The UK’s No 1 fitness industry magazineMay 2016 No 272 £3

Entries flooding in for National Fitness Awards ALMOST half of people do

no cardio exercise at all and more than two thirds don’t train with weights, according to new research.

The study, undertaken by YouGov on behalf of sports nutrition company Predator Nutrition, looked at the lifestyle habits of more than 2,000 men and women across the UK.

48 per cent said they did no cardio exercise at all, with a further 25 per cent saying they did one hour a week or less. Just 31 per cent said they trained with weights and 19 per cent said climb-ing an average flight of stairs would leave them out of breath – three per cent said they would be gasping for air by the top.

A spokesman for Predator Nutrition said: “With obesity on the rise in the UK it is dis-appointing to discover that so many of us are still not finding the time to exercise.

“We were shocked to dis-cover that only about half of Britons bother to get any form of cardio exercise at all.

“We hope our study will highlight that more needs to be done to encourage people to quit their bad habits and adopt a healthier lifestyle.”

By Christina Eccles

ENTRIES are flooding in for the 2016 National Fitness Awards, with our expert judges urging operators who haven’t yet put themselves forward to get involved and tell us why they are the best in the business.

This year’s panel, who will have the tough task of picking the winners, includes training academy manager for Strength and Conditioning Education Mark Laws and David McCorkindale – head of leisure at double NFA winners Inverclyde Leisure.

David said: “The NFAs are a fantastic way for private leisure operators, leisure trusts, local authorities and hotels to showcase and be recognised for the outstanding work they continually deliver and develop within the industry

“I am delighted to be asked to help with the judging of the NFAs as this celebration event continually goes from strength to strength every year and also allows a wide range of networking and team building amongst employees and suppliers.”

The awards take place on Friday December 2 at The Athena in Leicester, organised by Script Events in partnership with Workout and headline sponsor Servicesport.

There are over 20 trophies up for

grabs, recognising gyms, staff and members from all corners of the industry.

Nominations can be made via the website www.nationalfitnessawards.co.uk

Mark added: “Social media has made the world a much smaller place and it gives us all a platform to show people what we offer and how we can benefit them.

“Well rather than just telling us what a brilliant job your facility, team, or organisation does, you need to show us by entering yourself or your organisation for one of the awards.

“I am excited to see the nominations and to make my decision as to who is the most worthy winner in December.”

Event director Judith Halkerston added: “There has been an excellent response so far with nominations coming through on a daily basis – we’ve certainly got a lot more entries at this stage of proceedings than in previous years.

“And there’s a great mix of operators, both large and small, new names and previous entrants.

“We’re proud of the fact that the Fitness Awards are for every club – they are free to enter and our judging criteria means that it’s not down to the size of your facility but how you run it!”

Study findsalmost half of Brits do no cardio

Yoga fans have been urged to get involved in Yoga for Alzheimer’s – a nationwide event raising money for Alzheimer’s Research UK. The event is taking place in 16 major cities across the country from June 12 to 21 and is being supported by TV presenter and interior designer Linda Barker. Chief executive at Alzheimer’s Research UK, Hilary Evans, said: “We are very proud to be hosting inclusive events and those signing up to Yoga for Alzheimer’s are going to have a fantastic afternoon of yoga taught by some very skilled teachers. We hope supporters will grab their yoga mats and join Linda and Alzheimer’s Research UK in the fight to defeat dementia.”

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PT backs course to help professionals build better relationships with clients By Christina Eccles

TOP personal trainer Katie Bulmer-Cooke has got behind a new training course designed to help fitness professionals build better relationships with clients and learn the skills needed to run – and sustain – a successful business.

The PT Skills Gap Programme has been devised by Future Fit Training in response to calls within the industry to boost skills and professionalism among personal trainers.

Research carried out by Future Fit Training, in conjunction with ukactive and CIMSPA, identified that knowledge and soft skills were often lacking among personal trainers – especially those who have followed ‘fast track’ courses where real person case study work and interaction with clients and colleagues was limited.

To address this, the programme comprises two elements; firstly to enable PTs to produce satisfied clients through behaviour change

coaching and secondly to maximise their profits through training on how to build their fitness businesses.

Katie said: “We see so many technically good trainers leaving the industry very quickly because they are not armed with the skills to turn those technical skills into a business or long term success.

“For me, it is these skills that have helped me in my business, so it’s great Future Fit Training has created something that fills that gap. “

Katie also told Workout, the most important skill which has helped her run a successful business is marketing – knowing who your client is, how to target them and what language to use to put across your message – followed by customer service and the importance of knowing how to retain your clients and treat them well.

She added: “I’m especially taken by the Building Your Fitness Business element which I think is really lacking in our industry at the moment.

“There are lots of extremely

talented PTs out there with immense knowledge and skills but they simply don’t know where to start when it comes to marketing, sales and managing a business.

“Personal training is a profession and it’s not enough just to be good at the technical stuff: you need the skills included in the PT Skills Gap Programme to realise your full potential.”

Future Fit Training managing director Rob Johnson added: “We know that Future Fit Training graduates are the preferred choice by many leading health club chains when it comes to recruitment, largely due to the fact that there are no gaps in their training.

“Now with our bespoke PT Skills Gap Programme, all personal trainers can bridge the gap between their text book training and the real world working with clients and colleagues to put them in a stronger position to attract employers and excel in their work.” Katie Bulmer-Cooke

Bannatyne Health Club in Hastings played host to the launch party of the latest group exercise sensation to cross the Atlantic, ShockWave. About 30 members were treated to a masterclass by ShockWave founder, Josh Crosby, and master trainer, Doris Thews, who flew in from the USA to demonstrate the class. ShockWave is a new interpretation of the classic circuit and cross-training disciplines and uses high-intensity intervals on a specialist WaterRower, along with functional strength exercises to provide a total body workout in a group circuit training style format. Regional manager for the Bannatyne Group, Adrian Worsley, said: “The Bannatyne Group is always looking to improve the options available to its members and I’m sure ShockWave is going to be a great success.”

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Duo add functional fitness to fighting firesThe cafe area (left) and large functional rig at Form Leeds, which is owned by firefighters Stuart Trees and Andre Seelig.

FROM fighting fires to functional fitness, Stuart Trees and Andre Seelig must be two of the busiest men in Leeds.

The pair, who still hold down their jobs in the fire service, opened Form Leeds to existing members late last year, after outgrowing their previous premises.

A quick turnaround over the Christmas period – and lots of help from supportive members who made the move with them – allowed the team to get the doors officially open to new members in time for the New Year. And they haven’t looked back.

Stuart said: “We’ve had a lot of good feedback and people have been really complimentary about the appearance

of the gym. We feel we offer a really good product and have some excellent coaches.”

At their former club, Stuart and Andre solely offered Cross Fit, but moving to a bigger unit and more central location in the city has allowed them to expand their business; introducing a wider range of equipment and classes and also enabling them to tap into a different membership base.

Stuart added: “Previously we were really restricted by our size.

“We always wanted to do more, offer more variety and put fitness classes on.”

Another integral part of the facility is its coffee shop and chill out area,

which provides a central place for members to socialise, as well as providing a non intimidating route into the gym for newcomers.

Stuart added: “People want to stay around after class and catch up and we try to facilitate that.

“At the old place we didn’t have the space.

“We’ve put things in place where people feel comfortable to spend more time and it creates a ‘soft welcome’ into the gym, which a lot of functional gyms don’t have.”

Future plans at the club include hosting competitions in Olympic weight lifting and functional fitness, as well as looking to hold educational seminars on topics relating to

training and nutrition. Yet as things stand, they have no

intention of giving up their ‘day jobs’, as they feel both careers are satisfying in different ways.

Andre, who told Workout how the pair got bitten by the Cross Fit bug after being introduced to it by fellow participants at the World Firefighter Games in South Korea, added: “We started training in Cross Fit and before we knew it, we were business owners.

“A lot of the military and emergency services train with this type of training as lifelong fitness is really important.

“There’s a lot of reward from both jobs.”

Two Yorkshire firefighters have turned their passion into a business by opening their own gym. Workout editor Christina Eccles took a look around.

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Family owned sports retailer Greaves has opened Scotland’s first House of adidas in Glasgow. The new £1m development in Greaves’ flagship Gordon Street store has been designed to combine the digital world with the hands-on experience of a traditional retail environment. The 90-year old shop has been transformed with the addition of a dramatic new stairwell lined with digital mannequins and surrounded by inspirational messaging from some of adidas’ most iconic brand ambassadors including Lionel Messi and Jessica Ennis-Hill.

By Olivia Taylor

A PAIR of personal trainers are combining their knowledge to offer people on the go an online exercise solution.

Friends Steven Gardiner and Sam Renwick formed TheSecretPT.Com to provide results based sessions outside of the gym after spending most of their careers working in fitness clubs.

Users can sign up to the website and pick a programme that best suits them; whether that’s a six-week fully-supported programme or just a training plan to get them started on their weight loss journey.

Steven said: “We provide online personal training allowing everybody to participate in exercise and get the support needed to continue with a healthy, active lifestyle.

“The three of us have put a lot of work into this and we’re all really enjoying it. We all bring something completely different to the table, that’s what makes it work so well. It’s great that we’re all able to combine our knowledge.”

Clients are supported 24/7 via the instant messaging feature on the app, meaning personal trainers are always on hand to answer any questions they may have about their diet or training plan.

The team also tailor each workout plan to how much time the user has or what occasion they’re looking to

lose weight for. Steven added: “Using an app we can

monitor progress, provide session plans and have instant contact through messenger.

“Sometimes personal trainers will spend hours in the gym with clients, but all that’s required sometimes is a quick 20 minutes a day.

“We get a lot of brides to be and we’ve actually been approached by bridal shops that want to work with us. It’s great to see people coming forward and actually realising that our app works. It’s so rewarding.”

To ensure the business was exactly what clients wanted, the team spent time researching what would work best before launching the website.

Steven added: “I don’t think enough people have thought about it yet. It’s big in America but people have been slow to catch on here.”

PTs combine to offer an online exercise solution

THE Royal Life Saving Society UK has launched a new extension to its National Pool Lifeguard Qualification in order to keep the rapidly increas-ing number of open water swimmers safe.

The Open Water Lifeguard qualifi-cation is the first of its kind and will allow all pool lifeguards who hold the National Pool Lifeguard Qualification to develop their skills and knowledge to lifeguard open water.

RLSS UK technical director Adrian Lole said: “We are thrilled to announce our Open Water Lifeguard

qualification and enable our army of RLSS UK pool lifeguards to qualify and experience another avenue in their careers.

“Open water swimming is a growing sport and there is a real opportunity for leisure providers and local author-ities to expand their services into open water.

“As the Drowning Prevention Charity, RLSS UK works tirelessly to keep people safe in and around water to reduce drowning. This new offering demonstrates this and contributes to our overall charitable aims.”

New qualification launched

Steven Gardiner and Sam Renwick.

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THE organisers of FIBO are celebrating following another successful show, which saw 153,000 visitors descend on Cologne for the event, including 83,000 trade visitors from more than 100 nations.

With an exhibitor increase of 32 per cent, a floor space expansion of 23 per cent and a 12 per cent visitor boost, organiser Reed Exhibitions Deutschland recorded another huge growth spurt.

CEO Reed Exhibitions Deutschland, Hans-Joachim Erbel, said: “Right now, FIBO is among the world’s leading trade fairs with the best growth momentum.

“This is simply a fantastic

development.”Some of the hottest trends

represented at the show included technical innovations, digital offerings and personalised training units and still ranking high were functional training, group fitness choices and strength and cardio training.

Almost one in two FIBO trade visitors came to Cologne with concrete investment plans. One in seven said they’re planning investments of more than €200,000 and seven per cent of more than half a million euros.

FIBO event director Ralph Scholz credits four main reasons for

the success of the show, plus the positioning of the three key areas; FIBO EXPERT for trade visitors, FIBO PASSION for active workout enthusiasts and consumers and FIBO POWER for the bodybuilding, weight training and martial arts community.

He added: “First, the market continues its positive development with increasing demand, second, powerful trends and innovations, third, gains from the international segment, and fourth, the continued advancement of FIBO by Reed, which is having an ever-greater impact.”

The next FIBO will take place at the Exhibition Centre Cologne from April 6 to 9 2017.

FIBO organisers celebrate a record-breaking event

Boxing studio uses Physical CompanyPHYSICAL Company has completely kitted out KOBOX – a new boutique boxing studio based on the Kings Road in Chelsea.

The KOBOX club offers high intensity boxing-based classes and combines heavy bag boxing routines with functional strength training in a ‘Fight Club meets Nightclub’ environment.

It has been created by Shane Collins who combined his background in elite sports performance training with his work as a strength and conditioning coach to professional boxers.

Shane initially went to Physical Company to buy Stroops but soon realised the company had pretty much all the kit he needed including Olympic rings, Soft plyo boxes, PU Olympic discs, Neo Hex dumbbells, X-Bands, Skipping ropes, Wall Balls and Supersoft Aero Mats.

He said: “I was recommended to contact Physical Company to buy Stroops but it quickly became clear they had the expertise and stock to completely fit out KOBOX.

“With all the other things I was managing ahead of the opening, to have one supplier manage the whole equipment order was a huge weight off my mind.”

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By Olivia Taylor

A LONDON fitness studio is proving that staying healthy in the capital doesn’t have to break the bank by offering over 100 classes for £30 per month.

Sapan Sehgal opened London Fields Fitness Studio in 2010 so that he could provide accessible fitness classes to every type of Londoner, regardless of their budget.

He said: “We wanted to create a space that was fun and affordable,

we want people to come and forget about their financial worries.

“We have people coming who are earning £100,000, and people coming who are on Job Seekers’ Allowance.”

The studio is located in Hackney and users are offered popular classes like Zumba and a specially devised style of training developed by Sapan himself.

He said: “We keep literally 70 per cent of the people that try our classes, we’re one of the busiest fitness classes of our type and we grew

purely through word of mouth.“I think part of the reason people

come back is because we’re not an intimidating space.”

Sapan originally spent time working as a gym-based personal trainer but he felt he was limited in the type of people he could train.

He said: “I was enjoying what I was doing before but I felt like certain people couldn’t afford me and I wanted to bring people together.

“I’ve always believed that health and fitness should be accessible

for everyone, not just one type of person.”

Since the club opened its doors six years ago, the number of regular visitors has been on a constant increase, with 5,000 people training every month.

Sapan said: “I’ve had a real love affair with the club since it opened, it’s like my grown-up toddler.

“Health and fitness should be something for everyone; staying fit is something people have to be able to afford.”

London studio offers fitness on a budgetSapan Sehgal opened London Fields Fitness Studio in 2010 so that he could provide accessible fitness classes to every type of Londoner, regardless of their budget.

12Welcome to WorkOut Weigh In – it’s your chance to have your say and share your views on industry issues. You can email us at ce@scriptmedia.co.uk or you can message us on Facebook or Twitter.

This month’s top Tweets...thebodydocs recent#Harrogate

Picture of the month

IT’S been an exciting few weeks since we opened nominations for this year’s National Fitness Awards and with clubs in many areas of the UK getting their entries in early, we’re already really impressed with the standard so far.

As we’ve been looking through them, it’s been encouraging to see so many new faces entering for the first time and we’re pleased that year on year, more clubs of all shapes and sizes are hearing about the awards and recognising the benefits of putting themselves forward.

Reading the entries is also a great opportunity for us to find out more about the amazing work going on in facilities every day, much of which would make interesting stories for Workout readers.

We’re keen to find out more about some of the projects or initiatives you have mentioned in your entries, so stand by your phones as we’ll be contacting some of you over the next few weeks for a chat.

But don’t panic if you haven’t entered – there’s still plenty of time until nominations close in August. What we would say though is don’t

leave it too late to start working on your entries, even if you’re not quite ready to submit them yet.

Start collecting that supporting evidence by keeping any press cuttings where your gym, members or staff have featured, take lots of pictures – especially if you’re hosting an event, open day or charity fundraiser – and ask your members, staff and any suppliers or local businesses you work with to provide testimonials on how your facility has benefited them. Remember, the more comprehensive your entry is, the easier it is for us – and our judges –to build up an accurate picture of what you can offer.

As well as progressing with exciting plans for the awards and National Fitness Conference, we’re also gearing up for a busy few weeks of shows. You can catch the Workout team at Elevate and BodyPower, so if you’re exhibiting or speaking about something you think we’d be interested in, get in touch and let us know about it.

If you’re planning a visit to BodyPower, you can also check out our show preview feature on pages

48 and 49 which includes everything you need to help you make the most of your day.

Keep sending those NFA entries in and we’ll look forward to seeing many of you in person over the coming weeks out and about at the shows.

Editor’s Comment

Follow us on Twitter @WorkOutUK or contact us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/workoutmagazine

This month’s hot topic:

With the summer months on the way and creating more opportunities to exercise outdoors, should those who use parks the most be willing to contribute to their upkeep – either financially or by volunteering their time – or does the responsibility lie with councils?Send your answers to ce@scriptmedia.co.uk or contact us via Twitter or Facebook. We’ll print the best responses next issue.

Dance fitness phenomenon Clubbercise took this year’s International Fitness Showcase by storm; hosting three packed sessions over the weekend and scooping an award for best brand presence. Over the course of the event, held in Blackpool’s Winter Gardens, Clubbercise hosted over 500 eager participants in the iconic Chrysalis Ballroom. Illuminating the room with their glow sticks, “clubbers” worked up a sweat to popular club anthems. Co-founder Claire Burlison Green said: “Just when we thought our debut at last year’s International Fitness Showcase could not be beaten, we went one step further this year and won an award! We are absolutely thrilled at the impact Clubbercise has made on people’s lives, breaking down boundaries to entry level fitness through to providing existing gymgoers with an exciting new challenge.”

Christina Eccles

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By Olivia Taylor

FREEDOM Leisure has taken over the management of four leisure and activity centres and five dual use sports facilities across Wrexham.

The company is now working in partnership with Wrexham County Borough Council to manage the Waterworld Leisure and Activity Centre, Chirk Leisure and Activity Centre, Gwyn Evans Leisure and Activity Centre and Queensway Leisure Centre which are all situated in the town.

In addition, Freedom Leisure will also manage the dual use facilities based at Darland School, Rhiwabon School, Clywedog School, Rhosnesni School and Ysgol Morgan Llwyd.

This is the second Welsh contract for Freedom Leisure, following its appointment in July 2015 to manage 15 sites in Powys.

Head of operations, Wales and West Jeremy Rowe said: “We are delighted to have secured this contract in Wrexham and feel these sites have great potential as they each have a loyal and active customer base with whom we will enjoy working.

“As with all our new contracts, we will have an initial period of consultation with our new colleagues and members and will encourage comment and feedback from

them to ensure our plans can be tailored to suit the needs of the local communities in the town. We will bring in additional staff to support those already in place to help them implement any changes and manage a smooth transition for all concerned.”

The centres at Waterworld, Chirk, Gwyn Evans and Queensway will benefit from £3m of refurbishment.

Visitors to Waterworld will see an improved reception and café area, a larger gym and refurbished toilets and changing areas.

Chirk Leisure and Activity Centre will benefit from a new larger gym whilst the existing gym is converted into a studio. There will also be investment in energy saving measures to reduce the carbon footprint of all the buildings.

Jeremy Rowe, Freedom Leisure head of operations Wales and West; Matt Hunt, Freedom Leisure operations director; Andy Harris, Freedom Leisure Wrexham area manager; Lawrence Isted, head of community wellbeing and development and Councillor Hugh Jones, lead member for communities and partnerships.

Trust takes over running of nine sites in Wrexham

Classes move from parks to workplacesBRITISH Military Fitness is taking its popular fitness classes from the park into the workplace by expand-ing its corporate offering.

The outdoor fitness specialist is making it easier than ever for employers to focus on workplace wellness by helping to source a location for the classes, inspiring employees to take part and organis-ing the schedule and sessions.

As well as two classes a week, corporate partners can also benefit from regular health checks and fit-ness assessments, allowing employ-ees to track their progress as their health and fitness changes.

Corporate operations manager at British Military Fitness, Dean Adamson, said: “While many employers want to do more to sup-port their employees’ wellbeing, many still struggle with knowing where to start in offering their sup-port and getting staff to buy into corporate wellness programs.

“Our corporate partnership pro-gram aims to take the stress away, by offering our partners a full service from start to finish – from sourcing a location to inspiring staff to take part and tracking the prog-ress made – making it easier than ever before for employers to sup-port the wellbeing of their staff.”

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By Christina Eccles

FORMER X Factor star Andy Pemberton has turned to personal trainer Mike Hind to help him kickstart his fitness journey.

Andy from Middlesborough shot to fame as one half of singing duo Journey South who achieved third place on the TV talent show in 2005.

He contacted Mike – owner of fitness brand Mas Body Development – to ask for help after taking the decision to overhaul his training and diet.

Andy said: “Over the last year I have had some significant changes in my life, with a beautiful new baby Toby arriving late 2015, my brother and I deciding to call it a day with Journey South after 20 years and turning 40 in January 2016.

“I used to work out three to four times a week and before I knew it I had let myself go. I met Mike from MAS a couple years ago while shopping in his store.

“I had seen the results after following him and the gym on social media and since then I decided to meet him and I hoped that maybe he could help.”

Andy is now currently taking part in the Mas Extreme Makeover challenge; a 12-week journey where participants can achieve life changing results, and

Mike told Workout he was excited to see how Andy would get on.

He added: “I work massively on diet and the importance of eating the right foods and not depriving the body. I don’t use magic pills, or weight loss shakes, my clients will eat more food than ever before.

“I am slightly different to other personal trainers as I own the brand Mas Body Development so I don’t rely on my clients for a wage.

“My reward is my clients reaching

their goals where I become their worst enemy and best friend at the same time.”

Mike was named runner up in the Best Gym Based Personal Trainer category at the 2015 National Fitness Awards and is also the coach of current Miss United Kingdom Danielle Osborn.

Andy added: “It was a huge step for me to ask someone for help, but I know I’m in the right place with Mike. “

Former X Factor star Andy Pemberton with personal trainer Mike Hind.

Journey South star Andy turns to PT Mike for help

Gyms warned they require a TV licenceUK gyms have been warned they need a TV licence if customers are watching television while they exercise.

TV Licensing is reminding operators that they need to be covered if customers or staff watch live TV programmes – whether on a TV, tablet, computer or any other type of equipment.

If the gym does not have a licence then the business risks prosecution and a fine of up to £1,000.

Customers watching live TV on their own devices when out and about, however, are covered by their home licence.

TV Licensing spokesperson, Jason Hill, said it was important gym owners understood licensing requirements to ensure they were abiding by the law.

He added: “Being caught without a TV Licence is a criminal offence and could potentially mean you’re unable to provide this form of entertainment to your members – a service many people enjoy while they work out.

“If you have a TV Licence your organisation can enjoy TV legally, whatever device it’s watched on.”

18

WITH a promise to lift, tighten and tone, The Barre Pilates Method is the latest class helping participants to get fitter and stronger – and have fun while they do so.

The class was created by Pilates teacher Claire Wray – owner of city centre studio Equilibrium Health – who has been successfully teaching it to her own clients for about three and a half years.

The feedback she received was so good, she joined forces with leading trainer Cherry Baker to devise an instructor course to roll the concept out; enabling other Pilates instructors to add another string to their bow and potentially generate new clients.

Claire explained: “I was looking for something in-between Pilates and the bootcamp style classes we do.

“I felt there was a gap in the market for Pilates teachers to give them a bit more variety. It also gives them the chance to increase their income stream, as you can get more people in a class than you can lying down in Pilates.”

The instructor courses were officially launched at IFS in Blackpool where Claire and Cherry held two sold out workshops for instructors wanting to find out more and have a go themselves.

Claire added: ”Originally we thought we’d get about 60 people but both sessions sold out at 110 so we had a last minute scramble for more barres.

“We got a great response. Participants felt it was more intense and controlled than some other barre workouts they had done. I suppose that’s the concentration aspect of Pilates coming through which makes it an intense workout.

“A Pilates teacher that attended thought it was more of a Pilates workout and her Ballet dancer friend thought it was more of a Ballet Barre workout, so I guess what we’re trying to do worked.”

The pair have now announced their initial workshop dates, which can be found online, and are looking forward to taking the class out to a wider audience over the coming months.

Claire added: “The workshops will be run by myself and Cherry and we’re more than happy to come out to studios to put on workshops for their instructors if they’re interested.

“This is the class that brings in more people than any other we do. Everyone is starting to hear more about it – it’s bringing in more people than anything else.”

A Leeds based instructor is preparing to take the industry by storm with her innovative class which fuses ballet barre and Pilates. Christina Eccles found out more – and tried it out first hand.

Class helps participants get fitter and stronger while having fun

The Barre Pilates Method instructor courses were officially launched at IFS in Blackpool where Claire and Cherry held two sold out workshops.

Claire Wray

Gentle class provided an effective workout ...IN today’s fast paced environment, sometimes it’s good to slow down a little...

Over the last few issues, I’ve tried out some rather energetic workouts, including being put through my paces alongside Olympian Dame Kelly Holmes, so this month it was good to take on something a bit more gentle.

Although I’ve tried both barre and Pilates classes before, combining the two disciplines into one session was something new for me.

And although it wasn’t the most ‘hardcore’ class I’ve ever done, that’s not to say it wasn’t an effective workout.

Throughout the 45 minute session, me and the rest of the group were put through our paces with a range of ballet movements at the barre and some mat based Pilates work.

The moves were easy to follow, even for beginners, and instructor Claire was friendly and welcoming, with her studio having a really nice, non intimidating atmosphere and attracting ladies of all ages and abilities.

While the rest of the class knew what they were doing

and had all been attending the sessions regularly, I felt comfortable and confident training there, which makes all the difference, especially when trying out something new.

With the right qualification to teach it and a big enough studio space, it’s also relatively simple for a qualified Pilates instructor to set up these sessions, making the Barre Pilates Method an appealing option for studio owners wanting to increase their offering or more traditional gyms looking to add something different to their timetables.

Anyone interested in taking it on just needs mats, either a barre or a sturdy wall or surface to hold on to, and some small hand weights which are incorporated into the hour long version, to be able to run a class.

I also liked the fact that this workout was slightly slower than some of the others I’m used to trying. This meant I could really concentrate on getting the movements right, as technique is really important.

It was also a good way to work parts of the body such as the feet and ankles which are not often focused on in other classes.

I could see this session working in studios and gyms of all types and I’m excited to see how it takes off in the future. I’d definitely recommend it – and would be more than happy to return for another class.

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By Christina Eccles

THE owner of an independent personal training studio has been successfully using MYZONE challenges to further engage with his own members and staff – and compete with clubs further afield.

Mark Mayes came across the concept at an industry show last year and after being impressed with what he saw, installed it into his club – Enjoy Fitness Studio in Hampshire – in February.

Since then, Mark has been utilising social media and the club newsletter, which reaches 850 people, to raise awareness of MYZONE, posting results from classes and PT sessions as well as the league tables. This combined with in-club marketing material supplied by MYZONE has helped to maximise the profile of the new technology.

He explained: “The interest from social media and the newsletter has been great, but the biggest uptake so far has come from clients trialing the product in one to one sessions. They quickly understand the benefits and almost immediately go out and buy one.”

Mark is also running challenges to engage members and staff, while encouraging some friendly competition.

He added: “We’ve run two challenges so far.

“The first was an internal staff incentive, where PTs were challenged to sell five MZ-3s, hit 1,300 MEPs and watch the MYZONE explanation videos.

“If they achieved this, I paid for their MZ-3 and bought them a coffee. They also receive £5 for every MZ-3 they sell with their own unique individual code.

“This has worked really well and helped promote the system to clients.”

A second challenge helped educate members about the scheme and the club has just linked up with a club in Scotland to run its first club v club challenge.

Mark added: “We have had great buy in to this challenge with nearly 90 per cent of our clients agreeing to participate so far.

“The classes have been a huge success. We had a Tabata class last week where 10 of the 11 participants were using the MZ-3. It looked awesome on the screen and created a fantastic buzz in the class. Some clients were even doing jumping jacks during the drink breaks just to keep scoring MEPs.

“MYZONE is a massive USP for us; there’s no other club in the area using it.”

MYZONE’s a hit at PT’s studio

A TORQUAY leisure facility has become the first in the UK to launch a new surf inspired fitness class.

The Riviera Centre’s Surf-Fit class takes place in the water and is suitable for all fitness levels.

Sessions incorporate water resistance, paddle boards and weights all aimed at improving balance, strength and endurance.

Personal trainer Jon Sims, who is the brains behind the concept, said: “I was keen to find a new and exciting way of working-out that incorporated the water sports I love and the unique

qualities offered by the Waves Pool at the Riviera Centre.

“Along with a couple of like-minded water-sports loving friends we have created a water inspired circuit, incorporating surf boards.

“We have been excited about the response from participants so far who have loved the challenge of something so new and different.”

Being the first of its kind, in the UK, the session has attracted the attention of the ASA, who are planning to film the class to inspire other leisure centres to follow suit.

Surf inspired fitness class launchedThe Surf-Fit class at the Riviera Centre in Torquay.

UK FITNESS SCENE22

Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield has unveiled a new state-of-the-art, HD scoreboard. The Swiss Timing Daktronics scoreboard has been installed in the Olympic-sized swimming pool as part of a £230,000 investment by operator SIV ahead of the start of the regional and national competitions season. Chief executive of SIV, Steve Brailey MBE, said: “The scoreboard upgrade is part of our continual investment in facilities and means the ever-increasing number of aquatics events at Ponds Forge will now have access to a world-class scoring solution and video play back facility.”Pictured with the new scoreboard are Richard Apps, general manager of Ponds Forge, SIV director Neale Gibson and Steve Brailey MBE, chief executive of SIV.

A TRIATHLETE has been successfully using the Versaclimber to help with her training and rehabilitation following an injury.

Samantha Gardiner accomplished her ambition of competing for Great Britain at the 2015 World Triathlon Championships, after a break from the sport of 18 years, overcoming an injury early in her training to be fit enough to take part.

She explained: “I had to begin from scratch and get fit enough to qualify in under 12 months.

“Unfortunately, early on in my

training, I injured my foot during a run, which is when I discovered Versaclimber.

“Due to its ability to provide a serious workout with zero impact on your joints, using the Versaclimber allowed me to continue with my training while recovering from my injury. In fact, I actually got fitter whilst I was injured.

“Next stop is the 2016 European Championships in Lisbon, and Versaclimber will remain an integral part of my training regime as I prepare for my next challenge.” Samantha Gardiner

Versaclimber helps Samantha with her rehab

Campaign aims to combat inactivityBARNSLEY’S Team Activ has designed a new fitness promotion campaign which aims to combat obesity and inactivity among young children through fun activities.

Inspired by the National Trails, the not for profit organisation, has designed Trek Activ: a new lunchtime running, walking or riding programme for schools designed to encourage children to get out and complete at least a mile a day.

The programme will introduce children to the 15 long distance National Trails, footpaths and byways

across the UK. Each month will focus on a featured trail beginning with the Pennine Way. Each mile the children cover will be logged and over the course of the year, children will virtually visit the whole of the UK.

Founder of Team Activ, Darren Padgett said: “Schools nationally are seeing an alarming rise in childhood obesity rates with over 20 per cent of children entering primary school obese and over 30 per cent leaving primary school obese.

“Trek Activ works to combat this issue and improve the health, fitness

and well-being of schoolchildren through a fun, social experience.

“We hope that this will provide long term goals which are tangible for students to work towards over the course of the year, which will be beneficial academically, socially and physically.

“Not only do we hope to improve the social, mental and physical well-being of all children taking part but we also aim to educate pupils by using cross curricular links to other subjects such as science and geography.”

BRITAIN is a nation of have-a-go health and fitness experts, offering out advice to colleagues, friends and family with no professional exper-tise to base it on, new research has claimed.

The survey of 1,000 UK adults, carried out by beabetteryoucourses.co.uk and published in the 2016 Fitness Knowledge Report, found gymgoers are regularly handing out advice on exercise and nutrition despite having no training.

The research found women are the biggest culprits, with 68 per cent admitting they have given this type

of advice to others in the past with-out being confident in what they were saying.

This kind of unsound advice is most likely to be given out in the workplace as one in three say they dish out their ‘expertise’ to col-leagues, while 28 per cent do so to friends, 22 per cent to family and nine per cent to fellow gym acquaintances.

Managing director at beabettery-oucourses.co.uk Simon Bubb said: “The data identified a worrying trend for gymgoers passing on pseudo knowledge of exercise and nutrition

to others, despite having no qualifi-cations to back it up.

“I think many people are guilty of this in one way or another, and health and fitness is one of those areas where people feel they can casually offer out advice without any repercussions but this practice can be quite dangerous.

“Gym enthusiasts who are really interested in helping people out in these areas should consider taking up formal training before giving out advice – doing so without this will not help others and could actually cause them harm.”

Brits ‘offer advice with no expertise’

UK FITNESS SCENE24

By Olivia Taylor

A LONDON based business is aiming to highlight the importance of exercising safely – offering a personal training studio and chiropractic clinic under the same roof.

Owain Evans opened Backspace Chiropractic Fitness in March, educating his clients about the importance of exercising properly.

He said: “Exercise is very good for you but it can also be very bad for you, it puts the body under an immense amount of stress.

“The little niggle in your back that never bothered you can suddenly turn into a slipped disc if you don’t exercise safely.

“People are slouching at their desks for eight hours a day, and it’s often what you do outside of the gym that gives you an injury in the gym.”

The personal trainers at the facility work alongside Owain to allow users to reach the next level in healthy movement.

Communication is a key part of Backspace’s business, with chiropractors informing the personal trainers exactly what areas of the client’s body needs working on.

Owain added: “I want to combine fitness and physical health. Gym injuries are a lot more common than we care to think, staff don’t see how often their members are injuring themselves at the gym.

“I believe simple tests to prevent injury should be available at the gym for members.”

The club has been able to secure a regular client base since opening its doors, providing members with two chiropractors, two personal trainers and two sports massage therapists.

Owain added: “It’s so lovely for me to see people getting behind my idea, I think it makes perfect sense. I can’t see why it isn’t the norm.

“To have people coming up to me and saying your passion is amazing makes me feel fantastic, it’s so rewarding.”

Importance of safety highlighted at studio

Backspace Chiropractic Fitness offers a PT studio and clinic under the same roof.

Oriam’s state-of-the-art sports hall is set to be put to good use, as three sporting governing bodies have signed official partnership deals. Basketball Scotland, Netball Scotland and the Scottish Handball association will all use the facility for national training and events from the launch in August onwards. Being built in Heriot-Watt University’s extensive campus in the west of Edinburgh, Oriam aims to provide Scotland’s top sportsmen and women with the facilities, access and support services pivotal for successful performance on the international stage. Once completed, the multi-sport centre will include a full-sized indoor pitch with seating for 500 spectators, top-level grass and synthetic outdoor pitches, a high performance strength and conditioning centre, a high performance medical centre and hydrotherapy pool, fitness centres and studios, a 12-court sports hall with 300 seats and various support services.

PLACES for People Leisure has partnered with exercise referral software specialist ReferAll to deliver the programming across its group.

The operator is developing its offering by switching from paper-based systems to ReferAll’s software, with the changes being rolled out across its estate over the next 12 to 18 months.

Head of fitness at Places for People, Leisure, Sarah Leonie, said: “We are very aware that a key weakness for the leisure industry is the lack of data.

“Our involvement with ukactive has shown the need for a robust health offering that can deliver key measurable and meaningful outcomes.

“One of the biggest drivers for change is improving the link and

gaining credibility within the medical community.

“ReferAll know the language to use when speaking to GPs and practice managers. This has not only helped us with direct contact but has also opened doors.”

Places for People is currently using ReferAll in five sites to support a number of programmes including centres in Mid Sussex, where the GP Referral scheme includes aqua, cancer and cardiac rehabilitation, as well as a brand new scheme in Gosport.

At Ferndown Leisure Centre the software is supporting multiple health programmes for cardiac, cancer, stroke and aqua rehabilitation, as well as falls prevention, which all sit under the exercise referral umbrella.

Operator set to deliver group’s programming

UK FITNESS SCENE 27

LIFE Leisure Cheadle has received a prestigious award from Sport England’s National Benchmarking Service, a scheme which allows local authorities to compare the performance of their sports and leisure centres with that of equivalent facilities elsewhere in the country.

The centre was one of just four top-scoring facilities to receive an award in the Efficiency category at this year’s NBS Awards, presented at the Quest and NBS Conference in Loughborough.

The scheme is delivered on behalf of Sport England by Leisure-net Solutions in partnership with the Sport Industry Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University.

Participating centres can opt for one

of three services: the Effectiveness Report, focusing on access and customer satisfaction; the Efficiency Report, focusing on utilisation and finance, or the Full NBS Report, which combines the two.

Senior business manager at Life Leisure Cheadle, Chris Scott, said: “We’re delighted to receive this award. To be recognised as a top-scoring centre in the Efficiency category of NBS is a fantastic achievement, and a testament to the hard work and dedication of our whole team.

“Four other Life Leisure facilities were also assessed and scored very well, and this just demonstrates that Life Leisure is continuing to work hard to be efficient in all areas.”

Life Leisure Cheadle wins awardDave Lornie, Leigh Grice, Mel Huddleston, Chris Scott and Mike Norman.

A BUSINESSMAN has taken the leisure industry by storm after creating the first ever fitness equipment buying and selling app.

Unlike many entrepreneurs who get their inspiration whilst on the treadmill or at the gym, Daniel Jones from Cheshire came up with the idea while changing a nappy!

It was just months after starting his online trading business webuyanygymequipment.com

He was juggling business calls and emails while looking after his toddler and baby when the idea for the new app hit him.

He said: “Like most working parents I was trying to juggle a hundred things at once and it became increasingly clear how precious time is to everyone. If something can’t be done quickly, it often just doesn’t get done at all.

“So I came up with the idea of a super-fast, easy-to-use app that people can use to sell used commercial gym equipment.

“As a former gym manager, I know that gym owners are incredibly busy

people and selling gym equipment is a notoriously time consuming and complicated process.

“So I’ve made life a whole lot easier for them. Now they can take a few pictures on their phone and, using the WBAGE app, have thousands of pounds worth of equipment up for sale in just minutes.”

The webuyanygymequipment.com app is now available from the iphone app store –

search ‘sell gym equipment’ and it can be downloaded free.

Fitness equipment buying and selling app launched

BOXERCISE instructors have collectively raised over £30,000 for charity.

Box2Beat Cancer was organised in conjunction with Ovarian Cancer Action.

Director of Boxercise Instructor

Training Andy Wake said “My wife is a cancer survivor so this is a cause close to my own heart.

“The Boxercise instructors have beaten last year’s total of £25,000 by a large margin. I am incredibly proud of them and their hard work.”

Boxercise instructors raise £30,000

UK FITNESS SCENE28

Are you winking at the girl in the dark? By Dave Wright

RUNNING a business without marketing is like winking at a girl in the dark – you may think you are getting your message across, but no one else does.

Let’s get something straight – clubs need to market. Period. You have to get your message across as to who you are, what you do and how you help people achieve results.

The way you greet your existing customers, the way you dress and present yourself within your club, your relationship with local media sources and now more than ever, the way you conduct your online digital presence is all critical messaging (albeit subtle), to put more revenue to your bottom line.

And now, never before, with the accessibility of the internet, has it been easier and more cost effective to get that message across.

However, today in the age of digital awareness, there is no place to hide. This is both a blessing and a curse.

The blessing is that in an extremely financially efficient way, you and your members can go out and market your club for you and all the great things you do.

The curse is that everyone is a critic and anything that you do wrong, your customers will tell the world about it. (And we know how noisy customers can be).

If you are starting out on this

journey, then the main aim of the game is to build that element of `trust’ with your potential clientele and creating a stronger `bond’ with your existing ones.

There is nothing wrong with letting the world know the great things that you do. There is nothing wrong with providing free information and tips for non-members to access. There is nothing wrong with asking questions to your online community about what they like and dislike with your club.

You want the market for potential customers to see the real you, rather than just judging you on your brand of equipment.

You want them to see your personality, your interests, what you’re doing throughout the day, and they get to see whether or not

you are a club that they can imagine themselves being a part of.

With social media such as Facebook/ Instagram/ youtube/ twitter/ linkedin, anyone can be a David and defeat a Goliath. In the fitness world we have seen this with online personal trainers who are earning more revenue and making more profits with a smartphone than 50+ chain operators and millions of pounds of equipment and debt. The internet is a leveraged play where everyone is welcome.

The opportunity is there for the taking. I’ve often said that a kettlebell is a kettlebell, but some trainers turn it into a six figure business. The same too with marketing your business.

Sing out loud, turn on the lights, stand in the spotlight and you might actually find that that girl that was once in the dark, is actually winking at you!

Dave Wright is the CEO of CFM (Creative Fitness Marketing), CEO and creator of MYZONE, owner of the Feelgood Fitness and Voyage Fitness Club chains, a former board director of ukactive and founder of the IOU.

With offices in Chicago (US), Nottingham (UK) and Melbourne (Oz), Dave’s companies have worked directly with over 5,000 health clubs across 30 different countries, encouraging people to be more and stay more physically active.

He may be contacted on Dave@myzone.org

Dave Wright

AN independent gym in Scotland has teamed up with an innovative fitness app to reward its members for being active.

Members at National Fitness Awards’ finalist ThinkFitness 4 Less Gym in Hawick who sign up for the bounts app, connect it to a fitness tracker or smartphone app and check into the gym are able to earn

points if they participate in at least 20 minutes of physical activity.

Once members have amassed enough points, these can be exchanged for high street vouchers which can be spent on anything from cinema tickets to clothing. The more times they exercise; the more points they will earn.

Co-owner Greg Dalgleish said: “We

are delighted to be able to offer our members rewards for exercising. It’s a great incentive for anyone to adopt and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

“Over the next few weeks, local shops from Hawick and the Scottish Borders can become part of the Bounts Rewards Scheme which is great as it encourages the shop local attitude.”

Gym teams up with app to reward its members

CELEBRITY personal trainer Mark Anthony has opened his third gym under the Rush Fitness brand.

The new facility is the flagship site for the brand and is located inside Friars Square shopping centre, just three minutes walk from Aylesbury station.

Leisure design and build specialist Createability transformed the area into a 1,000sqm gym boasting 120 cardiovascular equipment and strength stations, a free weights zone with dumbbells up to 50kg, a 94 sqm group functional training/suspension area, a spin studio and an exercise studio where a variety of classes are offered, along with two changing areas.

Each exercise area is colour coded with blue designating the CV sector, red features freeweights, green indicates the resistance area, and orange showcases the functional

zone, while a brightly lit, three-lane running track style entrance ramp greets members as they walk through the door.

Mark said: “We believe that results driven by motivation, not a 12-month tie in, should be the catalyst for a long standing gym membership, so there is no joining contract. And unlike many low cost gyms, Rush Fitness

offers a wide range of classes free to all members, including Spinning, Fast and Furious, Boot Camp, Mind and Body, Rush Hour and even Look Good Naked!”

Members can also upgrade to receive one of his The Rush Method training programmes, which include Muscle Up, Weight Off, Beach Body and Get Ripped.

Celebrity PT opens flagship gym

Mark Anthony has opened his third gym under the Rush Fitness brand.

2

UK FITNESS SCENE34

A YORKSHIRE independent gym has organised a spin-a-thon challenge and fun day to raise funds for Crohn’s and Colitis UK, after watching a member’s brave struggle against Crohn’s disease.

During the event, which takes place later this month, each sponsored spinner will be sprinting on a bike for two hours. There will also be a raffle, kids’ tombola and other events inside the gym.

Member Matt Doyle, who is the inspiration for the event, said: “As an amateur bodybuilder and winner of the Open Yorkshire Classic in 2010, my Crohn’s diagnosis should have been the end of my body building workouts, but there was no way it was going to get the better of me.

“My workout routines, and my Workout Warehouse family help me to remain positive, after all, what the mind believes, the body achieves.

“Crohn’s and Colitis UK continues to be a great support network, and the fact that Workout Warehouse wants to hold a charity event for my charity makes me extremely proud. I’ll be there on the day, helping to raise awareness.”

Matt also hosts a You Tube Channel, ‘Living with STOMA’ to provide hints and tips on how to use weights when you have a stoma bag.

Gym owner Hadley Pollard added: “Our Spin-A-Thon Challenge is set to be a brilliant event, as we are raising

money and awareness for a charity close to the gym’s heart.

“We are a friendly and local independent gym, and for that reason, we want locals to come down, join in and have fun. Together, we can reach our target of £2,000 for a great cause.”

Gym takes on spin-a-thon challenge in aid of charity

Member Matt Doyle and Aaron Tetley from Bailey’s Workout Warehouse.

A new shower system with technology inspired by jet engines, aerospace and automotive engineering, launched at this year’s FIBO – promising to reduce water usage and costs for gyms. Kelda Technology has designed and developed a product which uses half the water of an ordinary shower. CEO Chris Jackson said: “This launch is a huge accomplishment. We’ve been researching, developing and perfecting our technology for five years and are confident in saying that every gym that installs Kelda Technology will quickly see a sub-stantial saving, which can be invested back into the all-important customer experience for gym users. The technology we’ve developed has been rigorously tested at the University of Southampton and is a perfect example of how something as high-tech as a jet engine can be harnessed to improve businesses and stop gym operators pouring their money down the drain.”Chris Jackson and Selina Shackleton are pictured at the launch of Kelda Technology.

XERO’S integration with business management software MINDBODY is now available to US and UK customers.

Previously only available in Australia and New Zealand, this combined streamlined business management and accounting solution enables users to transfer their financial sales data from MINDBODY’s business management software into Xero’s accounting platform, allowing them to schedule more appointments, manage transactions, create reports

and more from one place. Chief strategy officer at MINDBODY,

Brad Wills, said: “The wellness business is about relationships, and spending quality time with clients is a must for our subscribers.

“Financial reporting can be time consuming, taking time away from the client. We’re delighted that our Xero integration is now available for more customers, helping them to streamline their accounting processes and save time, so they can focus on their clients.”

New software launched in UK

UK FITNESS SCENE 37Traditional advertising may no longer be the smartest way to spend money in order to attract new members, according to research, which has revealed online enquiries are becoming increasingly important. Sales and service specialist Lesley Aitken tells Workout why operators shouldn’t ignore these statistics.

Hanging on-line ...SO it seems that good old advertising is no longer the smartest way to spend money in order to attract new members.

Research by sales and service strategy specialist Nurturing Skills and customer insight expert Leisure-net Solutions shows only seven per cent of prospective members are attracted via traditional advertising and just 13 per cent through outreach activities, such as leaflet drops. Member referral schemes drive 30 per cent of all enquiries, whilst a staggering 50 per cent enquire online.

The research found that out of 2,500 memberships sold, half came from online enquiries. So why does it take operators an average of 30 hours to respond?

Added to this, only 20 per cent received a phone call from the membership sales team, 60 per cent received an email and a shameful 20 per cent received no follow-up contact at all.

So, does it really matter how fast and how well you respond to online enquiries? The short answer is yes!

The speed your membership sales team responds to online enquiries is paramount to converting the prospect into a fully-fledged new member. But, the quality of the response is key too. Friendly, approachable, supportive and knowledgeable… they’re all essential attributes.

And with competition among health and fitness clubs, gyms and leisure centres at its most fierce, giving great customer service is critical. If your membership sales team doesn’t give great customer service, your competitors will.

At least half of all prospective new members choose to enquire online – it’s quick, convenient and easy, which is crucial nowadays given our frantic lifestyles.

So how should you capitalise on these valuable leads?

1. Make certain your website is

quick and easy to navigate, and that your enquiry form is simple to complete.

2. Be quick off the mark with a personalised email acknowledgement, which details membership options and offers, and invites the prospective new member to take a tour of your facilities.

3. Implement an autoresponder email series – a great marketing tool that automatically responds to the prospect, thanking them for the enquiry and explaining a member of the team will call to answer questions and set up an appointment to tour/join. A member of the team can then follow up with a call to provide a personal, friendly and helpful touch.

4. Most important of all – ensure your membership sales team picks up the phone and calls the prospective new member within 15 minutes of the enquiry being registered.

Of those 20 per cent of operators responding by phone, our research showed just 20 per cent responded within one hour. More than a third responded within one to 24-hours, a quarter took longer than 24 hours and a disgraceful 20 per cent didn’t respond at all.

Every enquirer is driven by a personal and emotional response; whether it be losing weight, getting fit, making new

friends, recovering from birth or surgery, or simply taking up a new hobby. Joining your gym involves a sensitive decision-making process.

So when a member of your sales team calls the prospective new member, it’s important they have the skills, training and confidence to build a rapport. Talking about the prospective member’s interests, concerns and goals offers the perfect platform to demonstrate how your club will provide the ideal solution.

And last, but by no means least, you need to address how to improve your membership sales team’s lead response and performance. Start by providing valuable training sessions that cover areas such as product knowledge, questioning skills, how people buy, how to create value, how to differentiate from your competition and influencing and closing skills. And choose a sales trainer who understands what it’s like to sell memberships in today’s marketplace. Don’t forget to implement targets.

Also, monitor call performance and conversion of web enquiries to sales. Manage peak enquiry periods, such as the New Year rush, prioritise urgent customer contact calls, and audit your team’s performance. And finally, recognise and reward team members who deserve praise.

Lesley Aitken is a trainer and speaker specialising in sales and service with a 25-year career in the health and fitness industry.

She is the founder of Nurturing Skills and works both nationally and internationally with sales people, service professionals and leaders in the private and local authority sectors.

Watch out for the second part of the feature next issue which reveals how one leisure centre achieved success following these principles.

Lesley Aitken

NEWCASTLE’S Centre for Sport is set to benefit from £1.3m of investment into its facilities and services this year, with renovation and expansion work starting later this month.

The funding will see the cen-tre’s existing gym area refur-bished and extended and the introduction of state-of-the-art Technogym fitness equipment.

A new multi-purpose fitness studio will be created, along with a new look reception area

and customer café, all under the management of charitable leisure operator NCL.

The highlight of the invest-ment programme will be the launch of a new 13,000 sqft Better Extreme Trampoline Park – the first dedicated trampoline park to open in Newcastle.

Chair of the NCL Newcastle Board Roger Tames said: “By changing the use of some spaces and reconfiguring

others we hope to attract new visitors to the centre, whilst also improving the experience and range of activities on offer to existing customers.

“This will be the third Better Extreme trampoline park to be opened by the GLL group (NCL’s parent) and feedback from the existing venues has been hugely positive, with visitors of all ages and levels of fitness enjoying the experi-ence.”

£1.3m investment planned for Centre

UK FITNESS SCENE38

By Christina Eccles

EXPANDING the offering both inside its centres and out is helping one operator reach out to a wider cross section of the community.

BH Live, which operates facilities in Bournemouth and the surrounding areas, has enjoyed a prosperous 2016 so far, with membership numbers across its sites now standing at around 21,000 – a growth of over 120 per cent since 2012.

Offering the community greater choice has been key to the operator’s success, with multi site membership enabling customers to access any of its facilities to attend the gym and classes.

For those who don’t come into the centres, BH Live is also working hard to offer other opportunities to take part in physical activity by delivering a range of community fitness projects.

These initiatives also give participants the chance to meet with staff who can help to break down any barriers; building their confidence so eventually they may feel able to step inside a leisure facility.

Director of leisure facilities at BH Live Mike Lyons explained: “It’s not just gym based; we’ve seen growth across the group.

“Swimming is up six per cent, which is really positive, and we’ve received

Sport England and Sporta funding to put on a local run initiative. That takes place every Sunday and numbers are climbing significantly. Even if you put something on at a discount or which is free in the centres, it is still sometimes a challenge to engage with people. To come into a new environment can seem quite disconcerting.

“We feel we have to go out and try and attract people to do something. They may not come in two or three times a week to the centres, but if you go out into the community and hold taster sessions with staff who can engage, then there is the opportunity to engage them in the centres longer term.”

The increase in membership numbers and useage has also put BH Live in a strong position to be able to invest back into facilities.

One of its most recent projects has been the redevelopment of the Littledown Centre where a £1.7m investment, funded in partnership with Bournemouth Borough Council, has seen the centre transformed,

with users now able to benefit from two multi-purpose fitness studios and a gym extension featuring the latest cardio and strength equipment, Synrgy and functional fitness zones.

Mike added: “Since the new health and wellbeing facilities at Littledown opened, they have been very well received by customers with fantastic feedback. In the gym we have launched gym based group exercise classes and in the new studio spaces we have expanded our health and wellbeing programme.

“We have also launched a new activity programme aimed at young people and their families to encourage taking part in activity together.

“In addition, our new Club 813 programme provides activities specifically for eight to 13 year olds to engage with this particular age group. During 2016 we are also looking at carrying out improvements to the hospitality areas, cafés and bars.”

Further development plans in the pipeline over the coming months include the opening of a former Virgin Active club at Corfe Mullen, which has recently acquired by BH Live. As part of this project, £1m will be reinvested to update and improve the pool, gym, studios and community facilities before the reopening, which is scheduled to take place this summer.

Offering greater choice is key to operator’s success

Serendipity Gym in Selby has held a successful fundraiser for York Against Cancer. The club ran a classathon, where instructors taught 18 hours of classes over two days, including Boxercise, Insanity and kettlebells. Members paid £3 per class to participate and some got sponsored as they completed up to 12 of the 18 sessions. The event raised over £1000, with the gym also holding a pre-loved clothing sale, which has taken their fundraising total to nearly £1,500.

Mike Lyons

UK FITNESS SCENE 39

Members at a ladies only gym have been showing their generosity with two charity initiatives. During March, Curves Eastleigh held a promotion where they waived their joining fee in exchange for a bag of non perishable goods. The items were donated to Eastleigh Food Bank, with the club also collecting over 150 donated Easter Eggs. Owner Michelle Goodyear said: “We have so many lovely members who are so generous and support us in so many ways.”

Ballerinas pass on exercise method to mothers-to-beBy Olivia Taylor

A PAIR of ballerinas are passing on their exercise method to expectant mothers in the form of their fitness model, Baby Sleek.

The Baby Sleek concept falls under the Sleek Technique brand, founded by Victoria Marr and Flik Swan, and aims to provide women with an easy to access online ballet fitness programme.

Victoria said: “We both loved training and classical ballet, it kept us very fit and our fitness was something that we didn’t want to lose.”

The duo came up with the idea of Baby Sleek to keep fit through their pregnancies.

The carefully designed pre-natal program will accompany a woman through every stage of her pregnancy, strengthening, supporting and shaping her changing body and then helping her regain the physique she feels most comfortable in once baby has arrived.

Flik added: “Our method is based on our authentic knowledge of ballet and what really works to sculpt and tone

a woman’s changing body throughout her pregnancy.”

Using a mix of classical ballet technique, isometric conditioning and light cardio exercises, Baby Sleek by Sleek Technique consists of two, individually priced, ready to view, streaming bundles of four and nine workouts, both providing a full body work-out.

Victoria added: “Because the workouts are online ladies are able to balance them between their children and their job.”

The work outs haven’t just attracted the attention of the British public, with people from Europe, America and Japan logging on to have a go.

Victoria added: “We’re very conscious that if we were in a studio that we would be restricted. We wanted to reach as many people as we possibly could and that’s what we’ve done.

“It’s great that people are getting involved with our product, we believe in it and it’s growing around the world.”

Victoria Marr and Flik Swan, founders of the Sleek Technique brand.

FALKIRK Community Trust has won ReferAll’s 2016 Foundation Award, giving them a one-year exercise referral software licence worth over £2,000.

ReferAll, which specialises in software solutions to enhance the efficiency of exercise referrals from GP to leisure provider, created the Foundation Award in 2014 with a vision to provide the tools for organisations to help people to achieve a healthy lifestyle.

Falkirk Community Trust, a leisure trust will receive a licence for ReferAll’s scheme

administrator module. The module includes a client-centric customer management system complete with reporting, text message package, PAR-Q and evaluation questionnaires.

One day of training at ReferAll’s head office in Worthing or via a webinar has also been incorporated.

Active Forth coordinator at Falkirk Community Trust, Lee Kelso, said: “Via our Active Forth referral scheme, we are keen to enable as many people as possible to access our fitness facilities and to enhance both

their physical and mental wellbeing.

“The Foundation Award is a fantastic opportunity for us to hone in on the challenges of retention and how we chart our patients’ journeys. ReferAll captures this really well in terms of the four, eight and 12 week appointments.

“It is also crucial that our staff can spend more time with members rather than doing paperwork so that they can deliver the best possible member experience.

“ReferAll will give us the tools to do this.”

Falkirk Community Trust wins award

UK FITNESS SCENE40

SPORTA will be holding its AGM in Bournemouth later this month – and for the first time will formally recognise the achievements of members throughout the UK with an awards ceremony.

Taking place at Bournemouth Pavilion on May 11 and hosted by BBC sports presenter Garry Richardson, the awards celebrate what members have achieved during the year, and highlight the difference leisure and cultural trusts and staff are making in their local communities.

Sporta chief executive Brian Leonard said: “We’ve received over 100 inspiring entries for the awards,

showing the diversity, innovation and impact of Sporta members working to promote, develop and support leisure and culture throughout the UK.

“All entries will be celebrated as part of a wider campaign to demonstrate the distinctive capabilities of the trust model and the impact this has on local communities.

“We’re looking forward to holding our event in Bournemouth Pavilion, which is an excellent example of a thriving cultural community hub operated by social enterprise BH Live in partnership with Bournemouth Borough Council.

“It’s a splendid platform for our inaugural awards.”

Bournemouth Pavilion will host Sporta’s AGM.

Sporta to recognise members with first awards ceremony

NORTHAMPTON Leisure Trust’s Trilogy gyms have teamed up with fitness app bounts, which rewards people for being active and provides motivation to get people moving.

By signing up to the free app and connecting it to a fitness tracker or smartphone app and checking in with Trilogy, members can earn points if they participate in at least 20 minutes of physical activity.

Once members have amassed enough points, they can be

exchanged for high street vouchers which can be spent on anything from cinema tickets to clothing.

The more times they exercise; the more points they will earn.

Head of performance, business development and operations at Northampton Leisure Trust, John Fletcher, said: “Enabling our members to be rewarded every time they exercise with us is a real motivator on their journey to achieving their fitness goals.”

Trust teams up with bounts

By Christina Eccles

THE first Wildfit course has launched in Trowbridge Park, Wiltshire, to encourage local people to enjoy the benefits of exercising outdoors.

The course, which is free to use, includes a trail to run or walk and exercise zones that target different aspects of fitness.

Each piece of equipment has clear user guidance and has been designed to be used by anybody, regardless of their level of fitness or experience.

The activity trail was designed by Phil Walker at Wildfit, himself a stroke survivor.

Phil was already a qualified fitness trainer but his own experience and recovery taught him the particular benefits of outdoor activity in the fresh air.

He said: “When I was released from hospital and still finding my feet after being paralysed, I felt trapped in a world of depression, negativity and anger.

“Despite being prescribed medication to improve my mental

wellbeing, I found the most effective treatment was simply being active outdoors.

“I set about putting together my own rehabilitation programme.

“My focus switched from being in the gym to being outside, in the garden, in the local fields, on country lanes, in woodland, on dirt tracks, using walls, benches, rocks and trees as the foundations of my programme.”

Further down the road to recovery, Phil joined forces with Johns Associates Ltd, a local environmental consultancy.

He added: “The concept we worked on was to design and create outdoor activity courses that encourage people to be more active in a well landscaped, ecologically sensitive environment that itself promotes physical and mental wellbeing.”

How are you taking your workouts outside? Let us know what activities you’re doing with members or PT clients and you could feature in a future issue. Send your comments to ce@scriptmedia.co.uk

New Wildfit course encourages people to train outdoors

Staff at an independent gym in Solihull enjoyed meeting a famous face who recently popped in for a work out. Singer Ellie Goulding and her team – pictured here with MK Health Hub founder Matt Kendrick and lead coach Sean Rai – visited the club while on tour in Birmingham. Matt said: “We are proud to have high profile individuals like Ellie here at MK Health Hub as we feel she is a fantastic ambassador for women’s health and fitness. Ellie is a great advert for training at a high intensity, always pushing herself to the limit.”

UK FITNESS SCENE42

FIT gym members have been given the chance to try out a new challenge which tests their physical strength and endurance.

Creator of World Gym Challenge, Sean Blyth has launched the Gym Online X Training Championships, which has already attracted the likes of FitBrit 2015 winners Charles Green and Tracy Davies.

The challenge includes six online events done inside the gym, with participants submitting their results via Facebook.

Sean then adds the results into league tables, with results from the best four out of the six events counting towards being named Ultimate Gym Athlete for 2016.

He explained: “The results I’m getting back for the individuals are amazing. They are all going into faster time modes as each time they are in the gym they are really focused to beat a previous time, which also means they know exactly what they

are going to do in a gym on the day they turn up and leave feeling really proud if they achieved their goal.”

The challenge costs £50.00 to join – per series of six events – and Sean manages their accounts – all they need do is send their results to him via facebook. He added: “As it’s online and done at your gym, there is no need to travel anywhere and you can choose when you do them.

“Most gyms have members who are competitive – they are normally a small crowd in the gym, but the gym has to cater for the majority, so these guys tend to be left out of events at the gym.

“So this is targeting them to try and find their perfect training partner online and compete against them. It’s great fun.”

Those wanting to push themselves even further can also take on Hell Week where they are challenged to train for seven days and achieve seven personal bests.

Championships launched to test members’ physical strength and endurance

By Christina Eccles

DELEGATES and presenters have praised the new look FitPro LIVE, which saw a renewed focus on high quality education and professional development for personal trainers.

This year’s event took place at the Novotel London West in Hammersmith and by choosing an intimate venue, FitPro created a select learning environment with capped workshop and seminar numbers.

This enabled delegates to enjoy individual face-time with presenters to ensure better understanding of the subjects covered.

The event size and location was a move away from previous events, which have included programmes for group exercise instructors and accommodated greater numbers of delegates, as well as a larger trade show.

Director of FitPro and event director Jane Waller said: “Those events are

plenty of fun and great entertainment, but the feedback we have received from PTs is that they are crying out for high-quality face-to-face education, particularly as so much fitness education is now online.

“An opportunity like this gives them the confidence to get meaningful and lasting results for their clients using the latest evidence-based research.

“By converting FitPro LIVE into this new, tightly focused format, we have been able to tailor it entirely to the specialist topics like functional ageing, calisthenics and Olympic Weightlifting, which we know personal trainers want to learn about, in a collaborative atmosphere where ideas could be exchanged.”

Dean Zweck, a trainer at Virgin Active, who was attending his eighth consecutive FitPro event, added:

“Seeing speakers such as Peter Twist and Dan Duran left me feeling energised and gave me tools I could use immediately with clients.”

New format FitPro LIVE is praised by attendees

FitPro LIVE focused on high quality education and professional development for PTs.

UK FITNESS SCENE44

Free MYZONE® with all Memberdrive campaignsCFM is offering free MYZONE with its Memberdrive campaigns to give club owners the best chance of attracting new members and keeping them for longer.

CFM is the world’s largest and longest serving fitness marketing company designed to recruit new members for health clubs. With no financial outlay or expense to your facility, CFM provides the money, manpower and marketing to generate between 100-500 new members in just four to six weeks, boosting your monthly cash flow.

As exclusive distributors of MYZONE products in the UK, CFM is now including a free MYZONE system with all of its Memberdrive campaigns.

MYZONE is an accurate effort tracking system that has been specifically designed to help club owners engage with their members and retain them for longer.

The technology provides users with instant feedback on their exercise intensity, as well as feedback over time, allowing members to track their progress whether they are working out in your club, at home or in their local park.

When members strap on the MYZONE belt, screens around the club provide a real time display of their training intensity, which acts as a powerful motivator.

MYZONE helps staff to engage with members by setting personal goals, creating leader boards and friendly competitions which encourages them to put in the effort required to get the health and fitness results they are looking for.

This means: Members become engaged in the

first 30 days of their membership, using the club more often and staying members for longer.

You can enhance premium services such as personal training.

You directly benefit from the wearable technology boom through commission on MYZONE belt sales.

By launching MYZONE at the same time as running a Memberdrive campaign, you benefit from having two experienced sales consultants on site to work with both new and existing members.

You will also earn commission from every single sale without any personal outlay.

The combination of MYZONE and a Memberdrive campaign really is the perfect solution for attracting new members to your club and keeping them for longer.

For more information visit www.cfm.net

EVERYONE Active has been named Southwark Council’s sports and leisure services partner for the next seven years.

The contract – which will commence on June 21 – will see Everyone Active work in partnership with Southwark Council to manage the eight leisure centres in Southwark.

This includes Camberwell Leisure Centre, Dulwich Leisure Centre, Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Sports Facility, Peckham Pulse Healthy Living Centre, Southwark Athletics Centre, Seven Islands Leisure Centre and Surrey Docks Watersports Centre. It also includes the new £20m leisure centre, The Castle Centre. Everyone Active will also deliver the council’s free swim and gym programme.

£2.7m of investment from Everyone Active into the popular centres will ensure top-class facilities for

Southwark residents and local sports and leisure groups. Investment will include the refurbishment of five of the fitness suites and the installation of new Technogym equipment in year one of the contract.

A host of other refurbishments will be carried out including the installation of new group exercise equipment at four of the centres.

SLM Ltd’s managing director David Bibby said: “This is a major sports and leisure contract in London, which we are delighted to have secured.

“We work hard to engage with local communities and encourage more people to be active and live a healthier lifestyle.

“Our focus is now on ensuring that we achieve that aim in Southwark and that we manage the centres to the highest possible standard in partnership with Southwark Council.”

Operator to run eight centres in Southwark

Everyone Active will invest £2.7m as part of the seven-year contract.

INCLUSIVE FITNESS46

By Christina Eccles

A WEST Midlands leisure centre is helping an inspirational member fight back from a debilitating illness.

Tabi Fung from Sandwell was diagnosed with Myalgic Encephalopathy (ME) when she was 14 and has always experienced joint and mobility problems.

Her condition took a turn for the worst in May 2014, when she woke up with no feeling from her waist down.

This led to a six-and-a-half-week stay in hospital and Tabi was told by doctors there was nothing more they could do to help her regain feeling in her legs.

At this point she was discharged, her physiotherapy stopped and Tabi had to comprehend the idea of living her life in a wheelchair.

Determined to do whatever she could to help herself, Tabi started her own rehabilitation through training at Portway Lifestyle Centre, with the full intention of being able to walk again.

And over the past few months, she has been making great progress; working with personal trainer Scott Parish using kit such as the Life Fitness SYNRGY360.

She said: “Since January I’ve dropped two dress sizes, my upper body has more definition and I have muscles I never had before.

“I feel so motivated using SYNRGY360 and I really enjoy going to the classes based around the training system.

“There is such a diverse range of people who go to the class, although I’m the only one who goes in a wheelchair that I’ve seen.

“The most brilliant thing is that while the rest of the class is doing burpees, lunges and mountain climbers, the staff will always find me something I can do.

“Scott in particular finds me a range of exercises I can do to work as much of me as possible whilst I’m sitting in my wheelchair – I always feel included and normal. My posture has improved dramatically because Scott incorporates a lot of rotation work, which is in turn creating protection around my spine to prevent it from further damage.”

Scott added: “Tabi has improved her strength immensely since starting here and we’re all extremely impressed with how far she’s come – it’s truly inspirational.”

Centre helping Tabi fight back from a debilitating illness

Tabi Fung with personal trainer Scott Parish.

A DETERMINED personal trainer is looking to raise £250,000 to open his own gym, which will be specifically designed for people with special needs.

Kyle Worrall came up with the idea of Inclusive Leisure after working in the UK fitness industry and spending two summers in Texas supporting groups of people with illnesses or special needs.

After realising there are very few UK facilities which can offer this, he came up with a vision to create a leisure establishment targeted predominantly towards disabled and impaired users, which will provide a unique, completely barrier free and accessible environment.

Inclusive Leisure will be available to everyone – with equipment purpose built for disabled users – and Kyle’s dream is to open a club in the Telford area, where he believes it is desperately needed by locals.

He explained: “It will be a fully accessible gym, with a sensory room

and community room and it will be built around people with special needs. From the research I’ve done, this is very much needed in the community.”

Kyle, who is setting up the business as well as holding down his current job as a support worker, is currently exploring funding options and contacting organisations such as The National Lottery and Sport England in the hope they will be able to help.

He has also managed to raise the profile of the project further over the last few months, thanks to the efforts of a volunteer marketing team, who have been spreading the word to potential investors and the press via social media and drumming up additional support.

He added: “At the minute we are trying to get funding and building our online presence.

“We are exploring a lot of funding avenues, as well as speaking to the local council. It’s really started to take off over the past six months.”

PT hopes to open gym for people with special needs

Kyle Worrall is looking to raise £250,00 to open a new gym.

BODYPOWER PREVIEW48With this year’s BodyPower Expo now just weeks away, once again thousands of visitors are expected to descend on the NEC in Birmingham from May 13-15 for another action-packed show. In our special preview, Workout speaks to CEO Nick Orton about how plans are going and reveals some of the highlights to watch out for this year.

How are things going for this year’s show?The show seems to come around quicker and quicker every year! We spend a lot of time behind the scenes ensuring that planning is spot on so that visitors get the best experience.

We’ve had a slightly disrupted preparation for this year’s event with our acquisition of LIW which runs at the end of September but I’m delighted with the progress that has been made and having someone like female fitness sensation Dana Linn Bailey in the line-up shows we’re still attracting the world’s top fitness athletes and new ways to make sure the show is a brilliant weekend of fitness entertainment.

Advance ticket sales are excellent, so people should book in advance for faster entry into BodyPower – there’s something very special about a big queue of like-minded people at the NEC every year with everyone happy to exchange training tips and compare physiques, but personally I

still think getting your ticket booked in advance is the best option as it avoids the queues! What should visitors be looking out for this year? What or who are you most excited about bringing to the show?Well, we’ve got Michelle Lewin making her first appearance this year which will be really special for her huge female following. Legend Ronnie Coleman is coming over despite a recent major operation and people like Kai Greene, Big Ramy, Jeremy Buendia, Ryan Terry, Steve Cook and Eddie Hall (to name a few) who will draw queues that are genuinely unbelievable.

We’ve introduced the Workout Arena this year which will see live workouts from some of the biggest names and I’m excited at the prospect of seeing the intensity of these guys and girls up close. We’re doing calisthenics for the first time with Battle of the Bars and we’re seeing the introduction of the BodyPower Games – a high intensity functional fitness competition.

The show is packed with inspiration and that’s the main goal – inspiring people to push themselves and to become fitter and healthier. Why would you encourage people to attend?I think, more than anything else, the atmosphere generated at BodyPower really is quite special. There’s this overwhelming positivity that’s almost euphoric, and every visitor seems to have this insatiable desire to learn and to meet their idols so that, when they get a picture or an autograph, it’s cathartic.

People coming to BodyPower can learn about so many things about fitness, we cover nutrition in our Healthy Eating Kitchen, Olympic lifting, Power Lifting, Strongman, bodybuilding and it’s really the whole spectrum of fitness. I’d say the event is unmissable (with obvious bias!) but judging on the growth of our visitor numbers consistently every year it’s clearly a show that resonates with people on a number of levels. Why should fitness professionals attend? What is going to be tailored to them?A couple of years ago I heard from our marketing team that one in five visitors were involved in the industry at a professional level. That’s an incredible percentage when you think 90,000 people will attend this year. My goal is to grow the fitness bubble globally and we need an educated workforce to do that.

We run a theatre called The Academy which is packed with world class educators such as Phil Learney, Martin MacDonald, Jean-Claude

Vacassin and many others who provide fitness professionals with incredible knowledge and practical insight. These sessions carry CPD points as well. But the whole show is an advert for the industry.

Many people start their career in fitness after visiting BodyPower and we have feature areas all over the show that can benefit a fitness professional’s knowledge and skills. Why do you think the show has become so popular? Any plans for the future you can tell us about?I think the show has become so popular for a number of reasons. There’s very few shows in the world that deliver the kind of inspiration that BodyPower offers and we ensure that the athletes who come to the show are world class – which is a key reason people attend.

We run features and competitions that get bigger each year so there’s more at stake, and we do our utmost to stay relevant which means launching things like bodypower.com as a global fitness media hub and adapting the way we advertise and market the show.

We’ve got a number of projects going on beyond the expo as we grow BodyPower as a brand on the global stage – including things like male grooming products, taking an IFBB Pro Show to India and our BodyPower Studio franchise giving PTs the chance to own their own facility.

We pride ourselves on driving growth for global fitness and there’s going to be plenty of exciting developments coming out of BodyPower in the coming months.

A Workout Arena, Battle of the Bars and the BodyPower Games are some of the new attractions that are been introduced at this year’s event.

World’s top fitness athletes to appear at action-packed show

BodyPower Expo CEO Nick Orton.

Ryan Terry will appear at BodyPower Expo.

BODYPOWER PREVIEW 49

Show on a mission to get UK movingTHE aim of this year’s show is to get people moving; making fitness more accessible and less daunting to the public.

Throughout the event, coaches and trainers will be on the show floor – giving top advice on training and nutrition – while other features have been designed to arm visitors with the tools to get out and lead a healthier and fitter life.

Key features include: Back to Basics Zone:

The zone will be a hub of fitness edu-cation and learning offering novices workshops, live demonstrations, have-a-go educational sessions and Q&A sessions with industry experts.

The Academy:Visitors will have the chance to learn an array of fitness tips and tricks from leading experts in the world of health and fitness. Visitors can enjoy a range of seminars, discussions and demon-strations on a variety of subjects.

Healthy Eating Kitchen:Nutrition is key to a healthy and balanced lifestyle and the Healthy Eating Kitchen offers visitors a chance to learn new culinary skills through interactive cooking challenges while learning the benefits of food prep and eating right on the move.

BodyPower Games:High intensity functional fitness class-es are a workout trend sweeping the UK. At BodyPower visitors can watch some of the nation’s top competitors vying for cash prizes whilst learning how functional training can make you fitter, stronger and healthier at the same time.

Girl Power:This area returns for a second year after a hugely popular debut. The zone will focus on providing a motiv-ational and educational programme for any woman interested in becom-ing healthier and stronger through a series of interactive workshops, live demonstrations and Q&As with inspirational trainers and experts.

BodyPower Gym:This zone makes its debut at BodyPower 2016, with a centrally located workout area filled by some of the best trainers and coaches. Perfect for fans looking for advanced training tips from their icons as well as for beginners looking for expert advice as well as live demonstrations.

BodyPower will also continue to be the home of elite athletes with a range of competitions including the Combat Zone, Strongman, Fit Factor and the USN BodyPower Classic, one of the country’s most prestigious bodybuild-ing competitions.

Other features include the new BodyPower Awards, the BodyPower Pro Show, the British Weightlifting Zone and the Super Theatre.

Managing director Steve Orton said: “We are on a mission to get all of the UK active and healthy.

“BodyPower has grown year-on-year and is a positive place to be for ath-letes and newbies alike.

“There are two sides to the show, the side helping to get the general public active by teaching the basics in a fun interactive way and the other side for the pro-athletes who live for lifting and competition.”THE 2016 show will also see the

launch of the BodyPower Games, which is set to attract hundreds of hopefuls looking to put themselves on a pedestal for potential sponsorship among over 500 leading international brands and over 90,000 avid fitness enthusiasts.

Presented by the Athlete Centre, the large scale event, similar in style to the likes of the popular Athlete Games at London’s Excel and the Filthy 150 held in Ireland, the BodyPower Games will feature three categories for individuals, masters (over 40s) and teams, with cash prizes available for the winners.

Director of the Athlete Centre, James

Shields, who will be running the event on the day said: “Having looked around for a suitable venue to hold a large scale fitness event with little success, we jumped at the chance to be involved with an event the size and scale of BodyPower.

“The combination of what is already on offer at the expo with the BodyPower Games will only add to the excitement for the athletes com-peting.”

Run across the weekend, the BodyPower Games costs just £5 for qualifying hopefuls and a fee of just £50 for those who make it to the com-petition itself, including the price of entry to BodyPower.

BodyPower Games launchedWorkout will be among the exhibitors at BodyPower 2016. Come and visit our stand to find out more about the magazine, National Fitness Awards and Conference and to meet the team. We’ll also be tweeting news from the show. Follow @WorkOutUK to be kept up to date.

THE Academy will be a key show area for fitness professionals looking to expand their knowledge and take away some top tips to boost their business.

Speakers will include M10 director Mark Coles who will be addressing visitors on smart coaching and structured nutrition, as well as his own physique coaching programme. Dr. Jim Stoppani, who has been

a personal nutrition and health consultant for celebrities including LL Cool J, and Dr. Dre, will also be part of The Academy’s line up, with other top names on the bill including founder of Lift The Bar Chris Burgess, founder of Elite Fitness Mentoring Luke Johnson and owner of London-based PT gym W10 Performance Jean-Claude Vacassin.

The Academy to be a key area

UK FITNESS SCENE50Generous gyms and trainers from around the country raised vital funds for Sport Relief by taking part in a variety of special events. Workout rounds up a selection of the best.

Gyms do their bit for Sport Relief

AWARD winning personal trainer Kim Ingleby organised a 100-minute bootcamp in Bristol and baked beetroot and black bean brownies, raising £120 for the cause.

A TEAM of 32 JM DanceFit Zumba divas from Devon successfully completed the three-mile Sport Relief challenge by walking, zumba-ing and wiggling their way around the Sidmouth Byes. The team of adults and children raised a massive £3,500 for the charity.

BUZZ Gym Reading held a spinathlon inside and outside their local Sainsbury’s, as well as inside NatWest and Abbey Gardens offices. Meanwhile, Buzz Slough held a spinathlon/rowathlon in club, covering 318 miles in 12 hours. Both clubs also encouraged new members to donate their joining fee to Sport Relief.

ADVANCE Gym also took part in the Sport Relief fun in Reading, helping Nationwide Building Society to row 72,000m – the length of the River Kennet – raising £170 and doing a charity spin class outside Sainsbury’s raising over £150.

GLOSSOP Leisure Centre organised the Glossop Sport Relief Mile in Manor Park, with about 70 people of all ages taking part. One of the day’s biggest success stories was member David Crookes, who walked the six-mile route after recovering from multiple strokes.

FOREST Pines Hotel and Golf Resort in Lincolnshire held a bake sale and sponsored 12-hour long cycle-a-thon. Members and staff came on board to support the events; raising almost £400.

EVERYONE Active centres around the country were also keen to do their bit for the charity. Many clubs took part in the Sport Relief mile and Swimathon, including a group from Spelthorne Leisure Centre in Middlesex who are pictured here.

UK FITNESS SCENE52Advertiser’s announcement

What is it? Setting in is when a customer of a gym lets another customer use the equipment when they are between sets of exercise. Essentially, they are sharing the equipment.Why does setting in work for a gym?Well, it expands the capacity of the facility. GYMetrix can measure the amount of time a piece of gym equipment is occupied (ie how long someone is sitting on it) as well as how long it is physically being used. Our research shows that most gym users spend one half to two thirds of their time sitting on equipment, but not actually using it. Instead, they are resting between sets or on their phone, which is highly annoying for other customers waiting to use the equipment.

Busy gyms that don’t have the ability to increase their range of equipment can encourage customers to ‘set in’ with each other to expand their capacity. In theory, by changing the way customers use the equipment, gyms can almost double their capacity for equipment on which customers usually rest in between sets.

Another less obvious benefit of setting in is that it benefits retention by helping customers to interact with each other on the gym floor.

To date, GYMetrix has conducted more than 80,000 face to face surveys

with gym floor users asking them what they like about their gym. When customers say they like the friendly atmosphere of a gym, we ask if it is the other customers who are friendly or the staff. Interestingly, there seems to be a correlation; friendly staff appear to encourage members to be friendly.

However, what is most interesting is how many people find this to be a very important value driver. In fact, it is regularly cited as what customers like most about their gym.

1) Location2) Having enough equipment of

their choice3) Friendly Atmosphere4) StaffMuch has been written about how

group exercise improves retention with people making friends with others in the class and feeling a sense of belonging. I have not seen anything written about the positive impact of encouraging customers on a gym floor to be friends with other gym floor users. Setting in would encourage this.

And we’ve all read about how retention can be improved by encouraging staff to talk to customers. However, our research shows that customers value chatting to other customers even more.

The beauty of this is that it doesn’t cost operators anything to encourage get customers to talk to one another, but there are costs associated with getting staff talking to customers.

Many operators fear encouraging a setting in culture and worry that it will be a cause of conflict. Having now worked in hundreds of gym, I can say that gyms with a culture of setting in are by far the friendliest.

Personally, I don’t like waiting to use equipment. It annoys me. So, I ask the person using equipment if I can set in with them. I’m very friendly and polite, I put a towel over the equipment to keep it clean, and I remember the weight the customer was using and make sure I re-set that

weight when I’m finished. Although that customer and I may have ignored each other, in some instances for years, I find that after this initial interaction, we give one another a little nod in acknowledgement next time we meet or even start up a conversation. Over time, this can develop into a friendship.

Much is talked about boutique fitness classes and the tribes that form within them. I believe retention could be improved by encouraging gym floor users to interact more with each other.

Most gym floor users are indeed their own tribe, they live/work in a

similar area, are of a similar socio economic class and all have one thing in common – they are interested in going to the gym. Setting in is the perfect ice breaker.

To encourage a culture of setting in, operators need to be proactive.

They should put up signs encouraging the practice throughout the gym, install boards next to particularly popular pieces of equipment detailing how much time is spent sitting on equipment not using it (see above graph), and could even get staff to wear T-shirts advertising with the message.

It’s time to set in.

‘Setting in’ – why it makes sense ...

Rory McGown

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WEIGHT MANAGEMENT 53

A BLUETOOTH equipped weighing scale which provides nutritional readings for meals has won a top award.

The Smart Diet Scale won Best Personal/Fitness Scale at the Weighing Review Awards, an annual voting competition which covers the major innovations and best products in weighing technology.

Managing director of manufacturer Marsden Richard Black said: “The Smart Diet Scale is revolutionary in

that it weighs four elements of your meal at once and then gives you accurate readings of the carbs,

protein, calories and sugars you’re about to consume.

“It works via Bluetooth, so you can get all the stats you need for every meal via a tablet or smartphone

and then keep track of your daily intake.

“This award is further recognition of the Smart Diet Scale’s innovative design and wide reaching appeal.”

Dieting scale triumphs at top industry awards

Workout’s Dan Lloyd recently took on the GSN 30 day challenge, designed to make healthy eating and meal planning easy. Here he reveals how he got on – and explains why gyms can benefit from introducing the concept to their members.

MY GSN 30-day challenge – Dan LloydMY 30-day challenge started when I had two large GSN freezer boxes delivered straight to my door.

Straight away I was surprised by the amount of food you actually get in boxes as there was a variety of lean meats, pre-prepared meals, smoothie blender packets and all you need for the month ahead.

The only things I had to buy separately were extra items to go with the meals, such as fresh vegetables, and protein powder.

On the first day, I was contacted by GSN via email to set up my meal plan so they could calculate my daily calorie intake and to see what my end goal would be – to lose weight and tone up.

The online planning is easy to use for setting up your meals each week, as it offers plenty of alternative options to rotate between and the times of the

day to eat them, which I found worked really well around me going to the gym on my lunch break and working alongside my busy day.

I found the times to eat a little bit strange to start off with, as I was normally use to eating larger portions three times a day rather than having smaller portions several times a day over a longer period.

But doing it this way I found that I was full for longer, which meant I never had the feeling I needed to snack or eat more food and I always felt I had plenty of energy throughout the day.

Once you get to the second and third weeks, you really start to notice a big difference, as not only did I feel better in myself, I also could see the physical transformation in my muscle development and weight loss.

After four weeks I felt like I

had personally achieved what I set out to do and plan to take a large part of this eating process with me to maintain a healthier lifestyle with my meal planning in the future.

As a retention tool, it would be good for many gyms and fitness facilities to look to include some kind of meal planning and nutritional advice for customers alongside a structured workout routine, as you really start to enjoy going to the gym once you can see the results first hand.

To achieve results like Dan and for more information on the Gold Standard Nutrition 30 Day Challenge visit: www.mygsn.co.uk/30-day-challenge or call 01757 211 740.

Use the code: ‘workout10’ at the checkout for an exclusive 10 per cent discount off your first challenge.

SUPPLEMENTATION AND NUTRITION54

Sports nutrition specialists Kinetica Sports have unveiled a new protein bar. The Protein Deluxe is available in two flavours; cookies and cream and chocolate brownie. Managing director at Kinetica Sports, Paul Donegan, said: “High Protein snacks are challenging the more traditional convenience purchases and we are thrilled to be introducing Protein Deluxe to our range of bars. This delicious and convenient bar is an effective way to incorporate high protein and low sugar into the diet as a healthy alternative – whether it’s inbetween workouts, in the office or on-the-go.”

HTC Health wins award for best food supplement wholesaler HTC Health has been named Best Health Food Supplement Wholesaler at the 2016 Acquisition International Business Excellence Awards.

Following a week of intensive judging, HTC was picked out as a winner among seven other nominees.

Managing director Berenice

Drury said: “Receiving this award is a fantastic endorsement of the service our company is providing internationally.

“We are extremely proud of what we have achieved so far. HTC will continue to go from strength to strength and this award further underlines our commitment to continued success and expansion.”

A HIGH protein pure coconut water brand has launched, designed to fill the gap between fruit waters and protein drinks.

Available in two flavours – Coconut and Coconut and Pineapple – CocoPro is made with 100 per cent natural ingredients and contains no added sugar.

Founding partner at CocoPro, Rory Lawson, said: “Coconut water has become a phenomenon in the soft drinks category in the last year, so we’re really excited to be tapping into this growing sector with an

innovative, first-to-market product that is great-tasting and appeals to our target audience of fitness enthusiasts. Our CocoPro range has been developed in direct response to consumer demand for high protein products, and we have already experienced an incredible rate of sale.

“We have some fantastic listings with a number of high-street stores and fitness centres including Holland & Barrett, Gym Box and Ocado and have further listings with major supermarket chains planned later in the year.”

High protein pure coconut water brand to fill the gap

The Primal Pantry has launched a new range of completely natural protein bars. The Primal Protein Bars are made without any additives, preservatives, flavourings or colourants and each contain over 10g of quality protein. The bars are available in two flavours – cocoa orange and mixed berries.

‘Roll your own’ energy ball launchedA NEW ‘roll your own’ make and go energy ball has launched, which can also be customised by adding additional ingredients.

In the Nood packs contain no added sugar and are raw, vegan, paleo and gluten free.

They come in three flavours: Orange and Cacao, Simpy Cacao, and Crunchy Cacao.

The brains behind the brand are Alex and Sam Lai, a husband and wife team from Gloucestershire.

Sam said: “We are really excited about In the Nood in the health food

market and cannot wait for it to hit the shelves.

“Folks can order online currently and we love to see the inspiring way people are customising our energy balls via social media.”

The new LUX Protein Bars have taken the UK by storm. Each protein bar contains 20g of high quality protein, 8.9g of healthy fibre, and real imported Belgian white chocolate chunks. The LUX Protein Bar is out now and available to wholesale at all good supplement stockists. For trade and wholesale enquiries please call 0161 236 1588 or email Trade@BodybuildingWarehouse.co.uk

A SPA hotel in Staffordshire has opened a new healthy restaurant, with a menu designed by TV chef and best selling author Sally Bee.

Sally Bee’s Nutrilicious at Hoar Cross Hall Spa Hotel will have a seasonal menu cooked onsite daily, which is entirely free from refined sugar, additives and preservatives.

Sally will even be offering nutritional consultations on selected days, for spa-goers who want to educate themselves about switching to a healthier regime.

She said: “I have always stood by the philosophy that the key to life is balance.

“I have worked with Hoar Cross Hall Spa Hotel over the last year to develop a menu that is nutritionally balanced, wonderfully flavoursome, and uncompromisingly good, and I’m enormously excited to share it with everyone.”

The restaurant will also stock a large range of cold press juices, and super-food smoothies; also made daily on site.

TV chef to open healthy restaurant at spa hotel

UK FITNESS SCENE56For over 20 years, a club near Chester has been an integral part of the local community it serves; providing a place where lasting friendships have formed and members can escape the stresses of daily life. Christina Eccles paid a visit to discover the secrets of its success.

Old Hall Country Club near Chester has provided a sanctuary for busy people to get away from it all for more than 20 years.

“THERE really is nothing like being able to add Club of The Year to all your marketing” says managing partner of Old Hall Country Club and Spa David Bloomberg.

And this facility is no stranger to award wins, with several to its name including being crowned the 2015 National Fitness Awards’ Health Club of the Year.

David said: “We are so proud of our NFA Health Club of The Year Award – it was such a buzz to hear our name read out as winners on the night.

“The knock on effect has been fantastic, not only for our staff, but also for our members too – I highly recommend entering.”

With facilities including indoor and outdoor heated swimming pools, a state-of-the-art gym and studio, tennis courts and an inviting members’ lounge serving home cooked food – some of which is grown outside in the grounds – Old

Hall is strictly adults only, something which has helped set it apart from its rivals over the years by providing a sanctuary for busy people to get away from it all.

Looking after these members has always been important and Old Hall has successfully created that ‘club within a club’ feel, thanks to well attended themed evenings, such as Spanish and Italian nights in the lounge and member led initiatives including a walking club proving popular.

That member loyalty was also reinforced when David and the team came up with a unique way of raising money to plough back into upgrading the facilities.

In 2013, they created the Old Hall anniversary bond to tie in with the club’s 20th birthday, enabling members to invest in bonds worth £2,000, £5,000 or £10,000.

In return, these customers were

rewarded with an attractive interest rate and vouchers which could be used to pay their own membership fees or that of family and friends.

David added: “We wanted to raise £150,000 and 36 people took £167,000 worth of bonds in just three weeks. It was unbelievable.”

The initiative proved so successful, they offered the bonds again last year, raising a further £88,000 from the same group of people who were given first refusal to get involved a second time round.

Now off the back of this success, David is looking to help other operators looking for new ways to raise investment and has created a package to help them implement a similar offer at their clubs.

He added: “I’m really proud of what we have achieved as a club and also really excited about launching my new venture aimed at helping other independent club owners “unlock”

much needed investment directly from their own members and, in so doing, bypassing their banks which are probably unwilling to lend to them.

“It’s truly a win-win system with benefits for everyone.”

Even after 23 years of seeing off the competition and keeping up to date with the latest trends, the team at Old Hall is still as committed as ever to staying ahead of the game, with one of the secrets of its success, according to David, being the longevity and passion of its loyal staff.

He added: “I still have the same level of passion I had 23 years ago – it’s not waned at all.

“We’re getting better all the time and we’re always doing something. To me, that’s the lifeblood of the place.

“We think this place is special. The longevity of our staff is special, our story is special.”

Award-winning adults only club an integral part of community

Facilities at Old Hall include a state-of-the-art gym (left) and both outdoor and indoor swimming pools (right).

PRODUCT NEWS 57

FOUNDED in 2015, MT3 Fitness is the culmination of 30 years of experience in the fitness industry by founder Mark Turner.

With a background in facility management before moving into equipment sales, Mark has built a reputation for providing excellent equipment, sound advice and high quality service levels.

Working with Torque Fitness in the USA has allowed MT3 Fitness to bring to the UK an extensive range of functional strength and free weights equipment, which is exceptionally designed and manufactured, giving our clients the best equipment for their facilities.

We are so confident in our product

range that we have developed a working showroom in Burnley, where you can not only see the equipment, but we encourage you to bring your kit and try it out.

With an active membership and regular classes, the kit is being put through the same demands you find in your facilities. The gym also allows us to train your staff on using the equipment correctly and how to maximise income generation for your club.

Our design software allows us to create two and three dimensional plans of your gym suggesting suitable layout options.

For more information contact Mark on 07597 360666 or email info@mt3fitness.co.uk

Firm opens working showroom

Look good, train hardAFTER years of perfecting supple-mentation, USN have a released an all new gym wear range which focus-es on style and comfort for fitness enthusiasts.

With high quality material designed to adapt to the strenuous activity you undertake, the USN Gym Wear offers more than just sporty clothing.

The breathable material keeps you cool whilst your body reacts to intense workouts and with a variety of lines now released, there’s lots of high-quality, eye-catching gym wear.

From a yoga top to base layers, the USN Gym Wear suits athletes of many professions and whatever activity you’re taking part in, you’ll benefit from the latest sporty designs.

Fashioned by IFBB Pro Ryan Terry, the USN Gym Wear is showcased all over the country by top athletes and is now available on sale at USN.co.uk – with quality customer service and reliable delivery. Today is a great day to #ChallengeYourself

TVS reduces noise and vibrationBODY ZONE Fitness is an independent gym operating within a mixed-use building in Newcastle city centre.

Landlord Sunil Vadehra was keen to alleviate noise and vibration disturbance caused by gym activities to other tenants operating in the shared space and turned to TVS Sports Surfaces and parent company, Total Vibration Solutions Limited for help. After the initial assessment of the problems and on-site testing, an acoustic build up of materials for installation in the free weights section

of the gym was specified.These materials had proven to

reduce both impact shock and noise caused by falling heavy objects such as barbells and dumbbells in this gym.

TVS SPORTEC Style Tiles were fitted on top of the under layers and this provided exercisers with a solid performance platform for heavy weight lifting to take place safely.

Throughout the other areas of the gym, TVS SPORTEC Color 15 rolled rubber was specified.For information call +44 0) 1706 260 220 or

email sales@floors4gyms.com

Product set to shake up sectorA NEW state-of-the-art fitness prod-uct set to shake up the gym sector has launched at the inaugural Elevate Show at London’s Olympia.

Designed specifically for gyms, the CardioWall Pro-X Club is the latest product from Rugged Interactive, a leading British designer and manu-facturer of innovative motivational fitness equipment.

Despite just launching, the product

has already excited industry leaders, with health club chain Bannatyne’s ordering the first Pro-X Club for its Tower 42 site in London. A prototype model is already in action on TV in Holland, where it is being used for speed and reaction challenges in a regular Formula 1 Grand Prix show, facilitated by Embedded Fitness.

Call 01726 981 123 or visit www.rugged-interactive.co.uk

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PRODUCT NEWS

XTREME CSC, a Cheltenham-based gym which specialises in core strength and conditioning, has become the latest UK fitness facility to be named an Official Hammer Strength Training Centre after installing over 15 pieces of the Life Fitness equipment.

The new gym opened in January after an investment of £750,000 and was founded by Leon Jones and Connor Crotchett, personal trainers turned business partners.

The enterprising duo carried out extensive research and canvassed local gym members about their fitness needs when planning their

gym over 18 months ago.Leon said: “We wanted to create

a unique exercise space that would not just appeal to the expert trainer but that would be welcoming and motivational to the novice exerciser as well – combining strength and conditioning with functional training and also offering complete nutritional support.”

The suite of Life Fitness equipment installed at the community gym includes the Hammer Strength Plate-Loaded range with a Seated Dip, Lateral Rise and Pullover.

For more information visit www.lifefitness.co.uk

Cheltenham gym is latest Official Hammer Strength Training Centre

Company changes nameA SCOTTISH based fitness equipment company is planning to increase its turnover to around £20m during the next few years through a major programme of international growth.

To support its ambitious targets, Anytime Leisure is also refocusing and rebranding as Origin Fitness to better reflect its core business.

Much of the push will be fuelled by growing demand for the company’s own-product range of fitness products, flooring and accessories which it designs and produces under the Origin brand.

The company, based in Edinburgh, already enjoys a dominant position in the Scottish market, working with local authorities, hotels, health clubs, corporates, sports organisations and the personal training sector in the design, creation and equipping of gyms.

The business has recently recruited key people to strengthen and increase its profile and business south of the border and also has plans to push into Europe over the coming months.

Already, Origin Fitness does business in several European countries including Poland, France, Sweden and Belgium but wants to see significant expansion beyond these countries.

In the medium term, the company is in the process of identifying partner distributors in Asia, the Middle East and Australasia – all within the next 24 months. The company currently supplies successfully in Dubai.

Key customers include Team GB Tae Kwon-Do, the Scottish Rugby Union, Nuffield Health, North Lanarkshire Leisure and Anytime Fitness.

For more information visit www.originfitness.com

HILTON Smythe introduce to the market Future Fitness Ltd, Leek, Staffordshire (leasehold)

Known for being a premier gymnasium and health centre in the area, this state of the art centre is equipped with Cybex equipment and offers a host of facilities including a cardio area, resistance area, Flabelos vibrating training, free weights area, sauna, a popular large dance studio offering a range of classes and

exclusive ladies only area.Future Fitness is laid out over

two floors in this charming building, offering a relaxed, stylish environment. The business opens seven days a week to ladies and gentlemen of all ages and at all fitness levels, guided by a team of qualified and experienced staff. This flourishing business currently boasts a client base of between 550 to 600 members.

Contact Hilton Smythe on 0845 519 8809.

Popular Staffordshire gym for sale

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If you’ve got a story for a forthcoming issue of Workout email it to Christina Eccles at

ce@scriptmedia.co.uk or call 01226 734463

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