The UK’s No 1 fitness industry magazine March 2010 No 198 £3 Fire-hit gym rises from the ashes By Mary Ferguson AN independent gym devastated by fire is back in business and vowing to make the most of 2010. Flames tore through Southport-based Ainsdale Health and Fitness last year, just nine months after it was taken over by a new owner. But Lynne Atkinson told Workout they are now back on their feet after a refurbishment – and are looking for- ward to better luck this year. The fire began in the male sauna last May and has been blamed on an elec- trical fault. Ten members who were on the gym floor were evacuated safely and three fire engines spent over two hours tackling the blaze. The changing room was destroyed, all the equipment was ruined and the walls and floors were charred and rancid. Lynne said: “The damage was devas- tating. I had just started putting my mark on the place, so to see it all ruined was just awful. But the club is now going from strength to strength and because of the refurbishment, we are looking and feeling 100 per cent better. I’m very optimistic that 2010 will be a good year.” The building was insured by the landlady and Lynne’s contents insur- ance paid for the ruined equipment to be replaced by Bolton-based Servicesport. The changing rooms were overhauled, a boxing area created and a Rosemary Conley diet club now operates form the facility. Lynne said the place is now buzzing, and a calendar of charity events has been planned to raise money for the Alzheimers Society. Lynne had been studying for a degree in Physical Education, but deferred her final year so she could concentrate on sorting out the gym. She added: “The sauna was ten years old and even though it passed every- thing ok, I do think it’s a good idea to replace things as they get older. And what happened to me proves how important it is to be up to date with electrical checks and PAT testing. “We were lucky the fire happened during the day so we could take action immediately – if it had been during the night, then I shudder to think how much more damage there could have been.” ■ For more on how the gym has bounced back from the fire, Page 9 New chain to target the UK A NEW crop of mid-market gyms is to arrive in the UK as a world-famous club rolls out its expansion pro- gramme. World Gym – based in California – opened with Arnold Schwarzenegger as its poster boy and is aiming to launch more franchises all over the globe. Britain is early on its hit list of loca- tions. The brand was found- ed in 1976 by Joe Gold, origi- nally of Golds Gym, and cur- rently has 183 franchised locations globally. Its target market is 18-34 year olds and memberships will be priced between £29- 39 a month. They will compete with other brands through inno- vative programming, includ- ing a ‘cellulite solution’ and a programme to delay the aging process. San Diego based Global Business Systems have been brought on board to roll out the franchises. Director Jim Teatum told Workout: “The ink is literally just drying on the agreement but we are looking for fran- chisees straight away, and we see a lot of potential for the brand in Britain.” ■ See Page 7 for full interview with Jim. Personal trainer Stefano Chiriaco is the newest member of staff at exclusive independent gym KX in Chelsea. As well as gaining famous clients he is also making a name for himself in TV and modelling, and specialises in kettlebell training. Full feature on Stefano and KX, Page 21
Transcript
The UK’s No 1 fitness industry magazineMarch 2010 No 198 £3
Fire-hit gymrises fromthe ashesBy Mary Ferguson
AN independent gym devastated byfire is back in business and vowing tomake the most of 2010.
Flames tore through Southport-basedAinsdale Health and Fitness last year,just nine months after it was takenover by a new owner.
But Lynne Atkinson told Workoutthey are now back on their feet after arefurbishment – and are looking for-ward to better luck this year.
The fire began in the male sauna lastMay and has been blamed on an elec-trical fault. Ten members who were onthe gym floor were evacuated safelyand three fire engines spent over twohours tackling the blaze. The changingroom was destroyed, all the equipmentwas ruined and the walls and floorswere charred and rancid.
Lynne said: “The damage was devas-tating. I had just started putting mymark on the place, so to see it allruined was just awful. But the club isnow going from strength to strengthand because of the refurbishment, weare looking and feeling 100 per centbetter. I’m very optimistic that 2010will be a good year.”
The building was insured by thelandlady and Lynne’s contents insur-ance paid for the ruined equipment tobe replaced by Bolton-basedServicesport. The changing roomswere overhauled, a boxing area createdand a Rosemary Conley diet club nowoperates form the facility.
Lynne said the place is now buzzing,and a calendar of charity events hasbeen planned to raise money for theAlzheimers Society. Lynne had beenstudying for a degree in PhysicalEducation, but deferred her final yearso she could concentrate on sortingout the gym.
She added: “The sauna was ten yearsold and even though it passed every-thing ok, I do think it’s a good idea toreplace things as they get older. Andwhat happened to me proves howimportant it is to be up to date withelectrical checks and PAT testing.
“We were lucky the fire happenedduring the day so we could take actionimmediately – if it had been during thenight, then I shudder to think howmuch more damage there could havebeen.”� For more on how the gym has bouncedback from the fire, Page 9
New chainto targetthe UKA NEW crop of mid-marketgyms is to arrive in the UK asa world-famous club rollsout its expansion pro-gramme.
World Gym – based inCalifornia – opened withArnold Schwarzenegger asits poster boy and is aimingto launch more franchises allover the globe. Britain isearly on its hit list of loca-tions. The brand was found-ed in 1976 by Joe Gold, origi-nally of Golds Gym, and cur-rently has 183 franchisedlocations globally.
Its target market is 18-34year olds and membershipswill be priced between £29-39 a month.
They will compete withother brands through inno-vative programming, includ-ing a ‘cellulite solution’ and aprogramme to delay theaging process.
San Diego based GlobalBusiness Systems have beenbrought on board to roll outthe franchises.
Director Jim Teatum toldWorkout: “The ink is literallyjust drying on the agreementbut we are looking for fran-chisees straight away, andwe see a lot of potential forthe brand in Britain.”� See Page 7 for full interview with Jim.
Personal trainer Stefano Chiriaco is the newestmember of staff at exclusive independent gymKX in Chelsea. As well as gaining famous clientshe is also making a name for himself in TV andmodelling, and specialises in kettlebell training.Full feature on Stefano and KX, Page 21
47 Church Street,Barnsley, South YorkshireS70 2AS.
www.workout-uk.co.uk
By Mary Ferguson
ANGRY gyms are struggling formoney after membership collectionscompany Belmont Finance crumbledinto administration.
Operators who used the companyto collect direct debit payments havenot received their revenue, after thecompany bowed to debts.
Ashley Roberts, owner of OptimumGym in Ruislip, told Workout he isworried he has lost a lot of money.
He said: “It could take years to claimback what I’m owed from the admin-istrators and they have already indi-cated there won’t be anything leftafter Belmont’s debts have been paid.
“I’d only signed up with the compa-ny a few months before they fellapart and I didn’t know it at the timebut there were already having crisismeetings before that.
“I always keep back-up funds and Iget other income from personaltraining but it’s still not a great situa-tion.
“You’d think it would be pretty easy
sums for Belmont – they knew theywere taking a cut of all the member-ships – so I was surprised when Iheard they had got into so muchtrouble.”
Ashley has been helped by somemembers who, after hearing abouthis problems, offered to pay a fewmonths upfront.
Others have been helped whenHarlands Group, who have purchasedBelmont out of administration, paidout £100,000 of unsecured loans tothose struggling after lost collections.
Harlands Group managing directorKevin Scott said: “The company hadrun up significant losses and our aimwas to salvage the direct debits. Atthe end of the day, the Belmont bookis a fraction of ours but if all theirclients had lost all their direct debits,it would have become a much biggerindustry issue.”
The purchase also means HarlandsGroup has acquired Belmont’s debtrecovery arm, Revenue CollectionServices.
Dave Stalker of the FIA added:
“Belmont Finance was until quiterecently a member of the FIA andwhilst we cannot comment on anyindividual case, we do sympathisewith the employees who worked forany company which falls victim tothe recession, as well as organisationsconnected with them.”
Kevin Scott
IT seems that some were aware ofBelmont’s financial difficulties, butthose who needed to know – such asthe clubs using their services – wereunaware. A quick look over their lastaccounts filed showed the companyhas net liabilities of £1.1 million.
After investigating the Belmont col-lapse I believe there are four ques-tions that need addressing:� Were Belmont’s club clients awaretheir funds were being administeredby a technically insolvent business?� What ongoing auditing does theBacs organisation undertake oforganisations authorised to collectconsumer funds via direct debit?� Is there a more robust system thatwould better safeguard membershipincome due to clubs?� What financial support can theindustry now provide to help affectedclubs?
The words ‘due diligence’ spring tomind when I think about the futureimplications for how clubs engage
with thirdparty collec-tions bureaus.A club shouldundertake anappropriateamount ofresearch ontheir chosencollectionsbureau. Atminimum, Iwould recommend downloading theiraccounts from the Companies Housewebsite (nominal fee and instantdownload). Pass these to the club’saccountant for an opinion, if neces-sary.
Ask for details on a cross-section ofclients and speak with them. Also,post a comment on social networkingsites such as LinkedIn and ask otherclubs about the service they arereceiving. It’s about getting to knowthe business partners that are pivotalto running your business.
Gyms struggling afterfinance firm fails
Ray Algar, director of Oxygen Consulting, blogged about Belmont’s demise on his website and spoke to people affected. He told Workout what he thinksabout the situation.
Make sure you know your business partners
Ray Algar
03 16/2/10 16:06 Page 1
UK FITNESS SCENE4
Fitness centre ismaking a differenceto Asian communityBy Mary Ferguson
A FITNESS centre for Asian womenin Birmingham is expanding, afterproving it is making a difference tothe community.
Saheli Adventure Hub has beenbased in Balsall for over three yearsand there are now plans to open asecond site elsewhere in the city.
Working with women who areoften new to fitness, the centre hashelped many of them exercise theirway to health. Much of its businesscomes from GP referrals and justfive per cent of its funds come fromregular membership, which costsjust £10 a month.
Manager Shebina Gill said: “Aftera year, we raised our prices to £15and immediately lost 80 per cent ofour members, so dropped it backdown to £10. It was a dire time.
“But there is nothing else aroundhere for women to use as the sportscentre was taken out 18 monthsago and the only other place is aprivate gym that the ladies justcan’t afford.
“A few of these women-only clubshave popped up since we openedas they think that if we are heremust mean there is a market – butthey don’t realise we are a charityand don’t make any profit. Theyinitially take a few of our membersbut they also come back, saying it’sjust equipment, not a club.”
Facilities at Saheli, which means‘friend’, include £45,000 of gymequipment, a wooden sprung floorfor group fitness and a SHOKK tar-get wall and dance mat system.
They have recently installed anInbody body composition analyserwhich is used to monitor theprogress of the women.
“Just because we are a charitablegym doesn’t mean we can’t havedecent equipment, as the PowerPlate and Inbody prove. People aresurprised at how nice the placelooks when they come in.”
Shebina tries to upskill all hermembers so they are eventuallyable to work within the centre andmany become ‘gym buddies’ tohelp others get the most out oftheir workouts.
She said most of the members arenew to the gym environment, butnot because they haven’t wanted toexercise before.
“Ladies around here face manybarriers to fitness. They don’t haveaccess to many facilities eitherbecause of lack of transport or lackof money. Plus for cultural reasons,they need to be in a safe and secureenvironment without the risk of aman coming in and seeing themwithout their headscarves. That’swhy we have a security system onthe door. And because their hus-bands know this, they are happy todrop them off here.” Shebina Gill
Kent club rings in the changes for 2010A HEALTH club in Kent kick-startedthe new year with a fresh range ofequipment and updated pricingstructure.
Peak Fitness, based in Tonbridge,has invested £70,000 in a Star Tracupgrade programme, after decidingits ten-year-old Technogymmachines needed bringing up todate.
And year-long contracts have been
shortened to six months, to cater forpeople’s changing needs in the reces-sion.
Club manager Julie Poole toldWorkout: “It’s been a really good start to 2010. We have been holdingour own during the difficult economic climate but we are confident this year will bring goodthings.
“And we hope that offering people
six month contracts will encouragethem to sign up, as many are wary ofcommitting for a year.”
The club held a launch event toshowcase the new equipment, withrepresentatives from Star Trac onhand to show members how to use it.Julie said the event was a success,despite heavy snow causing a fewproblems.
And to encourage people to try out
the machines, members and staffwere invited to take part in a climb-ing challenge, using the stepper toclimb the equivalent height of theLeaning Tower of Pisa.
Julie added: “The staff have beenvery competitive with it and reallygot into the spirit of the competition.“And because it’s ongoing, it’s been agreat motivational tool for members.”
Sean takesconcept toAmericaA FITNESS fanatic battling to intro-duce a gym-based sport to the indus-try has broken into America with theconcept.
Sean Blyth is celebrating after a clubin New York took his idea on board,putting members through the run,bike and row, a first stage ‘X trainingchallenge’.
He said: “Gym based sports involverunning, rowing, cycling, weights,abdominal work and basically any-thing else you would do in a club.
“Worldgymchallenge.com was creat-ed to emphasise the elite gym athletein any gym and highlight their fitnesslevels and also those that just like tobe motivated and train with a pur-pose. Achievements are recorded on acentral database, so anybody cansearch and compare their own fitnesslevels.”
Sean has coined the name ‘gymeagle’ for people that take part in thechallenges, which he claims outdatesthe tags of ‘gym bunny’ and ‘gymjunkie’, often used to describe peoplethat like to workout.
£200k upgradefor sports centreBLACKPOOL Sports Centre hasundergone a major refurbishment toupgrade its facilities.
An investment of £200,000 has seenthe centre become the first in thearea to feature a full Fitlinxx Manage-ment system and the fitness studiohas more than doubled in size toinclude 60 pieces of Life Fitnessequipment.
04 16/2/10 16:06 Page 1
05 Matrix 16/2/10 12:49 Page 1
06 PHYSIQUE 17/2/10 13:19 Page 1
UK FITNESS SCENE 7
By Mary Ferguson
THE UK fitness industry is gearingup for an influx of mid-marketclubs from World Gym.
Sold by Planet Fitness last year,the brand was bought by a well-known LA family who have hiredGlobal Business Systems, run byJim Teatum and George Jackson, toroll out the franchises.
Workout was the the first publi-cation that Jim spoke to about thefranchise programme, and hedescribed World Gym as a ‘sleepinggiant’ of a brand.
“There are several franchises inthe fitness industry and what’shappening is that many of the peo-ple that run them are businessexperts, but not experts in the fieldof fitness. It can be intimidating fornew franchisees, so we are tryingto take the intimidation out of theequation and welcome them intothe World Gym family. Essentially,we are taking the brand from thesuits and giving it back to the gymowners.”
World Gym has a rich heritage.Founded by Joe Gold in 1976 it wasvery much part of the SantaMonica/Venice Beach scene, visit-ed by big-name bodybuilders andHollywood celebrities includingArnold Schwarzenegger.
Jim said it is building on thisimage to appeal to its target mar-ket of 18 to 34 year olds by takingthe brand back to its roots. A bigreason people, especially youngpeople, don’t join clubs is becausethey don’t want to be tied into a
long contract so we are looking atsix week memberships that focusround a specific programme.People don’t join clubs to buy aroom full of equipment – they havespecific aims and we are tappinginto that.”
Originally from Yorkshire, Jimmoved to America 20 years agoand has since been president ofthe Nautilus Commercial Divisionand Senior Market DevelopmentDirector for Reebok International.
He said each international mar-ket will be targeted differently,adding: “In terms of the UK, we
have all the figures with regard toparticipation and overwhelmingly,it’s very much a cardio and groupexercise driven market.
“So we are trying to redress thebalance, and look at introducingstrength training into people’sworkouts. We are looking for anational rollout and like the USA,fitness still tends to be a middleclass pursuit over here.”
India is also a target market andJim added that Germany is ‘veryattractive’ due to the number ofpeople who don’t currently usegyms over there.
‘Sleeping giant’ brandready to hit the UK
Joe Gold and Arnold Schwarzenegger
Strongman legend TerryHollands paid a visit toRipped Gym in Harlow,training with staff andmembers. Terry, whosetraining schedule hasbeen described as ‘ferociously unforgiving’,posed with fellow gymusers.
Equipment designer launchesnew cardio fitness rangeITALIAN sports equipment design-er Pininfarina for Panatta Sporthas launched a new range of car-dio fitness machines.
Keith Morton, Panatta’s UK salesdirector, said the Pininfarina CVrange is ‘a real Italian job’.
He said: “For generations wehave seen the quality of Italianengineering and design technolo-gy with names like Ferrari,Lamborghini and Alfa Romeo.Now Panatta Sport has linked up
with ones of the great Italiandesigners to produce thePininfarina CV cardio machines.”
The result of two years’ extensiveresearch, development and test-ing, the range is available in twolines – Gold with a seven inchgraphic screen and Platinum witha 12 inch screen with full multi-media system.
As an added bonus, the machinescome with a five-year major partswarranty.
Centre relaunchBLACKPOOL Sports Centre has re-launched its health and fitness facili-ties after a £500,000 extension.
The extension created a brand newexercise class studio, a dedicated spin-ning studio and allowed the fitnessstudio to more than double in sizefrom 136 sq. m to 300 sq. m.
New branding for the centre wasdeveloped and ‘zones’ were created totarget specific groups such as chil-dren, young adults and those with res-piratory or cardiac issues. The need toupgrade was identified following athree-year partnership with AllianceLeisure that saw indications increaseby 60 per cent year on year.
07 18/2/10 12:37 Page 1
UK FITNESS SCENE8
By Mary Ferguson
THE owner of a gym that gives awayfree physiotherapy and personaltraining has revealed how he makes ahealthy profit.
Spencer McCormack operates BWellhealth clubs and currently runs twosites in Gorleston and Hemsby inGreat Yarmouth.
After leaving the army he foundwork as a sports therapist, met busi-ness partner Paul Brice, and came upwith the business model.
Being in a deprived area, he realisedthat the people who really neededhelp often couldn’t afford it, trigger-ing him to think about openinga health club that included physiotherapy in a monthly member-ship.
The top membership price at BWellclubs is £31, which includes unlimit-ed physiotherapy and personal train-ing.
He said: “I personally believe that allclubs should give it for free.
“It doesn’t make sense that so manyof them claim to have the personaltouch – but then go and charge peo-ple for it.
“What we do works financiallybecause if you invest in someone at the beginning, they will stay longer and start looking after them-selves.”
The Gorleston gym is based atJames Paget Hospital and Spencerbelieves it is the only profit-makinggym site within the NHS.
The initial consultation for physio-therapy is charged, and the memberis then handed over to someone fromthe fitness team who trains them
according to advice from the physio.
“We often take people out for runs,or get instructors to work out along-side members to help them withmotivation.
“It’s not such a big deal for ourmembers that they get free training aswe have always done it. And I’m agreat believer that everything shouldbe personal.”
Spencer said the Hemsby site –which opened four years ago – was inprofit before it even opened, becauseof strong pre-sales.
And the hospital-based facilitythrows up free marketing opportuni-ties as Spencer is able to advertise onthe hospital intranet without charge,reaching 3,000 staff.
He added: “In the last year we havedoubled our turnover, despite thecountry being in the middle of reces-sion.
“My business partner and I draw anice wage and I believe we are skim-ming the surface of what I know wecan ultimately achieve.”
A Chester spa is calling for all gyms andleisure centres to remove sunbeds.The Club and Spa at Hoole Hall wantsall of the areas health and fitnessproviders to ban sunbeds after CancerResearch UK recently revealed morethan a quarter of a million 11 to 17-year-olds risk their health by using thebeds.Flintshire County Council has banned allsunbeds from its council-owned leisure
centres and Stephanie McDonnell, spamanager at The Club and Spa at HooleHall, wants West Cheshire and ChesterCouncil to do the same, along with theregion’s privately owned gyms andspas.She said: “There is now no reason foranyone to use a sunbed. There are bet-ter ways to get a healthy glow throughdiet, exercise and tanning products thatare actually good for the skin.”
‘Sheffield success story’celebrates ten yearsSHEFFIELD-based fitness schemeFitness Unlimited is celebrating itstenth anniversary.
It currently has more than 15,300members and since its launch in 2000nearly 20 per cent of the city’s popu-lation has been a member.
The scheme offers access to fourfacilities operated by SheffieldInternational Venues (SIV) – PondsForge International Sports Centre,Hillsborough Leisure Centre, ConcordSports Centre and Don ValleyStadium.
Steve Brailey, chief executive of SIV,said: "Fitness Unlimited is a fantasticSheffield success story.
“Driving participation in physicalactivity is one of our key objectivesand the quality, value for money anddiversity offered by Fitness Unlimitedcontinues to ensure that health andfitness opportunities are accessible toall in the city.”
It was a record-breaking 2008-09 forFitness Unlimited with a 24 per centincrease in sales figures, up by£680,000.
08 16/2/10 16:09 Page 1
UK FITNESS SCENE 9
By Mary Ferguson
WHEN Lynne Atkinson discovereda fire at her gym, she was deter-mined to keep it open for mem-bers.
Ten people were using the facili-ties when the blaze began at 2pmon a Friday afternoon and despiteextensive damage, a weekend ofhard work meant doors werereopened on the Monday morning.
Lynne said: “At first I just wantedto throw in the towel and give up, Iwas that upset when I saw thedamage. But as a team, we decidedwe could take on the challenge andget the gym to an acceptable state.
“All the staff mucked in, scrub-bing and cleaning throughout theweekend, and many of the mem-bers who had seen the fire on thenews came down to lend a hand.”
The electrics were ruined, but thebuilding’s landlady helped and call-
ing on the experts they managed toget back to working order. The onlything that couldn’t be addressedimmediately was the smell, butLynne said the members were verytolerant.
“When we opened on the Mondaymorning we were terrified no-onewould turn up but lots of peopledid, because they wanted to showtheir support. Members had to usean outside portaloo for months andput up with an awful smell, butthey never complained.
“We did lose a few because thosethat exercised before work hadnowhere to shower but everyonereally was great about it.”
Fitness instructor Gary Spencer-Burton was looking after the gymwhen the fire alarm went off andLynne said she was impressed withhow he handled the situation.Weekly alarm testing and regulardrills, she said, ensured staff knew
how to cope in the event of a fire.She added: “Although it was an
awful time, the members and staffgot me through. And all the compa-
nies we called on, from the electri-cians to Servicesport, did a reallygreat job in getting us back on ourfeet.”
How important are government-ledhealth campaigns like Change4Lifein getting people to be more activeand use health clubs and leisurecentres?Campaigns are important but to bereally effective there needs to be acombination of national campaignscombined with far greater regionaland local involvement. PCTs are notengaged enough in the promotion ofhealth and well-being and the moneyallocated to them tends to go intocure rather than prevention.Campaigns on their own will notmake a difference – PCTs should begiven more incentives to get localbusinesses involved and engagedwith the promotion of physical activi-ty and into working with local healthclubs and leisure centres.
What can realistically be done to getmore people to engage in fitnessactivities?Local engagement is critical. We needto get PCT’s engaged in getting bestpractice examples, of which there aremany, replicated rather than left assporadic examples. IncentivisingPCT’s into putting their resourcesinto the prevention agenda could beof incalculable value.
I have just written a pamphlet forthe NHS on giving incentives to PCT’sfor establishing health and wellbeingprogrammes with communitygroups. This concept would give £1for £1 additional funding to PCT’swho can show evidence of engagingin a practical way with the healthylifestyle agenda.
There are many local health deliv-ery structures in place that could beharnessed but they need to be given‘teeth’ – the power and the financialincentives to be able to deliver.
Will offering financial incentivesever really work?Overseas evidence shows us thatfinancial incentives most definitelycan work in encouraging individualsto lead a more active and healthy
lifestyle, for example the SouthAfrican Scheme ‘Vitality’ in whichindividuals can gain points by goingfor regular health screenings, takingexercise and generally leading ahealthy lifestyle. The points gainedlead to rewards which act as theincentive. More power needs to begiven to local commissioners (theLiberal Democrat party want electedcommissioners) where ideas andstrategies could be developed to seewhat works. There has not beenenough boldness in trying new thingsand we should learn more from over-seas successes.
Should the Treasury be encouragedto offer tax incentives to health clubusers, such as VAT reduction?I can’t claim to have a specific LiberalDemocrat policy within our mani-festo on tax incentives but there isundoubtedly a case to be made here.
I understand the unfairness of thecurrent situation with regard to VATand would support an examinationof this in the future.
A great deal has been made of the2012 legacy and its impact on thelevels of participation in sport and
physical activity. How realistic is itthat the Games will have a positiveimpact on participation levels and towhat extent?I think that there is a real prospectthat London 2012 will have a positiveeffect on activity levels but we haveto facilitate it – it won’t happen on itsown. I’m personally very supportiveas I am very keen on all sport andphysical activity and I am acutelyaware of the power of the Games. Thesuccess of the legacy partly dependson the success of our athletes as weknow that role models can beextremely powerful as a motivationaltool. I am 100 per cent behind facili-tating a worthwhile legacy.
What is the Government doing rightto encourage people to exercise?Some of the schemes and campaignshave some value but I don’t thinkthat it’s enough. We have to besmarter about how we change peo-ple’s behaviour. We cannot imposechange as its more about enabling.More information needs to be madeavailable about the dire conse-quences of unhealthy behaviours.Also more incentives need to be putinto place, including financial ones.
The polls are indicating a ‘hung par-liament’. In such a situation how canwe ensure that a focus on physicalactivity continues?The key priority must continue to bethe shifting of resources from cureinto prevention. Funding must bedirected for use in local communitiesin order to develop their health andwellbeing. I am so passionate aboutthis, I commit to keeping myselfactive and healthy, and the only way Ibelieve that the NHS is truly sustain-able in the long term is to challengethe sedentary lifestyle that has natu-rally developed over time.
The culture that has developed hasbeen for the government to givegrants to two or three cities to devel-op cycle lanes, for example, whichdoesn’t do enough. We need to givethe incentives to all cities and indi-viduals to really make headway intoencouraging people into a moreactive lifestyle.
Do you exercise regularly?Last year I completed the London toParis cycle ride (it nearly killed me)and in addition I walk every day,cycle at weekends and play five-a-side football occasionally.
In our second interview with top level politicians, Andree Deane speaks to Liberal Democrat MP Norman Lamb,Shadow Secretary of State for Health.
‘Campaigns on their ownwill not make a difference’
Norman Lamb
10 16/2/10 16:10 Page 1
11 Muscle Finesse 16/2/10 12:51 Page 1
UK FITNESS SCENE12
CONCEPT Fitness has launched anew membership option to caterfor people who want to becomemore serious about their training.
Until now, the club has only oper-ated on a pay as you go basis,charging £5 for an hour’s use of thefacilities.
But from February Brett intro-duced a monthly rolling option,
inviting people to pay £40 everyfour weeks for unlimited use.
Members are required to booktheir workout time, as part of a sys-tem called ‘Fitness ByAppointment’ that ensures the gymnever becomes too crowded.
Brett said: “I don’t like havingmore than ten people working outtogether because it would mean we
couldn’t give everyone the atten-tion they need. And by askingmembers to book, it means theyare more likely to come as theyhave a proper appointment in thediary.”
This system has been operatingsince the gym first opened andBrett said it works so well, there areno plans to change it.
He added: “We want our mem-bers to prioritise their visits here asmuch as they would an appoint-ment with the dentist or doctorbecause it’s so beneficial to theirhealth.
“And we don’t feel the need to tiepeople into lengthy contractsbecause our pedigree speaks foritself.”
By Mary Ferguson
AN independent gym owner ismarking his second year of opera-tion by training two members set torace to the North Pole.
Brett Sizeland, who set up Essex-based Concept Fitness inJanuary 2008, is preparing JohnPeck and John Whalley for the tripin April.
The pair – who have been mem-bers since day one – met whileworking out at the club and decid-ed to take on the challenge lastSeptember.
Brett and business partner KeirWilliams have been helping themwith functional training includingmetabolic conditioning work andtyre flipping, as well as weightlift-ing to build strength.
Their training has generated a lotof interest in the gym and Brett saidall the members are getting behindthem.
“They see the guys doing all thiswork and are always fascinatedwhen we tell them what they arepreparing for.
“We are confident they will bothcomplete the challenge and even without seeing the other par-ticipants I can confidently say theywill be amongst the fittest and
strongest there. They work incredi-bly hard and I’m sure it will payoff.”
Brett said the gym has been goingfrom strength to strength sinceopening and expects the success tocontinue through 2010.
He added: “We are rocking androlling and growing all the time.Personal training is becoming really popular and we will need to expand at some point, so are exploring some avenues intothat.
“Ultimately though we are just sopleased that we have managed togrow so much, especially rightthrough a recession. It’s somethingwe are really proud of.”
‘Fitness By Appointment’ working well ...
Gym owner helping duoreach for North Pole goal
John Whalley training for the challengein the gym
John Peck and John Whalley
12 16/2/10 16:11 Page 1
UK FITNESS SCENE 13
Gym owners set to expandacross YorkshireBy Mary FergusonA NEW Sheffield gym has proved sucha success that its owners are alreadymaking plans to expand acrossYorkshire.
Vision Health and Fitness opened inOctober last year and despite thepaint from the refurbishments barelybeing dry, Kris King and RichardTaylor have already secured anothersite in Wakefield.
Kris told Workout they would ulti-mately like three or four, but still haveplans to improve the existing club inStocksbridge.
“The only reason we are openingone in Wakefield so soon is becausean opportunity presented itself andwe wanted to grab it.
“But there is still lots we want to dohere and because the building has somany different rooms, we can hope-fully keep expanding as the member-ship base grows.”
The site used to be used as a chil-dren’s nursery and although it’s cur-rently rented, the boys hope to even-tually buy it.
A pre-opening offer of £14.99 a
month attracted a large chunk oftheir current members and the regular rate is still only £22 for peakusage.
“This area has suffered a lot of joblosses through the recession so weknew that we would have to go in lowto make it work.”
Kris said that although opening dur-ing the recession was a risk, it helpedthem save money by securing gooddeals on rent and equipment.
But although it’s based on a mainroad, the club doesn’t yet benefitfrom passing trade as they are stillseeking council permission to installa sign.
Most of Vision’s members are firsttime gym users and the majority arefemale, but the Kris said he hoped anew delivery of weights will attractmore men.
He added: “There’s a bodybuildinggym nearby so we didn’t want to tar-get that market and we didn’t consid-er being ladies-only because youimmediately cut out a chunk ofpotential members.”
An enterprising personal trainer has opened a pay as you train fitness studio in Lancashire.Jan Leather launched Billinge Health and Fitness Studio in Wigan following ten years work-ing as a fitness instructor for JJB, David Lloyd Leisure and Ruskin Leisure.She said: “It has taken a lot of time and effort to find the right venue however I am verypleased with the final result. Although freelancing gave me the chance to build up a cus-tomer base the lack of a permanent studio meant that I couldn’t really grow the business.I am looking forward to working with both existing and new customers.”Jan opened the studio with help from a £20,000 Enterprise Finance Guarantee loan fromNatWest.� Jan is pictured with Barrie Keeble from NatWest
13 16/2/10 16:13 Page 1
VIBRATION TRAINING14
Vibration training studioowner set to expandBy Mary Ferguson
THE owner of a Midlands vibrationtraining studio is doubling its size tolaunch a stand alone gym next door.
Darryl Jennings set up VibehutPersonal Training in March 2008,becoming the first studio in Wordsleyto offer Power Plate machines.
The 500 sq. ft studio is equippedwith three, plus two Kieser M3 groupcycle bikes, a cross trainer, and arange of accessories including medi-cine balls, Swiss balls, free weightsand a boxing bag, to expand thetraining options.
Darryl is planning to double its sizewithin the next three months, rentingthe office space next door to set up astand-alone gym, with membershipcapped at just 70.
He said: “I honestly don’t think biggyms work because you can’t givepeople the personal attention theyneed. I used to work for Fitness Firstand I had enough of how people weretreated – once they had signed up, Iwas never able to speak to them.That’s when I knew there was a mar-ket for something more personal, andthe new gym will be an extension ofwhat we do in the studio.”
Members will play a monthly fee of£50, which includes unlimited freepersonal training.
The gym will run as a separate busi-ness to the studio next door, whichoperates using an appointment sys-tem.
Users of that facility pay a monthlyamount for a cluster of half hour ses-sions ranging from five to 12, andmust book a slot in order to attend.According to Darryl, this system
encourages people to get into a rou-tine and stops them from missingsessions.
He added: “99 per cent of memberswill use every session they have been
allocated that month and becausethey have to make an appointment,they are less likely to just skip a work-out. It really helps with motivationand getting results.”
Vibehut
Vibration plates bring boom in businessTHE owner of a newly-openedOldham vibration training studio isadding group sessions following suc-cess with individual booths.
Joanne Taylor, who launched CatchThe Vibe last October, purchasedfour vibration plates from Ultim8and set them up in individual cubi-cles so that people can exercise inprivate.
Business is booming and Joanne isnow planning to purchase moreplates so that she can run group ses-sions.
She said: “Because of some of themovements you have to do on theplates, some women especially canfeel very self conscious using amachine in the middle of the gym,especially if they are very over-
weight.“So many of my users have gym
memberships too, but top up theirtraining with me.”
Joanne used to be a teaching assistant but opened the studio after training with Power Plate,when her research showed there was a big demand in the area.
INDUSTRY veteran Simon Wright haslaunched Dynamic Activity, an inde-pendent distribution company thathas taken over distribution ofPineapple platforms.
They will be re-branded as bodycoreFunctional Training Platforms and arethe only whole body vibration prod-ucts to feature purely vertical move-ment.
Simon said: “I’ve become increasing-ly aware that there are a number of excellent products being developedin either the USA or Asia that can helpour industry move forwards.
“Access to credible sales channels inEurope has been limited and given thecurrent financial climate, very fewcompanies are willing to take the riskof setting up direct, so I felt there wasa very clear gap in the market for anindependent distributor.”
Following successful trials at FitnessFirst and DW Sports Fitness the body-core Functional Training Platforms areto be installed in both chains.
Simon Wright
Simon indistributionfirm launch
14 16/2/10 16:15 Page 1
11 Muscle Finesse 16/2/10 12:59 Page 1
UK FITNESS SCENE16
RICHARD Chessman operatesFitness Formula, putting driversincluding the Mansell brothersthrough their paces away from thetrack.
A former physical traininginstructor in the parachute regi-ment, Richard ran the selection forthe forces, so is used to having toget people in peak condition in ashort period of time.
He said: “In 1999, I was asked by afriend to train his racing driverfriend and like a lot of people, I didwonder how much fitness is need-ed to sit in a car. I trained him, hewon all his races that year and thenI was asked to go into FormulaOne.”
Richard said the main considera-tions for drivers are their weight,shape and flexibility. A kilo of extraweight equates to an extra tenth ofa second so it’s about getting thepower to weight ratio right. Andbigger muscles fatigue faster, so it’simportant that drivers don’t get toobulky.
To help work on speed, Richarddoes a lot of kickboxing with Will,which also helps him think abouthis foot movements – useful forwhen he can’t see them in the car.
“Because there is little testingthese days there are quite big gapsbetween races so drivers can’t relyon being in the car to get them fit.
“So I get his muscles to workanaerobically to cause lactic build-up. That’s a good way of preparingthe body for races when he is hav-ing to take fast corners and brake
heavily.“So when we do boxing we will do
a five minute round with a oneminute rest and that gets his heartrate going through the roof, espe-cially because he is so young at21.”
Jonathan said that it’s hard to getthe training to be sports-specificbut to step things up for this year,he is going to have to start workingout in his suit.
He is also planning to do altitudetraining, and is hoping to take himalong with some other drivers toSwitzerland just before the startand during the middle of the sea-son.
“I always speak to Will after a raceto find out if anything hurt himand his main problem area is hisneck because of the hard braking.It also puts a lot of pressure on theleft leg, which a lot of people don’trealise. They also can’t compre-hend how much lactic build-updrivers get when they go aroundcorners either.”
Richard works with Will once aweek at a Bannatyne’s gym in hishome town of Banbury, setting hima programme to work to for the sixdays in between.
“I would like to see him more ashe really needs to start pushinghimself. Because he was 18 when Istarted training him his body waswas still changing and he has mademassive improvements.
“Drivers tend to be quite small,like jockeys, but Will has a swim-mer’s physique, with broad shoul-
ders that we don’t want to get anybroader.
“So this dictates much of theexercises we do – for example Ikeep him away from lat pulls andwe do seated rows instead.”
In the week leading up to a raceWill’s diet is high in carbohydratesbut because racing drivers haveeight month long seasons, he hasto be given time to recoverbetween races.
Richard always accompanies Willon race days, helping him prepareand giving him massages. The fore-arms especially take a hammering,so he takes him through stretchingand dexterity work before settingoff.
How fit were you before you start-ed racing?I've always been a reasonably fitperson but before I started trainingspecifically for racing, that fitnesswas all focussed in the wrongareas. I tended to do a lot of heavyweight lifting – I could lift a lot butI was heavy and my muscles lackedendurance and speed. Why do you need to be so fit forracing?The high g-force working environ-ment demands a lot from the mus-cles in your body – it’s like some-body constantly pushing you
around while you're trying to drive,and also the forces make it harderto breathe than normal. In addition the temperatures atwhich you drive are normally veryhigh – in Abu Dhabi the air tem-perature was around 40, then youhave to work in a cockpit warmedby the heat from the car andengine and wear three layers offireproof clothing and a helmet.Also outside F1 there is no power-steering on the cars, making turn-ing the wheel difficult and tiring,and races can last up to an hour. Has your diet changed since you
became a driver?I have to try and reach a targetbody weight of 75kg when before Iwas training it was around 85kgand has been as high as 88kg. Itherefore try to make sure every-thing I eat is balanced and goodquality, avoiding sugary and fattyfoods and generally avoiding redmeats, favouring chicken and fish. Do you take any supplements?Not over the main season. Perhapsonly vitamin B12 if I’ve not hadany red meat in a while. OverChristmas I usually take proteinsupplements to boost my diet.
Will training with Richard Will on the track
Up-and-coming racing driver Will Bratt is stepping up his fitness regime as heprepares for race track glory. In an exclusive feature for Workout, Mary Fergusonspoke to his fitness coach about what it takes to train for motor sports.
How Richard is helpingWill step up a gear ...
Will Bratt
Five minutes with Wil l Bratt . . .
16 16/2/10 16:16 Page 1
17 CFM 16/2/10 13:01 Page 1
UK FITNESS SCENE18A supersized showcase of LesMills fitness classes is takingplace at LoughboroughUniversity in April.In the first event of its kind,over 200 exercise professionalsand enthusiasts will gather totake part in a day of sessionsincluding Body Pump, BodyAttack and Body Jam.Confirmed presenters includeShaun Egan, Giles Bryant,Niamh McGuirk and TanyaWalker.
TRAINER to the stars Cornel Chin islaunching a new book aimed at help-ing people achieve an A-Listphysique.
Cornel told Workout he wasinspired to write ‘Celebrity Body on aBudget’ last year, after being con-stantly asked how to exercise cheap-ly. He said: “I got the idea as the cred-it crunch really began to bite. Aspanic set in, I was frequently beingasked by journalists and acquain-tances – interestingly, not my clients– what direction I believed the fitnessmarket would take in the economicdownturn.
“Exercise is of paramount impor-
tance, but the ability to get and stayin optimum shape when money istight can be a serious de-motivator.”
After approaching different pub-lishers, Cornel struck a deal withAmerican company Price WorldPublishing and was given fivemonths to write it in.
He added: “The book is very muchbased on my own training methods Iuse with my clients including mycelebrities.
“And the most popular celebrityphysiques that most of my male andfemale clients desire are Brad Pittand Angelina Jolie.”
EXF Fitness has been acentral player in the theUK gym, sports perform-ance and training industryfor over 15 years and hasnow teamed up withPerform Better USA. Thisexciting and dynamic newteaming has also broughton board AnthonyDiLuglio – one ofAmerica's leading personaltrainers and a top advocateof kettlebell training.
EXF's Charles Burch said:“Anthony was one of thefirst to rekindle the ancientart of kettlebell trainingsome years ago. Herealised it could revolu-
tionise fitness and wasexactly what he was seek-ing both for his clients andthe industry as a whole. Heestablished the first kettle-bell gym in the countryand is regarded as one ofits foremost experts. Weare delighted to have theconnection with himthrough our new partners.”
EXF Perform Better USAsupplied a full array of ket-tlebells in a variety ofcolours, as well as all thekettlebell variations.Dedicated racks are alsoavailable too.
GB Fitness are known for their highquality, in depth courses in areassuch as personal training and nutri-tion qualifications. But they are alsoknown for the vast range of elite ath-letes that they train and advise.
Many of these are champions intheir particular sport, includingOlympic and world title holders. Thecourses run by GB Fitness directorCain Leathem and have an eclecticmix of students within the same classthat may range from complete begin-ners to the likes of Don Broadhurst(Commonwealth Gold Medallist inBoxing), Silvana Imbrogno (Ms FigureUK, Europe & Universe), Mark Hylton(Olympic Silver Medallist in 400m)along with the likes of ‘Jet’ fromGladiators and Fitness Model Ilaria
Petrucci. It seems that when Cainsays ‘we practice what we preach’ hemeans it.
Cain has offered a 10 per cent dis-count to all Workout readers whowish to study with GB Fitness – thewinning team that prove in the realworld what they teach in the class-room.
Call Cain on 07961346461
Discount for Workout readers from GB Fitness
Intelligent Training Systems – what we do ...OUR service in its basic form is train-ing provision and consultancy, but toexplain the full magnitude of ourservice we simply provide the ‘miss-ing link’.
We work with people who have littleor no understanding of the humanbody, to those who are experts; andprovide each with their missing linkto allow them to enhance their careerand business journey.
We provide a range of elite servicesand the same unique mentoring,whether we train someone to under-stand a particular concept, or to qual-ifying a group of staff, or for sales andbusiness advice, or even providing afull business franchise.
If you wish to become the best youcan be, the next step in your career
progression is becoming a qualifiedITS Biomechanics Coach. Be part ofan exclusive band of personal train-ers, strength and conditioning coach-es as well as therapists who wish tobe recognised as the best, and pro-vide the best for your clients and yourbusiness.
Website:www.intelligenttrainingsystems.com
‘Celebrity Body on a Budget’
18 16/2/10 16:17 Page 1
19 PeakBody 16/2/10 13:03 Page 1
KETTLEBELL20
IN 2006 Wolverson’s first ‘competition’specification or ‘pro-grade’ kettlebellwas introduced and whilst over thelast four years the quality hasimproved, the overall design has notchanged.
The competition kettlebell differsfrom others in that the size is thesame from 8-48 kg. This providesmany advantages including increas-ing the learning curve whilst at thesame time reducing intimidation asall participants are lifting the samesize regardless of weight.
Jason McCarthy at WolversonFitness knew the company was onthe right track when Steve Cotter, theworlds foremost Kettlebell Instructorand President of the InternationalKettlebell and Fitness Federationchose Wolverson competition kettle-
bells for the IKFF Certified KettlebellTeacher Certifications in the UK.
Steve said: "Wolverson CompetitionKettlebells are well made with qualityand attention to details, are pricedright and they provide excellent serv-ice."
This year sees Wolverson promotetheir complete range of functionaltraining equipment at BodyPower.
Competition kettlebells get Cotter seal of approval
JORDAN have been at the forefront ofkettlebell design since this trainingmethod first became popular a fewyears ago working in conjunctionwith renowned kettlebell trainerssuch as Angie Dowds, who features inthe ITV hit show ‘Biggest Loser UK’.
Angie said: “I have developed a fan-tastic bell with JORDAN, we wantedto have the best on the market andtogether we believe we have donethat. Not all kettlebells are the same –we worked on dimension of the han-dle for comfort and safety as well asachieving the ideal size, shape andfinish.”
JORDAN recognise that kettlebelltraining is a unique way of exercisingand recommends anyone who is newto this discipline seek specialist train-ing and advice. With this in mind,JORDAN is proud to be associatedwith the team who are launching‘Kettlercise’ with the aim of making
kettlebell training accessible to all.As kettlebell training continues to
grow in popularity JORDAN wouldlike to offer one person the chance toattend a Juice Performance ADPF KBL1 – Kettlebell Instructor IntensiveCertification Course free of charge.These courses are run by AngieDowds and her team.
Just enter our prize draw on theJORDAN web-site www.jordanfit-ness.co.uk by submitting your detailsand you will be entered into the drawwhich will take place on 31 March2010. The winner will be notified byemail after this date and named onthe website. For more details regard-ing the course go to www.juiceperfor-mance.co.uk
For the full range of JORDAN functional fitness products visit
www.jordanfitness.co.uk or phone 01945 880257
Developing kettlebell design
JORDAN range of kettlebells start at£7.37 plus vat for a 4kg cast iron version
I REMEMBER back in 2005 doing anarticle for Workout on the subject ofkettlebell training and how “The ket-tlebell was swinging its way into thefitness industry” and a lot of peoplethought I was mad.
I even recall having to describe akettlebell just in case people mightnot know what it was. Back then I wasa founder member of the UKKA andwe were promoting instructor cours-es to fitness professionals. There wereprobably a couple of training provid-ers nationally and another one or twoglobally.
So what’s changed in the last fiveyears of me teaching kettlebells to fit-ness professionals? Well, there arecertainly more companies offeringtraining courses It’s made a hugeimpact on the media – now you can’tseem to turn on the TV or pick up amagazine without the kettlebell mak-ing an appearance. It is now widely
acceptedas a greatfunctionaltrainingtool thatdeliversresults.
It still hasneverseemed tomake thecross over into the mainstream fit-ness arena ... what I mean is it that itnever got going into fitness classeswhich to some degree I can under-stand. When we taught courses peo-ple would ask how they could inte-grate it into a class environmentwithout having to do some sort ofbeginners’ course as the level of indi-vidual attention needed was quiteintense to teach the basic exercises.
Gym owners also had concerns overmembers of the public throwingheavy iron cannonballs around theirnice studios and the health and safetyconcerns that can accompany it.
Well I’m glad to say that we nowhave the answer, it has taken a coupleof years to get it right and we did testvarious programmes on clients. Oncewe found what worked we then hadto take it into the fitness class arenaand see, firstly, if demand was there,if people enjoyed it and if they gotresults. We did case studies and theresults were overwhelming we wentfrom one class to four classes a weekin one test site with a waiting list forpeople to join. In February 2010 welaunched the new Kettlercise certifiedinstructor course, so all fitness pro-fessionals and gym owners couldbenefit from the results.
We still offer our instructor two-daycourses at level I and level II butKettlercise is completely different. It’sbeen designed specifically for a classsetting or for people not just ready toget to grips completely with kettle-bells and it really is a great pro-gramme and also a fantastic profitopportunity for fitness professionalsand gyms alike. If you remember metelling you about kettlebells five yearsago and what has happened. MaybeI’ll talk to you in the next five years.
To view details of RKPS courses includingthe kettlercise program go to
www.rkps.org or call 01282 698698
So what’s new in thekettlebell training world?
Guy Noble from the Register of Kettlebell Professionals (RKPS)talks to workout about changes in the field of Kettlebell training.
Guy Noble
20 16/2/10 17:22 Page 1
A lot of gym managers have been conscious of using kettlebells due to thefact that without proper instruction the client is open to injuries.Throwing aheavy kettlebell around in the gym is open to accidents and the damage togym floors with heavy kettlebells can be an enormous cost.
With the launch of the Kettlercise™ programme this now solves thoseproblems. Kettlercise™ brings kettlebells into mainstream health and fitnesstraining and it’s open to anyone. So what is it?
Kettlercise™ integrates the traditional kettlebell into a high volume, lowintensity, all over body work out delivered in a 50-minute heart pumping, fatburning, muscle toning routine. The kettlercise™ training system is particu-larly aimed at women as 85% of people that attend fitness classes arefemale. From our own research and trials it is where it has the most suc-cess. In one of ours trials one of our senior instructors started the kettler-cise™ class with 8 attendees, then 16 and now runs four classes a weekwith a waiting list of people wanting to participate.
Why put Kettlercise™ in to your fitness programme? In these challenging times of retaining and attracting gym members youneed to stay ahead of your competition. When clients find something new,fresh and exciting that really works their loyalty to you can be extremelytested to say the least.
Here are just a few of the many benefits of Kettlercise™:• It’s easy for you to implement and market• It can be an added profit opportunity• Its simple and fun to teach and clients will love it• It’s a brilliant cross selling opportunity into 1:2:1 PT
sessions• It has countless routine variations helping you to retain
client interest• No marking of gym floors with heavy kettlebells• It’s open to 90% of gym members• It’s an entire functional body work out
How much does it cost?A vibrating plate machine can cost upwards of £3k. A new treadmill cancost you anything up to £15k.To book a place for one instructor on aKettlercise™ course at any one of our training locations across the UK isonly £129 per person.
To book call 01282 698698 or visit www.RKPS.org
We have all heard the hype and the mythical legends of kettlebell training, how it was used bygladiators or Greek Gods thousands of years ago. However, up until now it seems to have beenexclusively aimed at the hardcore element of the fitness market, routinely used by PT’s or in somesort of bootcamp setting. One of the biggest issues of training with kettlebells is that you can’t take a mem-ber from the gym floor that hasn’t seen one before and put them straight into a class without them doing somesort of basic kettlebell training course.
Kettlercise™ kicks its way in to the fitness industry
March 2010
March 26th Kettlercise Beckenham London
March 27th Kettlebell instructor L Day one London
March 28th Kettlebell instructor L1 Day two London
March 29th Kettlercise South Manchester
April 2010
April Tba Kettlercise Harrogate Yorkshire
April 23rd Kettlercise north Manchester
April 24th Kettlebell instructor L1 day one Manchester
April 25th Kettlebell instructor L1 day two Manchester
May 2010
May 21st Kettlercise London
May 22nd Kettlebell instructor L1 day one London
May 23rd Kettlebell instructor L1 day two London
For More dates and venues vist www.RKPS.org
Special Kettlercise™Instructor OfferThe first 9 companies that book 10instructors or more on aKettlercise™ Instructor Course willreceive a FREE starter pack of 16kettlebells worth over £269.
Depending where you are in theUK we can even send one of ourdedicated trainers to you!
Dates
Advertiser’s Announcement
Finally - How to integrateKettlebells in to your business!
21 Kettlercise 16/2/10 16:19 Page 1
KETTLEBELL22
FOR the last seven years, Stefano hasbeen working from Fitness First inIslington but after winning a presti-gious award, he decided it was timefor a change.
He is now one of 32 PTs at KX, hon-ing the bodies of some of media’smost famous faces. And he claims if itwasn’t for his title he wouldn’t bethere.
Last March Stefano was named ‘per-sonal trainer of the year 2009’ at theInternational Fitness ShowcaseAwards, after entering himself intothe competition.
He said: “I decided I was the bestpersonal trainer in the UK before Iwon it, and taking on that mindsethelped me get recognised. I use thetitle heavily in my marketing materialand some great things have hap-pened since.
”I was bringing a lot of media cover-age and exposure into Fitness Firstbut they were not looking after me soI decided to become part of a clubthat matches who I am now. I basical-ly left for a more exclusive workingenvironment.”
As well as securing his dream job atKX, the win led to Stefano becoming akettlebell expert on Sky TV and con-tributor to magazines including Men’sFitness and Peak Performance.
And he is now an official ambassa-dor, sponsored athlete and fitnessmodel with international sportsbrand USN.
Stefano admits there are other perksto his raised profile. He has appearedas an eligible bachelor on dating
show ‘Take Me Out’, where he per-formed with his kettlebells on nation-al TV.
He is also being asked to attend filmcastings and next year will star along-side Ricky Gervais in CemeteryJunction. And he stars on the frontcover of the 2010 ‘Men In Uniform’calendar, dressed as a fireman.
But his first love is fitness, and par-ticularly, kettlebells.
“I’ve been lucky enough to learnfrom some really great people includ-ing Corrie Bufton and Angie Dowdsand the strength and conditioningcoach Steve Cotter has been a totalinspiration to me.
“I really look up to him as he is anOlympic champion and very good atwhat he does. I admire his levelhead-ed attitude even though he is verysuccessful.
“He’s inspired me to be a bettertrainer and take my career to themax.”
Stefano charges £80 an hour for hispersonal training services at KX and£100 privately. His regular clientsinclude TV actor Jeremy Sheffield andmodel Jo Emma Larvin and he alsotrains athletes and hedge fund managers.
But while his star is rising on thegym floor, he is also enjoying hisother projects.
He added: “I love the modelling andTV work so I’m happy to do more ofthat. Eventually though I’d like myown studio and ultimately, I wantinternational recognition as a person-al trainer and fitness expert.”
As the newest member of staff at the exclusive KX gym in Chelsea, kettlebell devotee Stefano Chiriaco is living upto his title of ‘personal trainer of the year’. Mary Ferguson met him at the gym.
Stefano on ‘Take Me Out’
Personal trainertitle opens doorsfor kettlebellexpert Stefano
22 18/2/10 12:42 Page 1
KETTLEBELL 23
DESPITE the hefty price tag, plentyof people are happy to pay, includ-ing Hollywood stars, famous musi-cians and some of the richest busi-nessmen in the capital.
Fitness manager Gideon Remfrytold Workout a large part of thebusiness is made up of personaltraining, with 45 per cent of mem-bers paying extra for it.
He said: “We offer higher levels ofPT than most other gyms. It’s takenus a few years to get the staff that
we want but we now offer every-thing. And we are very fussy aboutwho we take on – we only employthe best and it’s not easy to get a jobhere.”
As well as the gym KX houses arestaurant and spa and the threeareas cross-refer, meaning there is ahigh level of secondary spend.
The group exercise timetable con-tains 70 classes, most of which havebeen designed exclusively for KX.Options include Athletic Reformer
Conditioning, Nation Of RhythmDance Workout, Power Vinyasa Yogaand KX X-Fit.
There are separate Pilates, yogaand boxing studios and a personaltraining area where Stefano does alot of his kettlebell work. There isalso a dedicated Spinning studio.
CV equipment on the gym floorhas been provided by Life Fitnessand individual TV screens havebeen specially fitted on eachmachine, positioned to make sure
people keep the right posture whileexercising.
Gideon said the gym doesn’t haveany rivals as they are so unique, butsimilar models in London includeThe Third Space and The Peak.
He added: “We are pretty set in themarket here so are thinking aboutopening up somewhere like NewYork, or launching exclusive fitnessretreats. We have 1,000 memberswhich is a good number, as we needto make sure it’s never too busy.”
Forget slashingjoining fees toattract moremembers – KXcharges£1,750 tobecome part ofits exclusivegym and £360a monththereafter.Mary Fergusonreports.
Why the stars are happy to payThe changing rooms and the restaurant
23 16/2/10 16:23 Page 1
COMBAT SPORTS
24www.workout-uk.co.uk
By Mary FergusonTHE owner of a combat fitness gymin the West Country has been induct-ed into the USA Martial Arts Hall ofFame.
Kevin Ludick, who runs CombatGym in Weston-Super-Mare, travelledto New Jersey to receive a silver lifeaward for 36 years of dedication andachievements.
Kevin, who was born in SouthAfrica, has been training in martialarts since the age of five, picking upseveral awards and titles along theway and recovering from a seriousinjury.
He said the accolade – and theresulting publicity – has helped boostbusiness for the gym as well as givinghis students something to aspiretowards.
He told Workout: “Every time mypicture appears in the paper, I benefitfrom more members. And becausepeople in the industry are now get-ting to know my name, I’m hoping itmay help get some big names intothe club to deliver seminars.”
Kevin has owned Combat Gym forthree years and offers training in allkinds of martial arts including
boxing, Jujitsu, Muay Thai andcage fighting.
He also uses Thai Chi to help peoplewith anxiety problems, delivering oneon one sessions to those who mayhave been attacked or abused, or suf-fered an accident.
He achieved his first black belt in1988 and continued his martial artstraining while he was a paratrooper,before suffering serious injuries in amotorcycle accident.
After a long recovery, he came to theUK in 2000 and continued his com-petitive career, as well as training andproducing stars including KadeSherlock, Gerry Wood and KieranTatterton.
Kevin said that being inducted intothe hall of fame is the biggest honourof his life and he is now able to nomi-nate other people for the accolade.
He added: “All my heroes were thereat the induction, some who havebeen involved with martial arts for 50years, and they are my inspiration tokeep learning. I still have lots I wantto achieve and although it’s great tobe given a silver life award, I hopeultimately to receive gold and plat-inum.”
Kevin (left) with Grand Master Clifford Hade Gomes, who nominated him for the accolade.
Hall of Fameaccoladefor CombatGym’s Kevin
24 16/2/10 16:24 Page 1
25 Florida Health 16/2/10 13:06 Page 1
2
26&27 Powerhouse DPS 16/2/10 16:25 Page 2
26&27 Powerhouse DPS 16/2/10 16:25 Page 3
28 Reflex 16/2/10 13:07 Page 1
UK FITNESS SCENE 29A gym member who halved her bodyweight after attempting suicide haswon a national award.Nosheen Ahmed beat of competitionin the Shape category at the annualFitness First New You AchievementAwards.
She ballooned from nine to 27 stone when she was
teenager after beingdiagnosed withsevere arthritis, aneating disorder and
depression.Beaten by bullies and
following a failed suicideattempt, Nosheen decided
to take control of her life,funded herself through alaw degree and joinedFitness First in Rochdale.After working with personal trainer DeanWharmby for a year shelost 14 stone and is visiting schools in thearea to talk to overweight youngstersuffering at the hands ofbullies.
A FITNESS instructor who caught the bodybuilding bug after stripping off atan exhibition is preparing for his 2010season.
Rob Harriss, pictured left, who worksat Feelgood Fitness in Peterborough,won the ‘shirts off’ competition at lastyears BodyPower Expo. Inspired tokeep flexing, he entered competitionsthroughout 2009 and is currently train-ing for the UKBBF North West show onMarch 21.
He said: “I never intended to get onstage at BodyPower because I’m so shy,but I kind of got dragged into the com-petition and couldn’t believe it when Iwon. It really boosted my confidence.”
Rob said his clients at the gym havebeen very supportive of his preparationfor competitions, adding: “I had to dietall through the festive season and eventrained on Christmas Day – alone inthe club – so I expect some of themalso think I’m a bit crazy.
“I’m feeling good about the Marchshow though and people have told methat with a few weeks to go, and withthe shape I’m in now, I should do reallywell.”
Rob is currently looking for sponsor-ship.
How one stripgot Rob hooked
PERSONAL training directoryBookapt.com is teaming up with M3Studios to help fitness professionalsdevelop, sustain and build theirbusinesses.
The launch party will be held onMarch 20 at the new M3 studio in
Twickenham, where industry pro-fessionals will be some of the first inthe UK to see what the programmehas to offer. There will be thechance to meet M3 director JasonAnderson, who also writes for Men’sFitness Magazine.
Programmeunveiledat launchparty
29 16/2/10 17:07 Page 1
2
30+31 Olympix DPS 16/2/10 16:27 Page 2
30+31 Olympix DPS 16/2/10 16:28 Page 3
32 KIDS’FITNESS
Sponsored by:
ACTIVE Wall & Floor from Pulse aretotally unique interactive entertain-ment and recreational products, thatdeliver limitless fitness via education-al and motivational games and activi-ties, providing hours of fun and exer-cise for all ages and abilities.
The wall and floor are made-up ofLED lit and pressure sensitive tiles,which detect the location and force ofparticipants or objects creating a real-istic gaming experience. Both prod-ucts provide:� Ideal products for creating a sec-ondary income stream� Free play, pay per play and coinoperated sessions � Operators admin screen providingstatistics on usage, length of play etc � Regular upgrades of exciting newgames and activities� Instant player feedback and moti-vational leaderboard � Use with props; balls, bean bags,woggles and ideal for team relaygames� Full cardiovascular workout, thewall concentrating on upper bodyexercise and the floor the lower body � Helps users improve coordination,focus and spatial awareness � Keeps children active and engaged
in a safe environment with a endlessvariety of educational and motiva-tional games and activities � Can be used for cross-curricularactivities in the educational environ-ment� Ideal for specialist sports training;the wall is used by Man City for goalkeeper trainingActive Wall & Floor are the ideal prod-ucts to create a secondary income inyour leisure facility; current cus-tomers have seen an investment injust 20 weeks!
For more information contact Pulse on01260 294610 or visit
www.pulsefitness.com
Unique interactive entertainment
A new survey has revealed the best and worst sporting role models for young people.Looking at their behaviour over 2009, public opinion has been used to put together a listof which athletes are looked up to and which are disapproved of.David Beckham was placed at the top of the league for the best role models and, unsur-prisingly, Tiger Woods was named as the worst.The survey was commissioned by SkillsActive, which has recently led the development of anew Diploma in Sports and Active Leisure, which includes a module on teaching youngpeople how to be good sporting role models.
Tone Leisure has launched a Z3 FitnessZone at Wellington Sports Centre inSomerset.Z3, which has been funded by over£200,000 from The Big Lottery Fund’sYoung People’s Fund Programme, was setup after consultation with a specially-established young people’s committee,made up of local youngsters who were
tasked with ensuring that it would appealto their peers. Linking up with ZigZag, ToneLeisure has installed equipment designedto allow children age 10-16 to have fun,interact with friends and get active whilstproviding them with a safe environment tomeet in. The suitably name Z3 was devel-oped by the young people’s committee torepresent the three Zs in ‘ZigZag Zone’.
Harlow youthsrapt by RippedexperienceBy Mary Ferguson
A STRENGTH training gym in Harlowis showing its softer side and helpingchallenged children by offering its fit-ness facilities for free.
Ripped hosts sessions for young-sters taking part in Educational YouthServices (EYS) who use the gym aspart of their ‘functional skills for life’programme.
The programme consists of ninestages including numeracy, literacy,ICT, leisure and art and design andaims to re-engage young people withlearning, building their self esteemand promote social inclusion. Thecurriculum works to enable theyoung people to work imaginativelyto meet their needs and to raiseexpectations in others and them-selves. Eleven students, a tutor and acoach use the gym facilities once aweek for three hours, with a focus onbiology and science.
Michelle Meade, co-owner of
Ripped, said: “At the start of the yearwe sat down as a gym and decidedthat we would concentrate on helpingkids in 2010. I knew the tutor at EYS,Anthony Anstead, when we partneredwith Harlow Town FC, which he usedto be manager of. We were delightedwhen he approached us to help withthe EYS.”
The youngsters that use the gym areaged between 11 and 15 and Michellesaid they behave well during the ses-sions because they like coming back.
She added: “They love it herebecause there are big guys, modernmusic, and they like to go upstairs tosee the boxing ring and fighting cage.
“We use the sessions to developknowledge and understanding, skills,capabilities and attributes they willneed for mental, emotional, socialand physical well being.”
As well as working with EYS, Rippedis also expanding its children’s boxingclasses, taking on two new instructorsto cope with demand for the sessions.
32 18/2/10 12:38 Page 1
33TRAINING ANDRECRUITMENT
Sponsored by:
A new range of seminars and workshops isto be introduced by Leisure and FitnessExchange, in partnership with SalfordUniversity and Chester University.Graeme Hinde, director of the Exchange, isalso working on a programme of leadershipand management training with industryexpert Nic Jarvis.The plan is to develop a programme thatwill enhance the skills of level two andthree fitness instructors, as well as at dutymanager level.
Applicationsopen for grantsFREEDOMLEISURE, which managesthe leisure centres in Mid Sussex inpartnership with GLL, has openedapplications for financial grants andfree access to sports facilities foryoung athletes.
Grants of up to £1,750 per successful applicant will be made byGLL Sport Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation funded by GLLand partners to help young sportspeople achieve their sporting ambi-tions.
It’s more important than ever that staff make the most of every sales opportunity. DaveWright, director of Creative Fitness Marketing, outlines common pitfalls to help them avoid.
1. Not finding out the prospect’sneedsYour understanding of your guest’sunique needs will not increasewith talking. Find out what yourguest really wants to achieve andwhy. Listen twice as hard and talkhalf as much and you will double your sales. The word‘Silent’ is a significant acronym of‘Listen’.
2. Not asking for the saleSelling without closing is like play-ing golf without putting – you get alot of exercise – but no result!Failing to ask for them to join isthe same as asking for failure.Successful sales people ask for thesale several times on the presenta-tion.
3. Not describing member benefitsclearly and persuasivelyPeople only want to ‘think about it’if you’ve not made the benefitsclear and relevant to them. Goodpresentations are short and theresult of long preparation. Whatmakes a poor presentation? Zerotime spent on preparation.
4. Prejudging the prospects abilityto buyIf you imagine that your guestwon’t buy, you’re developing a self-fulfilling prophecy. Ask questionsand check the facts but never dis-count the sale. Very rarely do peo-ple want to waste time viewingyour club unless they have aninterest in becoming a member. Ifthey are not from the area or are‘only looking’, then there is noneed showing them the prices.
5. Not dealing with the guest’sobjections head onWhen a guest has an objection,welcome it as a question that youare happy to answer. Objectionsare often buying signals in dis-guise.
6. Not making enough calls.You can’t close people you don’tcall on. Sales is purely a numbersgame; and the more leads themore potential members. Goodsales people don’t sit back and waitfor it happen; they go out and
make it happen.
7. Not having a planYou would never jump in a taxiwithout establishing where youwant to go. The same goes withsales – it’s important to have a planof attack when dealing with eachand every prospect – pointing outthe relevant features and benefitsin a systematic way.
8. Too much focus on priceYou just have to look at the dietindustry or the home equipmentmarket to realize that people will‘beg borrow and steal’ to find themoney if they think it will get themresults with their fitness/ healthgoal. You must always add valuebecause when the value outweighsthe cost – you get the sale everytime.
9. Not practising what they preachWhen you’re spending your work-ing life encouraging people to joina health club then it’s great if youactually know what you’re talkingabout. Good sales people get inand train themselves picking upvaluable referrals from the connec-tions that they make once theyenroll someone to the club.
10. Ignoring the power of positiveattitudeYou beliefs determine your actionsand your actions determine yourresults. Good sales people nevertake rejection personally as theyhave a positive attitude that fightsthrough failure, rejection and dis-appointment. A positive attitudealso escalates the successfulactions you take.
How to help staffavoid sales pitfalls
Dave Wright
33 16/2/10 16:32 Page 1
TRAINING – ADVERTISER’S ANNOUNCEMENT34
By Alan RunacresFCollP FISM.BSc Hons. DipHMan. MICM DipDirector of Training – WABBAQualifications
SO, principles of presentation hey –it’s all about shiny white teeth and abright pink tie and braces for themen isn’t it? Well no, actually it’s not!Dressing up like a power broker, orworse still an Estate Agent, (just kid-ding, there are some great estateagents out there, honest!!) is not thekey to good presentation skills.
Now I’m not suggesting for onemoment that we all dress down forwork, far from it, but rule number 1,is that you are your most importantasset, so we have to make the best ofwhat we have as an individual pack-age.
A poor image is self-defeating, anda bad start, just as bad as someonewho thinks they are the bee’s knees, itgets in the way of you projecting yourtrue qualities and abilities.
Many men and women wish thiswasn’t the case and that we should allbe taken on face value and anyassessment made only on our
achievements and not on any addi-tional, superficial factors, such asappearance, speech tone, attitudeand general appearance etc.
Today, as people come into the fit-ness industry, it’s becoming more evi-dent than ever that a lot of staff justdon’t seem to have any communica-tion skills at all. I know from seeingmy own 19-year-old grow up, manyteenagers simply just can’t speak!
Sounds silly I know, but go intoalmost any leisure environment andyou come across staff feeling almostembarrassed at having to hold a con-versation. This is the exact oppositeof the over confident trainer with the“smarm factor” oozing off themalmost as much as their cologne!Both speak in volumes about howyou are seen by others.
From your grooming, to your smile,how clean and tidy your clothes areand to the modulation of your voice,they all count towards your overallpresentation performance.
Then, of course, there is the controlof content delivery, or put simply, doyou waffle on for far too long, or are
you as quiet as a church mouse! Allpresentations are based upon threekey issues, according to HarvardBusiness School, who have doneextensive research in to how youshould present yourself to others.
These are how you look, whichmakes up a whopping 55% of anindividual’s overall assumption ofyou as a person, which is quickly fol-lowed by how you speak, making upa further 38% of the initial impres-sion formed by someone when theymeet you, and finally (and this isreally ironic) what you say, makingup a paltry 7% only, of the totalimpression you give to someonewhen they meet you.
People form these impressions ofyou much quicker than you wouldever think possible, through aprocess called the 90:90 rule. Inessence, what Harvard has proven isa pretty infallible rule.
You have just 90 seconds to make90% of your total impression on anew client, colleague, or businessacquaintance. If there is a mismatchbetween your words and your non-
verbal message they will tend tobelieve the non-verbal.
It is easier to lie with words thanwith your body. If you want to appearcompetent, confident and in controlyour body language must be positive.Adopt a well-balanced, open posture.Stand comfortably relaxed with yourarms loosely down by your sides orwith hands held low in front of you.
The way we use our bodies canindicate how confident and success-ful we are, so beware of mannerismslike nail biting, hair twisting, lipchewing etc. The way we sit or standand use eye-contact will all sendmessages loud and clear, before weeven open our months, if we knowhow to talk!
The way you see yourself is not howothers see or perceive you. Until nexttime, spread the word and keep talk-ing!Footnote: Alan Runacres has over 35 years’gym experience, been WABBA director oftraining for 15 years and is the author ofthree books and over 100 published arti-cles.
Principles ofpresentation – youare how you are!
Alan Runacres
34 16/2/10 16:32 Page 1
TRAINING AND RECRUITMENT
35www.workout-uk.co.uk
Carl Paper has been appointed general manager at Bannatyne’s Health Club inPeterborough. Carl has moved from the same position at Bannatyne’s in Milton Keyneswhere he welcomed over 300 new members in six months and developed customer serv-ice standards.
Hillsborough Leisure Centre in Sheffield hasappointed a new operations manager.Andy McGrath is a familiar face to theSheffield International Venues (SIV) facility,joining from Ponds Forge InternationalSports Centre and before that EnglishInstitute of Sport – Sheffield.He said: “Hillsborough is a fantastic venuewhich welcomes thousands of families ayear but I’m sure more can be achieved andhopefully I can help drive it even furtherforward.”
MATRIX Fitness Systems hasextended its sales provision todeal with the growing interestin equipment from the uni-formed services.
David Cox’s role at the compa-nyhas been developed to focussolely on managing the sales offitness equipment to the uni-formed services, which includesthe police, fire, prisons and themilitary.
David has nine years experi-ence working with the uni-formed services, not only withMatrix but also with PowersportInternational.
He said: “I look forward toraising the profile in this sectorand will relish the opportunityto work with the MOD to provide fitness kit to the mili-tary.”
Extensionto salesprovision
35 16/2/10 16:34 Page 1
2
36+37 Bodypower DPS 16/2/10 16:36 Page 2
36+37 Bodypower DPS 16/2/10 16:37 Page 3
UK FITNESS SCENE38
SCOTT took over Hercules Gymfollowing a lifelong passion forthe bodybuilding industry.
His dad, Ray Horton, took himround the circuit when he was asmall boy, which is when he fell inlove with the sport.
He joined the army and becamepart of the scene in every countryhe visited, competing for a shorttime to gain experience on thestage.
He said: “I never had any aspira-tions to be Mr. Universe, but Iknew I wanted to be a successful
name in the sport. And that’s whyI had to do some competing, toprove I could do it and not justtalk the talk.”
In 1998 Scott inherited theNABBA East Britain from RonBrett, who used to own Hercules –then called Performer BodyShapers – and shortly afterwardsdecided to go it alone.
“I thought I could do better with-out rules so started putting onshows under my own name thatculminated in Mr. Hercules in2001.
“After its success I wasapproached by WABBA andbecame vice president, coachingthe British team.
“I decided to leave three yearsago and go back to being inde-pendent but the UKBFF asked if Iwanted to go into their federationso I did that two years ago.
“I’ve been a judge, promoter andam on the executive committeeand we have been flying.
“We call the shots in UK body-building and I figured if I want toget to the top in the game, that’s
where I needed to be.”
Scott added that he still hasthings he wants to achieve in theindustry and said the circuit haslost none of its appeal.
“I want people to talk about myshows and I’m still as passionateand excited about it as I was yearsago.
“The UKBFF are still sticklers forrules but I can work within thatbecause I’m still able to put mystamp on things. I really feel asthough the world is now my oys-ter.”
‘I feel as though the world is now my oyster’
By Mary Ferguson
THE owner of a notoriousweight lifting gym inColchester is turning the build-ing next door into a fitnessfacility.
Scott Horton has bought theformer boxing club next toHercules Gym and is in theprocess of converting it into agym aimed at the whole area.
Formerly known asChampions, the site willbecome ‘Hercules Elite Fitness’and Scott told Workout hewants to use old-school train-ing techniques, but mergethem with modern fitness‘fads’.
“I also want to use a little bitof army-style training and I’mthinking about putting a cagein there for contact sports.
Basically I want to hit a newmarket.
“Hercules has a reputationfor being so hardcore thatsome people are afraid tocome here but I want to open my net to attract morepeople.”
Scott plans to use his experi-ence as a bodybuilding coachto help people of all shapesand sizes and is looking for-ward to welcoming a widerange of customers.
“Whatever stage of fitnesspeople are at, I can take themto the next one.
“One of the main thingsbodybuilders try and achieve isextreme weight loss, and whatworks for them works foreveryone, including over-weight women.
“The problem is that theregimes that get the bestresults are often too extremefor the average person.”
Both buildings are locatednear an underpass next to the River Colne, and Scott’splan is turn the area into thekind of place people can hangaround all day – enjoyingdrinks and food on the grassafter training, and taking aswim in the river during thesummer.
Tractor tyres already litter theground to provide facilities forstrongman training andHercules members use theunderpass for jogging.
Scott’s aim is to have the newclub up and running by April,after he returns from theArnold Classic in America.
Scott and Bear, the gym dog
Scott wants new facility toshake off hardcore image
Steroid Steve ‘hanging’ out in reception
38 16/2/10 16:38 Page 1
39 Bodytemple 16/2/10 13:09 Page 1
SUPPLEMENTATION AND NUTRITION
40
By Andrew Hamilton BSc Hons MRSC
FOR a significant number ofgym users, weight gain ratherthan weight loss is the numberone goal. Enter the ‘weightgain’ drink, which can be a use-ful tool in the nutritionalarmoury.
Although the actual ingredi-ent mix can vary considerably,all good weight gain drinks ful-fill at least two criteria:1.They supply plenty of proteinto help build lean muscle tis-sue;2.They also provide plenty ofcalories (usually in the form ofadded carbohydrate) to helpmeet energy demands and helpin the energy-consumingprocess of assimilating musclemass.
Why use a weightgain drink?Gaining lean muscle masswhile minimising fat gains istricky. As well as ample proteinfor muscle tissue synthesis(around 1.5-2.0 grams per kiloof body weight per day), youalso need ample carbohydrateto fuel your training and tosupply a small excess of calo-ries.
You can achieve this by sim-ply stuffing your face with anyold high-calorie foods.
However, you’ll almost cer-tainly end up consuming largeamounts of fat together withquick-releasing sugary carbo-hydrates – great if you’re asumo wrestler trying toincrease body fat, but useless
for those seeking lean musclegains.
Weight gain drinks can beuseful; they supply plenty ofproteins, carbohydrates andcalories, but with minimalamounts of fat. Moreover theprotein/carbohydrate blendcan be balanced so that it rap-idly raises blood level of aminoacids and glucose for hungrymuscles after training and sus-tains levels for several hoursafterwards.
There’s also the convenience factor – they can be used to plug gaps in the day when it’s just not possible to eat theright combination of proteinand carbohydrate to sustainmuscle mass gain.
Weight gain drinkscan be useful for:Anybody undertaking a heavyresistance programme, wheremass and strength gain is thenumber one priority
Those with slim, wiryphysiques seeking to buildmuscle mass
Endurance athletes perform-ing high-volume training, seek-ing to maintain muscle mass
Those recovering from illnessinvolving weight loss and whowish to gain weight.
It must be emphasised however that consuming large amounts of even thehighest quality weight gaindrink without performing theright type and amount of exer-cise will simply lead to fat gainand not lean muscle gain –period.
What to look for in aweight gain drink:Carbohydrate:protein ratio – Those with naturally slimbuilds should choose a productoffering higher ratios of carbo-hydrate (around 3:1) whereasthose who gain weight easily)should choose products con-taining lower ratios of carbohy-drate (around 1:1);
Protein/carbohydrate type – Look for a blend of proteins (egwhey, casein, soy etc.) and carbohydrates (eg fructose,dextrose, glucose polymersetc.), which will help sustainhigher blood levels of aminoacids and glucose for longer,increasing availability to mus-cles;
Added nutrients – Vitamins and minerals are avaluable addition (especiallythe B vitamins and zinc).
Other ingredients such as cre-atine, beta-alanine and HMBare also useful, being scientifi-cally proven to produce anergogenic effect.
Unfortunately however, this isnot the case for a number ofother ingredients, eg nitricoxide enhancers);
Taste and texture – No matter how technologicallyadvanced the product, makesure you like the taste and tex-ture otherwise you simplywon’t use it often enough toreap any benefits.
Weight gain drinks – howthey help members get result
Florida Health provide a nationaldelivery service of sports nutritionproducts to gyms, health clubs andretail outlets throughout the UK.
Managing director Adrian Brownsaid: “Our strength is in the quality ofour products and our service levels toour customers. We have our own fleetof vehicles that allow us to provide areliable personal service and peoplelike that.”
As a gym owner and former powerlifting champion, Adrian knows thebenefits of a structured nutrition pro-gramme and therefore works wellwith co-director and head of market-ing Val Brown in her tireless efforts topromote the brand.
“When we introduce new productswe are always mindful to researchthings in detail and that includes tak-ing feedback from our customers andacting on it,” he said with conviction.
NRGFUEL sponsor and support anumber of athletes across differentdisciplines. Their highest profileambassador is world boxing champi-on Carl Froch who is a strong advo-cate of their best-selling all in onedrink supplement TTP.
NRGFUEL also actively supportMixed Martial Arts athletes JimWallhead and Ricky Gammon.Wallhead has just signed a contract
with the Bellator fight promotion inAmerica which will give him andNRGFUEL worldwide TV exposure.Current Mr Universe Neale Cranwellis also on the roster along with BritishChampion Caroline Oliver.
As 2010 unfolds Florida Health andthe NRGFUEL brand will be lookingto expand their footprint furtheracross the UK and into Europe.
Adrian added: “We are constantlylooking to improve in all areas of thebusiness. We are in the process ofupgrading our website as this shouldfurther enhance our already success-ful online activity, and are alwayshappy to come out and meet newclients to discuss how best we canwork together for our mutual bene-fit.”
As the strap line on the NRGFUELproducts says, Florida Health will beable to stay stronger for longer.Contact Florida Health on 0115 9209057 or
PREMIER league football clubBlackburn Rovers are using proteinshakes from CNP Professional to keepthem in top condition throughout theseason.
In the past, protein supplementshave been the preserve of endurancesports and body builders, but modernsports science recognises the impor-tance of protein supplements forfootballers. Protein is essential for themaintenance, recovery and strength-ening of the body’s muscles. It is notjust weight training that causes mus-
cle break down – any physicallydemanding sport does.
CNP founder Kerry Kayes said:“Playing football regularly places thebody under unnatural stress, and thegruelling Premiership schedule does-n’t give the body much chance torecover. To help muscles repair fromthe punishment of training andmatches they need a bio-availableprotein. So if a footballer's diet isdeficient in protein, it follows thatrecovery will be impaired and per-formance will be degraded.”
Premier team uses shakes
42 18/2/10 12:48 Page 1
43 ISO 2 16/2/10 13:14 Page 1
44 Prolab 16/2/10 16:44 Page 1
SUPPLEMENTATION AND NUTRITION
45
Gatorade launches ‘give back’ schemeISOTONIC sports drink Gatorade has launched apromotion that will benefit sports clubs, schools anduniversities.
‘Gatorade Gives Back’ will run throughout 2010, giv-ing Gatorade athletes the opportunity to redeem over£1,000,000 in rewards including top sports equip-ment, music downloads, money can’t buy experi-ences and sporting holidays.
Adam Draper, Gatorade brand manager said: “Weare delighted to have the opportunity to put some-thing back into sport and reward athletes at all levelswith the programme.
We hope to get as many people involved as possibleand I hope that schools, clubs and athletes will takeadvantage of the fantastic rewards that are available.”
To get involved, individuals will need to collectcodes from each bottle of Gatorade that correspondsto a nominal points value. Codes can then be bankedonline and via text and used to cash in on a widerange of sports-related rewards. Champion swimmer Jo Jackson is supporting the promotion
By Mary Ferguson
OVERHAULING a member’s dietand helping him achieve massiveweight loss has helped independ-ent gym owner Neale Cranwellgenerate publicity for his club.
Neale, who owns Krunch Gym inWaltham Abbey, transformed theeating habits of Greg Simpsona,who used to weigh 42 stone.
And as well as inspiring othermembers, his success story has ledto interest in the gym from localnewspapers.
Greg now weighs 18 stone andlast summer competed in London’sStrongest Man, held at Krunch.
In 2006, after six years on thewaiting list for a gastric bypass, hefinally had the operation. He wasadvised to join a gym to control theexcess skin that comes with dra-matic weight loss so signed up atKrunch in December 2007.
Neale told Workout: “Greg wasabout 25 stone when he came tous. He didn’t tell us about his past,
just got on quietly with his training,but I try and get to know all thenew members so after chattingwith him, I discovered how big heused to be and wouldn’t believe ituntil he showed me the photos.
“I saw that he was drawn towardsthe heavier weights and he’s a nat-urally strong bloke so I startedhelping him with his training anddiet.”
A typical day’s food intake whenGreg was 42 stone included twoloaves of white bread, two largepizzas, three kebabs, a multipack ofcrisps, roast dinner and endlesspackets of biscuits. But followingthe bypass, which shrunk his stom-ach, he could only eat fist-sizedportions of food.
“He couldn’t eat much at any onetime but what he was taking in wasstill crap, so I got him to eat whole-some food instead of just emptycalories.
“Volume wise he could only haveone sachet of porridge oats but I
encouraged him to graze through-out the day, eating every few hours,so that he was getting enoughenergy for the training. He atethings like chicken salad sandwich-es but the easiest thing for him torely on was protein shakes,because of his small stomach. Ialso tried to get essential oils intohis diet, so added spoonfuls to hisfood.”
Greg’s story now sits on the mem-bers’ board at the gym, to inspireothers to overhaul their diets andexercise routines.
Greg added: “Neale really raisedmy confidence and I felt fitter andstronger as the weeks passed. Hehad me training more often, eatingthe right foods and enjoying my lifeagain and Krunch has now becomea way of life for me.”� Has your nutrition guidancehelped a member achieve greatthings? Let us know by [email protected] or call 01226 734712.
Krunch time provesa winner for Greg
BEFORE AFTER
45 16/2/10 17:14 Page 1
46 Sk Sports 16/2/10 13:16 Page 1
SUPPLEMENTATION AND NUTRITION
47www.workout-uk.co.uk
MAXIMUSCLE has created a range of supplementstargeted at women, under the new female-friendlybrand ‘Maxitone’.
16 products including shakes, bars and capsulesmake up the collection, which launched with a£500,000 marketing campaign across TV, gym postersand lifestyle press.
Kate Wells, brand manager of Maxitone, said: “Therange has been meticulously designed for busywomen, whatever their level of fitness. Taken along-side regular exercise and a balanced diet Maxitoneproducts can speed up your exercise results meaningless time in the gym and more time showing off yourgorgeous new body.”
Maxitone is the brand’s first female set of productsand has been developed by brand agency AddedValue. Managing director Marie Ridgley said:“Maximuscle was looking to grow the brand into themainstream.
“By segmenting the market, we identified a newfemale audience for whom hitting their target weight was not enough, they want body shape andtone to enhance the effort they’re putting in at thegym.”
Female-friendlybrand launches in£500k campaign
Former Gladiator Diane Youdale used sports supplementsto help her through her pantomime season.Diane, betterknown as ‘Jet’ used Vitargo supplements to keep herstrength up during her lead role in Middlesborough’s DickWhittington. Combined with her regular work as a BBCradio and TV broadcaster, psychotherapist and fitness pro-fessional it was a draining schedule that left little time forher own workout programmes.
IFBB pro bodybuilder James Llewellin has signed a sponsorship dealwith CNP Professional. The deal comes just in time for his upcomingappearance at the Europa Show of Champions in Florida in April. Hesaid: “I’ve known Kerry Kayes for years. Our paths have alwaysseemed to run in parallel and it’s great to be a part of his stablenow.”
47 16/2/10 16:46 Page 1
48 CFM 16/2/10 13:17 Page 1
CLASSIFIED 49EQUIPMENT NUTRITION
Are you looking to:Open a new gym or fitness centre?Acquire finance and CAD design?Have your equipment serviced?
Expand or update and existing centre?Re-upholster tired looking equipment?
Train your staffYou need to contact us.
We are leading suppliers of service and re-manufactured fitness
equipment including Precor, Cybex, Life and Technogym.
