachieve the results you want.
Other new features include vibrationgrips for upper body training.
Historically, upper body devices ona vibration machine never fully trans-ferred the effect through the muscles.
However, VibroGym’s electricalvibrating handles connected to themachine make it possible to progres-sively and effectively train the upperbody leading to quick results in lesstime than traditional training meth-ods.
Also new is the integrated tablettraining software. The user interfacewas developed by a London graphicdesigner in collaboration with aDutch company specialising in appli-cation communications.
The result is an incredibly userfriendly, highly intuitive and immedi-ately accessible touch screen for allusers and offering hundreds of exer-cise videos and programme choices.
David Morrell, managing director ofReact Fitness Ltd, exclusive UK dis-tributors of VibroGym, said: “Theseinnovations will place VibroGym firm-ly at the top of people’s wish list whenprocuring vibration training devicesand enforces our position as Europe’smost wanted vibration equipment.
“Watch this space for some furthermajor innovations and research proj-ects later this year.” For more information contact React Fitness
VibroGym’s ‘Evolution’cutting edge trainingdevice debuts at FIBO
New Pro5 HP givesathletes the edge
By Christina Eccles
HARTHAM Leisure Centre has beenmaking the most of its Power Platesby holding group training sessions onthe kit and including them in induc-tions, ensuring members fully under-stand the benefits of vibration train-ing.
The facility has had Power Plates inthe gym for nearly five years since itsrefurbishment in 2009. The machinesused to be in a dedicated room butsince moving them to the main gymarea, their use has increased signifi-cantly.
By grouping the six Power Plates intwo rows of three, back to back, staffcan instruct group sessions, whichhave proved very popular.
Everyone Active fitness manager atHartham Leisure Centre Ian Ling said:“We actively train people on PowerPlate and include it in all our induc-tion programmes.
“People don’t necessarily under-stand vibration training or how the
machine works so it’s important togive them a short induction on PowerPlate. Once people realise what it cando, they are eager to give it a go.
“Our Power Plate machines are bythe functional area alongside the TRXframe. There are resistance machinesalongside and free weights withinreach for those who want to useweights on the plate.
“Our Power Plate workshop sessionslast 25 minutes and we run four aweek – one in the morning and threein the evening. Members really enjoythese and we usually have all thePower Plates in use at each session.
“The incentive to use a Power Platecomes from our instructors. Ourtrainers will talk to people in the gymand suggest, for example, if they’redoing static squats that they couldgain more benefit from doing theseon the Power Plate.
“Once people try the Power Plateand understand how it works, theyare likely to incorporate it in theirprogramme.”
Leisure centremakes most ofPower Plates
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UK FITNESS SCENE42
A NEW smartphone app has beenlaunched, which has been designedto help operators stay better connect-ed to their customers and boostonline transactions.
The app can be customised,enabling operators to add any num-ber of information pages to markettheir site to prospective members, aswell as update existing members onnews, promotions and new activitiesand facilities on offer.
MobilePro also allows customers tobook and pay on the go on any typeof smartphone and interacts withGladstone’s Plus2 LeisureManagement System in real-time so
that members receive all their usualpricing and booking benefits.
Sales and marketing director atGladstone Tom Withers said: “Wethink the smartphone might just bethe most powerful sales and servicetool available to support today’s for-ward thinking leisure operator.
“As well as a great communicationtool with voice, text and email in yourpocket, a member’s smartphone isboth a social media portal and amobile shopping basket.
“With this in mind we createdMobilePro to help you stay connectedto your customers and let them pur-chase on the move.”
App helps operators stayconnected with customers
MobilePro allows customers to book and pay on the go.
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UK FITNESS SCENE 43
The newly reopened London Aquatics Centre.
Four GLL-run pools named in London’s top fiveOPERATOR GLL is celebrating afterfour of its swimming pools werenamed in a list of London’s top five.
The four GLL-run venues named inthe Evening Standard are the newlyreopened London Aquatics Centre;Crystal Palace National Sports Centre;Marshall Street Baths and the LondonFields Lido.
The fifth venue mentioned in thepoll was The Berkeley, a privately-runroof top pool in West London.
Managing director of GLL MarkSesnan said, “It’s fantastic news thatfour out of five of the best pools in thepoll are operated by us, and it’s a tes-tament to the hard work that every-one puts into running our top class
facilities. As a non-profit organisa-tion, we are committed to investingback into the facilities that we oper-ate. This ensures that local communi-ties will benefit from the best swim-ming experience at an affordableprice, and to a quality comparablewith privately run facilities such asThe Berkeley.”
By Christina Eccles
CLUBBING fans will now be able todance their way to fitness with thenationwide launch of a new exerciseconcept.
Led by qualified instructors, witheasy-to-follow fun and motivatingdance routines, Clubbercise partici-pants work out in a darkened roomwith disco lighting to their favouriteclub tracks from the 90’s right throughto today’s chart hits.
Sessions offer individuals an uplift-ing cardio workout to enhance calorieburn and tone and shape.
Co-creator and managing directorClaire Green said: “We wanted to cre-ate a dance fitness class that peoplewould enjoy just as much as going toa club at the weekend, dancing to themusic that they love with the associ-ated endorphins and euphoria.
“Many people don’t get to go club-bing as much as they might like todue to work and family commitmentsso we’re bringing the nightclubatmosphere to their workout instead.
“It seemed an obvious addition tocreate a nightclub atmosphere withdisco lighting for the class to takeplace in which gives people the confi-dence to really let go.
“Glow sticks were introduced as afun element for the 90’s tracks, but itwas soon realised they only added tothe full body workout, and so were
incorporated into every routine.”The Clubbercise training course
provides fitness professionals with sixREPs CPD points as they learn how toteach and promote their own classes.
The course consists of a Clubbercisemaster class, a brand presentationwith strategic marketing informationand practical training for teachingchoreographed Clubbercise routines.
Further marketing support is avail-able for qualified instructors via anInstructor VIP Area on theClubbercise website, which is updat-ed regularly with support and adviceon increasing customer base, andmember retention.
Claire added: “As a new trainingprovider it’s important that we areaffiliated with REPs as it showsinstructors that we adhere to a highstandard of quality and teachingpractices.
“With high demand from the publicfor classes – an average of 100enquiries per week – accompanied bydozens of instructor enquiries we’ll beholding regular training coursesthroughout the UK in 2014.”
Clubbercise has also recently part-nered with Oxfam, so every time anew instructor signs up, a donation ismade to the charity.
New concept lets clubbersdance their way to fitness
“We wanted to createa dance fitness classthat people wouldenjoy just as much asgoing to a club at theweekend ...”
Clubbercise participants work out to theirfavourite club tracks.
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UK FITNESS SCENE44
Understand yourcurrent membersto find new onesTHE daily challenge for every gymowner is to sell new membershipsand retain the existing members inthe club.
As an industry we are always lookingto retain members for longer, which iskey to the club’s ongoing monthlyincome.
How often do we take the time tounderstand how we are going to gen-erate the next enquiry? Do we ever getthe time in a busy day to take a closerlook at what type of person is morelikely to be interested in joining yourclub? Do you know how to reach-outand target the people that will joinyour gym?
The easy and most successful way isto be able to gather data about exist-ing members who love your club.
You can then build up member pro-files so you know who to target.
What does that mean to your club?Member age groups, where they live,gender, their routines, peak and off-peak access, membership options andpromotions are all examples. How canyou combine these to maximise foot-fall and increase attendance of theclub?
Thinking about the budget lastmonth and the news surrounding it:pensioners will have more freedomwith their retirement savings meaningthose people that are due to retire willhave more money spend.
So is your club in a position to takeadvantage of this potential newdemographic?
It should be easy to get your mem-ber data to work for you. By betterunderstanding their current membersbetter our users find data like thisinvaluable to grow their business andI hope you can too.
“We pride ourselves on providingindustry-leading, affordable solutionsthat allow gym owners to grow theirbusinesses”
To find out more contact Wayne atClubManager. Call 01245 807 360, visit
THE team behind a new gym nearBolton have been using the tech-niques they learnt in the military tooffer members a different way oftraining.
BodyTORQ Personal Training andPhysical Performance Centre inWesthoughton has been set up by exarmy physical training instructors LeeHill and Mike Jackson.
The pair are aiming to bring some-thing different to the area with theircircuit training concept, a routinewhich rotates through a series of sta-tions combining aerobic, core andweight training exercises, and takes
inspiration from army physical train-ing sessions. The club, which hasbeen kitted out by Fitness Systems,has got off to a successful start andMike said for the coming months,they are hoping to add more sessionson to the timetable, with the aim ofincreasing footfall in quieter times.
He added: “We are now trying topush things forward and put morecircuit sessions on.
“Mornings and evenings are ourbusiest times so we are starting day-time circuits for parents, which theycan come to after they have droppedthe kids off at school.”
Gym uses military techniques
Do what we are built to dowith The Primal Kitchen THE key premise of the paleo lifestyleis eating the foods our bodies weredesigned to eat for thousands andthousands of years of evolution.
70 per cent of our calories comefrom foods we wouldn’t normallyhave consumed. We humans ate realfoods which were hunted and gath-ered in their natural state (meat, fish,vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds).
Then came advances in moderntechnology, and we made other formsof foods (grains, dairy, processed andnow GM foods), which are not easyfor our bodies to digest and handleand are the leading causes of many ofour modern day diseases.
The Primal Kitchen evolved out ofnutritionist Suzie Walker’s vision tomake the paleo lifestyle easier andmore accessible for everyone.
The Primal Kitchen’s purpose is toprovide a range of tasty nutritiousfoods, which fully complement apaleo lifestyle, free of any grains,dairy, refined sugars and vegetableoils and always made with 100 percent natural ingredients.
Having adopted a paleo (cave man)lifestyle many of Suzie’s clients strug-gled to find healthy on the go snacks,
that were free of any grains, addedsugars and vegetable oils.
They wanted something that wouldfuel their workouts, feed their kids orjust to have handy while out andabout. With some nuts, somecoconut, a blender and a clientele ofeager tasters she embarked on mak-ing her own paleo bars.
The response was extremely posi-tive, and so begins the story of ThePrimal Kitchen.
THE most awe-inspiring and moti-vational fitness weekend of the yearis gearing up for its sixth instalmentin May – and is set to be the biggestand best show yet.
Set to welcome over 60,000 visi-tors, BodyPower caters for the entirescale of fitness enthusiasts, rangingfrom hardcore fitness fanaticsthrough to people interested in los-ing weight or getting into shape.
BodyPower will occupy four hallsat the NEC for a three day spectacleof fitness focused fun.
The programme consists of a hostof interactive feature areas to getboth the body and the mind work-ing. Visitors will also have access toover 250 health and fitness brandsin the extensive exhibition and
there will be a wealth of informa-tion, freebies, offers and competi-tions available to soak up.
Director and show co-founderOllie Upton said: “BodyPower hasnow grown into the UK’s staple fit-ness expo. We have gone to extraor-dinary lengths to ensure all visitors;consumer and trade, have a reasonto attend.
“We have increased the floorspace, added some fantastic newfeature areas and lined up somegreat special guests to appear.BodyPower 2014 can’t come quickenough.” Tickets for BodyPower 2014 are available
from £19.95. Book now atwww.bodypowerexpo.co.uk
or call 0844 338 8000.
Expo expects recordnumber of visitors
Suzie Walker
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SUPPLEMENTATION AND NUTRITION46
KINETICA has secured an exclusivedeal with LivingWell Health Clubs tostock its sports nutrition product linesacross 48 clubs nationwide.
The partnership will showcaseKinetica’s full product range, with anemphasis on convenience productsfor gym and hotel guests.
Kinetica brand manager HugoYoungman said: “We are delighted to
align our brand with a highly rep-utable health club that champions thesame values as we do.
“Like Kinetica, the LivingWell namebrings the reassurance of quality andexcellent service. This partnership willenable us to market our range ofquality sports and fitness supple-ments directly to club members tohelp enhance their training goals.”
LivingWell to stock Kinetica range
Fitness and nutrition experts BodyFire have appointed two new recruits to the team, ledby professional rugby player James Haskell. Shane Rutherford (left) and David Arnot willboth be working to create bespoke training and nutritional plans and fitness packages forthe company. They will also run the BodyFire training sessions. James said: “Shane andDavid epitomise the BodyFire core beliefs; training and nutrition should be simple, fun andaccessible to all. Together we will be combining our knowledge and experience to offerthe best advice to customers.”
LEADING nutrition and supplementscompany Deluxe Nutrition haslaunched a nationwide drive toincrease awareness of the role whichsupplements can play in a healthylifestyle.
The company wants to educate peo-ple that supplements can be used byeveryone, not just serious athletes orthose who want to gain or loseweight, promoting them as a positiveaddition to a healthy diet.
Matt Hickman from DeluxeNutrition said: “Anyone can take sup-plements as part of a healthy diet,they don’t have to be in training.
“We know of lots of people who take
supplements to help with healthissues, or simply just to make surethey stay healthy and their body getswhat it needs to function properly.
“Of course supplements are essen-tial for those who do serious exerciseand who are trying to get the most outof their bodies, but we want to takeaway the stigma associated with themand educate people that they can be ahealthy choice.
“We’re going to be asking a cross-section of our customers and the gen-eral population to tell us about theiruse of supplements and how it affectstheir lives for the better and we’ll bepublicising the results.”
Drive to raise awareness
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SUPPLEMENTATION AND NUTRITION48
MiTonics personalisednutrition shakes –helping gyms stand outMITONICS personalised recoveryshake machines are helping gymsstand out from their competition.
Using unique technology to tailorthe protein recovery to the individ-ual’s lean body mass and traininggoals, the MiTonics machine acts as anutrition hub within the gym ratherthan just selling low quality ready todrink products. Gyms with theMiTonics machine installed havenoticed increases in personal trainingengagement, interest in body compo-sition leading to an increased take upof health assessment services, andeven increased member retentionfrom improved body shape results.
Fitness manager at Nuffield Health,Hertford Martyn Oakey said: “We haveseen a marked increase in memberinteraction since installing theMiTonics machine.
“We now use the MiTonics machineas part of our gym tour with potentialnew members, to set ourselves apartfrom our local competition.”
Made specifically for the gym mar-ket, MiTonics drinks appeal to allmembers. The shakes can help withlean muscle gain, reducing body fatand even can aid weight loss with anindustry leading meal replacementshake.
So, if you want a nutrition hub within yourgym and embrace the future of sports
nutrition, please contact the MiTonics teamon 0843 254 9019 or email
Top fitness model Carly Thornton has become an ambassador and UK national accountmanager for Myprotein. As part of her role, Carly is now looking for gyms who are inter-ested in stocking the products to get in touch to arrange a visit. She said: “I’m very excitedabout this opportunity. Myprotein and Myvitamins have such an extensive range to caterfor everyone’s goal. You name it, Myprotein have it and all at a reasonable price for theconsumer.”
48 25/3/14 14:33 Page 1
UK FITNESS SCENE 49
What Starbucks can teachthe fitness industry ...By Matt Januszek, Escape Fitness
2008, any coffee drinker will tell you,was an important year. McCafélooked Starbucks straight in the eyeand announced war.
They offered premium coffee tosteal away the Starbucks clientele,offering lower prices at the sametime. Not only that but, in blind tastetesting, customers believed thatMcCafè was superior to Starbucks.Not only were prices cheaper but, asit turned out, the product better.
The result? McDonald’s share pricegrew 30 per cent in 12 months, mean-while Starbucks fell 48 per cent.
So, how did Starbucks respond totheir new competition? How did theyreact to an aggressive expansionmove from a rival that posed a seriousthreat?
They looked inside their own busi-ness and recognised that by offeringan experience – letting people seecoffee being made, letting them smellthe aroma – they could compete in anon-price orientated way.
They recognised the importance ofcustomer service and how their teamof staff – or Baristas as they’re known– were key to engaging with cus-tomers.
Author Joseph Michelli has capturedthis in a book I was recently readingcalled The Starbucks Experience: FivePrinciples for Turning Ordinary intoExtraordinary.
It’s a fascinating read, one that high-lights how important it is for even thebiggest of companies to be offering to
its customers a genuine experience.In a follow-up eBook (The Starbucks
Experience: Leadership Tips), Michellihighlights perfectly the importancefor all of us to “connect, discover,respond” with our customers. Makinga human connection immediatelyrecognises customers not as regular,unimaginative patrons but as humanbeings.
Consider this; a potential membercan workout in any number of gymsor PT studios. They can even workoutat home or in the local park. And nowask yourself this; Why should theyjoin your club? What are you offeringthat all those alternative workoutoptions aren’t? Don’t think of pricewhen answering this question, thinkabout your genuine USP.
Starbucks’ “Five Ways of Being” callfor their staff to be: � Welcoming� Genuine� Considerate� Knowledgeable� Involved
I think it’s fair to say that these fivesteps can also be applied to staff in allhealth clubs.WelcomingThis is more than just a warm smile,although that is obviously a must!Remembering someone’s name mightonly be a small thing, but it’s a veryimportant thing. However, this is alsoabout creating an environment ofcomfort, a sense of belonging, foreveryone who visits your club. Fromthe correct lighting and flooringthrough to the ease at which a mem-
ber can move around your club. Gooddesign, therefore, is just as vital asactual personal interaction.
GenuineEnsure your trainers are sincere inoffering support and advice. Mostimportantly, they must listen when amember has a problem or a question.Connecting with your members is afundamental task for all staff.
ConsiderateNot every member will have the samelevel of ability so your trainers mustbe understanding of this and creativeenough to suggest different types ofexercises. This is also a great attitude
to have towards fellow members ofstaff and building of team spirit.
KnowledgeableIt is of course obvious that your teamof staff must be trained and educatedwhen it comes to offering the greatestlevel of customer service to yourmembers. But it is also incrediblyempowering for staff if a business isinvesting in them. Happy staff areloyal staff, and loyal staff remembermembers’ names.
InvolvedDoes a member look unsure with apiece of equipment? Then getinvolved! Go show them how it’sdone! Show passion and the willing-ness to get your hands dirty and sup-port members. Showing support onthe gym floor is a great way to buildmorale, not only within the team butalso in terms of building that commu-nity feeling in your club.
These are just five simple steps thatStarbucks adopted but, as you cansee, are easily transferable into ourindustry.
So, how did the McDonald’sStarbucks war end? They’re still in thetrenches but McDonald’s coffee salesgrew only 0.9 per cent in the latestquarter up to November last year,Starbucks sales rose seven per cent inthe same period.
Come and join the discussion in ourLinkedIn group –http://linkd.in/KPRtMn – or simplyvisit LinkedIn and search for EscapeFitness in the group search.
Matt Januszek
ESCAPE Fitness are proud to launchtheir new range of gloves.
Their Synth-Tech Training Glovesare made out of the highest qualitymaterials which has created anincredibly tough and durable glovethat remains light on the hand.
The Injection moulded one-piecepadding helps to absorb impact moreeffectively than traditional PVC glovesand has a cushioned palm that comeswith a ventilated grip to maximise air-flow.
The Velcro wristband wraps aroundfrom the inside outwards to speed fit-
ting and removal, perfect for use inhigh-paced functional circuits.
The bright and bold design has cre-ated an attractive glove that appealsto all users and, with an anti-bacterialinternal coating to counteract odours,the gloves are the ideal choice forbusy studios.
Available in three different weights –8oz, 10oz, 12oz – the gloves have aneasy clean outer coating for improvedhygiene.
For more information, please contactEscape on 01733 313535 or visit
www.escapefitness.com
Glove range lets you box clever
KETTLERCISE Cheltenham hasbeen voted among Britain’s best ina prestigious national competition.
The classes held at Bishops Cleeveon Tuesday evening and Sundaymorning scooped one of the topawards in the Classes for you com-petition, run by Britain’s biggestparenting site Netmums.
The UK-wide competition waslaunched as a chance for peoplerunning adult classes to be recog-nised for their hard work servingand improving the local communi-ty.
Over 1.7m members were eligibleto vote in the competition.
Class organiser Toni Redgrove ofTRED Training and KettlerciseCheltenham was delighted to becrowned a local favourite.
Kettlercise is new to BishopsCleeve and Cheltenham and has
only been running for five monthsbut has proved to be a hit.
Toni is especially flattered by thisaward, as when she started runningthis class not only was she new toGloucestershire so didn’t know any-one, Kettlercise was virtuallyunheard of in this area, so she faceda massive gamble and struggle toget the classes recognised.
The Kettlercise class will now behonoured with a coveted gold list-ing on the Netmums site, used byover 1m people each week, alongwith a special ‘Netmums Favourite’certificate to display in their class.
Toni also wins a badge for theKettlercise website and a place onthe Netmums Award Winnerspages.
To become a certified Kettlerciseinstructor go to www.rkps.org to bookor call 01282 698 698 to find out more.
Cheltenham classesscoop top award innational competition
49 27/3/14 15:31 Page 1
CLASSIFIED50
EQUIPMENT
LIFE Fitness has strengthened itsfocus on the public sector through thepromotion of Andy McLaughlan aspublic sector development managerand the appointments of RogerEldergill and Rebecca Knight as pub-lic sector account managers – educa-tion.
In his new role Andy will lead theUK local authority and trust team,creating strong client partnerships tohelp organisations in the public sec-tor meet their social and commercialobjectives.
For the last five years Andy has heldthe role of public sector accountmanager – Scotland and prior to thishe worked for Esporta and DavidLloyd Leisure.
As public sector account managers –education, Roger and Rebecca will beresponsible for developing new busi-ness and supporting a wide variety ofinstitutions with varied outcomes.
The education team will be able to
provide ongoing support related toparticipation, funding, curriculumintegration and training opportuni-ties.
Appointments strengthenfirm’s public sector focus
Rebecca Knight
Sketchley Grange Hotel and Spa has become the latest sponsor of the Leicester Riders bas-ketball team. As part of the agreement, players have been given membership to the club’sgym and spa facilities. General manager of Sketchley Grange Paul Noble said: “We’re verypleased to welcome the players to our hotel and look forward to their visits whether it’sto use the gym to train or the spa to wind down after a tough game. It’s great to be ableto support local sporting talent and we very much enjoyed attending our first Riders gameat the beginning of the month.”� Photo: Back row (left to right) players Anthony Downing, Rashad Hassan, HarrisonGamble, Drew Sullivan, Jay Couisnard and Anthony Rowe. Front row, head coach RobPaternostro and general manager of Sketchley Grange Paul Noble.
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CLASSIFIED 51EQUIPMENT
EQUIPMENT
EQUIPMENT
LOCKERS
MARKETING
50-54 Classis 27/3/14 15:27 Page 2
52LOCKERS
FLOORING
CLASSIFIED
CLOTHING AND MERCHANDISE
VENDING
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CLASSIFIED 53
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