The UK’s No 1 fitness industry magazineJanuary 2013 No 232 £3

Sell-out awards’evening provesa real winner

Pure Gymreappointsformer chiefexecutivePETER Roberts has beenreappointed as chief execu-tive of low-cost operatorPure Gym, taking over fromTony Harris.

Peter, who established thecompany in 2008, movesfrom the role of deputychairman, replacing Tony,who is leaving by mutualagreement after six monthsin the role.

Peter said: “I would like tothank Tony for his time withus. His hard work and corpo-rate discipline have beenmuch appreciated and I wishhim well in his next venture.I am very passionate aboutthis business which contin-ues to go from strength tostrength and has a dynamicand exciting future.

“I am very pleased to bestepping back into the roleof chief executive to contin-ue to drive the business for-ward as a market leader inthe affordable fitness sector.”

Tony added: “I am very sadto be giving up my positionwith Pure Gym as I have verymuch enjoyed working inthe business for the past sixmonths which is clearlymaking progress in makingaffordable fitness availableto all.”

Founder of Gymophobics, Richard Hubbard,scooped the top prize of the night – the lifetimeachievement award. Richard, who this year celebrates 50 years in the industry, opened thefirst Gymophobics in 2003 with wife Donna. Thesuccessful model was then franchised, with 38clubs now open under the brand. His otherachievements include opening his own gym chain– Dick Hubbard Fitness Centres – and introducingphysiological fitness testing into his clubs, thefirst time this had been done in the UK.Richard received his trophy from host CharlotteOrd and managing director of award sponsorHarlands Group, Kevin Scott.

By Christina Eccles

THE 2012 National Fitness Awards havebeen billed as the best yet after theevening was enjoyed by a sell-outcrowd of over 600 people.

The awards, held at The Athena inLeicester, saw the fitness industry cometogether to celebrate excellence andachievement from clubs and individu-als up and down the country.

The event, organised by Script Mediain partnership with WorkOut and head-line sponsor ServiceSport, was hostedby top personal trainer and star of TV’sThe Biggest Loser Charlotte Ord andradio presenter Guy Harris, withawards handed out in almost 20 cate-gories.

Big winners on the night includedWinners 2000 Ltd in Newton Abbot,named Regional Gym of the Year Southand National Gym of the Year.

CKI School of Martial Arts in Leicesteralso had much to celebrate after beingcrowned best gym in the Midlands andWales and Combat Zone Gym of theYear.

Simon de Burgh from Michele WhiteFitness Centre in Devon successfullyretained his title of best gym-basedpersonal trainer, while the awards alsowelcomed some new faces such as The

Metrodome Leisure Complex – namedLocal Authority/Leisure Trust Gym ofthe Year – and best hotel facility, wonby Combe Grove Manor Hotel andCountry Club in Bath.

Guests, including famous faces suchas top fitness model Carly Thorntonand TV presenter and former GladiatorCaroline Pearce, enjoyed an action-packed evening of entertainment,including a champagne reception, aspectacular aerial display performance,four-course dinner and presentation ofthe awards.

Among those attending on the nightincluded Ripped Gym in Harlow –named Strength Training Gym of theYear.

Following the awards, the team said:“This was by far the best event to date.Great venue and entertainment.”

Simon Jeffery from Winners 2000Fitness Ltd was also thrilled with hisclub’s double award win.

He added: “Just wanted to say a bigthank you for selecting us to representyou as the Gym of the Year for 2012.

“It’s an honour to be chosen and Itake that responsibility very seriously.”� For a full list of award winners and around up of all the action from theNational Fitness Awards, see inside thisissue.

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AdvertisingSales and marketingdirector:Tony Barry

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EditorialGroup Editor:Judith HalkerstonTel: 01226 734639jh@scriptmedia.co.uk

Chief reporter:Christina EcclesTel: 01226 734463ce@scriptmedia.co.uk

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Improving public health is‘an absolute high priority’By Christina Eccles

PARTNERSHIP working between thegovernment and health and fitnessprofessionals will be key to achievingthat all-important goal of improvingpublic health, according to MP AnnaSoubry.

Anna, who is parliamentary undersecretary of state for the departmentof health, was one of the keynotespeakers at the ukactive summit,which focused on the theme ofachieving more together.

She spoke to delegates at CongressCentre in London about the govern-ment’s plans to get more people intoexercise and leading healthierlifestyles – and why working withorganisations such as ukactive will bevital in ensuring these ideas are asuccess.

She said: “We welcome the oppor-tunity to work in partnership withukactive and engage the widest pos-sible range of organisations.

“No matter what size your organisa-tion, there’s a role you can play. 240partners have already signed up to

the Public Health Responsibility Dealand our ambition is to sign up 1000.”

Other topics discussed included thesuccess of the London Olympics andthe importance of ensuring thatmomentum and enthusiasm contin-ues to achieve the long term aim ofgetting more people, more active,more often.

She added: “It was an amazingsummer of sport but we need now totake up the golden opportunity thatthe Olympics and Paralympics pro-vided to us.

“[During the Games], there was afeelgood factor throughout thenation. But there is a real danger thatenthusiasm might tail off – and wewill never get another opportunitylike it.

“The challenge is now how we turnthat surge of enthusiasm into sus-tained changes in behaviour. Weneed help in delivering that ambition– the government alone cannotachieve it.”

The minister also spoke of changescoming into force next year, whichwill see local governments become

responsible for dealing with publichealth in their areas – and she urgeddelegates to make the most of thisopportunity by making contacts withthese figures to encourage partner-ship working.

“From April, local governments willhave responsibility for public healthand can tailor their services to local

needs.“Improving public health is an

absolute high priority for this govern-ment – I want to see it feature promi-nently in local election manifestos.

“You have local councils and MPsand where there is a sticking point, Iwould urge you to contact these peo-ple and make your voice heard.”

MP Anna Soubry and pictured, below left, delegates at the Congress Centre.

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By Christina Eccles

PPL and ukactive have reached anagreement to reform its exercise tar-iff, which covers the use of PPLrecorded music as an accompani-ment to fitness classes.

After four years of negotiation, thereform has been introduced due todifficulties in effectively enforcing thecurrent system and the need for PPLto collect a fair fee for the use of itsrecorded music.

The reform will impact both the waythe tariff operates and the chargesapplied, and will mean that soleresponsibility for holding a valid PPLlicence for group exercise classes infitness centres will be on the opera-tors of those facilities.

Fitness instructors will only berequired to hold a valid PPL licencefor any classes they hold in premisesother than fitness facilities, such ashired halls and offices.

The new tariff, Exercise To Music, isdue to be brought into effect on May1 2013.

The tariff fee will start at 95p perclass, rising to £1.25 in May 2014,£1.50 in May 2015, £1.75 in May 2016and £1.88 per class in 2017.

The organisation is also currently indiscussions with PPL about thedetailed implementation of the tariff,which will see ukactive undertake an active role in its administrationand the collection of PPL licence fees.

The organisation’s prominent role in

the operation of the tariff will enableit to provide a discount on the feespayable to its members.

CEO David Stalker said: “This marksthe result of four years of discussionsbetween ukactive, a working group ofexperts drawn from across the sectorand PPL with the full support of theukactive board of directors.

“ukactive is now working closelywith PPL to establish the process forcollecting the fees due from ukactivemembers under the new tariff.”

PPL agrees tofee reform onfitness music

ukactive CEO David Stalker.

A month’s facial hair growth in aid of men’s health charity Movember culminated ina get together between Cybex UK and Nuffield Health, as members from eachcompany met to determine who would be crowned the winner of the inter-compa-ny Movember competition. Dubbed the Movember ‘Mo Off’, the two teams methaving so far raised over £1,900 for the charity. Joint first prize was awarded toCybex UK’s senior regional manager Richard Purves and Nuffield Health accountdirector Jon Mann, pictured.

New lease scheme introducedVERSACLIMBER UK is introducing anew lease scheme for gyms, personaltrainers and fitness companies topurchase its products.

The scheme makes it possible tobuy the machines without having tocommit funds up front, helping cashflow for smaller businesses.

Managing director Neil Kelford said:“Gyms and trainers have been askingus for some time about leasing andfinance options, so it makes sense forus to be able to offer this scheme sothat more fitness centres and theircustomers can benefit from themachines.”

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Instructorsuse pop-upstudio as test By Christina Eccles

TWO savvy instructors have launcheda pop-up Spinning studio in StAlbans, allowing them to test theirbusiness model before committing tomore permanent space.

Inspired by the pop-up retail trend,Victoria Robertson and Sian Bricehave created Beatbike, which is currently located in a local cricketclub to allow them to get the concept right and build up a loyalclient base.

Beatbike uses the tagline ‘be brave’,which was adopted from Sian’s expe-rience representing Team GB in thetriathlon at the Sydney Olympics in2000.

The theme is designed to keepmembers on track and remind themeveryone has the capacity to explorenew fitness boundaries.

Victoria explained: “Sian and I feltthe best way to inspire a passion forSpinning was to focus on coachingand helping riders set and achievegoals.

“We keep classes small to create amore intimate atmosphere where wecan dedicate time to help each indi-vidual progress.

“In a recent survey we conductedwith our community, we found that50 per cent of them had never done a

Spinning class before, so we’re reallypleased that we are inspiring peopleto try a new fitness programme thatwe know really works and we are soproud that they keep on coming backfor more.

“We believe that Beatbike can revo-lutionise Spinning and the sense ofcommunity is what riders are return-ing for.”

The pair started with one class perday, but are now teaching 11 perweek, with more classes and instruc-tors being added all the time.

She added: “We have 200 regularparticipants, who all heard about usthrough word of mouth.

“The fact we’ve reached this numberin just three months shows thatSpinning is growing massively in pop-ularity and demonstrates that com-bining Spinning’s reputation with afresh, friendly approach you can real-ly introduce it to a whole new mar-ket.”

As both Victoria and Sian are bothqualified Spinning instructors theydecided to stick with a brand theytrusted and chose the Spinner Bladebikes for their studio.

Beatbike operates a pay-as-you-goonline booking system with no mem-bership. 45-minute Spinning classescost £10 and the Beatbody sessionscost £15, including half an hour ofresistance floor work.

What have you got planned for your gym in 2013? We wouldlove to hear from you. Email: ce@scriptmedia.co.uk

THE Royal Society for the Preventionof Accidents has partnered with RightDirections in a bid to improve thequality and safety of sport and physi-cal activity across the UK.

The agreement will see the twoorganisations working together toproduce improved accident and inci-dent information within the leisuresector for benchmarking and researchpurposes, as well as collaborating onpolicy, industry initiatives, trainingprogrammes and campaigns.

Managing director of RightDirections Caroline Constantine said:“RoSPA has excellent knowledge and

data around swimming pools, but isless well linked to gyms and widerleisure facilities. Through RightDirections’ clients and the Questassessments that we carry out onbehalf of Sport England, we haveaccess to around 800 public and pri-vate leisure facilities.

“By working together we can collatemeaningful data on when, where andhow accidents are most likely to takeplace.

“Any patterns can then be used topromote best practice, support newlegislation and ultimately improvehow we work as a sector.”

RoSPA’s David Rushton with Caroline Constantine from Right Directions.

Partnership bids to improvesafety in the leisure sector

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Zumba Fitness has partnered with Universal Music to launch a new album with music fromchart topping artists including Ne-Yo, Nicki Minaj, pictured, and Lady Gaga. Zumba Fitness– Dance Party includes a range of songs loved by fitness fans across the globe.Global consumer products manager at Zumba Fitness Claudia Algaze said: “Zumba Fitnesshas always been entrenched in music – we take inspiration from a huge range of dancestyles from across the world including samba, flamenco, hip-hop, reggaeton and merengue.We are very proud to produce this album, as we have always maintained that ZumbaFitness is a party in itself. Now we are allowing our fans to keep the party going, whereverthey are.”

Ex Fitness Firstfacility takenover by trustCHARITABLE trust Kirklees ActiveLeisure has taken over a formerFitness First facility in Huddersfield,re-branding it Lockwood Park Healthand Fitness Club.

The club was officially handed overto KAL on December 1 2012, beforeclosing for two days while minorrepairs and redecoration took place.

Existing members were unaffectedby the changeover but KAL nowhopes to transfer them across to itsFitness Membership offering, whichwill give them access to other facili-ties in the portfolio.

Chief executive Alasdair Brown said:“This is a very exciting developmentfor KAL that I’m confident will proveto be popular with the local commu-nity.

“KAL can now provide an even moreextensive and value for money healthand fitness offer to the people ofsouth Kirklees, complementing theexisting excellent provision at theStadium, Huddersfield Sports Centre

and the Deighton Sports Arena. Wehope that the existing customers atLockwood Park appreciate thechanges that we’ve made already,with further investment planned forthe months to come.”

General manager Craig Battersbyadded: “It’s been a difficult period forstaff and customers over the past 12months, however we have managedto get through it and with the newmanagement in place we are all look-ing forward to a brighter future.

“Already there have been hugeimprovements for both staff and cus-tomers and this will continue over thenext few months with further invest-ment planned for the near future.

“Although works are still being car-ried out our existing customers arereally happy with the changes to dateand for those customers who havetransferred to a KAL Membershipthey are thrilled to be able to takeadvantage of the other facilities KALhave to offer.”

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UK FITNESS SCENE 9International athlete, TV presenter and fitness andnutrition expert CarolinePearce will be at the 2013 BackPain Show, helping visitorswith a range of back friendlyexercise classes. With a firstclass honours degree in SportsScience and a masters degreein Exercise Physiology andNutrition, Caroline has usedher academic background toeducate and motivate thousands of people in theareas of training, nutrition andwell-being. Caroline will bedemonstrating Flexibakat the show’s therapyand exercise zoneon February 22/23at London’sOlympia.

Operator unveils what fitness trendsto look out for in 2013By Christina Eccles

INDIVIDUAL goal setting forgym members, technology andtennis will be among this year’sbiggest fitness industry trends,experts at Virgin Active havepredicted.

The operator has compiled alist of things to watch out forover the coming months andrevealed which new features inits clubs will entice membersthrough the doors.

Head of fitness Alan Hollbelieves bespoke programmesand setting individual goals willbecome more popular. Heexplained: “Virgin Active will behelping members set goals andstick to them in 2013.Prescriptive programmes tai-lored to the individual will bekey to helping people realisetheir goals and inspirations.

“A stressed city worker maycome in to the club and taketheir frustrations out on thetreadmill for 30 minutes atlunch time, but this is incorrect.

“What our fitness coaches willbe doing is prescribing the form

of exercise that’s right for them,which in this instance could bea mind and body class to relax,de-stress and lower the heartrate as opposed to increasingit.”

According to experts, technol-ogy will also play a big part infitness next year.

As part of this trend, theInbody Tracker will launch inVirgin Active health clubs,enabling people to define theirshape and fitness requirements.

After taking a full body scan,the tracker will analyse weight,muscle and fat. A report will beemailed to members, providinga breakdown of results andshowing how muscle and fat isdistributed around the body.Fitness coaches will then workwith the member to recom-mend a programme.

Swimtag, an interactive track-ing device for swimmers, willalso roll out across its sites, fol-lowing a successful launch intoflagship club 200 Aldersgate.

National swimming managerGlen Heidke added: “Swimmingis now the most practiced sport

in the UK, and we are wellequipped to fulfill members’needs with 114 swimming poolsacross our clubs. Again, peoplehave been inspired by the sum-mer of 2012’s events and arekeen to improve their technique– even if it’s just by adding anextra length to their swim ses-sions. Swimtag will allow themto track their journey and meas-ure their improvement.”

The operator also predicts thatgymgoers – and their families –will turn to tennis.

Head of racquets Gary Stewartadded: “We are increasingly see-ing more and more memberstake up tennis.

“In 2013 we will be offeringtennis lessons for all the familyand introducing Tencap – anonline system allowing mem-bers to rate their ability and bematched with players of thesame level.”

The appetite for group exer-cise classes is also set to contin-ue, as is the popularity of func-tional fitness – both in the stu-dio and on the gym floor.

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‘Bad fitnessetiquetteputting offexercisers’By Christina Eccles

BAD etiquette in fitness facilities –such as exercisers leaving equipmentout or bad hygiene – is putting peopleoff going to the gym, according to asurvey by Nuffield Health.

The UK’s largest healthcare charityhas revealed almost three quarters ofUK adults have experienced or wit-nessed bad ‘fitness etiquette’, with 72per cent saying they want gyms totake action to improve members’behaviour.

And almost a quarter said they wereput off going to the gym, pool or exer-cise classes due to something easilyavoidable, like excessive nudity inchanging rooms.

The findings, based on a survey of2,000 people who use exercise facili-ties at least occasionally highlightedthe biggest annoyances people foundwhen going to the gym.

These included: � Unnecessary or excessive nudity inthe changing rooms � People hogging machines andswimming lanes � Personal space being invaded byother exercisers� Having to move to a different partof the gym or class due to the over-whelming body odour of anotherexerciser.

Professional head of fitness andwellbeing at Nuffield Health SarahMarsh said: “The success of this sum-mer’s Olympics has inspired peopleto get fitter and healthier. We don’twant them to be put off doing exer-

cise just because some people areunsure what is and isn’t the right, safeway to behave when exercising. We’vecompiled this guide in response togym goers’ feedback to help buildtheir confidence in what they’redoing when exercising and to helpmake exercise environments as sup-portive and enjoyable as possible. Wewant to encourage everyone in theUK to take control of their own well-being by helping tackle the barriersthat can prevent people getting fitterand healthier.”

In response to the findings, NuffieldHealth has worked with experts tocompile a free guide to fitness eti-quette.

Sarah added: “We want to encour-age people to think about the healthimplications of their exercise behav-iour.

“Yes, it’s unpleasant when the per-son before you hasn’t wiped theirsweat off the machine they’ve beenusing, but the health implications ofthis and the other hygiene issues ourstudy revealed may be more wideranging than this.”

The charity also surveyed 60 fitnessprofessionals about their observa-tions and their own experiences whenexercising and two in five reportedhaving to speak to members aboutbad etiquette at least once a week.

Gym staff’s biggest gripes were peo-ple treating the gym like a hotel ortheir own home, having to move to adifferent part of the gym due tosomeone else’s body odour and hav-ing their personal space invaded.

Crow Wood Leisure in Burnley has held a charity event in aid of BBC Children inNeed – raising £400 for the cause. The club, which was named health club of theyear at the 2011 National Fitness Awards, organised a big step and aerobics workout for members. BBC Northwest’s Tony Livesey was among those who showedtheir support on the day.

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OLYMPIC medallist and tripleWorld champion rower ZacPurchase joined schoolchildren ina get active session after officiallyopening the new David LloydLeisure club in Worcester.

Zac, who won silver at theLondon Games and gold at Beijingin 2008, encouraged youngstersfrom two junior Worcester schools

to be fit and active by taking partin the PE lesson with a difference,featuring games and races.

About 40 children were given thechance to meet their sportinghero, who cut a ribbon to mark theclub’s launch.

General manager Wayne Isaacsaid: “After several months of veryhard work, it is wonderful to see

the club finally open, and I canhonestly say that David LloydWorcester’s facilities are second tonone.

“It is a real honour that in thisincredible year of sport, ZacPurchase, who has achieved somuch in his field, should comeback to Worcester to open thesespectacular facilities.”

Zac opens new Worcester club

Premierannouncesnew locationPREMIER Training International is toopen a new venue at David LloydCheshire Oaks later this month.

The partnership will see Premieroffer a range of courses at the facilityand reflects the company’s commit-ment to increasing its outreach andsupport for aspiring fitness profes-sionals.

Regional manager Kayley Tobiassaid: “Following in the footsteps ofour many recent new venue openingsCheshire promises to be a fantasticnew location for Premier.

“The demand for careers in thehealth and fitness industry is devel-oping rapidly so we want to makesure that people in the region are ableto take advantage of our fully accred-ited and recognised courses.”

WORK has begun on a £1.7m redevel-opment programme at Woking LeisureCentre, due to be completed in April.

Improvements will include a newgym with views over Woking Park, anew reception and cafe and an updat-ed and improved class timetable.

The centre is operated by FreedomLeisure in partnership with WokingBorough Council.

Work starts on£1.7m revamp

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By Christina Eccles

PT Greg Mikolap has launched a newonline training system – designed to appealto people who want to get fitter, as well asprofessional trainers looking to boost theirbusinesses.

Greg, together with a team of trainers, hascreated PTFolder.com – the first website tostreamline industry expertise, exercises andprofessionals to create a one-stop-shop forpersonal training programmes.

Users can gain access to training informa-tion – that was previously difficult andtime-consuming to find online – all in oneplace, as well as 100 free exercises, enablingthem to create personal programmes bysearching for desired workouts and drag-ging them into an allocated training pro-gramme area.

For a fee, users can upgrade to full mem-bership and have access to more than 1,000exercises, the ability to write multiple work-outs and assign them to specific dates on aworkout calendar, write training logs to

track progress and formulate fitness goals,as well as interact with professional per-sonal trainers.

Greg said: “Being in the industry for somany years I saw the need to create aninformation hub for everyone interested ingetting fit.

“It had to be somewhere where they couldaccess information quickly, easily and,most importantly, in a way that was easy tounderstand.

“We know that in the current economicclimate not everyone can afford a weeklypersonal trainer. However people know the benefits of this type of knowledge andhow it can benefit their own fitnessregimes. PT Folder steps in to solve thisproblem and give an innovative, cost-effec-tive training solution to everyone.”

Professional personal trainers can alsosubscribe to PT Folder, allowing themaccess to extra features including a person-alised webpage where they can post onlineworkouts for clients and communicate withthem between fitness sessions.

New system can help trainers boosttheir businesses

Greg Mikolap

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By Christina Eccles

SHADOW secretary of state forhealth Andy Burnham MP hasappealed for politicians to cometogether and focus on a ‘cross partynational ambition’ to improve thehealth of the nation.

Andy addressed delegates at therecent ukactive summit in London,urging all parties to create a com-mon goal in the same spirit of theOlympics to make people morephysically active.

He said: “London 2012 showedthat when we work together with aclear goal, we can achieve morethan we thought possible.

“Are we able to apply this crossparty working to an even biggerchallenge – improving the health ofthe nation?”

Andy also said to make anyprogress there had to be a culturechange in all areas – from commu-nities through to schools, themedia and in Whitehall.

His suggestions included: � Pedestrians and cyclists takingpriority on the streets overmotorists.� Putting school sport at the centre

of the education system.� Giving pupils a proper introduc-tion to activities they enjoy.� More focus on women’s sport inthe media and sportswomen asrole models.� Urging the Department of Healthto put a greater emphasis on physi-cal activity and its benefits.

He added: “Almost a quarter ofkids are overweight or obese whenthey start school. Unless we break

the cycle of physical inactivity, thecost to the NHS will rise rapidly.”

He added that the fitness industryhas made a ‘massive contribution’to the cause and now called for anational drive to focus on improv-ing the nation’s health.� What role do you think gyms canplay in these ambitions? Send yourthoughts to ce@scriptmedia.co.ukand we will print the best in thenext issue of Workout.

Call for ‘cross partyambition’ to improvehealth of the nation

LORD Coe has officially openedStamford Endowed Schools’new multi-million pounds sportsfacility. Before presiding over theopening ceremony of the £6.1m cen-tre, Lord Coe toured the facilities,which include a 25m swimming pool

and fitness suite, fully equipped byLife Fitness.

He was greeted by a showcase ofsport as students from across thethree schools participated in displaysof hockey, tennis, netball, squash,cricket, swimming, fencing, gymnas-

tics, rugby and football.After the sports display, staff,

parents and 1,400 students werepositioned on the rugby pitchesbefore Lord Coe delivered aspeech from the sports centre bal-cony above.

Lord Coe opens £6.1m sports centre

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By Dave Wright

AS we come to the end of anotheryear, many clubs are going to beeither celebrating or cursing thebusiness that they are in – so now isa great time to reflect on the yearpast and look at setting the rightplan of attack for 2013.

Before you make your new year’sresolutions, consider the three bigaspects that will continue to affectyour business.

Expert peopleThe one powerful unique sellingpoint that the industry has left isthat of its knowledge.

Of course the consumer willalways try and find ways to exercisewith as little financial outlay aspossible, but the one thing that ourindustry has is the knowledge ofexercise and diet.

So invest in your people, makesure that they not only have theknowledge, but are also able tohave the skills to communicate andconnect with customers by ulti-mately understanding their needsand helping them achieve thoseresults.

Understand motivation If every single person in the worldhad the motivation to exercise thennot only would we not have anobesity problem, but you wouldstruggle to find a successful gym.

People would be motivated to runoutside, exercise in the park and dotheir own training by their ownwill. But they don’t, so we as anindustry need to identify whatkeeps our members more motivat-ed. And the easy way to find out isto ask them why they do what theydo.

If you can solve the problem ofkeeping people more engaged for alonger period of time, then theywill be more likely to get the resultsthat they want.

The pain in the butt factor. I cannot think of a more elegant way toterm this point. But people arelooking for convenience. They wanteverything at their finger tips andthey want it now. So if you canwork your club around their times,if you can offer group training(such as cardio classes on theequipment), if you can make yourclub convenient to access theequipment and to book their class-

es (such as online booking), thenyou are going to give them lesschoices to cancel.

If you think about the servicesthat you stick with (be it your gas,electrics or broadband provider),it’s sometimes less ‘hassle’ to staywith your existing provider andcomplain, than to invest the timeto move on.

So bear that in mind if you wantto take members from other clubs,or other environments and makeyour training, quick, effective andefficient.

BusinessBusiness, like our members’ results,is not always easy to be successfulat. But those that seem to put theeffort in and stick to their gameplan get the best results. And soshould you.

I wish you a fantastic Christmasand a prosperous New Year! � Dave Wright is the CEO ofCFM/MYZONE, a company withover 300 staff that have served theinternational fitness industry forover 21 years in 10 different coun-tries; focussing on either gettingnew members and/or keeping

existing ones. Dave is also theowner of 11 health clubs across twocontinents, a board director ofukactive, founder of IOU(Independent Operators Unite), anIHRSA presenter and the creatorand global distributor of a newmonitoring device used by clubsaround the world called MYZONE.He may be contacted onDave.Wright@cfm.net

The industry’s big three ...

Dave Wright

A 76-year-old Sheffield athlete has set hissights on medal number 85 when he competesin the Westfield Health British TransplantGames.

Liver transplant patient Derek Johnson is intraining for the 2013 Games, which are takingplace at sporting venues across the city nextAugust.

Derek, who trains weekly at Don ValleyStadium, has won more than 80 medals atBritish and World Transplant Games over theyears, including 37 golds.

The aim of the event is to raise awareness oforgan donation and boost numbers on theNHS Organ Donor Register.Derek Johnson in training at Don Valley Stadium.

Aiming to raiseawareness oforgan donation

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THE fitness industry is gearing up forone of the biggest events in its calen-dar – FIBO – which takes place inCologne from April 11 to 14.

The 2013 show is returning to thecity where it was founded in 1985, butaccording to organisers, it is a verydifferent show coming back toCologne to the one that left for Essenin 1991.

Event director Olaf Tomscheitexplained: “We left Cologne as a glit-tering offbeat fitness and bodybuild-ing event, today we return as theleading international trade show forfitness, wellness and health."

These days, every fifth trade visitorat FIBO is working in the health pro-

fession and represents a physiothera-pist, medical practice, health or rehabcentre – a course which FIBO will fur-ther pursue and expand in Colognewith its own FIBOmed Congress.

And already 80 per cent of availablespace has been booked for the 2013show.

Olaf added: “We are happy that, fol-lowing the move to Cologne, we arenow able to offer our exhibitors top-quality, state-of-the-art exhibitionhalls throughout.

“We always regretted not to be ableto meet all the exhibitors’ wishes tobe accommodated in a hall of equalquality – that's now a thing of thepast.”

Spanish fitness celebrity and FIBO ambassador Jessica Exposito (in the red top) andcolleagues look forward to FIBO 2013.

Cologne return for FIBO

Association isseeking experthelp on pensionsSPORTA members have joined forcesto buy in expert advice ahead of theautomatic enrolment into workplacepensions, which is being rolled outbetween now and 2018 depending onemployer size.

The Pensions Act 2008 means thatall employers are required to auto-matically enrol eligible employeesinto a qualifying pension scheme andmake contributions to that scheme.

sporta’s collaborative pensionsadvice project, which has beenunderway since the beginning of theyear, has seen more than a third of itsmembers pay into a fund to accesspensions advisors, Punter Southall.

The project is managed by a panelof seven trusts, which includes LynnMurray, director of corporate servicesat Scottish-based leisure trust ActiveStirling, who championed the settingup of the scheme.

She said: “Being able to afford toappoint top pension advisers hasbeen a big advantage.

“Taking advice may have been costprohibitive for smaller trusts leavingthem potentially exposed, but work-ing collectively has enabled us to gainaccess to high quality advice.”

The 36 trusts within the scheme

represent more than 10,000 membersof staff, making the contract far moreattractive to well known pension pro-viders, and Punter Southall is appr-oaching suitable providers to find thebest deal for sporta members.

Punter Southall principal NeilLatham said: “As a leading pensionconsultancy, we were keen to helpsporta develop this unusual collabo-rative approach, led by some forwardthinking people, who are faced with adifficult situation.

“It has allowed us to provide techni-cal guidance to a large number ofmember trusts, many of whom wouldnot normally have approached anemployee benefit consultancy.

“Not only have they enjoyedeconomies of scale on the costs, butwe have been able to consider abroad range of issues that are relevantacross all the member trusts involved.By combining their resources theywill also benefit from a tailoredscheme from a leading pensionprovider, that offers better value formoney than trusts could obtain indi-vidually.”

Members of the scheme will nowdecide the terms under which othersporta members can join the project.

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UK FITNESS SCENE22

FOR many people being skinnyhas become the ideal image offemale beauty.

While being thin is probablygood for us in terms of overweightbeing unhealthy, the main issue isthat the fashion ideal often pro-motes a too-skinny look – so thinthat it becomes unattainable formost women and if we try toattain that look, we risk develop-ing eating disorders.

I believe that our main focusshould not be our weight, or beingskinny, or fitting into size two (orzero!) jeans.

Rather, our goal should be beingfit and healthy. Know being fit andhealthy is more than what youlook like on the outside, we haveto take care of our overall wellbeing too.

If you are not visually progress-ing then you maybe within. Sohow can we do this? Well antioxi-dants can help flush out bad tox-ins in the body, a massage helpsreduces stiffness/soreness of mus-cles and unwanted injuries andeating a good balanced diet ofnutritious foods with give yourbody the nutrients it needs towork more productively.

When the focus shifts from thenumber on the scale to our health,we tend to obsess less aboutweight and instead we focus on abetter, healthier lifestyle. And thisis what we should all be strivingfor.

Simple changes, such as movingmore – using the stairs instead ofthe lift – reducing sugar andswitching to healthy fats such ascoconut oil, Udos Oil and fresh

nuts, being more active and exer-cising more.

This does not have to involve agym. Walking outdoors and mak-ing the most of nature, which inturn can increase your endorphinsthrough exercise as well asbecause it’s a time where we canlet ourselves free of stress andenjoying the beauties of nature.

It’s all about little steps whichmake a real change in lifestyle, andovertime, this will reflect in ourbody weight too.

Don’t get me wrong, skinny canbe natural for some, but if it’s not,trying to get there could beunhealthy – even dangerous.Instead, focus on being moreactive and making better foodchoices.

It’s always better to focus onbeing fit and healthy instead of onsome unattainable (for most) fash-ion goal of extreme thinness.

For athletes, fitness and nutri-tion can be very strict but for thegeneral person who wants a fitter,more healthier version of their for-mer self, then it can just be aboutmaking far better food choices andexercising three times a week.

Being fit is not supposed to feellike a chore, so keep it fun. Thereare so many different activities toexperiment with, such as boxing,cross fit, weight training,walking/jogging, swimming, cir-cuit based training, yoga, Pilates,zumba. The activity that worksthe best is the one you enjoy andwill stick to.

You are what you eat and youdeserve to be fit, happy andhealthy.

When it comes toleading a healthylifestyle, the focusshould be on beingfit not thin,according to topfitness model CarlyThornton. Here shereveals her top tipsfor your memberson how to makefitness fun.

Focus onbeing FITnot THIN

Ashdown Park Hotel and Country Club in East Sussex is offering members and guests thelatest in environmentally friendly equipment in its gym.The club has installed the new Fusion Series two range from Pulse Fitness including a stepmachine, an r-cycle and an i-train, which offers a full 360-degree workout.All machines, except for the treadmills, are self-powered, meaning the kit has no infra-structure costs or ongoing utility costs.

WAVELENGTHS Leisure Centre inLewisham is set for a major redevel-opment to transform the site.

Customers will see improvementsbegin in a phased process, includingthe construction of a new fitnesssuite, group exercise studios and café,due to open in this month.

Following this work, constructionon a brand new health suite withsauna and steam room, additionalgroup exercise studio, soft play zoneand essential enhancement to theleisure pool and flume will begin forlaunch in March.

The centre is operated by FusionLifestyle in partnership with

Lewisham Council.Fusion’s business development

director Tim Mills said: “Havingrecently been voted the health club ofthe year in South London, this planrepresents a commitment to redevel-op the centre to ensure it caters forthe increasing demands of our cus-tomers.

“We are delighted that the schemehas been approved and look forwardto work getting underway. We havebeen planning this project for sometime and the investment we are mak-ing shows our commitment to theprovision of modern leisure facilitiesfor Lewisham residents.”

Centre to be transformed

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23 Bodypower 19/12/12 10:44 Page 1

UK FITNESS SCENE24

Property groupin DC LeisureacquisitionBy Christina Eccles

PROPERTY management and devel-opment group Places for People hasacquired DC Leisure, which managesabout 100 leisure facilities on behalfof 28 local authorities.

The deal will see both companiesgrow their leisure and facilities man-agement services, alongside otherhousing and development activity incommunities across the UK.

Places for People is one of the UK’slargest property groups and works in230 local authorities, owning or man-aging 82,000 properties.

Under the ownership of Places forPeople, DC Leisure will bid for theincreasing number of outsourcedleisure management contracts com-ing to the market and utilise its expe-rience in driving leisure participation,building new centres and contribut-ing to improving existing and creat-ing new places.

Chief executive of DC Leisure StevePhilpott said: “This will be a pioneer-ing partnership – the first time ahousing provider has joined forceswith a leisure provider. It’s going to bean exciting and unique adventure forus all which will create many newopportunities to improve the com-munities we serve.

“We are proud of our partnershipswith local authorities and believe bybeing a part of Places for People wecan bring even more added value tothese partnerships. We attract 25mvisits each year, have built 10 newleisure centres over the last six yearsand most importantly we are improv-ing the health and wellbeing of thecommunities we serve by gettingthem physically active.“

As part of the acquisition, DCLeisure will keep its existing identity,board, and governance structures,but operate as a subsidiary of Placesfor People.

THE founder of a successful weightmanagement centre is launching anew website to connect those witheating, weight and body issues to spe-cialists in these areas.

James Lamper, pictured above,founded the WeightMatters Practicein 2005 and has since successfullytreated hundreds of clients includingTake That star Gary Barlow.

His website www.careforyour-weight.com is the only site offeringthe public access to experts specialis-ing in the treatment of weight issuesfrom the combined fields of mind,

body, nutrition and medicine.

Clients and practitioners will beconnected to each other via regionallocality and a diagnostic question-naire, which helps clients understandtheir needs in each of the four treat-ment areas.

James said: “Statistics published lastyear by the NHS suggest nearly 3mpeople in the UK have some kind ofdisordered eating issue. And around athird of British adults are obese, ofwhich 300,000 will die each year.That’s a lot of people urgently need-ing our professional help.”

New website will connectpractitioners to clients

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UK FITNESS SCENE26

The Training Room personal trainer academy has appointed Lucy Jackson as head of training. Lucy joins from a similar role at Premier and brings 15 years of experience to herrole. She will be responsible for overseeing the 34 course tutors and four regional tutors,reviewing their programmes, refreshing course content and identifying new trainingopportunities and venues.

Capital move from budget operatorBUDGET operator Fit4Less isexpanding its presence in Londonwith the opening of two new sites.

The Kilburn club opened at theend of 2012, with one in Enfielddue to open later this month.

Operations manager RangelSehalic said: “As the low-cost gymevolution expands in the UK,investors are rightly looking at themany options available to them.As the most established low-costgym brand in the UK, and with acomprehensive franchisee mod-

ule, Fit4less is in an incrediblystrong position to roll and supportnew openings quickly.

“London is an important area forus as the size of the gyms and theneed for a concentrated popula-tion matches the Fit4less concept.

“The established gyms are trad-ing above expectation, which pres-ent real-time evidence thatFit4less is providing customerswith an attractive fitness solutionwhile offering franchisees a soundinvestment.”

NOT-for-profit leisure trust FreedomLeisure has recruited and reorganisedseveral key management roles to sup-port the next phase of its develop-ment.

The changes involve three existingsenior staff members assuming dif-ferent management roles and twonew managers being recruited.

Gill Fowles, pictured above, takes onthe role of business developmentmanager to focus full time on thebusiness expansion strategy ofFreedom Leisure.

Previously Wealden area manager,Gill has spent the last 18 months giv-ing an increasing amount of time tothe Freedom Leisure bidding activity,successfully bringing in six new ven-ues in Guildford, Woking and Kent aswell as the successful re-tender of theWealden contract.

Neil Roberts becomes the newWealden area manager, moving fromhis previous role as Brighton areamanager.

Chris Lovelock becomes the newBrighton area manager and is moving

from his previous role as generalmanager at K2Crawley. He will heada team of four general managers thatcover the six sites in Brighton,including Withdean Sports Complexwhich is embarking on a major devel-opment programme worth £2.6m.

Managing director Jeff Hart said: “Iam delighted to see Gill, Neil andChris accept challenging new roles atFreedom Leisure as it is our companypolicy to develop our senior teammembers and motivate them throughassuming new responsibilities.

“All three have shown great leader-ship and brought fresh ideas andboundless energy to their roles: theywill be an asset in their new jobs andI wish them well as they continue toprogress with Freedom Leisure.”

Two new roles have also been creat-ed. Graham Watson, pictured above,has taken on the new position ofgroup facilities manager, while SimonDavey has been appointed as envi-ronmental and health and safetymanager.

Leisure trustmakes staffchanges

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UK FITNESS SCENE28

UNIKURVE is growing in popularity,according to its founders, with a newmodel available later this month andbacking from celebrity personal train-ers Jenny Pacey and Wayne Gordon.

Inventor Mike Curry said: “Wayneand Jenny really liked working withUnikurve and they are so enthusias-tic. They see big things in the futurewith several different DVDs for differ-ent types of workout.

“I personally thought I knewUnikurve inside out but at the shootJenny and Wayne, who have beenusing Unikurve for several weeks,showed me things I had neverthought of, which just goes to showhow functional and versatileUnikurve is and imagination really is

your only limit.”Mike also said there has been lots of

interest in the product from Americaas the product gets more well known.

Unikurve will also be featured onThe Fit Gear Show on Fitness TV fromJanuary to March.For more information, visitwww.unikurve.co.uk – personal trainerswhich use the password pro10discountonline are also eligible for a 10 per centdiscount.

Jenny Pacey and Wayne Gordon Picture: Helen Roscoe photography

Unikurveproves soversatile ...

By Allan Collins

EVERY club manager is alwayslooking for a new competitiveadvantage over other clubs.

Many of the organisations such asIHRSA, ACE and the ACSM arehighlighting qualified, highly edu-cated and knowledgeable trainersas a key trend within our industryfor 2012-2013.

So why are ‘educated trainers’receiving attention as being a keyarea?

Well, in my mind, it boils down totwo key areas – results and commu-nity; both for attracting clients and(more importantly) retention.Rather than selling membershipbased on price, many clubs arefocusing on selling the results thatthe client is seeking (and then hav-ing the educated staff to deliverthese results). These clubs believethat if a member is achieving andkeeping their desired results, whywould they leave to go to anotherclub? One of the other key aspectsfor retention by these clubs is hav-ing members feel like they belong(the same reason why social mediais so popular). Staff that knows yourname, your goals, and other mem-bers that interact with you means

your facility becomes more thanjust a place to exercise, it becomesa social community. Pulling youaway from a community, in whichyou are an integral part, will bemuch more difficult than a gymwhere no-one cares if you come ornot. So retention again will beimproved greatly by having educat-ed and motivated fitness staff thatare focused on a service thatincludes unparalleled customerinteraction.

To give an example, I had a cus-tomer ask me the other day “after Ihave installed our new functionalarea from Jordan’s, what is stoppinga competitor copying everythingI’ve done – equipment, flooring,colours, wallpaper designs – andthen undercutting me.”

Well put simply, nothing – nothingwould stop a competitor copyingeverything you do. So, how do youdifferentiate the service or productyou provide to your customers? Thesimple answer is your staff, in par-ticular the staff that delivers yourfitness service. Having highly moti-vated, well qualified, hugely knowl-edgeable (yes, it is different frombeing qualified…) is something thatno competitor can replicate. It also

is the key factor for member/clientretention since it is these peoplethat will ensure that your membersare achieving their goals, as wellmaking them feel part of your‘community’.

Traditionally, the focus on havingtop class fitness staff has not been akey priority for certain clubs (Iknow many, for example, that pay

the unqualified receptionists morethat the highly qualified fitnesstrainers), but it seems that hopefully the tide is turning in thisarea.

� Allan Collins is director of educat ion for Jordan Fitness andthe author of three books and 80courses.

The new competitive advantage ...

£2.6m expansion forBrighton complexWITHDEAN Sports Complex inBrighton is to benefit from a £2.6mdevelopment and expansion, withwork due to be completed in early2014.

Leisure provider Freedom Leisurehas embarked on the improvementscheme in partnership with Brightonand Hove City Council.

Changes will include extending thetennis centre, fitting a glazed facadeto the gym, new ‘fast track’ receptionand café areas to allow great viewsacross the countryside, more thandoubling the gym stations and fit-ness suite capacity and extendingand refurbishing the changingrooms.

Managing director Jeff Hart said:

“Withdean is one of five capitalimprovement schemes we are under-taking in 2013 which shows ourstrength and development in theleisure industry.

“Despite the tough economic cli-mate, people deserve access to topclass, affordable leisure facilitieswhere they can enjoy sport, improvetheir fitness and enjoy both socialand family time together.

“We have pledged to drive up stan-dards and keep down costs so thatFreedom Leisure centres remainviable in their local communities.”

Withdean Sports Complex willremain operational throughout, withworks planned to minimise disrup-tion to customers.

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INTERACTIVE MEMBERSHIP SOLUTIONS30

Technology first for city venueAN interactive fitness monitoring device hasbeen introduced at one of Sheffield’s top leisurevenues to help exercisers track their progress.

Ponds Forge International Sports Centre, whichis managed by SIV, has introduced MYZONEtechnology, which wirelessly streams anduploads an individual’s exercise data.

The equipment was put to the test by WorldPara-triathlon champion, Steve Judge, who wentup against Sheffield Eagles’ Adam Hughes andSIV exercise referral manager Dave Birds at aproduct launch event at the club – the onlyvenue in the city to offer the equipment.

Steve, Adam and Dave, along with 73-year-oldFitness Unlimited member Jack Colwishaw, werechallenged to test the equipment – a belt wornby users during exercise which allows them toset fitness goals and track their progress, includ-ing effort scores.

The challenge saw Dave and Jack come out ontop and beat the trained athletes with theirscores, achieving 84 and 83 per cent effortrespectively, and Steve and Adam reaching 71and 74 per cent.

Dave said: “It’s great that Ponds Forge is thefirst venue in the city to offer this exciting newfitness technology.

“The equipment is a fantastic way of allowingpeople to track their fitness progress and give areal sense of how they are improving or whatthey need to do to improve further. It really doeshave a huge impact on your exercise regime.

“I will also be using the system to work withgroups suffering with long term medical condi-tions through SIV’s GP exercise referral scheme,and linking and enhancing the great work theNHS already does in this field.” Adam Hughes, Steve Judge and Dave Birds test out the MYZONE technology.

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INTERACTIVE MEMBERSHIP SOLUTIONS32

Retention solution helpsidentify ‘at risk’ membersFITNESS equipment manufacturerand supplier Precor has joinedforces with The Retention Peopleto provide interactive solutions tooperators, as part of its Preva fit-ness offering.

Preva Retention builds on thesuccess of Preva – a cloud-basedplatform incorporating a suite oftools to help both operators andexercisers achieve their goals.

The retention tools help opera-

tors identify members who are atrisk of dropping out, facilitateinteractions with ‘at risk’ members,report on the quantity of interac-tions and measure and track theirNet Promoter Score.

Operations director at TheRetention People Mike Hills said:“TRP are world renowned inunderstanding member behaviourand we use our extensive researchto drive product development into

solutions, processes and trainingpackages to improve the customerexperience and ultimately increasecustomer loyalty.

“Linking with Precor to providePreva Retention seemed like a nat-ural step to take, as both compa-nies have a common objective tohelp operators improve their reten-tion rates by delivering a bettermember experience throughmeaningful interactions.”

Elevation Series:introducing thenext generationLIFE Fitness has launched the next gen-eration of its Elevation Series of equip-ment – complete with personalised tech-nology for tech savvy gymgoers.

The Discover SE and Discover SI TabletConsoles are the first to sync with theAndroid operating system and featuretouch screen technology.

The products also integrate with thecompany’s new LFconnect technology, acloud-based solution that allows clubs tocustomise available content to exercis-ers.

With LFconnect, exercisers will be ableto access personal online content andnavigate the web directly from theequipment as well as create their ownworkout programs and set content pref-erences.

Vice president of global marketing andproduct development Dan Wille said:“Our research shows more than 95 percent of exercisers desire access to onlinecontent on equipment.

“This new line of Discover open plat-form products gives exercisers unprece-dented access to not just online contentlike YouTube and Facebook, but the lat-est fitness applications and customentertainment.”

Company investsin new videotechnologyBy Christina Eccles

FIT4LESS clubs have invested innew video technology to engage ona more interactive level with bothpotential and existing members.

The company, operated by theénergie brand, has launched seriestwo of its online video content, fol-lowing a successful pilot series.

The videos again star award win-ning Mcneil and Pamphilon come-dians and are designed to make fit-ness and gyms appeal to all audi-ences – not just elite athletes.

Brand and marketing director aténergie David Beattie said: “Fit4less

is geared towards the online market– it’s how people join our gyms andinteract with our teams.

“We are already highly visible onsocial media platforms such asFacebook and Twitter and haveutilised the video through QR codeson conventional club marketingchannels.

“Our decision to produce profes-sional short videos is based on ourneed to grow and push new bound-aries in the online community.

“Fit4less is about offering a smartaffordable gym, the videos areanother way for us to promote ourlight-hearted view of the gym.”

WorkOut will be highlighting interactive membershipsolutions in special features during 2013. If you have a

story for us email ce@scriptmedia.co.uk or if you would like to advertise

please contact Dan Lloyd on 01226 734699

32 19/12/12 10:48 Page 1

INTERACTIVE MEMBERSHIP SOLUTIONS 33

KIRKLEES Active Leisure is utilisingthe latest developments in technolo-gy by successfully encouraging onlinemembership sign-ups for its low costgym offering, SMART Fitness.

Join@Home, an interactive mem-bership solution from GladstoneHealth and Leisure, was installed aspart of a pre-sale campaign for the110-station fitness suite atHuddersfield Sports Centre, whichopened last May.

In the first two months the systemsaw 28 per cent of new members signup online, and now, with more than2,200 members on board, 22 per centof all members have opted for theease of joining the gym online.

Information systems and technolo-gy manager at Kirklees Active LeisureRichard Marshall said: “We have beenencouraging members to useJoin@Home via a registration linkfrom the SMART Fitness web page,

and also have a large sales area withtwo computers in HuddersfieldSports Centre that customers can useto register online. We have alreadyhad customers comment to us on theapplication’s ease of use.”

The leisure trust manages 11 majorsports centres and swimming poolson behalf of Kirklees Council andJoin@Home will be rolled out to KAL’s 10 other centres throughoutthis year.

Innovativesystemhelps stopbottlenecksAN innovative software system ishelping gyms to analyse which piecesof equipment are most popular withmembers – allowing operators toidentify and deal with potential bot-tlenecks.

GYMetrix attaches sensors to gymequipment to measure its usage, aswell as undertaking customer surveysand analysing the responses with itsbespoke software, with the resultshelping gyms to spot where equip-ment shortages are causing cus-tomers frustration.

According to a recent results collated by the company, whichanalysed about 15,000 gym floor surveys, men generally get more frustrated than women when there is not enough equipment in the gym.

This then translates to lower Net Promoter scores, as males are less satisfied with their gymsoverall.

The results also showed treadmillsare the top piece of kit for both men and women, with the secondmost popular being cable machinesfor men and cross trainers forwomen.

Trust uses latest technologyto encourage online sign-ups

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FUNCTIONAL TRAINING34

St Johnstone players Peter Pawlett and Jamie Adams.

FUNCTIONAL fitness specialistJordan Fitness has signed a yearlong sponsorship deal with StJohnstone Football Club inPerth.

The club has opted for a rangeof Jordan Fitness strength andconditioning equipment including dumbbells,

Powerbags, PlyometricPlatforms and Tornado balls to assist them with their training.

The equipment has beenacquired as part of the club’sstrength and conditioning pro-gramme to help players buildcore strength and assist in

injury prevention.

Manager Steve Lomas said:“We are delighted with the newkit from Jordan Fitness.

“The players are certainly putting it to very good use on a daily basis to reach andmaintain their high levels of fitness.”

Scottish club delighted with new kit

PREMIER Training International has held itsfirst successful underground equipmenttraining workshop.

As part of the event, expert trainer BenMcDonald led fitness professionals through ahigh energy exploration of functionaltraining ideas and alternative fitness equip-ment.

Attendees experienced an extensive range ofequipment – including battling ropes,bungee harnesses, Bulgarian bags, Sand bagsand tornado balls – with Ben providing experttips and tuition on correct technique andusage.

The company plans to hold more of theworkshops throughout the year.

Expert tipsfor fitnessprofessionals

KBT Education delivers BritishWeightlifting and REPS accreditedcontinual professional developmentcourses to exercise scientists, sportcoaches and personal trainersthroughout the UK.

Our coach educators are all activecoaches and personal trainers whowork with athletes on a daily basis.This also includes our founder anddeveloper of KBT’s educational pro-gramme Sam Dovey.

Sam has been a strength and condi-tioning and weightlifting coach for 17years, working with athletes fromcounty to elite level and in that timehas developed many nationallyranked athletes.

He has also developed many Britishand European champions and in2011 achieved his first World Recordwith a team he was coaching. Sam’smain time is divided between deliver-ing sessions for elite athletes anddelivering educational courses andworkshops and he has recently beenappointed as the director of strengthand conditioning for the Great BritainCombined Services, Rugby LeagueWorld Cup in 2013.

Sam’s educational vision is to deliverthe latest practice and researchedbased methods and techniques tocoaches and personal trainers, sothey can be the best they can be andpass on the latest techniques to theirathletes and clients.

KBT Education’s current courseportfolio includes strength and con-ditioning courses, weightlifting andnutrition courses. KBT are also one ofthe original Kettlebell courseproviders in the UK.

For 2013, KBT will be releasingUltimate Kettlebells – the mostadvanced two-day Kettlebell coursein the UK.

We are also releasing a series ofadvanced weightlifting courses,aimed at existing coaches and a func-tional training course. We will also belaunching a course aimed at the mili-tary and combat athletes calledStrategic Strength. This is based onthe six years of work we have donewith the military and our 17 years’experience of working with combatathletes.

For more information visit www.kbteduca-tion.co.uk or contact 0333 2020 949

Advertiser’s announcement

Delivering accreditedtraining to fitnessprofessionals

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FUNCTIONAL TRAINING36

Gym’s new functionaltraining area providesmembership boostA GYM in Clydebank is celebratingthe success of its latest addition – anMMA and functional training areawhich gained the club 50 new mem-bers in just four weeks.

Antonine Sports Centre introducedthe new area about three months agoto make better use of an underusedsports hall and to expand its classoffering to help the gym stand out ina crowded marketplace.

The area focuses on functionaltraining – with an MMA influence –and includes equipment such as ket-tlebells and power bags.

Classes on offer include an MMAbootcamp style session – somethingwhich is appealing both equally tomale and female members – begin-ners’ boxing and circuit training.Centre manager Kevin Carlin saidintroducing the area has proved to bea great draw for new members, aswell as a successful retention tool.

He said: “This came about becausewe were reaching capacity for ourgym areas and had an old hall area,which we used as a makeshift studio.

“We also have lots of competition inthe local area from people runningclasses in church halls and communi-ty centres who can do that at muchcheaper prices than us.

“We noticed people were looking forMMA training and as we were alreadyrunning classes in things such as judoand Thai boxing, we thought it wouldbe a fantastic way of introducing ourmembers to a new type of class.”

Kevin said having the area hasoffered the club a massive opportuni-ty to teach different classes and to

introduce members who had beenthere a while to alternative workouts.

Previously, most of the gym’s classeswere female dominated, while itsweights area traditionally attracted alot of men.

Since functional training was intro-duced, both female and male mem-bers have been keen to have a go,mixing up the classes and keepingworkouts fresh.

Kevin also got in touch with UFCfighter Dan Hardy who did a seminarfor members to inspire and motivatethem and has also been working hardto dispel pre-conceived myths aboutMMA by making most of the classesnon combat and focusing on the fitness rather than fight elements.

The club – a not for profit sportscentre which has been open for over30 years – is now gearing up for abusy start to 2013 and is hoping theinitial success they have seen sincethe revamp will continue into thenew year.

Kevin added: “It was really impor-tant we got this done in time for thenew year as we wanted people in andusing it before the January boom.

“Being a charity we don’t have amassive marketing budget and relyheavily on word of mouth.

“We joined up about 50 members infour weeks of opening it which hasgiven us a great kick start into theNew Year.

“This seemed to be the right thingto do at the right time and we areover the moon it has worked. It’s beenphenomenal for both staff and mem-bers.”

Antonine Sports Centre has gained 50 new members in four weeks through its new MMAand functional training area. Pictures: Scott Moore

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FUNCTIONAL TRAINING 37

A SUCCESSFUL personal trainer has toldwhy focusing on functional movementhas enhanced the level of service he canoffer his clients.

Paul Boston works at Saturn Fitness andWellness, an independent gym inAbingdon-on-Thames, which he runswith his family.

Paul believes that when working with anew client, getting the basics right at thebeginning is the key to long-term suc-cess, so has introduced a number of func-tional tests into his training.

The most comprehensive of these isFunctional Movement Screening, a seriesof exercises to see how their body movesand identify any areas of weakness orinjuries which need working on early on.

He explained: “Functional to me is mak-ing sure you can move without painthrough any movement.

“The Functional Movement Screeningshows you how well your body moves andfrom that you can test how strong thebody is.

“I also have a very strong Pilates back-ground – my mum is a Pilates teacher –so if someone can’t do one of those exer-cises, I can pick out why they can’t do itand address it.

“It’s about building up their capacity. If

someone can’t do a full squat, every timethey then do a squat with a weight theyare going to be re-enforcing a bad move-ment. My passion is to get people movingproperly – and enjoy moving withoutpain.”

Facilities at the club include Pilates andPower Plate studios as well as an areaexclusively for personal training – some-thing which Paul feels is important.

He added: “We have a dedicated roomfor personal training. I have never likedhaving to do personal training in an areawith other people. I think to justify theprice, it should be completely private.”

The gym has been open for about 15months and has got off to a flying start. Itmade the final shortlist in the newcomerof the year category at the 2012 NationalFitness Awards and Paul added that theteam is on track with the targets theyhave set themselves for the comingmonths.

“We had an expectation of where wewould like to be at the two year mark andthat’s where we will be.

“For me, working with family has beennothing but positive. We have got a goodrelationship and enjoy working together.And we all have different strengths tobring to the club.”

Beginning with thebasics is key tolong-term success

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FUNCTIONAL TRAINING38

A NEW independent gym has opened inthe Midlands, which aims to encourageeveryone from elite athletes to beginnersto enjoy the benefits of functional train-ing.

Rigs Fitness, situated in Kings Heathnear Birmingham, was opened about fivemonths ago by 23-year-old Sam Smith.

Sam, who has a degree in Sports Scienceand Physiology, is also a level three per-sonal trainer, sports nutritionist and ama-teur boxer, with vast experience in trainingprofessional athletes.

He opened the club after spotting a gapin the market for what he calls a ‘function-al fitness centre’ and is now aiming tointroduce functional training, widely usedby professional sports people, to a biggeraudience.

He explained: “It’s something I’m reallypassionate about and the way I trainmyself. I knew there was nothing like it inthe Midlands and genuinely believe it is abetter way to train.”

Functional fitness sessions run everynight. A typical class focuses on big move-ments which use the whole body, such assquatting, jumping and twisting, and Samrevealed his aim is to get everyone trainingthat way. He added: “The classes involveexercises which use your whole body asone unit rather than isolating single mus-cles. They are movements which can betranslated into every day life. Not justthings you can do in the gym, but things

that are going to help you outside.”Features at the club include an indoor

sprint track, full-sized pro boxing ring,gymnastics training facilities, a cross fitfunctional rig and kit such as kettlebells,battle ropes and fitness tyres.

Sam added: “We are deliberately differ-ent. We are getting people coming in whohave got a real performance goal and wetry and make sure their training is alwaysvaried.

“My worry was how people would copewith the change from what they wouldfind in other gyms but it’s been receivedreally well.

“The main thing people are enjoying isthe fact that it is so different. We think it’sa much more enjoyable way to train – andfunctional fitness classes are our mostpopular.”

Although the gym has only been open afew months, Sam already has big plans forthe future. In the coming months, he aimsto target more local sports clubs to comedown and use the gym, as well as intro-ducing a reward scheme for members whogenerate referrals.

He added: “I’m really pleased with howit’s going. We have got a good membershipbase and it’s a really nice place to train.There’s a great atmosphere here and noegos. I also know every member. You can’tcreate that personal feel when you havethousands of members – it’s unique toindependent gyms.”

Functional trainingfor all at new gym

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FUNCTIONAL TRAINING 39

By Matthew Januszek, Escape Fitness

TAKE a drive into any town or cityand the chances are you’ll pass abusiness park, a retail park and,somewhere in there too, a leading‘super-sized’ supermarket store.

At the other end of the spectrum,take a walk down any high street inany town or city, or village for thatmatter, and you’ll also notice thatyour local convenience store has alsonot been immune from the corporatemachine and is, most likely, now awell known brand of supermarket.However, while the morals of such anaggressive purchasing programme bythe supermarkets is open to debate, isthe principle of what they are doing –taking their product to a more “local”level – worthy of comparison with thefitness industry? Are we missing atrick?

This “mini” supermarket, with iden-tical quality products, albeit a smallerrange, has made their brands moreaccessible to people, capturing amarket that would have previouslybeen lost. What the supermarketshave done is take their product to thepeople, they’ve been flexible in pro-ducing a High Street module of theirbrand to appeal to a wider consumerbase.

So, how can we learn from this?David Lloyd Putney has recentlyopened a smaller, downsized studiothat is smack bang amongst housesand offices on Putney High Street.The convenience of the studio meansthere is a real sense of communityand, with no member fees, the flexi-bility of not being tied into a mem-bership contract is a huge attraction.

In a year that has seen the nationswept along with both the Olympicsand Paralympics, there has neverbeen a more fitness aware public, yetour industry remains largely inflexi-ble, relying on people to come to us,rather than the other way round. TheDavid Lloyd Putney example is testa-ment to a new way of thinking – tak-ing your product to the people. Thereare potentially hundreds of thou-sands of people out there, wanting toget involved in joining a club, or sim-ply wanting to do a class or workoutonce a week. A massive untappedmarket!

Therefore, thinking where to open anew club has never been moreimportant. Many local town centresare struggling, owing to the economicclimate, shops are closing and relo-cating, many to out of town retailparks. Is this an opportunity to beseized? Retail units are left standingempty in areas where a consumerbase and infrastructure already exists.The car parks are there, the bus andtrain station already exists and,importantly, the shopping centre,often the heartbeat of a town or city,

is surrounded by houses, within walk-ing distant of a huge number ofpotential members and clients.

People love convenience, it’s whatmodern society is all about. We’reused to getting what we want, whenwe want it. Understanding andresponding to this is vital. Smallerstudios, a downsized product rangeBUT located on people’s doorsteps.The concept that has worked for thesupermarkets can be applied to thefitness industry too.

What about those people who,regardless of a gym’s location, stillcan’t visit? Well how about a training“road show”? Visiting a local villagehall and community centre, puttingon a weekly class with a carefullyselected array of equipment; somekettlebells, Bulgarian Bags and core-bags, an agility grid and Easy ToneStep? A portable functional play-ground, what a great idea! Educatingand capturing those enthusiastic par-ticipants on their terms.

A person’s spare time is precious tothem and so it’s important that anytime they choose to spend with yourbusiness is maximised to the full. Byengaging with them by creatingsmaller, more suitable areas they’llfeel more wanted, not just anothermembership number on a spread-sheet. Group training through inter-active functional training areas is per-fect for doing just that. Capturing amember’s imagination means they’llfeel part of something and notice realresults from their training, whichmeans they’ll keep coming back formore, building a sense of communityin the process. Working out is alwaysmuch more fun when you’re doing itwith friends, and even family.

Don’t wait for them to come to you,take your business to the masses,there’s never been a better time!

It’s always interesting to know whatthe industry is thinking and the ideasyou have so please, my door is alwaysopen, drop me a line atmarketing@escapefitness.com

Are you aconvenientworkout?

Matthew Januszek

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FUNCTIONAL TRAINING40

Oli Thompson Picture credit: Combat Ready Training (http://www.combatreadytraining.co.uk) and Cheetahs Gym, Hove.

TOP UK MMA heavyweight,Oli Thompson, has signedfunctional fitness specialistsJordan Fitness to assist withhis strength and conditioningtraining.

Jordan Fitness is the officialsupplier for Combat ReadyTraining, run by strength andconditioning coach, ChristianVila who is preparing Oli forforthcoming fights.

The company is supplyingthe Combat Ready Trainingcamps with functional fitnessequipment including sand-bags, balance trainers, sonicchute and speed/agility lad-der.

Oli, Britain’s Strongest Manin 2006, is a former UCMMA

heavyweight champion andcurrent CSMMA heavyweightchampion and is keen to getback on the UFC roster.

Sales director at JordanFitness Zak Pitt said: “We areproud that Oli Thompson andCombat Ready Training havechosen Jordan Fitness as theirOfficial Supplier.

“We wish Oli all the verybest with his training aheadof his fights in 2013.”

To keep track of Oli’s train-ing progress with CombatReady Training visitwww.combatreadytraining.co.uk and for more informationon Jordan Fitness equipmentwww.jordanfitness.co.uk.

Oli opts for Jordanas official supplier

DESCRIPTIONS for functional training arenumerous, however, each are develop-ments on the same theme.

An appropriate example can be takenfrom Michael Boyle’s book ‘FunctionalTraining for Sport’ (2004): “The key is todesign a training program that truly pre-pares athletes for their sports. This can bedone only by using exercises that train themuscles the same way they are used insport, in other words – functional train-ing.”

Obviously, this example uses sport as itsreference for training; however it is stillvitally important for all persons to bephysically prepared for a multitude ofenvironments and everyday tasks.

All activities require some form of physi-cal exertion through a wide variety of

movements and exercises. Therefore itmakes sense to be prepared for a widerange of scenarios.

It has been suggested that functionaltraining is the most effective at doing so asthe training is constantly varied, incorpo-rates a wide variety of movements andexercises, is easily scalable for persons ofall abilities and produces results.

As a company of crossfit personnel, weare in the right position to judge whatworks and what doesn’t with functionaltraining rigs and are very fortunate to beable to manufacture and design all ourproducts in house. This enables the maxi-mum amount of versatility with our prod-ucts getting results quicker and safer.

For more information emailinfo@beaverfit.com or call 01694 352100

Functional training:developments on a theme

TKO proved to be a real knockout at LIWin September and has continued this suc-cess with an agreement in place in Irelandwith McSport and contracts to supply sev-eral new clubs in Scotland, including thenew Fit4less in East Kilbride.

Exclusively distributed by ConceptFitness International, TKO was launchedin the UK in 2010 with a range of qualityfree weights, studio equipment, functionaltraining equipment and of course, a fullrange of boxing equipment and acces-sories.

With extremely reasonable prices andthe highest quality equipment, they offer areal alternative to the companies that havedominated the functional training andfree weights market.

In particular, the four-in-one boxing sta-tion is proving to be a real hit with clubswith several orders taken already.

The commercial build quality, the springmechanisms and the heavy duty 22oz bagsmake this a fantastic buy at under £1000all in. In addition, leasing can be arrangedat competitive rates.

For further information on TKO, visitwww.tkofitness.co.uk or call 0845 36369969.

Company continuesto build on its LIW success

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FUNCTIONAL TRAINING 41

THE Exigo monster rig is the ultimatein compact design, giving you moreoptions than ever and becoming afocal point in any gym.

Saving you space and money, theExigo monster rig is a complete costeffective solution to all your exerciseand functional training needs.

Being available in both a free stand-ing modular design and a wall mount-ed design, transforming lost corners,empty spaces and blank walls into theback bone of your gym.

The Exigo monster rig is designedand manufactured in our UK factoryand is constructed from an incrediblystrong and sturdy oval tube to reduceany flex and support multiple userssimultaneously. This rig is built towithstand any abuse it may receivethroughout its life and is finished in atough durable powder coat availablein a range of colours and RAL num-bers. We offer the rig to you in almostany variation and can manufacture tosuit any gym, wall, corner or even cor-

ners, depending on your size andshape requirements.

The Exigo monster rig gives unlimit-ed exercise possibilities, is compatiblewith all Exigo interchangeable attach-ments such as wings, monkey bars,TRX attachments and can includeanything in its build from power racksto equipment storage using our ownunique column design. The ExigoMonster wall rig is an essential in anygym. For more information call 0870850 1822 or visit www.exigosport.com

The monster rig: a focal point in any gym

New modular system added to rangeFREEDOM Climber, the makers ofthe revolutionary indoor rotatingclimbing system, are embracingtheir success within health clubsand leisure centres, gained on theback of the increased demand byclubs looking to add the latest andmost exciting new functional train-ing equipment, by adding a brandnew modular functional trainingwall system to their range.

The new system offers strategi-cally placed attachment points forelastic stretch and TRX style sus-pension bands to the wall mount-ed panels, designed to allow per-sonal trainers and group exerciseclasses to maximise on theFreedom Climber’s excellent func-tional training exercise.

Now being installed into leadinghealth clubs across the UK, thesystem is being enthusiasticallyused by members and personaltrainers alike, looking to add vari-

ety and a fun element to groupand individual training sessions.

The climbing movement requiredto rotate the variable resistanceclimbing surface means the mem-ber must use their balance, flexi-bility, hand-eye co-ordination andstrength, which offers a harderthan expected upper body andcore workout in a short session.The climber is now being used in

group circuit classes as a workoutstation and can be incorporatedinto club challenges and competi-tions. The Freedom Climber’sunique design enables the systemto be wall mounted to save floorspace and will fit under mostclubs’ standard ceiling height.

For more information contactFreedom Climber at info@free-domclimber.co.uk

‘Funk it up’A ‘FUNKED up’ functional playground hashelped an Impulse Leisure site attract a newaudience, with the site seeing a 30 per centincrease in membership since it was installed.

The company wanted to change the emphasisat its Corringham site from a traditional stylegym and increase the amount of functionaltraining equipment on offer.

The aim was to ‘funk it up’ so that the rejuve-nated club would encourage more of the localcommunity to join in and use the facilities.

The Corringham site is on two levels, with atraditional-style cardio area on the upper floor,and Impulse Leisure wanted to create a func-tional playground on the lower level.

With that in mind, they chose Escape Fitness,who got to work with creative agency, ESCCreative, to redesign the walls, creating somemotivational graphics to inspire members dur-ing their workouts. They also chose some ofEscape’s best functional equipment includingOlympic Bars, kettlebells, ViPRs, TRXSuspension Trainers and frame, the ReebokPunch Bag, medicine balls and rep sets.

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UK FITNESS SCENE42

THE new gym at the Spectrum Leisure Centre inWillington, County Durham, held an open day toenable SportsArt Fitness to demonstrate its GreenSystem, which includes a range of cardio fitnessequipment that harnesses human energy into use-able power.

Attending were interested parties from other fitnesscentres, educational establishments, local authori-ties and prison and fire services.

Managing director Mark Turner said: “SportsArtFitness has designed and built the Green Systemwith Spectrum being the first British gym toinstall the new power-generating gym equipmentand use its members’ exertions to produce power.”

At Spectrum, a ‘pod’ of 10 SportsArt elliptical train-ers and cycles attached to an inverter uses powerfrom exercisers, harnessing this and feeding it backinto the power grid as useable energy.

“This energy can then be used to save facilitiesthousands of pounds in energy costs.

Mark added: “We are at a point now where themachines are viable.

“The new pieces of equipment include recumbentbikes, upright bikes and elliptical trainers all capableof producing up to 2,000 watts an hour and thesecost the same as other SportsArt machines.”

For more information contact Mark Turner on01282 779234 or email.mark.turner@sportsartfit-ness.co.uk

SOCIAL Referral Online allows yournewest member/customer to spreadthe word about your business to asmany of their friends as they want intwo easy steps, harnessing the truepower of the Internet and social mar-keting.

Club manager at Westside Healthand Fitness Club Duncan McSporranexplained: “We are a 1,400 memberhealth club in Stamford Centre; the club has been going for 16 years. We introduced SRO to increaseguest traffic through the club, withinthe first six-month period of using

the system we had 300 10-day guestpasses of which 90 members havejoined. With our average gym mem-bership price being £35 a month (12month terms) we have generated£3,150.00 on our monthly DirectDebit.

“In my opinion Social ReferralOnline is the best marketing spendthat we have invested in out of all themarketing tools we have usedthroughout the 16 years.”

Request a free demo today by call-ing 0845 838 052 or email hello@talk-twenty1.com

Boost your membership referrals

People power in actionPARALYMPIC gold medallist and BBC youngsports personality of the year Josef Craig hasofficially opened the new facilities atJesmond Swimming Pool in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

The pool has recently benefited from a£250,000 extension featuring a state-of-the-art fitness suite and treatment rooms.

Built alongside the pool hall and utilising agarden area, the new extension provides anadditional 45sqm of space, in addition tothe original 250sqm fitness suite.

The site is also the first in the north ofEngland to showcase Precor’s AMT withOpen Stride, along with elliptical crosstrain-ers and other cardiovascular pieces.

The gym also has a functional trainingzone which will be used to encourage avariety of user groups from the community,as well as being available to drive personaltraining revenue.

The centre is managed and operated bycharitable trust Jesmond CommunityLeisure.

Josef opensnew facilities

Specialist sport and fitness PRagency, Promote PR, has a newrecruit – GB women’s hockey captain Kate Walsh.Having achieved a dream of winning an Olympic medal inLondon 2012, Kate is using a relatively quiet internationalhockey period to start her careerin PR.She joins a team of 11 PR professionals who are all pas-sionate about sport, fitness andactive leisure and as well asassisting them, Kate will also belooking to fulfil public speakingcommitments and personalappearances.

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NATIONAL FITNESS AWARD WINNERS44

Judge’s Comments:

“To open and run a club that delivers a24-hour service in a small market townneeds guts, and to recently spend anadditional £25,000 on toilets, air conditioning and equipment after anoverall investment of £250,000 onlythree years ago demands a great

respect and shows they are willing togo that extra mile. The investmentshows courage and a belief, a belief intheir ability and a belief in the future.The photos demonstrate cleanliness,order and attitude.“This spirit elevates the small inde-pendent gym philosophy to the statusof the big clubs – a true professionalmentality.”

Regional Gym of the Year: North and Scotland:Chorley Fitness Centre, Lancashire

Judge’s Comments:

“This was a hard decision to make – Ithink this club was hard pushed by lastyear’s winner. My choice was based onthe sheer success of its members –award after award. What impressed memost was the service to the communityand the ability of the owners to utilise

volunteers to train and run the club. Thisis perhaps not a “club” in the true senseof the word, but certainly a gym pro-ducing so many high achievers. In otherwords, this is a gym that delivers resultsand does not follow the “chains”philosophy of going with the trends orfads. It is a gym with a sense of purposein sticking with its true values.”

Regional Gym of the Year: Midlands and Wales:CKI School of Martial Arts, Leicester

Judge’s Comments:

“This is without a doubt the winner. Thereviewer comments were fully backedup with evidence and the high standardSimon sets himself has rubbed off on allhis staff.

“The club has a great philosophy and work ethic with attention to detail.“The cleanliness of the gyms was high and there is also a good self development programme in place forthe staff.”

Regional Gym of the Year: South:Winners 2000 Fitness Ltd, Newton Abbot Judge’s Comments:

“The Metrodome Leisure Complex isthe perfect venue for a great day outfor the whole family.“Barnsley Premier Leisure Trust tookover the site in 1999 with just 400 gymmembers and over the years the trust

has invested in the gym and expandedboth its size and membership numberstenfold. This year saw more than £1minvestment in the very popular CalypsoCove Water Park, all part of the impressive ongoing investment in facilities, staff training and customercare.”

Local Authority/Leisure Trust Gym of the Year:The Metrodome Leisure Complex, Barnsley

Judge’s Comments:

“I got a great feel for this gym throughtheir application and I particularly liketheir four-stage GO30 programme toprovide structure and progression foreach individual’s fitness journey.“They have a great balance of motivation and education with

everything covered from training structure, diet and most importantlyresults. Their rebranding has been veryimpressive. It is clear that women’sneeds are at the heart of all they do –they understand women, even the consideration of time and a place toshop after a workout! As a femalejudge this facility excited me the most.”

Ladies Only Gym of the Year:GO30, RomfordJudge’s Comments:

“The Xercise4less gym concept is simple,but the extra touches make it stand outfrom other operators in the budget gymcategory.“The large facility is kitted out withmasses of equipment, the weights areais separated from the other parts ofthe gym and again boasts loads of kit.

Upstairs on the mezzanine floor is alarge studio which can hold approximately 70 people in classes and a separate small ladies’ only gym for those members who don't want to workout in the largeopen area.“Fantastic equipment and classes.A budget gym that caters for everygoal.”

Budget Gym of the Year:Xercise4Less, Doncaster

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NATIONAL FITNESS AWARD WINNERS 45

Judge’s Comments:

“Surrounded by five branded gyms, oneindependent and two local authoritysites, The Laboratory remains true to itsoriginal aims of providing a high quality facility with matching service to

its loyal customer base.“Over the years it has grown andimproved with ongoing investment inthe facilities and customer care. Thepersonal service levels are noticeablyhigher and obviously appreciated bythe members.”

Health Club of the Year:The Laboratory Spa and Health Club, Muswell Hill Judge’s Comments:

“This gym stands out as a leader instrength. Their equipment is extensiveand primarily strength orientated.The clients they attract, retain and helpare successful and show impressiveresults in their individual fields.“I like their recognition of women in

the strength arena as well as theirrecognition of nutrition support througheducation and the cafe.“The fact they host major competitivestrength events shows the calibre of their facility and the fact they are continuing to expand shows their drive to continue to be the best.”

Strength Training Gym of the Year:Ripped Gym, Harlow

Judge’s Comments:

“The owner Ismail sounds like anincredible man who has dedicated time,energy and passion as a volunteer tomake a difference in his area throughcombat training.“The success of his members at elite

level, as well as the effect on the community at grass roots, stood out tome. The number of heartfelt testimonials provided speak volumesfor the worthiness of this gym as a winner. It has a pure fight focus which I felt important for a combat gym winner.”

Combat Zone Gym of the Year:CKI School of Martial Arts, Leicester

Judge’s Comments:

“I chose Tops Fitness and Rehabilitationas they are specialists in spinal cordand head and sports injuries and thereis no other centre in the north ofEngland which offers the same facilities. They treat spinal cord injuries,strokes, acquired brain injuries, GullainBarre, and Multiple Sclerosis and provide the highest standards of physiotherapy together with a holisticapproach to rehabilitation. They employfour physios, specialising in brain

injuries and spinal cord injuries, aphysio assistant, four fitness instructors, one of whom specialises inneuro pilates and cardio rehabilitation,an acupuncturist and a massage therapist.“All of their therapists are highly skilledand have a vast amount of experience.All are registered with professionalbodies and each complements the others in enabling them to provide acomplete service for the gym's clients –an excellent facility, providing rehabilitation at the highest level.”

Best Rehabilitation Facilities:Tops Fitness and Rehabilitation, Wakefield

Judge’s Comments:

“A truly committed team, from thereceptionist and pool attendant right upto the more senior staff.“The team is very committed tocustomer service and the overall

experience that the club offers. Theyhad taken time to research and find outexactly want the members and thehotel guests both want and expect fromthe club and had some great rewardsfor members who trained on a regularbasis.”

Best Hotel Facility:Combe Grove Manor Hotel and Country Club, BathJudge’s Comments:

“The Warehouse Gym built its reputation as a strongman gym but isnow in the process of developing asbroad a membership as possible.The club is female friendly – it hostsfemale only bootcamps – and the

atmosphere is one of a family; peoplehelp each other in trying to hit new personal records for each session.“An upcoming gym that has had a lot ofclients achieve many competition goals.With the future improvements and newequipment, it can have even more success.”

Newcomer of The Year:The Warehouse Gym, Leicester

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NATIONAL FITNESS AWARD WINNERS46

Judge’s Comments:

“From having a small membership ofjust 160, the present owners have transformed the gym into a thrivingbusiness which now has 525 members,and future plans has them aiming for600 members and a second gym in 2014.

“None of this could have been possiblewithout the sheer hard work and dedication of the present owners. Asthey say ‘Customer care is at the heartof everything we do.’“An excellent gym, which concentrateson the care of their members to anextremely high standard.”

Customer Service Award:Gymophobics, Rugby

Judge’s Comments:“I have had prisoners working at mygym, preparing them for release andhave some great success stories myself.

“I can relate to this at length – it is athankless, difficult job motivating prisoners – so they get my vote all daylong.”

Community Involvement:HMP Hatfield, Doncaster

Judge’s Comments:

“Terry’s success story is inspiring. Whenhe joined the gym, he was overweight,lacking in confidence and finding it hardto juggle family life with a stressful job,which left little time for himself.“But with help from The Exercise Clinic,he’s turned his life around. He’s lostweight, has a different job he enjoys,has made many friends in the gym and

his confidence levels are so high he hastaken on and completed many charitychallenges, including a gruelling climbup Mount Kilimanjaro.“The club has been there every step ofthe way – from helping him with histraining regime to holding events toraise sponsorship money. A genuinefriendship has grown between Terry andclub owner Jason Croucher, which reallycame across in the nomination.”

Member Achievement:Terry Broom, The Exercise Clinic, Bourne End

Judge’s Comments:

“Sandra McGugan opened LadybirdFitness Club for Women in November2006 after five months of completerestoration. Having over 20 years’experience in the fitness industry, sheknew how hard it can be to find the

right staff – and was determined to getit right at Ladybird.“Everything is done in house by theteam of five – from cleaning, workingon reception, signing up new membersand teaching a class – and the club hassuch a strong team ethic that no-onehas left since it opened six years ago.”

Gym Team of the Year:Ladybird Fitness Club for Women, Wigan

Judge’s Comments:

“The club has a great philosophy and

work ethic with attention to detail. Thehigh standard Simon sets himself hasrubbed off on all his staff.”

National Gym of the Year:Winners 2000 Fitness Ltd, Newton Abbot

Judge’s Comments:

“Simon de Burgh lives and breathes personal training.“After winning this award last year hedidn't just sit back and bask in the glory– just the opposite.“He is tough as his three strikes andyour out rule proves, but he claims to

be a better listener after taking a longhard look at what he does to prove thathe was and is worthy of winning thisaward.“Simon has studied extremely hard,achieved a lot of qualifications and hashelped raise money for charities. He notonly shares his interests but shows passion.”

Gym Based Personal Trainer:Simon de Burgh, Michele White Fitness Centre, Devon

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UK FITNESS SCENE 49

Preferred bidder chosen for ten-year contractOLDHAM Council has chosen itspreferred bidder for a new ten-yearcontract to run the borough’s sportsand leisure facilities.

A Cabinet meeting has appointedOldham Community Leisure as itspreferred bidder with Sport andLeisure Management named asreserve bidder.

OCL currently runs the leisure

estate across the Borough on behalfof Oldham Council in a contractthat is set to end in March 2013.

The new leisure managementcontract would run from April 2013until March 2023 with the potentialto extend for a further five years.

The contract aims to deliverincreased efficiency and savings

and to significantly improve theleisure offer available to all residents.

Chief executive of OldhamCommunity Leisure StuartLockwood said: “Our team aredelighted to have been selected aspreferred bidder and we are com-mitted to working with OldhamCouncil to finalise the process.”

THE énergie Group’s brand and mar-keting director David Beattie is toleave the company to pursue otheropportunities.

David was a founding member of thedirecting team when énergie waslaunched almost a decade ago.

Chairman and chief executive JanSpaticchia said “We have seen énergiedevelop a revered and admired port-folio of franchise brands underDavid’s direction.

“David’s contribution to the successthat we achieved to date has beenconsiderable and he has developedbrands that I am confident are des-tined to become internationallyrecognised as the business grows.

“David will, of course, continue totake a keen interest in énergie’s devel-opment as a significant shareholder.We wish David the very best in every-thing he goes on to do; he is an out-standing executive who will be suc-cessful in whatever he turns his handto.”

David Beattie

Director Davidmoving on

easyGym is celebrating the launch ofits new £1.5m gym in Birmingham’sKings Heath with a series of pop-upcommunity workout classes.

The first of the classes was held inKings Heath Town Square and sawlocal residents aged between two and82 joining in the fitness fun.

Classes will also be popping up inthe area throughout the New Year andwill involve a number of fun fitnessactivities including group dance

workouts.Personal trainer at the club Gavin

Edinborough said: “easyGym’s pop upcommunity work outs are a great wayfor local residents to meet newfriends, have fun and get fit.

“We want the whole of Kings Heathto don their trainers and help us raiseawareness of the importance of keep-ing active and healthy, whilst having agreat time and celebrating the launchof our new easyGym site.”

Gym celebrateswith pop-upworkout classes

Leisure operator SheffieldInternational Venues has beenchosen to host one of the largestmulti-sports events in the UK.British Universities and CollegesSport organisers will bring theirannual student sports championship event to SIV’s venues from February 22-24.The event was launched by ath-lete Iwan Thomas and Team GBswimmer Joanne Jackson at SIV’sPonds Forge International SportsCentre.

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51SUPPLEMENTATION AND NUTRITION

Nutrition drink boostssecondary revenueA LONDON based independent gymhas seen a big increase in secondaryrevenue since it started stocking anew type of sports nutrition drink.

MiTONICS applies the principlesused by professional sports nutrition-ists to create a drink completely per-sonalised to the individual.

Members enter their weight, train-ing goal and body fat percentage andthe machine, similar to a traditionalwalk up coffee machine, will dispenseexactly the right ingredients in theright quantities to help them reachtheir goals.

The idea has been proving popularwith members at The Third Space inSOHO, where over the past 12months, sales of the drinks haveincreased by 47 per cent.

General manager Matt Julian said:

“We were the first club in the UK toinstall a Biosauce (now MiTONICS)machine and it was a fantastic deci-sion.

“Not only are our membersimpressed by the ability to vend apost-workout drink which has beenpersonalised to their exact needs,we’ve also seen a dramatic increase inour sports nutrition revenue.”

CEO and founder Tom Bulginbelieves that the increase in sales isdown to positive customer experi-ence and increased consumer knowl-edge.

He added: “MiTONICS makesadvanced sports nutrition principlesavailable to the average gym-goer.This means our customers start tosee results much more quickly and sowe create an ongoing relationship.” MiTonics CEO and founder Tom Bulgin

GREAT tasting, all natural, conven-ient, high protein diet meals forsports and fitness.

Performance Meals are based onclinically tested research that clearlyindicates high protein meals help tomaintain a lean, toned body.

High protein meals are also suitablefor building muscle mass andstrength and are especially useful inthe repair of muscle after exercise.

These are complete real food meals,containing no additives or preserva-tives.

High in protein, with a minimum of

40g protein per serving, low fat, lowsalt and ready to eat.

The unique air and watertight sealedpouch ensures the ingredients arekept fresh and keeps the all-impor-tant nutrients locked in during cook-ing. Performance Meals have a shelflife of 12 months and have no specialstorage requirements. No fridge need-ed. Simply display alongside existingsports nutrition products.

Visit www.performancemeals.com for more information.

Trade customers can order direct fromwww.performancemealstrade.com

Performance Meals –a world’s first

Welsh Cycling signs three-year dealWELSH Cycling has formed a three-year partnership with sports nutri-tion brand USN.

The agreement, which runs until2015, will see the company securenaming rights to the Welsh Cyclingmanaged UCI Track Cycling WorldCup team, as well as becoming offi-

cial supplier of nutritional productsto the national governing body.

Karl Bickley, events manager andathlete liaison at USN, said: “USN –Ultimate Sports Nutrition are proudto become the principle partner ofWelsh Cycling’s elite track team.

“We have a great passion for per-

formance sport and are massivelyexcited at the prospect of workingclosely with the team to helpfuel on-track performance as well as preparation and recoveryin the lead up to and during the Commonwealth Games in2014.”

Healthy cafeon menuat TrinityA NEW healthy eating cafe will form an integral part of Trinity Sports and Leisure’s redevelopedoffering, Sedgemoor District Council and leisure trust 1610 haverevealed.

The inspiration for the café is a welcoming, family-friendly andaffordable facility where visitors can choose from a range of healthy food and drink optionsincluding wraps, smoothies and fruit.

General manager Kenny Brownsaid: "Trinity Sports and Leisure hasalready proved to be a big hit inBridgwater since it opened and with the extended fitness area opening, followed by the pool and cafe it will help to make it a real social hub for the local com-munity.”

The improvements also include anew swimming pool and revampedfitness facilities.

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52 SUPPLEMENTATION AND NUTRITION

SO it appears that if nothingchanges by the time we reach 2050,over half the population of the UKwill be obese.

It seems to me that the rise inobesity is strangely mirrored in therise of health-related knowledge,awareness and even new gymmemberships.

You heard me right, more peopleare joining gyms each year andmore people are getting fatter. Howcan that be?

Well in my opinion, just as therich get richer and poor get poorerit seems that a similar thing is hap-pening on our very own doorstep –the fat get fatter and the fit get fit-ter.

Sure, I am aware that overweightpeople are contributing to thegrowing statistic of new gym usersbut what separates the people whosucceed with weight loss and thosethat fail with it?

I see there are new guidelines setto grace the packaging of food inthe supermarket, offering a trafficlight system to identify healthierfood choices.

Although this appears to be a pro-active step forward, I have to ques-tion the depth of this strategy.

For me, the success or failure ofan individual’s goal lies not within acolour coded label on theirfavourite beef lasagne but more intheir mindset.

If a person has spent their lifepursuing short term pleasure, Idoubt they will have the mindsetrequired to commit to the type of lifestyle change required to see the results they seek longterm.

Unless we can change this per-son’s behavioural pattern you canput whatever colour coded systemyou like on a packet of sausages,people are still destined to pick

them up and eat them.

A person who constantly falls offthe wagon, will continue to fall offthe wagon.

Giving them a colour guide tohealthy and non-healthy food sim-ply gives them another route to fol-low that will inevitably lead to adead end.

If we can continually find ways tomotivate the majority into beingactive then surely that can’t be abad thing.

Like I mentioned, my only worryis that inevitably these people willquit and go back to their old waysof life in search of that instant grati-fication inertly programmed intheir mind.

In order to create long term hap-piness, we need to create shortterm pain and unfortunately I don’tfeel that this message is beingreciprocated or even if it is, it’s notbeing understood.

In order to fix this crisis, we firstneed to turn our attention to theroot cause of the issue, the focus ofthe individual.

If we mask this by offering thenext revolutionary fitness productor eating plan we will continue togive people strategies to fail at timeand time again.

We need to empower these peopleto understand exactly what it takesto be successful with health in theshort term and the long term.

The finger needs to first be firmlypointed at the food industry. Weneed to create a congruent environ-ment where each aspect of health ispushing forwards not pulling usback.

When I watch advertisements forpopular cereal brands and so calledhealthy food items, I often findmyself appalled at the creativechoice of wording used to palm offhigh sugar foods as healthy.

I have to take my hat off, howev-er, to the fitness industry. As awhole, we are motivating andinspiring individuals to createchange in lifestyle and mindset, butwe unfortunately are no match forthe creative marketing of large foodcompanies whose loyalties lie withtheir shareholders and profit mar-gins – not our health.

It is my fear that until these foodcompanies are better regulated,people will continue to make thewrong food choices and the fat catsbehind so called health food brandswill continue to cash in on this cri-sis.

If it’s highly refined and high insugar, it’s not going to be a healthfood choice, despite the fact that itmay be fortified with iron and haveadded vitamin D.

Eat some spinach and take a 20minute walk during the day instead– bingo you’ve got your nutrientsand some exercise without thewaist expanding sugars.

People spend their lives and basetheir decisions on one basic princi-ple, moving away from pain andtowards pleasure. Does this ringany bells?

� I’m tired so I’ll not wake up earlyand instead have an extra hour inbed.

� I’m feeling a little tired afterlunch – I’ll go grab a coffee.

� It’s the end of the day and thesofa with a glass of wine is a muchmore pleasurable experience thanhitting the gym.

Or:

� I’m so sick of being overweight,I’m going to start exercising andclean up my diet.

Which of these statements dothink people have most troublesticking to?

All are based on moving awayfrom pain and towards pleasure but

only one will create long termpleasure. The rest create a shortterm pleasure but will inevitablycreate long term pain.

Once you’ve made a decision tochange, the next step is take action.Many people reach this step butthis is the toughest part of the journey and often the most confus-ing.

I always say the easiest thing inthe world to stick to is a habit, so atfirst it’s going to be hard but onceyou get into the swing of things itbecomes not only easier but pleas-urable.

Keep going and you’ll start toreceive compliments, this perpetu-ates your pleasure and finally you’llstart to inspire others because ofyour dedication and commitmentto your goal – and this feeling ispure bliss.

� Alex Pascoe has worked in the fitness industry for 10 years. Heis a qualified advanced personaltrainer and currently works as a programme manager forNuffield Health’s corporate division.

Confusion over what foods are healthy and difficulty with changing existing habits can all hinder a member’sweight loss journey. Personal trainer Alex Pascoe shares his thoughts on how the industry can tackle thenation’s growing obesity crisis.

Once you’ve made adecision to change, thenext step is take action ...

Alex Pascoe

SUPPLEMENTS manufacturerMetabolics has hosted a seminarfeaturing a range of experts inthe field of nutrition and dietsupplements.

The seminar took place at the

Royal College of Physicians inLondon, with speakers includingDr William Davey and DrMichael Holick.

Presentations explored topicssuch as the concept of a ‘gene

lifestyle’ and the roles played by diet, stress management,exercise and supplement-ation, as well as recommenda-tions on the Mediterranean diet.

Supplements firmhosts seminar

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54 SUPPLEMENTATION AND NUTRITION

The British Dietetic Association has revealed its top five worst celebritydiets to avoid in the new year. Among those making the list are the IVDrip Diet and Dukan Diet, with the number one plan to avoid named asThe Six Weeks to OMG Diet, devised by Venice A Fulton.Pop star Rihanna is reportedly a fan of the IV drip diet.

Top award for RachaelSHEFFIELD natural bodybuilder RachaelHayes has scooped another top award.

Rachael won the first ever DFAC WorldProfessional Athletic title at the worldchampionships in Miami, following onfrom her success at winning a ProUniverse Athletic title earlier this year.

Rachael was accompanied on the tripby her husband Jon Clark who made his

professional debut at the DFAC WorldChampionships in the over 40s class –finishing fourth.

The pair are also successful gym own-ers, running Evolution Gym in the city.They achieved further recognition at theNational Fitness Awards, where the clubmade the final six in the strength train-ing gym of the year category.

Actress Patsy Kensit has beenrevealed as the new celebrityambassador for WeightWatchers.Patsy, who has lost a stone sinceAugust thanks to the plan,revealed her new body in a TVadvert which premiered onBoxing Day.She joins food critic GreggWallace and news presenterPenny Haslam as the celebrity

weight loss ambassadors who

have success-fully lostweight on the

ProPoints planand are

fronting theWeight Watchers TV

campaign.

Stayingin shapewith AlexPERSONAL trainerAlex Cullen hascreated a new e-bookdesigned to helppeople stay in shapeover the festiveseason.

Rudolph’s ChristmasCook Book includeshealthy recipes andexercise tips to helpbeat the bulge overChristmas, while stillbeing able to eat deli-cious food and attendparties and socialgatherings.

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PRODUCT NEWS56

IT’S that time of year once againwhen the majority of the British pub-lic will be making their New Year’sresolutions and hitting the gym.

Is your equipment going to be up tothe influx of new members? Is the“out of order” sign a frequent visitorto your facility? Well the guys at FFIT-TECH are again offering anotheramazing deal to kick start your NewYear!

They are offering a massive mini-mum trade in value for your old

treadmill – no matter what the condi-tion – of £500 and if it’s still in goodnick you could get up to £1000.

This means a brand new FFITTECHtreadmill with full warranty couldcost as little as £1,495 + VAT.

This is a WorkOut magazine exclu-sive, so what are you waiting for – callFFITTECH today for a quote.

Visit the website for the full productrange and to view the promotionalvideo – www.ffittech.co.uk – or call0115 7529548.

Out with the old, in with the new

IN these tough economictimes, it’s important for everygym business to continueinvesting in its equipmentand offering and, according toServicesport Finance, equipment rental is provingto be the perfect solution to balance costs and revenue.

The business was estab-lished to provide ‘tailor made’solutions specific to each cus-tomer’s needs. This includescustomers that may havebeen refused lease financeand new start ups.

All types of products areavailable to rent including CV,strength and free weights.

The key advantages of rentalare that through monthlypayments, gym owners canmatch their costs against

monthly membershipincome.

Rental payments are inclu-sive of service and repair,meaning an end to large,lumpy repair costs, givingoperational peace of mind.

Rental makes investing inadditional revenue streamsaffordable – typically an 11bike studio cycling class willgenerate £8,000 of net profitper year.

New and improved equip-ment helps gym ownersattract and retain members,particularly important in thepost-Christmas peak.

Treadmill rentals start fromas little as £90 + vat permonth.

For further information call08442642473 or emailrental@servicesport.co.uk

New equipment = new members

Don’t beflooredby all thechoiceBUYING flooring or matting for yourclub can be a stressful process, facedwith dozens of samples andbrochures it’s tricky to know where toturn.

Escape Fitness offer a dedicatedbespoke flooring service with expertknowledge to ensure you make theright decision for your business.Supporting you from design throughto installation.

Regardless of your type of facility,there’s a solution for you. From sprinttracks to functional training floormarkings, from traditional indoor set-ups to outdoor spaces, their cus-tomised service means you’ll beheading in the right direction for yourgym, your members and your brand.

It’s not just about looking good,your flooring needs to perform to theexercise needs of your members andtheir expert knowledge means theycan advise on the functionality ofeach of their flooring options for eacharea of your gym. Then, once thedecision has been made, professionalflooring experts will install your floor-ing, ensuring it is fitted efficiently andto the highest standard.

Any investment in flooring shouldnot be taken lightly, and neithershould the installation process.Fortunately, Escape Fitness are onhand to take care of both.

For more information visitwww.escapefitness.com/bsw-flooringor call 01733 313535.

New locationfor PremierdiplomaPREMIER Training International is tolaunch a new venue in Nottingham atthe end of January.

The Gym4all venue will offerPremier Training’s full time Diplomain Fitness Instructing and PersonalTraining, providing graduates withthe knowledge and ability to instruct and supervise safe exercise with both groups and one-on-one clients.

Area development manager KarlMusgrove said: “Nottingham promis-es to be a fantastic new location forPremier.

“Demand for high quality fitnesstraining programmes is increasingmonth on month, and the new venuewill help meet the needs of fitnessand training professionals across theNottingham area.”

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EQUIPMENT

CLASSIFIED58

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AUDIO / VISUAL

59DIRECT DEBIT COLLECTIONS

CLOTHING AND MERCHANDISE

MAINTENANCE

FINANCE

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SOFTWARE

MANAGEMENT

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MIRRORS

INSURANCE

LOCKS

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INSURANCE

TRAININGTRAINING

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