The UK’s No 1 fitness industry magazineApril 2009 No 187 £3

WorkOut callsfor fairer dealfor ownersExclusive by Nicola Hyde

AN MP is backing WorkOut’s newcampaign to win a fairer deal on VATfor thousands of independent gymowners all over the UK.

WorkOut has been inundated withletters and emails from readers, com-plaining they don’t get the same taxbreaks as local authority-controlledor charitable trust health clubs.

Currently, a member of a privately-owned gym has to pay 15 per centVAT on their membership – whilememberships at council-run facilitiesare VAT-free.

And independents claim while theyhave to fork out thousands in busi-ness rates, council and trust-rungyms get heavy subsidies, with manygetting grants for new kit, refurbish-ment and improvements.

Independents insist this gives theirrivals the upper hand and now an MPhas taken up the case of one opera-tor who claims he can’t competeagainst a trust-run gym which is lessthan a mile away.

South Yorkshire MP Jeff Ennis hasbrokered talks between Ian Williams,of Empress Health Club inMexborough and Stephen Timms, thefinancial secretary to the treasury.

Mr Ennis said “It’s a difficult issue to

resolve to everybody’s satisfactionbecause of the problem we have gotin terms of difference between a gymrunning as a charitable status, acouncil-run facility, a small inde-pendently-owned and then the bigchains. We need to look at some kindof mechanism to combat this.”

But, during the meeting, StephenTimms revealed the government can-not afford to lose the billions ofpounds of income it receives fromVAT payments and dismissed therequest.

The MP added: “His feeling was ifwe scrapped VAT payments for inde-pendent gyms then we would be sub-sidising a commercially successfulbusiness, giving some sort of prece-dent for other businesses.

“I think the crux of the problem ishow to differentiate between the bigguys. There should be some mecha-nism that allows a cut-off point tomake allowances for the small opera-tors as opposed to chains who reallydo seem to have quite high profitlines.

“The key is to find some sort of wayto determine how we can help thesmall independents and if they haveany suggestions I would be happy tohear from them.”� Turn to Page 3 for more

Recessionnot hittinggym statsGYM memberships arenot being affected by therecession, according tothe results of a recentsurvey.

Research has shownthat for existing gymmembers, spend is set toremain stable throughout2009, with almost twothirds of consumers say-ing they expect expendi-ture to be the same aslast year and 19 per centsaying they expected topay more. But there is lit-tle movement from non-gym members – only fiveper cent who did nothave gym membership in2008 said they would joinin 2009.

Nunwood, the cus-tomer and market insightagency, asked a nation-wide sample of 1,000 ifthey thought they wouldspend more, the same orless on gym membershipin 2009 compared to2008. Senior analyst LucyParry said: “People whoare already committed togym membership areclearly not sacrificing theab crunch in the creditcrunch. But persuadingnew people to join ismore difficult – with thevast majority of non-members likely to stayout of the gym in 2009.”

Celebrity personal trainer Mark Anthony has beenwhipping 80’s pop stars into a shape for a new TVseries. Mark worked with performers including MikeNolan and Cheryl Baker to help them slim down forPop Goes The Band, which also features Cleopatra,Dollar and boy band 911. Mark – who has alsotrained Jordan and Billie Piper – helped transformthe stars for the show using his ‘Six Week Body Plan’.

UK FITNESS SCENE 3

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News Editor:Nicola HydeTel: 01226 734459Email: nl@whpl.net

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IAN Williams, of Empress HealthClub, first hit the Workout headlineslast summer when he launched acampaign with the Office of FairTrading to put private gyms on a levelplaying field with subsidised council-run facilities.

He claimed that while his rates billhit £6,900, the gym down the road gotgrants because it is a leisure trust. Atthe time, Empress offered member-ship for £28-a-month – but the trustgym matched that price and evenlowered it for certain groups.

Two of his longest-serving membersleft, because they saved £7 a monthand Ian was incensed. Last month,he went to make his case for theindependent operator to MP StephenTimms. He said: “Basically they saidthere will be no relaxation on VAT – itcan’t happen and I understand what

they are saying but I think theyare missing the point. The issueof VAT is not the only thing Ihave been fighting, it’s theunfairness of competition thatI think is wrong.

“If it was ten miles away itwouldn’t be such a problembut when it’s a mile away it’san issue. The one near me getsmoney from the council, isexempt from paying rates andexempt from VAT. I have toget the balance of incomeright on my gym, it’s not thatI am against VAT, if everyonewas paying the same then itwouldn’t be a problem.”

Ian says every independentgym owner who is affectedshould continue fighting,sending their views to theMP. He added: “The firstone of us that makes themove and we win oversomething then it will havea knock on effect for every-one else. It cost me £400 togo down there, which I could havedone without, but this is something Iwant to win, I would go down thereagain tomorrow.”

Lisa Thompson, manager of NoLimits Fitness in Hexham, slammedthe government for its lack of sup-port after becoming worried aboutincreasing competition from rivalfacilities which receive funding.

She says a new council run leisurecentre has been opened nearby

which received financial help.She said: “The government goes on

about fighting obesity and we areproviding an offer of £150 for the firstyear for the over 60s – you can’t getany better than that.

“But we are helping the governmentand they don’t go anywhere nearhelping us. We realise how hard it canbe for people and are doing things tohelp them so this is frustrating.”

She said the crunch came when the

gym attempted to put up posterspromoting its business – only to betold they weren’t allowed by thecouncil. She said: “The governmentshould start fighting for businesseslike us because it’s not a fair playingfield. We are doing the same as theleisure centres. The governmentmakes it harder for us.

“They should be looking towards usas we are providing the public with aservice.”

For the last 12 months Workout has been fielding complaints from independent gym owners about the unfairnessof tax breaks for council and trust gyms. Nicola Hyde and Christina Eccles report.

Call for independent gymowners to continue fight

The UK’s No 1 fitness industry magazine

October 2008

Gym ownerclaims unfairtreatmentBy Nicola HydeAN INDEPENDENT gym owner haslaunched a legal campaign with theOffice of Fair Trading to put privategyms on a level playing field withsubsided council-run facilities.Ian Williams, of Empress HealthClub in Mexborough, wants to set aprecedent for other gym owners inthe country who face the sameproblem about VAT payments.Private health club members haveto pay VAT on subscriptions wherecouncil leisure centres are VAT free.Ian says while private clubs have tofork out thousands for businessrates, council and trust-run gymsget heavy subsidies and grants fornew kit.

He added: “It’s unfair and I want alevel playing field. These gyms aregetting subsidised out of rate pay-ers’ money. I get stuck with a bill for£6,900 in rates while the gym downthe road gets grants because it is aleisure trust. “I don’t get the same treatmentbecause I am a sole trader and,right now, there is nothing I can doabout it. I think it’s diabolical andmy letter to the Office of FairTrading states that it is clearly an

unfair business practice. There issomething wrong when you areunable to compete with other com-panies in the same business, some-thing has to be done.”Ian hopes his campaign will allowevery privately owned gym in thecountry to be VAT exempt. Hehopes the move will bring member-ship prices down, even winningheavy subsidies from the govern-ment. He added: “I haven’t got aproblem with things like free gymmembership, subsidised gyms, orno VAT – as long as it’s the same foreveryone. We do the same job thatthey do, we can help tackle the obe-sity problem in this country, so whycan’t we have the same treatment?”Empress offers membership for£28-a-month – but when a leisuretrust gym opened just a mile awayit matched that price and is noweven lowering it for certain groups.He added: “I have just had twomembers who have been with meseven years leave because they save£7 a month. If I were to add on the17.5 per cent VAT and then 26 percent in business rates I would beway above their prices and peoplewould not pay it.”

t

Independent gyms should train staff in how to be morepersonable to retain members, according to fitnessguru Rosemary Conley. In an exclusive interview withWorkout, the businesswoman – who spent just £8 onher first fitness club which was run from her kitchen –says the biggest improvement managers can make isensuring they have a personal touch. Rosemary’sweight loss empire now has an annual turnover of£14m but she says the credit crunch is just anotherchallenge. For more turn to page 22

The UK’s No 1 fitness industry magazine

May 2008

No 176

Personal trainer Simon Lovell has won a six-figure pub-lishing deal to promote the healthy eating plan he hasdeveloped with his clients. Simon, who runs The Heatpersonal training in Devon, has agreed a deal withHarper Collins to publish the Lunch Box Diet, a healthyeating plan inspired by his clients based around eatingseveral small meals throughout the day.He has employed the same TV publicist who kick-start-ed Gillian McKeith’s career, a book agent and a PR com-pany. He said: “Seven of the top publishers in the UKbattled to get the book and said it will be the 'headlinehealth book of next year'. I'm confident of its ability toachieve record sales and bestseller status.”

A TRIUMPHANT fitness instructor has beenallowed to continue working at a leisureentre in Sussex after being told she was toold to take classes.Council officials have agreed to let 70-year-ld Celia Powis continue teaching popmo-ility at Worthing Leisure Centre, after sheppealed against the decision not to renewer contract.

The law allows employers to force peopleretire at or after the age of 65, butmployees are allowed to argue their case toay on.ollowing an appeal hearing, Celia’s con-ct has been extended until 31 January09, when it will be reviewed again.uncan Anderson, manager of council-runrthing Leisure Centre, made the initialision to terminate her employment.

Continued Page 3

Celia carries on ... Steve seekssupport forcampaignBy Nicola HydeA FURIOUS gym owner is seek-ing support for his campaign toforce the government to scrapunfair VAT charges for inde-pendent operators.Steve Hammond, owner ofSundance Health and Fitness inBristol, has already started con-tacting MPs but is now lookingfor support from other gymowners.

He said the government’s rul-ing which allows leisure centresto pay no VAT on gym member-ship is destroying the market forindependent operators.He said: “I want the govern-ment to give more support tothe private sector and give us abit of light at the end of the tun-nel. We are having a very toughtime at the moment.“VAT is an issue because itbecomes quite a big factor inprofitability. I am charging £30-a-month but after VAT that onlyleaves us with £25.33 and out ofthat you have to service themembership, pay staff andinvest back into the club.“Even though we put a lot ofmoney into keeping up to date,the difficulty is by time we puton VAT and rates there isn’t anymoney left over to reinvest in

the club.“We have no money to investin new equipment but they areopening all these new councilgyms which are destroying mymarket.”

Steve says his membership ratehas not changed in almost tenyears as he faces such stiff com-petition from the council gym,where it is cheaper.He added: “I don’t see why theyshould have a 17.5 per centadvantage. For us, that’s the dif-ference between having two newtreadmills or skimping by. “People just don’t seem to seethe value of a smaller gym. Thelocal authority gym near meclosed about eight years ago, butthey have reopened it and areleafleting.

“Some of their rates are belowthe rates I can compete with so Iam losing customers. It justdoesn’t seem fair. I have workedin this industry for 15 years andhave seen a lot of change but ithas never been as tough as it isnow.”� Do independents face unfaircompetition from leisure cen-tres? Turn to Pages 28 and 29 forour special report.

WorkOut May 2008 WorkOut October 2008

Jeff Ennis

Centre in £679k revampA DISUSED area of The DolphinLeisure Centre in Bromsgrove hasbeen turned into a brand a newgym, changing rooms and dancestudio in an £679,000 redevelop-ment.

The changing rooms have been

designed to link the swimmingand gym facilities and the 52-sta-tion fitness suite featuresTechnogym equipment.

The transformation was helpedby design and build contractorsCreateability.

UK FITNESS SCENE4

By Christina Eccles

INDEPENDENT gyms should offerpersonal training for free to ensurethat clients get the best results,according to one gym owner.

Laurence Thomson, managingdirector of Ladies First and Life FirstHealth and Fitness clubs in the EastMidlands, said members should notbe paying extra for services such aspersonal training which should beincluded and encouraged within thegym environment.

Laurence – who runs a mixed LifeFirst club at Earl Shilton and twoladies only Ladies First clubs inRugby and Kettering – said part of thegyms’ success is down to the fact thatmembers are not paying extra forthese services which other gyms maycharge more for.

He said: “I think we have been suc-cessful because we give membersresults and offer additional extrassuch as free personal training.

“This should all be included in themembership fee and does work outcheaper for members if it is. Ourmemberships do vary but start from£8.55 per week.

“We are aiming to work harder on

the personal training side and get allmembers a regular programme. Weare very results orientated.”

Laurence also revealed how theclubs are managing to survive in atough economic market and why tak-ing care of members is always on theagenda.

He added: “Times are tough at themoment but we are trying to keepour heads above water. We alwayshave offers available but feel we offervalue for money.

“We have a lot of competition in allthree areas but seem to hold our ownand find what works for us. We lookafter our members, that’s the mainthing. They are not just a number.”

‘Independentsshould offer freepersonal training

Personal trainer Joey Bull has releasedtwo new exercise DVDs based on herexpertise in the fitness industry.Joey, who is also an adventure athleteand TV presenter, produced The BodyReshape Plan and Ballet Workout afterspending years searching for the rightfilming projects.The Ballet Workout was inspired by herbackground as a classical dancer andchoreographer and The Body Reshape

Plan came from the knowledge she hasbuilt up as a personal trainer.She told Workout: “It will be interestingto see how the gym industry is chal-lenged by home exercise and outdoorexercise and getting back to classicways of keeping fit. However I believesome people will always want systemsand showers and parking spaces andguidelines – and that will continue tobe the appeal of gyms.”

UK FITNESS SCENE 5

By Mary Ferguson

A BODYBUILDING gym is launchinga modelling agency to promote its‘giant’ members for film and TV work.

Ministry Of Muscle in Kent boastschampion bodybuilders among itsusers and owners Steve Winter andGina Iaquaniello are setting upMinistry Of Muscle Models for cast-ing agents to find massive men to flexin front of the camera.

Gina said: “We will be specialisingin providing ugly oiks – really bigguys who train hard. We had the ideaa couple of years ago but have beenso busy that we have only just startedputting it together. As far as we knowwe will be the only specialist agencyof our kind in the country.”

Gina said they will be fussy aboutwho they put on their books and aswell as using their own members willbe looking to other bodybuildinggyms for models too.

She believes there is demand for bigmen to fill roles such as the centuri-ons in Hollywood blockbusterGladiator and said the gym alreadygets calls from researchers looking formuscly models.

“People see our website with thepictures of the guys we have traininghere and see that we have what they

want. We were even contacted by theX Factor last year when they werelooking for a bodybuilder to appearon stage with Same Difference.Unfortunately though they rang usthe night before they wanted us sono-one was available.”

One of their gyms members is thefamous wrestler Bill Bridges, whoworked as a stunt double for SeanConnery in some James Bond films.Gina is hoping that because he stillhas connections in the film industry,he may be able to send some model-

ling business their way.Ministry Of Muscle members will

get their first taste of the small screenwhen they appear in an episode ofExtreme Male Beauty, on air in April.

Gina added: “We also want to putour own film together that challengespeople’s preconceptions about gymslike ours.

“One of our members is a producerand has put together a prototype, sonow it’s just a case of getting the TVcompanies interested.”

Pat Warner, British heavyweight finalist, with the gym owner Steve Winter

Pat Warner from Lancashire who trained atMinistry of Muscle in preparation for theIFBB

Ministry of Muscle gymreveals a model ambition

UK FITNESS SCENE6

USING the deposit he had savedfor a house, Ashley snapped up Optimum Health and Fitness,rebranded it to Optimum Gym and set about driving mem-bership.

Over 500 calls to previous mem-bers generated 39 sign-ups and afurther 90 were drawn in by aleaflet drop, a banner displayedoutside and word of mouth refer-rals.

Ashley’s ultimate target is 471,enabling him to beat the 470 mem-bers the previous owner had at theheight of the club’s success.

Ashley said: “Although it had gonedownhill when I took it over,Optimum used to be known as areally good gym so it’s a matter ofcapitalising on its previous reputa-tion.

“I’ve introduced discounted year-ly rates but if people choose to paymonthly, they are not tied into acontract. It means I have to workhard to ensure members stay moti-vated enough to keep paying eachmonth but I think that’s how gymsshould be anyway.

“I want people going out of heresmiling and saying good thingsabout us, because referrals are real-ly important.”

Ashley began his career as a fit-ness instructor but after movinginto membership sales, he realisedhe missed the direct contact ofbeing on the gym floor.

After buying the club, friends andfamily helped with the initial cleanup and painting and Ashleypurchased second hand equipmentwhich he refurbished himself.

A disused massage room has beenconverted into a free weights areaand part of the reception area hasbeen made into a toning andstretching zone, with plans to hold‘ab blast’ classes during busy times– easing congestion in the maingym area.

Ashley said although he thoughthard about opening his own gym atjust 24, the reality of what layahead only hit him when he wasassessing the state of Optimum’smembership.

“The hardest moment for me wasgoing through the membership

database when I first took over –and realising there were only 31active members left. It hit me howmuch of a challenge I was takingon.”

Ashley is working over 100 hoursa week but said he enjoys havingfull control over the business andthe members like knowing he is

there all the time.He added: “It was weird and a bit

scary at first when I was working 16hours a day and in all that time,seeing just one or two people comethrough the door.

“But now I’m on track to smash-ing my membership target and allthe hard work is paying off.”

When Ashley Robertsbought Optimum Gym,he inherited just 31members – but threemonths later thenumber has increasedfivefold and he ishurtling towards hissummer target. MaryFerguson found out howhe is making the newbusiness work.

Above: Optimum gym and top: Ashley Roberts

‘I want people going out of here smilingand saying good things about us ...’

UK FITNESS SCENE8

Sandra facescredit crunchwith new kitFACILITIES at Ladybird Fitnessinclude a fully-equipped gym, a stu-dio which holds classes including cir-cuit training, body conditioning andboxercise and a weekly weigh in class.The gym has also recently added avibration training plate and sunbeds.

According to Sandra, the introduc-tion of this new equipment may helpthe gym beat the credit crunch as sheis charging a small fee to use it – giv-ing members the chance to addsomething else into their visit whilealso bringing extra money into thegym.

Members pay £2.50 each for 10 min-utes or £10 for five sessions to useeither the sunbeds or the vibrationtraining plate and combined withextras such as weekly weigh-in class-es and detailed eating plans this addsvalue to memberships and keepspeople coming through the doors

The Ladybird Fitness motto is ‘nomen, no mirrors’ – a philosophywhich has worked by making mem-bers feel comfortable and at easewhen they are working out.

The Wigan based gym – a converted18th century chapel – took fivemonths to restore and and has about

300 members – which Sandra hopesto increase to 400 this year.

She explained: “We would be full at400 members and if we could getthere we would be doing really well. Ihad hoped to be there by this timebut we will be doing a new year offerand have got a lot of leads to work on.

“If we could get another 100 mem-bers we would be very comfortable. Iam going to be putting somethingnew on our website and sending outan email shot.”

Over the past two years, the gymhas built up a reputation throughword of mouth and also by makingsure its website is detailed and keptup to date – another area whichSandra hopes to build on andimprove this year.

She added: “I am hoping we will dowell from our internet site. It is goodto have a detailed website and we usereal pictures of ‘real’ women. Peoplehave given us good comments abutthe site and ring us direct after look-ing on it. In one day we had eightenquiries from hits on the websiteand I would also like to put videos onthere.”

As ladies only gym Ladybird Fitness celebrates itssecond birthday, Christina Eccles caught up with ownerSandra McGugan to discover the ups and downs ofoperating an independent gym.

The Kingston Fitness suite at Ennerdale Leisure Centre has re-opened after refurbishment. The Ennerdale site has been fitted with Precor stations complete withpersonal viewing screens – each with a ten-strong circuit from Precor’s Icarian resistance range.

Chelsea football groundto host fitness conventionA NEW venue has been chosen forthis year’s International FitnessForum Expo and Convention.

It is now set to take place at thehome of Chelsea Football Club incentral London with facilities includ-ing eight large workout rooms, pres-entation suites and a large exhibitionspace.

Greg Jenkins, business developmentmanager, said: “We have pickedChelsea for its unique personalatmosphere and perfect central loca-tion.

“Initial reactions have been unbe-lievable and we are all very excited

about the opportunity these facilitieswill give both our international andUK delegates.”

This year’s convention will be splitinto three themes – personal training,group fitness and mind and body –with sessions ranging from hi-lo, step,conditioning, kickboxing, indoorcycling, youth group sessions, pilatesand yoga.

A selection of pre-conventioncourses have also been organised, togive delegates the opportunity toachieve a qualification certificate inclasses including Big Dance, Pushand Lift, Sandunga and Spirals.

Crunch inspires budget sectorBUDGET and franchised gyms coulddo well during the credit crunch,according to a new report.

Market intelligence provider KeyNote says that underlying demandfor fitness is strong and that thecredit crunch has inspired a budget

sector.It says gyms should follow the

lead of clubs like Fitness First which developed a group of smallerexpress clubs with monthly subscriptions of £15.95 plus £1 feeper visit.

A NEW range of products fromAmerican firm PineappleFitness is being launchedthroughout Europe.

The company’s equipmentuses bio-oscillation technolo-gy, which combines sports sci-ence, eastern medicine andquantum physics to producehigh frequency, whole bodyvibration training.

It works with lower frequen-cies than traditional wholebody vibration training andoscillates on an even, verticalplane for a smoother workoutwith the same intensity andperformance.

The platforms are also

designed without a centralmast, making them suitablefor group studio classes, coretraining, yoga, pilates andother group activities.

David Seymour, PineappleEurope sales director, said:“Our strategy is to build astrong foundation in the pro-fessional market before mov-ing into retail distribution.

“We have therefore devel-oped a strong training networkeducational back-up and support and are ready toapproach the market withsome truly incredible productsdelivered with a bit of fun andstyle.”

New range of Pineapple products launched in Europe

UK FITNESS SCENE 9

JODI Pyle, operator of FemmeFitness, is thinking outside of the boxwhen it comes to generating busi-ness.

The women-only gym, whichopened last year, has a large upstairsmirrored studio – and it’s playing hostto more than just aerobics.

Pole dancing parties cost £250 for 12people and include an hour and ahalf tuition with Jodi – who is a quali-fied instructor – glass of champagne,sauna and steam.

As part of the package, the partythen get free entry to the nearbyReflex nightclub and a bottle ofchampagne to kick off the celebra-tions.

Jodi said: “We are in the middle ofrunning our pole dancing courses soI’m hoping some of the girls whocatch the bug will be interested in theparties. It’s a great way of making themost of the studio and ideal for henparties.”

Parties for children are also beingoffered, incorporating cheer leading,street dance or gymnastics – thesoon-to-be-launched kids’ classes atthe gym.

Jodi is hoping the classes and theparties will also generate extra busi-ness for the gym, as mums book infor workouts and beauty treatmentswhile their children are busy.

She is renting studio space to Danceand Cheer 49, who will deliver thecheerleading classes, but as her

receptionist is a qualified danceteacher and her beautician is a quali-fied gymnast, the other activities willbe taught in-house.

A one-day ‘taster workshop’ will beheld during half term, allowing chil-dren to try out all of the activitiesbefore parents decide to book.

But despite early interest in theidea, Jodi said she has run up againstsome challenges.

She said: “The expense is a problemas we need to buy more mats for thegymnastics which cost around £100each.

“And when it comes to promotingthe classes through local schools, ithasn’t been easy. They are happy forkids to take home a leaflet in theirbags but as a mum myself, I knowthat often they just go into the bin.

“The kids need to be able to see apresentation in assembly or try it forthemselves, which is why we areoffering the taster day.”

Jodi said she expects street dance tobe most popular, mainly because itwill operate as a drop-in class, with-out the need to pre-book a course.

“I think we may struggle with num-bers for the gymnastics becausemany children can take part for freeat after school clubs.

“However there is a leisure centreround here that offers gymnastics tooand they have a year-long waiting listso the demand is obviously there – it’sjust a case of bringing people in.”

Jodi Pyle

An Essex-based independent gym owner is making the most ofher studio space by organising pole dancing parties andlaunching fitness classes for children. Mary Ferguson reports.

Jodi’s on a rollwith new poledancing parties

Three-year partnership agreedLEISURE management operator 3dLeisure has secured a three-yearpartnership agreement withShearings Holidays.

The firm will now operate fourhotel leisure clubs at the EdenArms in Durham, the St GeorgeHotel in Harrogate, the PitlochryHydro Hotel in Pitclochry and theGeorge Hotel in Hexham.

3d Leisure will be responsible forthe ongoing operational management of each club

including their gyms, pools, saunaand steam rooms as well as developing marketing plans toincrease membership growthacross the four sites.

Mark Bremner, 3d Leisure managing director, said: “We aredelighted to be working withShearings.

“There is great potential at all four sites and we look forward to delivering optimumresults.”

UK FITNESS SCENE10

By Andrew Harrod

A LOT has changed at the CentralYMCA gym in London since longest-serving member Angelo Monti firstwalked through its doors more thanhalf a century ago.

It used to be a popular haunt of job-bing actors in the 1950s when Angelo– who had recently moved from Italy– joined because he was fed up ofbeing ‘skinny’.

His daily visits certainly served theirpurpose – he got the body he wantedand also landed himself work as anextra in films as well as some model-ling contracts.

These days, the actors and celebri-ties are more likely to be found hang-ing out in some of the more exclu-sive, ‘designer’ haunts that havespring up across the capital. But asprightly Angelo – now aged 78 – isstill a regular.

Angelo – known to regulars as Leo –told Workout: “Central YMCA is suchan important part of my life and I’vehad an incredible journey with themover the last 50-odd years.

“The club has become part of myextended family as I’ve been cominghere for so long and it really is somuch more than just a place to exer-cise. It still has such a wonderfulatmosphere.

“In the past, I have used the facili-ties to help change my body shapeand now it helps me manage myhealth problems and to stay ashealthy as I can.

“When I joined, I was so skinny anddesperately wanted to to build mybody up and make something ofmyself. I wanted muscles so I cameand used the facilities to achieve hisgoal by training each day.”

A great deal of attention to detailhas gone into the redesign of the6,000-member gym which attractedsome of the fitness industry’s biggestnames to its relaunch party.

Naturally, Leo was guest of honour.Also there was Sports Minister

Gerry Sutcliffe who admitted he wasimpressed by the facilities.

He said: “More and more peopleunderstand why sport matters. Andincreasingly people with busy livesneed facilities close at hand – near to

home, or near to work – that they canuse to stay healthy.

“I am delighted to able to officiallyreopen the revamped Central YMCAwhich continues a great tradition ofkeeping thousands of Londoners fitand active.”

Rosi Prescott, Central YMCA chiefexecutive, added: “We’ve reached animportant milestone that will help usremain at the forefront of the healthand fitness industry well into the 21stcentury.

“By expanding our state-of-the-artfacilities and widening our range ofhealth and lifestyle programmes,we’re making a significant investmentin the health and well-being of ourmembers.”� Has your gym got a long-servingmember to match Leo? ContactWorkout on 01226 734459 or emailnl@whpl.net.

Angelo sees revamp – over50 years after he joined gym

Angelo Monti

Angelo Monti with some of the gym members.

Cut-price personal training sees 500 per cent increaseTHE introduction of a £4-per-ses-sion personal training package hasresulted in a 500 per cent increasein the take-up of one to one train-ing.

Leisure Connection’s HarpersFitness sell five sessions for £20 andsince its launch last November thepackage has been a huge success.

Last year they generated £200,000of income from personal trainingand in February this year alone, thefigure was £65,000.

Mark Botha, sales and marketing

director for Leisure Connection toldWorkout: “Personal training hasn’tworked well in the local authoritycentres before because of the price,but as well as being cheap, thispackage acts as a great retentiontool.”

The ‘Harpers Experience’ includesa 45 minute induction, two person-al training sessions, full body healthcheck and movement analysis.

In January and February this year,one in four new members boughtthe package at the point of sale.

Eight clubs added to énergie brandTHE énergie group has announcedthe purchase of eight Fitness Firstclubs, which will now be operatedunder the énergie brand.

The move follows the signing of amaster franchise agreement withGhanim Bin Saad Al Saad and SonsHoldings to purchase the eight clubsin the UK and launch énergie inQatar, UAE, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain,

Oman and Kuwait.

Jan Spaticchia, énergie group CEO,said: “The clubs acquired fromFitness First will operate under theénergie brand and mark a significantgrowth in the group.

“With a strong pipeline of new clubsnow in place, the outlook for énergiein 2009 is very exciting.’’

UK FITNESS SCENE 11

Waiting listprompts gymexpansionBy Louise Cordell

A FOUR-MONTH waiting list for oneof North Wales’ most popular ladies-only gyms has prompted the owner toopen up a new gym nearby.

ToneMasters in Caernason openedlast April and has attracted over 300members by offering them 30-minuteexercise sessions on a range of toningchairs and power plates.

But the success of the club clockedup a four-month waiting list and soowner Corrina Hughes decided toexpand.

Corrina said: “I wanted to providesomething that was suitable for thosewith very basic fitness levels as wellas for those with more experience.

“A lot of women who come to theclub never liked going to the gym, butwe are not intimidating at all andthey also get the chance to socialiseand make new friends.

“They like the fact that you don’tsweat, so the workout can be done ina lunch hour. in normal clothes, but

you still get a full body workout.” The second club, offering the same

facilities, is open to both men andwomen and offers a husbands andwives joint membership whichencourages couples to attend and getfit together.

Corrina has also introduced a newpiece of equipment, the Grappler – atraditionally male exercise ropeclimbing machine.

She brought into the club for a trialfollowing a recommendation fromher brother and business partner, andevery member who tried it out lovedit.

She added: “People really enjoyedtrying something different and every-one asked me to make it a permanentfixture after the trial ended.

“We have even ended up developinga centre league table for members’best times and our current leader is a67-year-old lady who impressed us allby completing a nine and a halfminute session.”

A fitness instructor from Leeds faced theultimate challenge when she appeared onBBC1 show Total Wipeout.Heather Smith, who works as fitness man-ager at Virgin Active in Leeds and also com-petes as a bodybuilder, tackled the assaultcourse on the show presented by Top Gear’sRichard Hammond. She came fourth out of20 but was the top girl in the first and sec-ond rounds, which took place in Argentina.She told Workout: “I originally applied tobe on Gladiators but when I didn’t get thatI went for Total Wipeout. My personal train-ing clients thought it was hilarious that Iwas on the show but I think they were alsoquite inspired – I can’t talk to them aboutbeing motivated without proving that I ammyself.”

A newly-opened leisure centre inNottinghamshire claims it is already win-ning new members.Bidworth Leisure Centre, operated byNewark and Sherwood District Council,moved to a new site to expand its fitnessoffering but has kept the same prices. Andaccording to general manager SuzanneShaw, the move has boosted business.

She said: “The old site had a pool andsquash courts but although we have lostthat, we are now able to offer more class-es and a bigger gym area, so we can com-pete with the private chains nearby.“In the first two weeks of opening wesigned up 175 new members, as well as theones that we brought with us.”The site was moved a mile down the road

and 16 staff spent a weekend shiftingequipment, cleaning and decorating.Existing members who may now have totravel further were given vouchers to spe-nd on personal training and goody bagsincluding rucksacks, water bottles andlocker tokens. Suzanne added: “We haven’tput our prices up for a long time and weare a lot cheaper than gyms nearby.”

‘Seven minutes’ exercise aweek can improve health’RESEARCH has claimed people can dramaticallyimprove their health with just seven minutes ofexercise per week.

A study from Heriot-Watt University claims that acouple of short bursts of intense exercise every fewdays can cut the risk of diabetes and heart disease.

Professor James Timmons, lead researcher, said:“It is clear that cardiovascular disease and type twodiabetes are major health issues and that the risk ofdeveloping these diseases is substantially reducedthrough regular physical activity.

“But many people simply don’t have the time orinclination to follow government guidelines.

“What we have found is that doing a few intensemuscle exercises, each lasting only about 30 sec-onds, dramatically improves your metabolism injust two weeks.”

Work has been completed on a new Lifestyle Centre building inWinsford, Cheshire – a £10.8m facility including two swimming pools,a gym, squash courts and sauna.Community sports and operations manager Elly McFahn said: “I thinkpeople will be very surprised at both the quality and range of facili-ties. I know they will get a lot of pleasure from coming here.”Picture: Julie Kirkham, lifestyle centre manager, inspects the new pool.

UK FITNESS SCENE12

SALLY is entering her tenth year asmanager of the club, after starting offas a member herself.

In the last few years, she said shehas noticed an increase in the num-ber of gyms nearby, but it hasn’taffected their membership.

She said: “The catchment area forthe gym is getting smaller by the day.A few local schools have been turnedinto sports academies with gym facil-ities open to the public and a club incentral Bristol has just dropped itsprices in line with ours.

“There’s also a budget gym nearbythat’s £15 a month but people say it’stoo busy and many are trying toleave.”

Despite good retention levels,Fitness Factory also work hard togenerate new members, to preventnumbers from dwindling.

A campaign by Creative FitnessMarketing brought in 180 new mem-bers in October and Sally coordinat-ed a leaflet drop in January, advertis-ing discounted joining rates whichgenerated a rush in early February.

She said the key to the club’s suc-cess is the friendliness of the staffand the relationships between mem-bers.

“A few years a go, a very overweightlorry driver joined and we noticedthat if he came in and there weremore than a few people training, hewould walk back out again.

“We realised he was shy so I had achat with the staff and we made areal effort to talk to him, putting himat ease. He has now lost a hugeamount of weight and is a loyal,happy member.

“And a group who met in one of ourspinning classes now get togetherand do their own spinning sessionsduring their workouts and regularlymeet in the pub.

“We are a very friendly, cosy gymand I could name you 95 per cent ofpeople who walk through the door.”

The gym also makes an effort tocater for all members, to stop themleaving for more specialist clubs.

In 2001, a divide was demolishedthat separated the gym into two areas

– one for men and one for women.Today, there is still a ladies-only

area and a mezzanine floor hasbecome a ‘spit and sawdust’ area forthose serious about weights.

Sally added: “You can still hear thecrashes and bangs of weights hitting

the floor but it means other membersdon’t have to hear the moans andgroans that sound like men givingbirth.

“It just makes it more comfortablefor everyone, as we get such a mix ofpeople using the gym.”

Bristol-based gym Fitness Factory is looking forward to another successful year, despite increasing competition.Mary Ferguson spoke to manager Sally Jeffery about how they hold their own.

Sally (2nd from left) with owner Seona Bleakman and staff from CFM

Friendliness is the key toclub’s success says Sally

Four fitness enthusiasts have set a newworld record by each climbing the equiva-lent of Mount Everest, plus an additional5,000ft - without even leaving the gym.They completed the challenge on aVersaclimber to raise money for the chari-ty Wooden Spoon.The challenge took 27 hours, 40 minutesand four seconds, with each team memberclimbing for six to seven hours – raising

over £7,500 for charity which was matchedby their employers.The team – who work at the Bank ofAmerica building – completed the challenge in the in-house gym in CanaryWharf.Pictured, from left: Ryan Howard, EdouardDischamp, Michael Old and Helen Biggs,the Versaclimber world record breakingteam from Bank of America.

Fitness channel wants to inspireA TV channel dedicated to healthand fitness has launched on Skyand will be broadcast online.

Fitness TV is expected to haveviewing figures of 600,000 a week bythe end of the first year and willoffer a range of daily workouts.

Luan Underwood, managing

director of Media Fitness Ltd, said:“We are positioning the channel asan additional workout option, notas a replacement to gyms.

“We would like to capture theimagination of the 80 per cent ofUK citizens that have never visiteda gym and inspire them to do so.”

UK FITNESS SCENE14

DICK admits that most people donot actually like going to the gymand will look for excuses such asnot having enough time to work outto avoid doing so.

However, the concept of Plusfiteliminates that excuse by givingmembers a workout which canachieve maximum results within aminimum timescale.

He believes that it is the quality ofthe workout that matters as muchas how often someone works outand says that the method his gymuses – based on a circuit by equip-ment providers Milon – can pro-duce results with just two half-hoursessions every 10 days, althoughDick tries to persuade them tocome in twice a week.

The club was first considered in1992, after Dick’s wife noticed a gapin the market for something aimedat the over 40s. However, he did notfeel at that point it could be a prof-itable business.

Now, 15 years later the club hastaken off and Dick feels there aremany things which UK gym ownerscould learn from its success.

Once new members to Plusfithave been given an induction, alltheir information including resist-ance levels and the correct posi-tioning on equipment is stored on acard which they then use in futureworkouts – making them less timeconsuming and more efficient.

He explained: “In Holland, the

average number of gym visits perweek is 0.75 per person but inPlusfit it is over 1.5. The averagenumber of people who leave a clubin a year is 40 per cent plus but inPlusfit this is 22 per cent. We aresure we sell a product with a highquality standard and we can backthat up in the figures.

“What gym owners should learn isthat making money on a lowerquality base will become more andmore difficult. What you need is ahigher standard of quality. This canbe done with certain training con-cepts and educating trainers.”

The club’s core target market isthe over 40s and according, to Dickthis is an age group which knowswhat they want from a product and

who cannot be fooled into impulsebuys – with this attitude translatinginto the purchase of gym member-ships. This means gym ownersshould be working harder to givethem what they want.

He added: “Don’t sell stale breadto people but fresh bread – givethem quality and the quality theyneed is results.

“We want to make the quality oflife better both on a short term andlong term basis and this is wherewe are successful.

“In Holland, we saw at the start itwas very difficult but in the last twomonths, people have started to tellother people how coming to theclub is making them feel better.”

Dick Duijnhouwer launched his club Plusfit in Hollandalmost a year ago and so far business is booming.Christina Eccles spoke to him to find out what UK gymowners can learn from their European neighbours.

Top left: The gym andequipment. Above: Thecafe area where memberscan get refreshmentsand, left: DickDuijnhouwer

Gym owner Dick showshow going Dutch pays off

UK FITNESS SCENE16

A NEW personal training studio inGuildford has already attracted twocelebrities to its growing client base.

Strictly Come Dancing profession-als Flavia Cacace and Vincent Simoneare regulars at Field of Fitness, havingworked with owner Jonathan Field ata previous gym.

His new business partner DanielOliver, a sports conditioning andrehabilitation specialist, has alsoworked with Olympic medallists NickWillis and Alan Wells.

Field of Fitness offers one to onepersonal or group training for up tofour people per instructor, and anon-site sports massage therapy clinicrehabilitating acute and more chron-

ic soft tissue injuries.It has no members, with clients

instead paying for individual sessionsor in blocks of five or ten.

“There are lots of the big corporategyms in the area, but nothing thatoffers anything like what we do,” headded. “There is a lot of personaltraining out there where it is a case of‘one exercise fits all’, which I don’tagree with. We offer something spe-cific for the overweight lady or theman who is running a marathon, butat a lot of gyms they would get thesame programme, which is wrong.”

Jonathan said the prime town cen-tre location has proved popular withseveral local businesses, who use the

facility at lunchtimes.He said “We looked at a lot of sites

before settling on this one. There area lot of solicitors and accountantsclose by and we already have around60 hours a week booked out.

“They like to come here in groups offive or six in their lunch hours andhave exclusive use of the site and twopersonal trainers.”

Escape Fitness provided the equip-ment for the studio, which includedtwo treadmills, two bikes, an elliptical cross trainer, a Concept 2rower and dual adjustable pulley systems along with Swiss balls, kettlebells, medicine balls and Bosu plat-forms.

Jonathan Field and Daniel Oliver

New Guildford studio addscelebrities to client base

OperatorsremainingoptimisticHEALTH and fitness operatorsare remaining optimistic despitethe credit crunch, according tonew research by LIW.

Almost two thirds of the 200operators surveyed said that theyfelt confident about their gym’sfuture, with only six per cent wor-ried about the success of theirbusiness.

The study found that just underhalf of all respondents hadrecruited more members thanexpected at the start of 2009 and43 per cent now have more mem-bers than they did last year.

Only 17 per cent of those inter-viewed said that new member-ship recruitment had been worsethan expected.

More than half are also plan-ning on investing in new equip-ment this year, with 25 per centprepared to spend over £50,000.

Jonathan Monks, event manag-er at LIW, said: “The results ofthis research are very encourag-ing and show that the situation isnot as bleak as portrayed.

“Well run health and fitnessbusinesses are still attracting newmembers and are investing inproducts and services to ensurethey retain existing clients.

“It’s not all doom and gloom outthere.”

UK FITNESS SCENE 17

By Mary Ferguson

A FORMER member of a Hull gymthat closed without warning hasploughed her life savings into settingup an independent club nearby.

Bride-to-be Lydia Mallinson is usingthe money she had saved for herwedding to open Boulevard Belles,after Motorcise Healthy Living Centreshut last year.

Members were left upset and out-of-pocket after the sudden closure ofthe over 40s ladies only gym inAugust, where Lydia had trained for ayear.

She said: “When the closure hap-pened every member was devastatedas for some, going for their workoutswas the only time they got out of thehouse.

“Because I had seen such greatresults from my time exercising andknew I would be able to attract busi-ness, I decided to take the plunge andopen a similar gym myself.”

Lydia purchased 21 pieces of equip-ment and the database from theclosed Motorcise gym and found asite to rent nearby that had disabledaccess.

She has run a pub and a shop in thepast so has experience of running abusiness, but admits she lacks knowl-edge of the fitness industry. So takinga director’s role, she has hired a man-ager and team of staff.

And she said that she learned thingsduring her time as a member at

Motorcise that will help her runBoulevard Belles.

“There will be a really friendlyatmosphere here and my staff will beencouraged to socialise with mem-bers, not just when they need helpwith exercise.”

Lydia will open the gym a weekearly for old Motorcise members andis also offering them a reduced mem-bership fee.

She added: “One of the problemsI’ve faced is that when I’ve contactedold members, they have expected meto refund their lost memberships orgive them a certain number ofmonths free. They don’t seem tounderstand that Boulevard Belles istotally independent.”

Lydia swapswedding bellsfor dumbbells

Lydia Mallinson

Former Gladiator Ali Paton is one of the famous faces working out at a new PowerPlate studio in Edinburgh. Helen MacLennan and Ian Gray opened their second stu-dio, EH1 in January 2009, a year after establishing their first location, due to cus-tomer demand. Ali Paton trains alongside top UK fencer Keith Cook and the studiois also used by the Scottish Rugby Union team.

Areas selected to pilot new government initiativeBy Lyndsey Smith

FIVE areas in the UK have been cho-sen to pilot a new government initia-tive designed to encourage young-sters to be more active.

Fit For The Future will be rolled outin leisure centres in Bristol,

Manchester, Newcastle, Suffolk andTorbay, aimed at helping 16 to 22year olds develop lifelong activityhabits.

Andree Deane, CEO of the FitnessIndustry Association, said: “Thisproject will enable us to see whethercost really is a barrier to kids getting

fit. It will only cost £5 per month asthe rest is subsidised by the govern-ment so it is a prime opportunity forthem.

“It is also a time for the fitnessindustry to show that we can recruit,retain and motivate – we all say wecan do it but the proof is in the pud-

ding – we will have 5,000 youngsters starting in April, lets seehow many we still have the followingMarch.”

If successful the government hasindicated it will extend this into anationwide campaign and has ear-marked £80m in funding.

UK FITNESS SCENE18

By Mary Ferguson

AN independent gym has hired anon-site GP to prescribe weight losspills to its members and is boostingbusiness as a result.

Lifestyle, based in Kent, runs privateclinics with a retired surgeon, whogives out appetite suppressants andother medication to help clientsreach their weight loss goals.

Owner Dr Tony Stevenson – whohas 20 years experience in the phar-maceutical industry – said thescheme is attracting new memberswho may not have thought aboutjoining a gym before.

“We are targeting very overweightwomen who probably lack the confi-dence to exercise in public but byattending the clinics will becomefamiliar with the staff and surround-ings.

“As far as I’m aware we are the onlygym in the country that offers thisservice and to get the accreditation isquite an achievement.”

Lifestyle is currently operating oneclinic a fortnight, but Anthonyexpects this to increase to three aweek as business builds up.

An initial consultation with the doc-tor is free and a full health checktakes place to make sure they aresuitable for the medication.Generally, this means only those witha BMI of over 29.

Tony then charges £50 a month formembership of the clinic, whichincludes full use of the gym, two pri-vate consultations a month with thedoctor and a month’s supply ofweight loss medication. Existingmembers signing up to the clinic

receive a ten per cent discount.“Like a lot of things, the packages

are aimed at new customers but wewant to keep our existing membershappy too.

“And the doctor will only prescribemedication to those that are seriouslyoverweight.”

It took three years for Anthony togain a licence – approved by theHealthcare Commission – to operatethe clinic.

He added: “When I set up the gymwe knew our target audience washealth-focused people who wanted tolose weight so decided then that wewould benefit from an on-site healthclinic. It’s taken a long time to gethere but it’s proving hugely success-ful.”

On-site GPboosts gymbusiness

Dr Tony Stevenson (right) with two of thegym’s fitness instructors

A champion member of a recently-opened independent gym has achieved success at anational bodybuilding competition. Sebastian Wajcentel, who trains at Ripped in Harlow,achieved one of the heaviest lifts of the competition at the British Bench PressChampionships, held in Birmingham in March. He now plans to beat the 42 stone lift at hisnext competition.

Comedian Justin Lee Collins is using a Sheffield gym to train for a display dive at a nation-al diving competition. Justin is being coached at Ponds Forge International Sports Centreby Olympic silver medallist Leon Taylor for the competition being filmed for his new Sky 1series. The show has already seen him take on tasks including performing in a West Endproduction of Chicago, ballroom dancing and Mexican wrestling.

UK FITNESS SCENE20

AS the only person in the UK who islicensed and qualified to run theAdventure Boot Camps, Kate hasambitious plans for expansion.

There are 15 camps, with almost 40more planned for later this year andthe aim is to reach as many commu-nities as possible.

However, Kate insists that thecamps are not there to compete withthe gyms and she believes that heroutdoor female only workouts couldactually be combined with gyms, giv-ing members more options for theirworkouts.

The company has already joinedforces with The Personal TrainingCentre to offer combined packagesand Kate said as this works so well,she would be happy to join up withother gyms in the future.

She said: “There will always bethose who want to go to the gym andwe are not knocking gyms.

The bootcamps are differentbecause we have enough in the groupso that it’s a great atmosphere but nottoo many that we can’t build up arelationship with everyone

“Outdoor workouts are somethingwhich a lot of gyms could consider ifthey have the space. We have joinedup with the Personal Training Centreand the two complement each otherfantastically.”

The inspiration for the camps cameafter injury forced Kate to retire fromboth Gladiators and athletics, anddecided on a change of career whereshe could use her own passion forexercise to inspire others.

She launched the bootcamps in2003 – before the concept reallybecame popular in the UK – afterextensive research led her to a boot-camp which had taken off in Americathat she then brought to the UK.

She added: “I started personal train-ing but found that I loved being out-side. All the years I went on trainingcamps, it never seemed like a choreto exercise. I wanted to recreate thefun we had on training camps

When we brought this over in 2003,people didn’t have the concept ofgoing into camps but they loved itand we have never looked back.”

Future plans for the companyinclude launching children’s boot-camps – something which Olympicathlete Daley Thompson – who is alsoone of the company’s directors isheavily involved in.

Former Gladiator and athlete Kate Staples launchedAdventure Boot Camps after an injury cut short her athleticcareer. After starting out with a single site, the companyaims to have over 50 camps launched by the summer.Christina Eccles found out more.

Kate Staples

What Katedid next ...

MARKETING 21

MOMENTUM Business Developmentwill be delivering sales training to allLA Fitness membership advisors.

The company believes that theincrease in demand for trainingacross the industry is a direct result ofthe increasingly competitive market-place.

Director Duncan Green said: “It’s nolonger acceptable to just compete onprice. Gym operators now have toreally understand what a customer islooking for and how to secure the saleof membership if they are going to

survive this current environment. “Our training courses enable them

to spend three days focusing on thetechniques they need to employ inorder to increase sales and deliversustained results.”

Momentum offers training coursesthroughout the UK at its dedicatedacademies based in London,Coventry, Leeds and Stoke.

For more information on the courses andto book places visit

www.momentumbd.co.uk or call 0207 9172780 and ask for Duncan, Mel or Rob.

Company to deliver trainingto LA fitness advisors

by Dave Wright, Creative Fitness Marketing

IN 1984 social psychologist RobertCialdini produced the results ofarguably the most researched proj-ect on sales and the psychology ofpersuasion that had ever been pub-lished. This has now been referredto by political leaders around theworld such as Barrack Obama andGordon Brown.

With the study, Cialdini came upwith six major principles that canaffect human decision making –reciprocity, scarcity, consistency,authority, social proof and liking.

Reciprocity: The law of reciprocitystates that people are obliged togive back to others the forms ofbehaviours that they have received.Have you ever had someone specif-ically buy you a pint and even ifyou didn’t really want it, you feltobligated to return the favour. Thisprinciple can easily be applied tohealth clubs through uses of freeguest passes or personal trainersoffering help on training tech-niques when they are not workingwith clients.

Scarcity: When an item becomesless available, the demand increas-es due to the law of scarcity. This iswhat makes rare coins more pre-cious and why with your market-ing, if you are doing special mem-berships that you cut it right downto a certain amount – this buildsthe desire as it’s not normally avail-able.

Consistency: People have an innerforce to be consistent with theirown previous commitments. Forclubs, a great way to apply thisstrategy would be to get the mem-bers to write down their inductiontime, members are then making apublic commitment themselvesand you will find less no-shows.

Authority: In today’s busy worldwith so much information exposedto us, an efficient way to decide thecourse of action to take is to followthe advice of experts in the field.Taking advice from a Mr Universeon the recommendations of proteinis going to be far more effective ifsomeone wanted to put on musclethan taking it from a fitnessinstructor who was tiny. So if youhave accolades or endorsements or

qualifications, then display thosearound the club so that potentialclients will be more likely to treatyou as an authority in the healthand fitness market.

Social Proof: The most popularpurchases and ‘best sellers’ lists onwebsites are what people refer towhen they are unclear about whatthey want. When clubs are talkingabout various membership planoptions available, they can movethe potential clients towards theirway of thinking by using termssuch as ‘and this is the membershipoption most people go with’.

Liking: Building rapport with yourpotential customer or havingsomething in common with themboosts sales because we like doingbusiness with or taking advice frompeople that we like.

The important thing to take intoconsideration with all these tech-niques is that it must rest on astrong ethical foundation for it towork.

In our world of helping clients toimprove their health and wellbeingand ensuring our clients are gettingtrue results, this must be at the core

of what we do if we want to influ-ence the decision making processfor people to join our clubs.

Influence, the science of persuasion

Dave Wright

By Christina Eccles

A SOMERSET gym has employed adedicated marketing co-ordinator tomake sure young people in the areaknow what sport and exercise facili-ties are available to them.

Sedgemoor Splash in Bridgwaterhad previously struggled with gettingyoung people through the doors –despite offering dedicated sessionsfor the 14 -16 year old age group.

But according to gym instructorTom Russell, its lack of success maybe down to the teenagers not actuallyknowing what the gym could offerthem.

He said: “I think maybe the problemwas partly because they didn’t knowwhat was available.

“If they know what is available andthat it is not going to cost them anarm and a leg then we may find wewill get a few more in here. We havegot a marketing co-ordinator who isconcentrating on that so hopefully itwill pick up.

“We are going to start with leafletingand see if that takes off and thenmaybe go out into schools ourselves.

“We may be able to set up linksbetween us and the schools to offerdiscounted membership for thosewho heard about us through theirschool.

“This will help us to get more cus-tomers and achieve our goals andalso to do our bit for the community.”

The gym is also offering hour longpersonal training sessions for this agegroup – both in the gym and in itsswimming pool and by offering ataster session for £10, six sessions for£42 and 12 for £84 hopes it will pro-vide a good value opportunity forlocal kids to get involved.

Tom added: “We are offering thepersonal training to try and introducethem into the gym and give them abetter understanding of how toachieve their goals. It is a good way ofgetting them involved at a reasonablycheap price.”

Tom Russell

Bid to market gymto young people

Marketing cash reaps dividendsA BIG marketing spend has paid offfor one new facility in Rochdale afterit acquired a member base of 2,900 injust one month.

Middleton Arena has spent over£250,000 on its fitness suite whichincorporates 90 Life Fitness stations,Hammerstrength resistancemachines and a free weights area -the town’s previous facility had just500 members and 29 stations.

The facility is managed by Link 4Life and operations manager forsport, leisure and fitness, James Foleyadded: “We had a significant market-ing budget and as well as the usual e-shots and leaflets we had a dedicatedmembers team whose remit was leadgeneration.

“This proved successful andalthough we spent to promote, theamount of members coming throughthe doors certainly made it worth-while.”

The drop off rate in the first monthhas been just five per cent andalthough the novelty value is a factorJames believes there is more to it.

“Typical drop off rates are ten to 15per cent and I think ours is lower

because we pre-sold by choosing ourtarget demographic carefully, andthen managed expectations andresponded quickly to feedback.

“A perfect example off this is ourclass programme. We began with 45classes a week all of which were run-ning at capacity. We needed to reactto member need and within twoweeks we were running 63, both wetand dry. We are now running BTSclasses that we never have before andwe are seeing a renaissance in tradi-tional classes such as circuit sessionsand legs, bums and tums.”

James is adamant the fitness suite isas good in quality as any private facil-ity. “We are private sector standard interms of the level of investment, stan-dard of provision and quality of facili-ties - we supply quality products, pro-grammes and price and we know ouraffordability compared to competiti-tors.

“Our challenge is membershipretention and sustaining the highstandards we have set, adapting acc-ordingly to member feedback, andthe next 12 months will be interest-ing.”

BOXING22

Boxing could be acrucial tool ingenerating extraincome for gyms.Lyndsey Smithdispels the mythit’s a spit andsawdust world.

REEBOK Sports Club is one ofEurope's largest private members’clubs and offers the latest in cardio-vascular and strength trainingequipment – it also has a full sizeboxing ring.

Ian Mahoney, managing directorof a club that can hardly bedescribed as ‘spit and sawdust’, tookthe decision to offer white collarboxing three years ago and hasn’tlooked back since.

He said: “The idea that it is allblood and sweat in a horrible envi-ronment is so far removed from thetruth – in fact boxing is now seen asquite slick and cool.

“You have to take a punt in thisindustry. I saw this as a unique mar-keting tool and the ring as a market-

ing expense.“It was something new and topical

– for me it was a no brainer. Wealready had boxing style fitnessclasses and bags which proved pop-ular. This was the next logical step.”

There are strict rules and regula-tions in place to manage the ringand Ian says in the last year therehas been an upsurge in womenwanting to train, shunning classesin favour of getting in the ring witha trainer.

Ian said: “Owners should look atinvesting where possible. Start sim-ple – it needn’t cost the earth. It’squite dynamic to see people gettingin there and sparring, or doing pad-work, and it can have a knock oneffect.

Slick boxing could be crucial cash tool“You will have members doing

the usual stuff and it will catchtheir eye – they might try the class-es, enjoy those, move onto thebags and pads and then into thering. It’s all about progression.”

Ravi Sharma, project manager forOutbox – a new FitPro programmethat teaches boxing techniques -said gyms need to be educatedabout the benefits of boxing, dis-pelling the bad name it can some-times acquire in gyms that aren’thardcore.

He said: “There needs to be a realdistinction made between boxingand boxing for fitness. The installa-tion of a facility doesn’t mean peo-ple can get in and knock eachother’s block off – it has to be aregulated programme.”

Ravi says the whole ethos aboutboxing is anyone can do it and thatis a valuable commodity for anygym owner.

“You see lots of advertising that is

female orientated and it dispelsthe myth that boxing is for big,strong blokes.

“This is a sport that can be goodfor everybody and I think moregyms are becoming switched on tothe fact that boxing can be a pow-erful retention tool but it is a slowprocess.

“The popularity of boxing as asport is growing so why shouldn’tthey capitalise on that in theirfacility?”

Inspired to introduce boxing intothe fitness industry after compet-ing at amateur level, Ravi says itneedn’t cost the earth for gyms tooffer facilities.

“Get the right coaches on boardand the right equipment, offer thebasics then progress. You askmembers their main aim and nineout of ten will say lose weight orchange their body shape. Boxingcan help those people in a funway.”

A NEW women’s only boxing club hasbeen launched in Sheffield to encour-age more females to take up the sport.

The weekly club has been launched atthe English Institute of Sport (EIS) withsessions designed to develop andimprove aerobic fitness, agility andstrength of both body and character.

It has been set up by friends KylieHodgkinson and Allison Donohoe, whowere inspired to first get involved inboxing by former European championHerol ‘Bomber’ Graham, who teaches atthe facility.

After realising there was a growingdemand for female only sessions, theyqualified as boxing tutors to run afemale boxing class and Herol helpedget the women's club up and running.

Kylie said: “I have no doubt manywomen would love to give boxing a trybut they have never been given theopportunity or felt confident enough toapproach a boxing gym. We’re veryexcited about promoting such a fantas-tic sport to all females and look forwardto making this a challenging and wel-coming class for all.”

Kylie Hodgkinson and Allison Donohoeat EIS Sheffield.

Sheffield club set upfor women boxers

BOXING24Neil Henshaw introduced Thump Boxing to his Helio Fitness gym in Blackpool six months ago. Lyndsey Smith spokewith him about how boxing for fitness has evolved ...

Boxing has paved way formany exercise revolutionsOVER the years boxing for fitness hasexperienced many cultural changes inthe health and fitness industry.

While at times lying dormant and onthe brink of extinction it has managedto pave the way for many group exer-cise revolutions such as Boot Camp, TaiBo, and freestyle circuit classes.

Neil believes it is not just limited togroup exercise and that it proves to be apopular training method for personaltrainers and gym instructors, and whilethere are many myths and training con-cepts one thing is set in stone – thebenefits.

“Some of the most common mistakestrainers can make is not knowing thebasics of a simple and effective work-out and how to get the most out of box-ing for fitness.

“Too much time is wasted on complexand hard to understand combinationswhen more time should be spent onthe basic fundamentals of raw boxingtraining and functional fitness train-ing.”

Boxing as a sport has been around for

hundreds of years but the first real evi-dence of it making its way into main-stream fitness was when Police BoysClubs and YMCAs were filled withyoung men hoping for a career in thering.

Not everyone had what it takes, manyresorted to utilising clubs as a way tostay fit, helping out senior boxing train-ers, before going out and trainingmembers of the public on boxing skills,technique, and fitness.

Neil said this proved popular becauseboxing is a great way to lose weight dueto demanding and vigorous trainingmethods, and by the 1980s’ boxing forfitness had become a craze.

“You could almost say boxing trainerswere the first real personal trainers –the boxing circuit had developed andgroup exercise timetables could not getenough of it.”

Participation did begin to diminish asthe industry became more heavily reg-ulated, with trainers needing furtherqualifications and insurance to work ingyms, and it was this that inspired Neil

to implement Thump – a system oftraining that would help other instruc-tors develop their skills and knowledgein teaching.

“We held body combat classes beforebut nothing as structured as this. I have always been a big believer in box-ing training and it has now become one of the most used forms of crosstraining amongst athletes, sportingteams, and gym participants who wantto vary their exercise routine but stillhave all the advantages of an effectiveworkout. Boxing is moving forward in abig way. Identifying the need for quality education and training many providers have taken the extra step in offering their students a complete package of career options meaning students can now expect tograduate with the right accreditation in boxing for fitness.”

NeilHenshaw

By Lyndsey Smith

HIGH-profile boxing celebrities havehelped to boost the interest in boxingfitness for gyms, according to anexpert.

Glenn McCrory – former IBF cruis-erweight world champion – said thedown to earth image portrayed by fig-ures such as Ricky Hatton and JoeCalzaghe has prompted a new inter-est in boxing as a fitness option.

He added: “Boxing idols are moreidentifiable than say your top footballstars. You can see Ricky Hatton walk-ing in a pub and having a game ofdarts – would it be the same case forChristiano Ronaldo?

“It is this that appeals to the publicand they want to give it a go them-selves – it is a perfect activity forgyms to offer.

“You look at gyms and all the hightech equipment on offer and you

know it has cost thousands and thatis all well and good, but there areother options that can appeal tomore members.

“Why not buy a decent punchbagfor £75, a couple of skipping ropesand some pads, and you have all youneed for a workout.”

Glenn believes identifying memberneed and making workouts fun is key.“Boxing is now becoming super pop-ular and what a perfect tool for gymsto latch onto. Fitness needs to beexciting and fun, to get you going, getthe adrenalin flowing, and this is box-ing to a tee.

“It is very en vogue now – gone isthe perception of cauliflower ears andit being an underground sport – it is avery identifiable and accessible formof fitness for both men and women,and in my opinion gyms should belooking at implementing it withintheir facility wherever possible.”

GYMS should utilise the popularity ofboxing by offering facilities and cash-ing in on a new market, according toan expert.

Martin Mackenzie, managing direc-tor of Fight Fit Training andDevelopment, said some owners havethe wrong impression of boxinggyms.

He added: “Some people have theperception of a spit and sawdustplace but the truth is boxing in gymshas moved on.

“It has transcended into a sport toget people fit – it’s not just about get-

ting in the ring and sparring – andsome gyms are beginning to latch onto that now.

“There are clubs at the high end ofthe industry that have installed ringsand they have lawyers and bankersusing them – hardly spit and sawdustis it?

“It doesn’t turn their facility into aboxing gym, it’s simply a boxing zonewithin the gym. It’s just like having aswimming pool – it is an attraction.

“It is not just for the tough guys. It isbeneficial for everyone regardless ofsex or ability.”

Gyms should cash in on new market

Celebrities boost profile

UK FITNESS SCENE 25

The team from Direct Fitness hassupported Comic Relief with asponsored cycle ride.Employees from the fitnessequipment supplier teamed upwith a local beauticians andbetween them cycled 1000 mileson bikes outside the shop to raisedonations.Marc Heywood, pictured left, ofDirect Fitness, said: “We arealways willing to get involved incharity events and I have cycled300 miles myself for the cause.”The company now plans to auc-tion off the spinning cycles usedto the highest bidder, with pro-ceeds all going straight to ComicRelief.

THE operators of a gym equip-ment removal business saytheir success lays in going‘where others fear to tread’.

Amazon Leisure Relocations,run by equipment providersAmazon Leisure, has been inoperation for nine years andspecialises in working withgyms who are either openingup, moving premises or goingthrough a refurbishment.

Logistics manager Steve Slatersaid: “We can do things thatother people can’t because after20 years in business we havedeveloped the expertise. Wehave craned equipment in,transported it up spiral stair-cases and used forklifts in openapertures. If something is reallytricky, then it’s us that peoplecall.”

Steve said that as well as tak-ing on big jobs for large gyms,they also do a lot of work withsmaller clubs and have evenused block and tackle tomaneouvre fitness equipmenton to a cruise liner.

He added: “We have technicalabilities that make us experts inmoving equipment and thelevel of repeat business we getproves that we do a good job.”

Experts inequipmenton the move

Birthday gym rewardsmembers with a refitBy Louise Cordell

AN independent gym in Derbyshirehas been celebrating its tenth birth-day with a brand new refit to rewardloyal customers.

Laura and Dave Middleton, ownersof Picture of Health Fitness Studio inMelbourne, have brought in newpieces of resistance equipment, avibration trainer, created a dedicatedcore training area and redecorated allthe public and changing areas.

Laura said: “We have some mem-bers who have been with us for thefull ten years we have been open, soit is important to us that they are wellcatered for.

“We had found that some people,especially women, felt self-consciousdoing their abs work in the weightsand resistance area so a big part ofthe refurbishment was creating a pri-vate room with core equipment andmini vibration plates.

“This gave people a more secludedarea to work out in, and has beenextremely popular with all members.”

The club likes to reward its loyalcustomers by making sure that themembership price they pay whenthey first join up is the price theycontinue to pay.

Members are also never tied in withdirect debit contracts – instead theypay two months up front when

they join and can cancel with just a month’s notice any time afterthat.

Laura added: “This approach hasproved very successful, because evenif people leave us for a while, theyend up joining time and time again.

“It may have lost us some moneyover the years, but we have built up agreat reputation for being good valuefor money and not ripping people offand that is invaluable.

“It is a risky strategy but it has paidoff in terms of customer loyalty.”

The club has maintained its 250

strong membership for a decade andis also visited by non-members whoattend the gym’s range of classes.

Laura added: “I think in many waysbeing an established club gives us anadvantage.

“But in terms of plans for the future,we will just have to see what happenswith the economic climate, how ourmembers respond and adapt to whathappens.

“Over the years we have learnt to beflexible, listen to what members wantand try to respond to that as well aswe can.”

A new gym has been launched at Harpers Fitness at Wyboston thanksto a £487,000 investment. It is kitted out with kit from Technogym,the latest Human Sport equipment from Star Trac, NXT spin bikes andhas a boxing fitness zone. The gym was opened by Olympic swimmerand Strictly Come Dancing star Mark Foster who is pictured cuttingthe ribbon.

THE Wii Fit is now the most popular form of home exer-cise in Kent according to new research.

A team of sport science academics from CanterburyChrist Church University surveyed 300 people to discov-er their exercise habits, their perception of physicalactivity and their awareness of local schemes which aimto boost fitness.

Dr Perkins and Dr Swaine discovered that Wii Fit wasthe most used method of home exercise, beating homegym equipment and exercise DVDs – although mostpeople who used the Wii Fit did so only once a week.

They found that forty four per cent of those surveyedsaid they were aware of guidelines for physical activityfor health, but there were various ideas as to what theguidelines actually were.

Results also showed that the majority of people pre-ferred to get advice about physical activity and weightloss from health specialists and the internet, rather thanmagazines or television programmes.

Research reveals theappeal of the Wii Fit

Hooferscelebratesaward winA NOTTINGHAM-BASED independ-ent gym is celebrating beating ‘the big boys’ to win a prestigious award.

Hoofers fought off competition fromchains including David Lloyd, Rocco, Virgin and JJB to be namedHealth Cub Of The Year at the 2009Lifestyle Awards, organised by HeartFM.

Owner Jez Kearney was running a100 mile marathon in Canada whenhe heard about the win.

He told Workout: “We weren’t evennominated last year so it was a greatsurprise, especially as we were theonly independent gym nominated. Wehave worked really hard to get a greatteam of staff together and provide afantastic service so it’s great to receiverecognition for it.”

The gym was nominated by itsmembers and to thank them and cele-brate the win, Jez has organised a bigparty at a city centre venue.

He has also given out ‘thank you’gifts in the gym, including beautytreatments, personal training andtowels.

The Hoofers team was joined at theawards ceremony by model Caprice,weight loss expert Rosemary Conleyand singer Simon Webbe.

SUNBEDSAND TANNING

26www.workout-uk.co.uk

by Gary Allbutt, director of Sunand Health International

WITH all the economic troubles andthe lack of good news anywhere,there is one thing for sure – the pub-lic are desperate for a pick me up.And nothing picks people up morethan the spring sunshine after a long,cold winter.

This was clearly evident when aunexpected week of good weather atthe end of February had the effect oftanning salons experiencing a boomin business. The upsurge in customfrom being unusually quiet to unusu-ally busy caught most salons bypleasant surprise.

It is therefore more important thanever to be ready for the new tanningseason as it could be a scorcher.

Start by checking over your sunbed,when was it last serviced? Are all thetubes working and the protectiveacrylics unbroken? Have the tubesexceeded their useful life span (500

hours)Andmostimportantly, is the sunbed clean andare you providing protective eye carefor each client?

Maximise sales by having a clearpricing structure with a discount forbuying a course of sessions. Thispoint of purchase can further be cap-italised on by having a professionaldisplay of tanning lotions. Theseneed to be well merchandised andyou need to understand the benefitsof each of the products. By providinga professional service you give thecustomer confidence.

And in this day and age, and in thiseconomic climate, only a profession-al tanning centre will reap profes-sional profits, so be ready.

Get readyfor ascorcher

Tanning companyHelionova haslaunched a newrange ofUltrasunmachines.The machinesare comple-mented byfuturisticdesigns withexciting metalliccolours and features include,trendy ambientlighting, Xtremegold flex highpressure filtersystems,air-conditioning,and fresh aromasystem. Allmachines have‘Solar Control’system fitted asstandard fortotal client controllability.

27

By Mary Ferguson

THE director of an obesity interven-tion programme has blasted gyms forrestricting access to young people.

Kath Sharman, who works withchildren as part of the Sheffield-based SHINE project, claims clubsneed to be more flexible when itcomes to letting kids use their facili-ties.

She told Workout: “A lot of gymswon’t allow access to under 16s andthey need to be more flexible. Kidsdon’t have to be put through fullworkouts. I agree that at some agesit’s dangerous for them to use resist-ance equipment – but it doesn’t hurtthem to use CV equipment like therowers and treadmills. Perhaps theycould just open up the CV area.”

Kath said that if they are going tooffer the facilities to children, theyneed to bring the costs down too,and offer single-session fees insteadof tying children into pricey mem-berships.

FIA director Andree Deane added:“Whether a gym can cater for chil-

dren or not is down to their individ-ual business model and if a smallindependent doesn’t feel they cancope with youngsters, then I thinkthat’s a responsible decision.”

The children that participate in theSHINE project currently use facilitiesat a local leisure centre, operated onbehalf of Sheffield City Council. Aswell as swimming sessions, they alsodo gym work – helping one childrecently to lose eight and a halfstone.

Andree added: “A local authorityoperated leisure centre has to opentheir facilities to everyone, but with aprivate health club it’s up to them.

“Getting involved with communityprojects can enable gym owners touse their expertise to help childrenthrough exercise – but in a school orcommunity centre instead.”� What do you think? Do you doenough to help children? Send yourcomments to Mary Ferguson, 47Church Street, Barnsley, SouthYorkshire, S70 2AS or email her atmf@whpl.net

Kath Sharman

Kath claims that when it comes tohelping the kids on the SHINE pro-gramme lose weight, one of thebiggest barriers they face is vend-ing machines at gyms and leisurecentres.She said: “They will burn off 300calories in the gym then come outand get a bottle of Lucozade, put-ting them all straight back inagain.“Because the bottle says ‘sport’they think it must be good forthem.Kids crave sugar after exer-cise – so offering healthy alterna-tives like fruit would really help.”Part of the project involves chil-dren learning about nutrition, howto cook healthy snacks, and recog-nising the difference betweenphysical and psychological hunger.But Kath said that many of the par-ticipants don’t understand aboutcalorie expenditure, so think theywill lose weight by exercising –even when they raid the vendingmachines afterwards.

Gyms are slammed for restricting kids’ access

KIDS’FITNESS

Sponsored by:

By Mary Ferguson

AN independent gym owner haslaunched a school fitness pro-gramme funded entirely by him-self.

Linking with Hawick HighSchool, Greg Dalgleish, owner ofHawick-based Think Fitness,opened his facilities to pupilsafter realising there were no sim-ilar government funded initia-tives in the country.

Active At School – run by theFitness Industry Association – isfree for gyms in England but iscurrently not subsidised by theScottish Executive.

The programme ‘buddies’ FIA

members with local schools andfeatures activities designed toappeal to both sporting children,as well as those with little or nointerest in PE.

Greg, who implemented theprogramme without any local orScottish Executive support, said:“It’s cost us in terms of buying inthe resources and paying forinstructor time but it’s worth itfor the difference we are making.

“I think a big part of the pro-gramme’s success was that it gotthe kids involved in exercise out-side the school environment.”

The pupils aged 14-15 visitedthe gym for six weeks, taking part

in boxercise workouts and circuitsessions using hydraulic equip-ment. At the end of the period,they were presented with certifi-cates from local MSP JohnLamont.

Sandy Wilson, Hawick HighSchool’s principal teacher,added: “Most of the pupils whoopted to participate in the pro-gramme aren’t really sporty, butall of them absolutely love it –the girls in particular.

“Now, some would love to doPE every day and that’s a real testament to Greg and hisinstructors. We don’t have thesame facilities and therefore can-not offer anything similar.”

Gym owner fundsschool programme

Greg Dalgleish

WOMENONLY

28www.workout-uk.co.uk

MOST pioneers of female-only fitnessdon’t have stubble, but Jamie and businesspartner Anthony Carpenter say thatdespite being male, they know whatwomen want.

The first Ladyzone opened in Sheffield inAugust 2006, followed by another in thecity eight months later.

Now, at the start of 2009, the pair havesold franchises in five towns, with plans toincrease that to 20 by the end of the year.

Jamie said: “The one thing we’ve alwayshad is the humility to accept advice andask if we need help. And at the start it wasusually my mum that we turned to as sheembodies our core user – a woman in herfifties who hates gyms.”

Ladyzone clubs are aimed at a core userof between 40 and 60, designed for womenwho have had bad experience at othergyms and lack confidence when it comesto fitness. They operate using a 30-minutecircuit based workout, which Jamie says is

an even bigger selling point than the factthat it’s single sex.

And although they were originally facedwith some scepticism, the pair are nowbuilding themselves a reputation withinthe industry.

“We came into the market at 26 years oldwith an idea of opening a gym and origi-nally people just paid us lip service, butnow they are taking us more seriously.

“And our age actually works in our favournow because people see that we have a lotof years ahead of us and the drive to suc-ceed.

“As a company we moved forward veryquickly because we had the point to prove.But now we don’t have to anymore, we canpick and choose where we go from here.”

As well as the two sites in Sheffield – runby the boys – franchises are in operation inWakefield, Pudsey, Shipley, Stoke andWidnes. And next year will see sites open-ing nationwide, including Slough, Leeds

and West London.Jamie admits that it’s unusual for two

young men to be behind a ladies-only gymconcept but said it hasn’t caused anyproblems.

“I don’t have to be female to understandmy customers, I just need empathy. I usedto work in a health club which was mainlyused by middle aged women and when Iwas a personal trainer my clients were thesame.”

They claim the key to keeping theirfemale members coming is to make themfeel they belong. Every lady gets a freebranded T-shirt when they join, and thevast majority wear it every time they workout.

Jamie added: “It makes them feel likethey are in a club, where no-one careswhat you look like. If Fitness First gave outfree T-shirts, I’m guessing most peoplewould think they were too ‘cool’ to wearthem.”

When Jamie Cartwright set up his first ladies-only gym two years ago, he had big plans for the brand. MaryFerguson went back to the flagship club in Sheffield to get the story so far.

Jamie knows what women want ...

JAMIE told Workout the creditcrunch hasn’t affected thebusiness yet, but he is realisticabout the possibility that itmight.

He said: “If I was an operatorof an independent conven-tional gym I’d be worried, butbecause we are so niche I don’tthink it’s an issue for us.

“We have seen memberscome to us from Esporta andother big chains because theycan no longer afford the pricesand at £22 a month I’d say weare nearly under the ‘budget’umbrella.”

Jamie said that if the eco-nomic climate was going tobite, it would attack the fran-

chising rather than the num-ber of members.

“It’s not the risk of the busi-ness, it’s purely down to peo-ple being able to raise the cap-ital. They are too scared forexample to release moneyfrom their houses and it’sharder to get loans.”

He added: “We try to make

our franchises entry level – aswe had to work and scrimpand save to open our first – sothe price is still very competi-tive.

“However the downside isthat the type of person thattakes our franchises is literallyborrowing everything theycan.”

‘We try to make our franchises entry level’

IN 1994 Melinda was pregnant for thefirst time and while searching foradvice and information on how tostay fit and healthy discovered a gapin the market.

She put her experience as a person-al trainer and aerobics instructor towork creating a combination of fit-ness classes for women pre, duringand post pregnancy.

She said: “When I got pregnant Iwas looking around for a fitness pro-gramme to follow, but found thatmany doctors and midwives recom-mended giving up exercise all togeth-er or just sticking to low impact class-es like yoga.

“Most gym instructors do not havethe experience or training to dealwith pregnant women and the spe-cialist care they need - but theyshouldn’t be expected to - they can’tbe experts on everything.

“So I realised that there was a gap inthe market for specialised, result ori-ented care.”

Over the next ten years what hadstarted out as a fitness programmeturned into a more holistic approach,including nutrition and lifestylecoaching and advice.

Her clients first fill out a series oflifestyle questionnaires covering diet,motivation and goals and Melinda isthen able to recommend changes.

She works as a consultant to thelocal antenatal clinic, the first fitness

expert they have ever had involved,and has also been asked to speak atthe Royal College of Midwives’ annu-al conference.

The classes have now become sopopular that Melinda has startedfranchising the Baby2Body concept.

She is in the process of getting thetraining course REPS accredited andthe first has already been sold insouth west London and is due toopen in April.

Melinda is now hoping to get 20franchises up and running by the endof this year. Her next project is to cre-ate a similar programme for womenover 40, Body4Me, which she is aim-ing to launch by the end of this year.

She added: “In many ways this peri-od of a woman’s life is just as chal-lenging as the childbearing years.

“As they approach the menopausethe metabolism slows down, musclesatrophy and nutritional needschange - so they need to exercise in adifferent way.”

“I think more specific care for dif-ferent areas of life is important as itcan make a big difference and I reallybelieve it is the future for the fitnessindustry.”

Working out during pregnancy has always divided opinions, leaving many women concerned about what the best options are for them and theirbaby. Melinda Nicci created Baby2Body – a total fitness and wellness programme for pregnancy – when expecting her first child and is nowfranchising the scheme.

Melinda Nicci

Melinda creates pregnancy programme while expecting baby

TRAINING AND RECRUITMENT

29Sponsored by:

Keiser has appointed a newtraining managerfor the UK. VickiGalvin will beresponsible fordeveloping Keiser’straining programmes. Shewas previously studio coordinatorat SOLL Leisure’sThame site and hasworked within thefitness for overthree years as a personal trainer,sports massagetherapist and groupexercise instructor.

Call for morethoroughinstructortrainingBy Lyndsey Smith

TRAINING for fitness instructorsneeds to be more thorough accordingto one operations manager inLondon.

Daniel Esteves of the Citypoint gymin Moorgate says instructors in hisnative Portugal are educated todegree level – taking seven yearsbefore they qualify.

And he thinks more training shouldbe given to those in the UK. Headded: “In Portugal every fitnessinstructor is a teacher. We do a physi-cal education degree and after fiveyears we are asked to specialise.

“That could be in teaching, the fit-ness industry or in coaching forexample, and if you ever go to a gymfor a job you will be asked if you havea degree.

“I had my own gym in Portugal andsold it to come to the UK. The firstthing I noticed was that you can qual-ify as an instructor here in next to notime.

“You see instructors doing sixmonth courses and I personally don’tthink it’s enough.

“I have seen people showing mem-bers the wrong exercises becausethey don’t know bio-mechanics – theyknow anatomy but that’s it.

“To say the industry is so rigidlystructured and organised over herecompared to Portugal I find it all

quite surprising.”

One thing the UK does pull rank onis facilities. Daniel said: “There is amassive difference but I think inPortugal we are catching up slowly.

“Facilities here are second to noneand there is some great practicealthough I’d like to see more varietyin what instructors offer.

“Seeing them have more than onediscipline so they can teach classes ordo massage for example.

“Here at Citypoint we offer personaldevelopment plans for instructors –one instructor asked to go on a nutrition course – it is about widening their knowledge andenabling them to become multi-skilled.”

Citypoint gym is a 5000 square footfacility and is fully equipped with StarTrac, Cybex and Technogym equip-ment.

It has 50 stations along with a freeweights area, spa area, pool, spin stu-dio and two squash courts.

Personal trainers have a range ofspecialisations and Daniel added:“We combine elements of nutrition,exercise and lifestyle.

“Our trainers combine physical andphysiological aspects of training andtheir specialities include weight man-agement, sports specific training andinjury rehabilitation.”

Exercise Referral Forumis going on tourTHE UK Exercise Referral Forum from WRIGHT Found-ation Research is going on tour.

Targeting fitness and medicalprofessionals, the forum will seerecognised speakers presentingcase studies and examples of bestpractice to demonstrate the effectiveness of exercise referral

in public leisure centres and private health clubs across the UK.

It will also include informationon new level four qualifications inconditions such as cardiac rehab phase IV, pulmonary rehab,mental health, obesity and diabetes and chronic lower backpain.

TRAINING ANDRECRUITMENT

30www.workout-uk.co.uk

By Louise CordellTHE manager of a gym which hasopened in Covent Garden spent ayear interviewing personal trainers tomake sure he found the right staff forthe job.

Paul Sansome manages the newI.N.C Space club, which was designedto help the stars of West End showskeep fit, and said he was determinedto find the right people.

He added: “I wanted the highestlevel, the best of the best, and evennow we have a couple of positionsleft to fill.

“We stipulated a relevant degree, atleast ten years’ experiences and astrong athletic and sporting back-ground.

“They also have to have the rightattitude and life skills, we want peo-ple who live and breathe fitness, sothey can be inspirational role modelsfor their clients.”

All the personal trainers will beundergoing a specially developedstaff training including motivationalinterviewing and counselling, so theyare able to provide members with acomplete package.

Each trainer will also be teachingsessions on their own personal spe-cialism, including nutrition, bodysculpting, physiotherapy and martialarts, allowing all members of staff tolearn from each other.

The gym, run by the talent agencyand production companyInternational Collective, will offer arange of specialist classes and treat-ments.

Paul said: “The idea was to createsomething bespoke, which catered tothe particular needs of the targetmembers.

“So in this case, because many ofthe members are creative artists, allthe treatments and services are based

around their lifestyle.”

The centre will also be offering a‘midnight clinic’ to provide memberswith a sanctuary after they have fin-ished performances in the West Endshows.

Paul added: “All the expertise makesthe training we do functional andeffective – and it has to be as we arelooking after people with upcomingmovie roles and photoshoots whoneed good results fast.

“We want to achieve results and wecan guarantee that members are ingood hands – people want that kindof security.

“Members will pay around £50 persession, but with someone who is farmore qualified than many othertrainers who charge even more.

“We want to keep it good valuewhile still giving people the opportu-nity to train with the best.”

Recruitment takes a year for Paul

Paul Sansome

TWO London colleges have beenawarded Academy Provider status bythe National Skills Academy forSport and Active Leisure.

Richmond upon Thames Collegeand Kingston College, who have

been working together since 2005,will now play an important role indelivering the skills required by thehealth and fitness sector in London.

Vicki McQuaid, London’s business

development manager for theNational Skills Academy for Sportand Active Leisure, said: “Fitness is asector of growth and both collegesare best placed to help deliver thetraining essential for sustaining this

economic growth.

“We look forward to working inpartnership with them in helpingachieve our vision to improve theway training is delivered in ourindustry.”

London colleges awarded Academy Provider status

TRAINING – ADVERTISER’S ANNOUNCEMENT 31

by Alan Runacres, director oftraining, WABBA Qualifications

OKAY, relax, I’m not suggesting forone moment that we all go off andbuy some LSD to help us get intoshape. In fact, the LSD I am referringto is used by all the world’s top train-ers to strip down bodyfat, andincrease their lean muscle mass andResting Metabolic Rate (RMR).

This LSD is the acronym for the‘Long, Slow, Distance’ trainingmethod.

Why are trainers telling us ‘if youdon’t run faster, you won’t burn asmuch bodyfat’ and that means thecardio ‘won’t work properly and giveyou any results’ so you have got to doyour high intensity training (HIT) oryou won’t lose weight’.

Ask clients if they want weight-lossor fat-loss? In truth, what we shouldbe saying is that ‘the faster you run orcycle, the more calories, but less fat,you will burn’.

The reason for this is simple, andunless you are the only person on theentire planet with a different meta-bolic processing system, it applies toyou as well.

Exercise energy and calorie burnrates are firstly, when we begin toexercise from 0-0.5 of a second,movement is powered by the ATP-CPenergy system, (so no fat or carbohy-drate calories are burnt here), thenfrom 0.5-4.5 seconds we utilise thesecond stage of this first line energysystem called Creatine Phosphate (sono fat or carbohydrate calories are

burnt here either). Next, we moveinto the Lactic Acid energy systemfrom 4.5-90 seconds, where carbohy-drate as glucose is broken down toyield energy, (so no fat calories areburnt here either).

From 90 seconds onwards of con-tinuous exercise we begin to be truly“aerobic” and have entered into thelast stage of energy production calledthe Oxygen energy system.

From here on in while we keepexercising at a constant low level ofintensity, we will be able to continu-ally break down small amounts ofcarbohydrate molecules to ignite therelease of fat molecules as the majorenergy source.

The ATP-CP energy system yieldsenergy in the White Fast Twitch mus-cle fibres and is used for a weighttraining set or the first few steps on atreadmill, whilst the Lactic Acid ener-gy system yields energy from glucosein the White Fast Twitch musclefibres also, and finally the Oxygenenergy system yields energy fromboth carbohydrate and fat in the RedSlow Twitch muscle fibres.

The secrets in the muscle fibrename, ‘slow twitch’, with these fibresbeing adaptable to burning fat as amajor fuel source whilst we moveconstantly at a slow continuous pace.

If we speed up, we switch off fat asthe major energy source, and revertto carbohydrate, which can be burntfor energy quickly in fast twitchfibres.

So how do we know when we are

training too fast to burn the maxi-mum amounts of fat?

Well, it’s an easy one, as 85 per centof your predicted MHR (MaximumHeart Rate) is the point when youbecome anaerobic and are totallyburning carbohydrate for energy withno fat at all, and should be referred toas sub-maximal training (it’s also thepoint at which your leg muscles feelthe burn when cycling, so it’s not dif-ficult to tell what heart rate numberthis is for you).

Slow your speed down until yourheart rate drops by at least 20 percent below this number and you willbe at the point where your bodyburns a substantial amount of fatcalories with a minimal amount ofcarbohydrate calories. Hold this

speed for as long as you can, (bore-dom may get the better of you, as youwill be training at a relatively effort-less pace).

Typically, fat burning sessions ofanything less than 45 minutes persession are not going to give quickresults.

Clients should aim for five hours aweek minimum to see a dramaticdecrease in bodyfat within a three-month period. Remember, fat loss isdifferent from weight loss, wherelean tissue is also sacrificed in theprocess.� Alan Runacres has over 35 yearsgym experience, been WABBA direc-tor of training for 14 years and is theauthor of three books, and over 100published articles.

LSD – It’s the best fat burner around

TRAINING ANDRECRUITMENT

32www.workout-uk.co.uk

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FITNESS organisations within theNational Skills Academy networkwill now be able to take advantageof funded IFI Mark accreditationthrough the National SportsFoundation (NSF).

The funding will provide supportand training to existing Centres ofExcellence and Academy Providersthat have fitness suites used to

help health and fitness trainingcourses accreditation by the SkillsAcademy.

The Skills Academy and InclusiveFitness Initiative (IFI) have alsopartnered to increase the numberof disabled people that are bothtraining to become fitness instruc-tors, and working within theleisure sector.

Accreditation opportunityfor fitness organisations

GYM managers and personal trainersshould be taking their responsibilitiestowards first aid more seriously,according to one gym owner.

Mike Price, who owns Simone’sHealth Club in Cirencester, claimsthat few gyms have employees whoare trained and experienced enoughto cope if there is a medical emer-gency.

He said: “It is important to remem-ber that every member of staff who isgoing to train someone has a duty ofcare - especially personal trainersbecause they are likely to be alonewith the client. To go into that with-out the right first aid qualifications isirresponsible.

“For a long time first aid has beenan industry grey area. But I thinkeveryone realises that the gym can bea dangerous place, no matter howmany precautions are taken and it isvery important that there are peopleavailable to deal with situations whenthey arise.”

Mike and his wife Simone are nowbranching out into offering a range oftraining classes which cover first aidand emergency action.

Mike added: “What we want to donow is provide specialised first aidtraining for the fitness industry.

“A lot of the courses out there arevery general, but gym instructorstend to have specific first aidingneeds.

“The courses we provide cover thebasics, but also more common fitnessrelated injuries – for example, soft tis-sue damage, falls and assessing headinjuries – things that instructors arelikely to come across in a gym or per-sonal training environment.”� What do you think? Send yourcomments to Louise Cordell at 47Church Street, Barnsley, SouthYorkshire, S70 2AS or emaillcordell@whpl.net.

Call for first aid to betaken more seriously

Mike Price

33IFI/REHABILITATION

Sponsored by:

WHEN Paula Forrest started work-ing on the OneLife project atDarlington Borough Council, shefound that only one in three peoplereferred by their doctors actuallyturned up for the scheme.

So she started telephoning everyperson on the list to introduce her-self and encourage them to comealong.

She said: “We are working with avulnerable population and for a lotof them turning up at the gym is abig step and can be very intimidat-ing.

“So I spent a lot of time on thephone talking to those on the wait-ing list, trying to build up theirconfidence and reassuring themthat I would be there, in person, tomeet them for their induction.”

This approach led to a boom inattendance – in the first week everyclient scheduled for a gym sessionturned up.

Paula has also introduced a sys-

tem to reduce the waiting timebetween the referral and when theclient actually starts the fitnesstraining. Every new client now hasinduction within a fortnight.

She added: “When I started therewas a four month wait before peo-ple could get started, becauseinduction sessions were only beingheld during one week of everymonth.

“It is now done much faster,because I think getting them in assoon as possible is the best way ofmaking sure they stay motivatedand so are more likely to completethe course successfully.”

Another way she encourages theclients is by matching them up tothe most suitable of their five GPreferral instructors.

The instructors are a mixture ofmen and women of different ages,so the effort is always made to pairup the client with someone whohas some interests in common and

who can understand the specificissues they are facing.

This client focussed approach hasled to a big rise in the number ofreferrals the scheme is receiving –with more referrals received in thefirst six weeks of 2009 than usuallyreceived in six months.

Paula added: “When I have spo-ken to the doctors they have saidthis is because they are now confi-dent that sending the patients overto us will give positive results - sothey are a lot more likely to makethe recommendation.

“A combination of small thingscan really add up to help the over-all success rates and just havingenthusiasm for what you are doingand wanting to pass on the benefitsof being healthy makes all the dif-ference.

“It might take a bit more time ini-tially, but there is no extra cost andthe results speak for themselves.”

Taking a personal interest in clients is the best way to improve attendance on GP referral schemes, accordingto one coordinator. Louise Cordell reports.

Paula brings attendance boom

Paula Forrest

Daniel qualifies to work with rehabilitation clients By Lyndsey Smith

A FITNESS instructor has paid for hisown training to become qualified todeal with rehabilitation clients and isbranching out on his own.

Daniel Carter says he was spurredinto progressing his career after aninflux of people coming to theHolmes Place gym where he workedwith a wide range of troubles.

He added: “This is important andwhy shouldn’t it be the personaltrainers who can offer this facility ingyms?

“At the moment there is no internalframework, instructors have nothingto aspire to, save management, and Ithink more companies should befocused on progressing their instruc-tors rather than just sell, sell, sell.”

Daniel undertook courses in coach-ing, exercise, rehabilitation andnutrition and is one of only 20 CHEKpractitioners in the country.

He still works as a part-time fitnessinstructor at Impulse Leisure,Corringham, but his qualificationshave allowed him to work in BodyActive’s rehabilitation gym in

Hockley, Essex.He added: “I had a lot of clients

coming in that had back, neck orshoulder pain, or had dodgy kneesand hips, and I wasn’t sure what todo with them.

“There were no facilities at the clubor knowledgeable people to offer cor-rect exercise options and I wanted tolearn more about how to help.”

Daniel now creates personalisedexercise programmes for patientswith a wide range of problems. Hesaid: “You have to be very careful inthe type of exercise you do with peo-

ple who are injured. “You need a lot more care and

consideration as people are generally not as strong as your typi-cal member.

“I do body weight exercises,strengthening of the muscles, work-ing with stability balls, working ontheir core strength – you have tostrengthen the injured patients weak-er muscles before you can progresstheir exercises – and structure differ-ent levels of core fitness to make surethey go through progressions correct-ly.”

£12k grant forfitness schemeA SHEFFIELD fitness scheme aimed atgetting heart disease and diabetes suf-ferers to improve their health has beenrewarded with a £12,000 grant from thecouncil to carry on its good work.

Concord Sports Centre ran the 12month fitness project for patients on thecentre’s GP referral scheme and offeredparticipants free swimming, five freesessions in the gym, free fitness classes,use of the health suite and free personaltraining sessions.

Out of 67 patients that were recruitedonto the scheme, 62 successfully com-pleted the project and reached thedesired weight loss and fitness targetsset by Sheffield City Council.

Dave Birds, fitness specialist at theSheffield International Venues managedfacility, said: “The fact that all partici-pants are still attending the centreshows that they see what they haveachieved as extremely valuable. Thisshows that the project was worthwhileand a complete success.”

INDEPENDENTS are being urgedto get involved in an exercise refer-ral scheme in Sheffield to offerpatients more options.

Aimee Pearce, co-ordinator forthe Physical Activity ReferralScheme, said although it was suc-cessful in its current form therewas no reason why independentscouldn’t get on board.

She added: “We have thoughtabout linking up with private gymsin the past but nothing came of it.It is certainly something we areinterested in doing as it gives us alot more options.

“Obviously they would needproperly qualified staff membersthat could deal with issues present-ed and a service level agreement

would need to be in place, butother than that the only stumblingblock I can see is finance – but if asuitable agreement is reached wewould be happy to signpost ourpatients.”

PARS refer clients to local author-ity leisure centres and gyms andcommunity sports colleges, offer-ing help with a range of medicalconditions.

Aimee added: “We sit down withthe patient and discuss appropri-ate forms of activity - each individ-ual is different and a walk or swimmay be more relevant - but a lot dowant gym referral and we can sign-post these for them.

“We have a database that gives usdetailed reports of patients actively

helping us choose the correct pathand once this is established theybegin the twelve month schemebefore a six month and twelvemonth check up.”

Any organisation wishing to run aPARS must produce a portfolio ofevidence in line with PARS stan-dards for Sheffield and the groupwill then award the scheme fullaccreditation.

Patients can only be referred toan accredited PARS or scheme cur-rently undergoing accreditationand Aimee added: “The scheme isan important element in the deliv-ery of plans to increase physicalactivity levels, reduce obesity, andhelp tackle heart disease and dia-betes.”

Exercise referral scheme keento get independents involved

34SUPPLEMENTATION

AND NUTRITION

Sponsored by:

GYMS could lose members becausemany don’t understand the conceptof good nutrition in fitness, accordingto an expert.

Paul Riley, marketing manager forsupplementation company CNP, saidmany people join a gym to get specif-ic results – but could lose interestwhen they can’t quite reach their goal.

He added: “We deal with a lot of topclass athletes and even these peopleare not really understanding thenutrition side of it – how can we thenexpect the general gym user to under-stand?

“Members can work themselves ashard as they like but if they haven’tgot the nutrition side then they mightnot get the results they want, whichaffects their motivation and theycould well stop going.

“For them to get over that first hur-dle is quite daunting – especiallywhen they don’t know what to take tohelp them improve.”

He spoke after the companylaunched a new product, Pro Solo,specifically aimed at beginners whichcan help assist muscle growth,increase strength and improveendurance.

Kerry Kayes, a former body buildingchampion and founder of CNP, says itis important that gyms offer adviceon nutrition.

At his own gym, Better Bodies inDenton, he offers nutrition seminarsonce a month for members.

He said: “To train properly it'simportant to make sure the body getsthe correct balance of nutrients toboost performance and aid recovery.

“Nutrition is a minefield for begin-ners, there is so much to think aboutand hype in the industry that theyjust don’t know what to take.

“There should be a huge focus onnutrition, the client might train in thegym for two hours but that’s the easybit.

“What about the 22 hours outsidewhen you are supposed to be gettingthe correct nutrients for your body?It’s really hard for members to knowwhat to do for the best.”

The correctbalance ofnutrientsessential

A PERSONAL trainer has claimednutrition is more important thanexercise when it comes to losingweight – and spends his first ses-sion with new clients convincingthem of that.

Paul de Nagy, who set upBespoke Fitness in Brighton in2002, told Workout: “Nutrition issuper-important and in my opin-ion it’s probably more importantthan the physical training itself.Ask any fitness professional andthey will agree that if clients don’ttake care of their diets and justwent to the gym, their resultswould be very slow.

“I spend a lot of time talking tomy clients about nutrition andapproach their diets in the sameway I approach my own. I don’tbelieve in ‘dieting’ and focus ondeveloping eating plans that fitaround a client’s lifestyle andtraining goals.”

Paul has a wide range of clients

– including serious athletes – butthe majority are women whowant to lose a few pounds and hehas to convince them of theimportance of diet to achievethat.

“People come to me and thinkthat to get to where they want tobe they need to simply develop aregular exercise pattern and seenutrition as an ‘add-on’.

“But it’s central to my work andby the end of my first sessionwith a client, they see that it’sintegral too.”

Paul asks his clients to keepfood diaries for a fortnight butsaid it’s important that clientshave some flexibility.

“If something is a chore then people lose their motivationso I tell them they can indulgenow and again, but help them achieve a balanced dietoverall.”

‘Nutrition more importantthan exercise when itcomes to losing weight’

REFLEX Nutrition has launched a newproduct aimed at the serious body-builder.

Reflex NOS fusion is a pre workoutproduct formula designed to deliveracute mental focus and an advancedlevel of blood vessel dilation (or pump asit is commonly referred to) by combin-ing a scientifically proven combinationof caffeine, taurine and glucuronolac-tone for increased energy and mentalfocus. The product incorporates aresearch based dose 10,000mg ofActiNOS; a patent pending bioactiveprotein peptide complex that is scientifi-cally proven to help increase NOS levels.This allows more blood to flow into themuscles delivering more amino acidsand vital nutrients for growth and repair.

Made in accordance with ISO9001 pro-cedures and randomly drug tested inaccordance with ISO17025.

New product launched

35SUPPLEMENTATION

AND NUTRITION

AN independent gym owner hasrevealed how he hopes to join forceswith experts in lifestyle and nutritionto beat the credit crunch and addmore value for members.

Gary Milne, of Miracles in Gosport,is hoping to team up with slimmingclubs to offer combined gym mem-bership and diet and nutritionaladvice.

He said: “We are trying to work withthe likes of Slimming World to pro-mote that getting fit is also aboutnutrition and lifestyle as well as exer-cise. We want to split that spend andget members results.

“It would definitely help to join uprather than compete with us in thegym market. We are not trying to takeaway from them but think there isspace for us both to work.”

According to Gary, Miracles is man-aging to hold its own during poten-tially tough times because of therange of services offered there.

Aside from the ladies only gym,there are hair and beauty salons, apool, jacuzzi and sauna and swim-ming courses.

Gary added: “There are lots of rea-sons why we are successful. Beingladies only, our members feel verycomfortable in that environment.

“We promote ourselves as a placewhere you can be active but alsorelax. One of our biggest challenges isseeing how the economic downturnwill affect us. People don’t have tocome to the gym so we have to givethem a reason to come to us.”

The gym reported a 28 per centincrease in turnover last year.

Gary has a slimming plan

Bodybuilding champion James Llewellinhas joined forces with EAS Nutrition tohelp him attack the pro ranks.James, who trains at Kent-based independ-

ent gym Ministry of Muscle, is fine-tuninghis nutrition programme as he prepares tocompete in the under-202lbs category in2010.

www.workout-uk.co.uk

UK FITNESS SCENE36

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Chronologically your client may be35 or 40, but biologically they mayhave the heart and lungs of an olderperson, indicating that somethingmight be wrong. I-M Health meas-ures the rate at which individual bodyregions are ageing, as compared tothe client’s age group average.

It is the first system in the world todetermine biological age throughphysical, blood, urine and cognitivetesting. Tests are completed at theirchosen clinic or sports centre, andonce collated, are displayed in the

form of a unique, personalized bodymap, showing very clearly, where andby how much they are ageing.

Both trainer and client can thendecide which therapy to implement.For information contact 0207 1170886 orgo online www.imhealth.com

Age tool ...A NEW clothing concept for EveryoneActive has been created by TaylorMade Designs to coincide with theopening of five new centres in EastHertfordshire and a new centre inLammas.

Taylor Made Designs has workedwith Everyone Active for ten yearsand came up with the new designand colour scheme to update the lookof the uniform, by using cool-tec poloshirts with combat trousers.

Previously staff were dressed inplain polo shirts and track suit bot-toms but the new style involves yel-low cool-tec polo shirts with redshorts for the lifeguards or red cool-tec polo shirts with black combattrousers for the rest of the leisurestaff. Taylor Made Designs are experts

in providinguniformswith clientsas diverse asSportEngland andthe MerlinEntertain-ment Group,owners ofAlton TowersResort,MadameTussauds andthe LondonEye, amongst others.

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DONNINGTON Grove Country Clubhas become one of the top destina-tions for golfers in the UK. Corporateand society events plus two and threeday golf breaks generate a great dealof golfing activity – and a great deal oflaundry from the shower room.

The club recently installed PW5washers teamed with a 201 litreHuebsch dryer from ArmstrongCommercial Laundry Systems to han-dle all the towels. Laundry manager-ess Pauline Westall says: “The newlaundry produces excellent results. Itis quiet, efficient and very easy tooperate. It not only copes with all thetowels, it also handles the staff’s per-

sonal clothing.”For further information contact Armstrong

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Country club gets in the swingwith new laundry equipment

HEMPSTEAD House Hotel has select-ed DED to take care of all its cardprinting needs. Offering an extensivebureau service, DED are now printingall room key cards, leisure club andspa membership cards, spa day guestcards and leisure club locker accesscards.

Since increasing the size of the hoteland the leisure club facilities avail-able to guests, Hempstead House hasmoved from a traditional key systemfor room access to the Mifare cardsystem which was already being usedfor access to the Aquamanda leisureclub and spa. With one system inoperation, the hotel has become uni-fied and so more secure.

DED have printed cards for

Hempstead House and theAquamanda leisure club and spa infull colour on both sides, with signa-ture panels on the membership cardsalong with member name and uniquebarcode to further increase securityon entering the leisure club and spa.

Details from 01797 320636, emailsales@ded.co.uk or visit www.ded.co.uk.

New cards bring more security

Going from strength to strengthA GYM in North Tyneside hasrevealed how members will benefitfrom its investment in a new rangeof strength training equipment.

The YClub Gym – which is based inthe YMCA North Tyneside – hasgrown from a small room within thecentre, to a fully equipped fitnessfacility and has invested in equip-ment from SportsArt Fitness.

Operations director Melanie Adamssaid: “Selection of the right products

was essential as the equipmentwould be under constant use andtherefore need to be strong, reliableand durable.

“We eventually purchased a dozenpieces of SportsArt Strength kitincluding chest, shoulders, arms andleg apparatus and as a result, feelthat we have provided members ofthe YClub with premier fitnessequipment.”

Refitted gym attracts60 new membersAN independent gym has attracted 60new members after completing arefit.

Craig Carroll – who runs PeakPhysique Gym and Fitness in Consett,County Durham with wife Sara – saidthat after a rival gym opened lastsummer, they had to take action tokeep up with the competition, sodecided to upgrade their existingequipment and add some new items.

Since the refit – which was complet-ed by Peak Body about a month ago –the gym has had positive feedbackfrom both long term members andnew additions to the gym.

Craig said: “A new gym moved intothe area and we lost about ten mem-bers to it so thought we would haveto do something. We did the refit andit seems to have worked.

“Our members have adapted well toit – we didn’t want to lose existing

members but we also wanted toattract new ones.”

The gym has been open for 30 yearsand Craig and Sara took over fouryears ago. The gym was previouslybest known for its bodybuilding andstrength equipment but by graduallyupgrading equipment and addingnew classes and a cardio suite hasmanaged to shake off its old reputa-tion and tap into new areas of themarket.

Craig added: “We are now losing ourold reputation as a hardcore men’sgym which used to put some womenand younger lads off. It has been anongoing process since we took over.

“We have also introduced yearlycontracts and put all our services intoa package for £30 per month. Thissecures us membership for the yearand also gives members a lot for theirmoney.”

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