The UK’s No 1 fitness industry magazineJuly 2009 No 190 £3

Phillip revealsthe secretsof his successBy Mary Ferguson

ONE of the world’s most respected fit-ness professionals has revealed thesecrets of his success to UK gym opera-tors.

Phillip Mills, son of group exerciseexpert Les Mills and owner of a chainof New Zealand health clubs, spoke todelegates at a Leisure Exchange semi-nar in Manchester.

Effective group exercise classes, per-formance-related pay for staff and cre-ating an experiential environment forpeople to exercise in are all key to run-ning a successful business, he claimed.

In Phillip’s flagship club in Auckland,nine and a half thousand peopleattend classes each week and theannual retention rate is 80 per cent.

He said an example of another clubgetting it right is David Lloyd inAmsterdam, which has four cinemasize screens and attracted 8,000 mem-bers in the first six months of opening.But, he said, independent gyms canachieve similar success without spend-ing so much.

He said UK gyms would benefit from:� Setting group exercise staff atten-dance targets, and rewarding them ifthey are hit� Taking advantage of the internet andsigning more members up online

� Installing projectors as a cheaperalternative to TV screens, mainatininga buzz even during quiet times� Slimming down group exercisetimetables to deliver more of the mostpopular classes.

Phillip said: “Creating entertaining,experiential exercise environments arekey to engaging and retaining mem-bers.

“When I started working in clubs inthe sixties it was a terrible, boringplace to be and we would have beenlucky to achieve ten per cent annualretention. My first job was to hand outmagazines to people on the bikes,because it was just so boring for them.”

And according to Phillip, group exer-cise is a weapon to win the retentionand price war but UK gyms need tomake the most of them.

He added: “Clubs in the UK seemreluctant to put on large classesbecause of safety concerns butresearch has shown that injury ratesare rare and when they do occur, theyare minor.

“The basic logic I work on is that peo-ple are better off risking a shin splintthan risking a heart attack from notexercising.”

Ricky isboxingcleverwithnew gymA NEW gym owned byRicky Hatton has wel-comed its first mem-bers after opening inManchester.

Hatton Health andFitness, based in Hyde,is run by the championboxer and his fatherRay and as well as top-class boxing facilities,features a separate fit-ness club for membersof the local community.

The gym is aiming fora mix of members andhas done some market-ing specifically aimedat women, who may beput off by its associa-tion with fighting.

The building is deco-rated with images ofRicky boxing and pos-ing with celebrities andhis title belt hangs inreception.

Manager Nigel Wilkes,who has known thestar for 20 years, said:“How many gym man-agers can point tosomething like thatand say, ‘that’s myboss?”� More on the gym,Page 34

Personal trainer Caroline Sandry has launched a bookadvising women how to exercise according to theirbody shapes. Co-author of Shape Up!, she is a formermodel and boasts Kelly Holmes and the Welsh Rugbyteam among her clients.� Full story, Page 14

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Programmeis key togood resultsBy Mary Ferguson

CREATING the right programmes formembers is key for getting resultsand improving retention, it has beenclaimed.

Lisa Taylor, who used to be groupfitness manager for DC Leisure andnow works with MEND, said its particularly important for new members, who may not be used toexercising.

Speaking at the FIA Flame conference, she said: “The initialinduction is the biggest opportunitythat gyms have to make a differencewith programmes.

“People walk through the door withabsolute belief that we are going tohelp them get results and if we don’t,they will leave.”

Lisa said it’s important that the ini-tial exercise programme that a newmember is given doesn’t faze themand is done properly.

“New members that are not used toexercising don’t want complicatedprogrammes. The danger is that wetalk at new members and prescribethem what we think they want.

Operators need to know what theirinstructors are doing with new mem-bers at that first induction.

“If we can use programmes to pushpeople to work as hard as they canover a short period of time, especiallyfor those that have been previouslyinactive, they will get results reallyfast, and keep them motivated.”

According to Lisa, it is also imperative that you keep in touchwith members so their programmecan be updated, but that doesn’talways mean lengthy sit-down consultations.

“Checking in with someone on thegym floor can take just two or threeminutes and you just need to ask afew questions to find out if the programme is still working for them.”

Keeping in touch with clients aftertheir initial induction is the only wayto find out whether their programmeis working – and whether they are indanger of leaving.

Lisa added: “If you are having prob-lems with retention, it’s definitelyworth looking at the quality of yourprogramming.”

New study examines nation’s exercise habitsONLY a fifth of people in the UK exer-cise the recommended five days aweek or more, according to theresults of a new study.

PruHealth's bi-annual Vitality Index– which tracks the nation’s healthtrends across stress, exercise, diet,smoking, health knowledge andcheck-ups – also showed that it

would take being diagnosed with ahealth condition to encourage thevast majority of people to improvetheir health and fitness.

Dr. David Grainger, senior fellow atCambridge University said: “Morethan half of the population say theywould change their lifestyle inresponse to rewards and incentives.”

Stars from TV show Gladiators encour-aged people to pull on their trainersand exercise their way around theworld to raise money for charity.Hilton hotels throughout the UK andIreland invited members of their localcommunities to travel ‘Around the Worldin a Day’ as part of Hilton in theCommunity Foundation’s national

charity event, sponsored by Precor.Participants collectively aimed to travelthe circumference of the earth by tak-ing part in fitness events.Gladiators Enigma, Doom, Siren, Amazonand Warrior attended the event’s launchand a Gladiator team competed in theTeam Challenge at one of the HiltonFitness gyms.

Staff on thin ice with competitionA GROUP of staff at leisure operators Sheffield InternationalVenues have followed in the skating footsteps of Torvill andDean by taking part in their very own version of Dancing onIce.

Five employees at the leadingleisure operator partnered withtop iceSheffield skating coachesfor the competition.

iceSheffield's general managerMandy Janes, SIV’s director of

operations Lorenzo Clark,Hillsborough Leisure Centre’s general manager Richard Apps, head of sport Justine Foster-Davis and e commerce andmarketing manager StaceyHartley spent four months training in preparation for thecontest.

It formed part of the company’sannual conference and followedthe same format as the popularreality TV show.

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By Mary Ferguson

A DERBYSHIRE fitness profes-sional has teamed up withnutritionist Gillian McKeith in abid to help Britain banish thebulge.

Group exercise presenterRachel Holmes, from LangleyMill, has designed the You AreWhat You Eat star’s latest fitnessinitiative, the Walking Workouts,a collection of 30-minute moti-vational audio downloads.

Rachel told Workout: “Gillianwas looking to release an audioworkout to accompany someTV programmes she is puttingout in America and Canada andwas looking for a fitness professional to write the down-loads.

“An agent friend of mine putme forward for the role so Iwrote and recorded it, then shereleased it under her name.”

Rachel’s programme includesa warm-up, stretches and halfan hour of motivational words

and music, designed for peopleto listen to while walking on thetreadmill or outside.

The downloads range in musi-cal genre from 70s’ disco toclassic rock and from the best ofthe 80s to current top 40 hits, sothat people can choose themusic that suits them.

The programmes are aimed atthe deconditioned market andRachel said writing them forGillian has helped raise her ownprofile as a fitness professional.

She added: “A few celebritieshave actually got in touch withme for advice and I think it’sanother avenue for them to godown if they don’t want to do afitness DVD.”

Rachel, who started her ownbusiness at 18, has trained morethan 2,500 fitness instructorsglobally.

She has been a Nike athlete, aRed Bull ambassador and haspresented for Pure Energy andFITPRO, who she is currentlysponsored by. Group exercise presenter Rachel HolmesGillian McKeith

Pair team up inbid to help Britainbanish the bulge

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‘Silent’ swim sessionsA MANCHESTER fitness facility hasdeveloped special ‘silent’ swimmingsessions for throat cancer patients.Oldham Leisure Centre are runningthe sessions with the Oldham QuietOnes, a support group for peoplewith throat cancer, following a£5,000 Big Lottery Fund grantwhich paid for special snorkel-likedevices.Larcels, a breathing device similar toa snorkel, attaches via the stomaand stops water from entering thelungs.Ian Kendall, CEO of OldhamCommunity Leisure said: “We prideourselves on our ability to make adifference to the whole community– we have a full programme ofactivities for people in specialistpopulations.”

The ultimate searchTHE search is on to find the UK’s‘ultimate gym athlete’ with thelaunch of a cross-trainingcompetition to be held inSeptember.Organised by the UK GymChallenge Association, the eventwill be held at Fitness First in Kentand will see men and women goup against each other to becrowned the ultimate gym athlete.The timed events include benchjumps, sit-ups, bike, treadmill,shoulder press, row and benchpress.

Gym membership up1,000% claims LukeBy Mary Ferguson

A NOTTINGHAM gym claims mem-bership has increased by a thousandper cent since the opening of a newfitness suite, helping attract businessfrom large health clubs nearby.

Expressions Health and Fitness,based at Rushcliffe Leisure Centre,was refurbished in October last yearand since then has seen the numberof members rise from 100 to over athousand.

Fitness manager Luke Colaluca toldWorkout: “The old gym was a bit darkand dingy in the old squash courtand the equipment was quite old. Itbasically looked like your typical oldcouncil run facility.”

The new gym was constructedupstairs in a disused bar area with 45pieces of equipment supplied byPrecor.

It meant the fitness area increasedto five times the size and membership has been booming somuch, management is consideringextending it back down to the squashcourt.

Luke added: “It’s either that or turn-ing it into a spinning studio, but ourinitial target was 800 members so wehave smashed that – we are reallyreaping the rewards of the better

quality facilities.“And we have seen a big influx of

members from the two chains downthe road as it seems to be all aboutpricing at the moment.”

To prevent the gym getting too busy,Parkwood Leisure has invested inmarketing to encourage people to usetheir membership to access all fivesites across the city.

At the same time, Expressions isoptimising on ‘quiet times by putting on classes for pupils at theschool next door between 3.30 and5.30pm.

Luke (left) and fitness instructor Owen Leddie

Expressions Health and Fitness

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Power Plate successUSING a Power Plate helps peopletrim harmful belly fat, a new studyhas claimed.Research presented at the 17thEuropean Congress on Obesityfound that overweight or obesepeople who regularly undertookPower Plate exercise were moresuccessful at long-term weight lossand shedding visceral or belly fatthan those who combined dietingwith a more conventional fitnessroutine and those who simply diet-ed.The study, conducted at theUniversity of Antwerp in Belgium,was conducted over a six-monthperiod, after which subjectsreturned to their daily lives andreported back for retesting at 12months.

Striding outYOUNG people are ditching thegym and going walking instead tosave money, the results of a newsurvey claim.Research by walking organisationthe Ramblers showed that one infour people aged 18-35 had savedmoney on gym costs by using theirfeet instead.Tom Franklin, CEO of the Ramblerssaid: “It’s no surprise that peopleare taking to their feet during therecession. Walking keeps you fit,and unlike the gym, it’s free andyou don’t need specialist equip-ment to do it.”

Channel supportTHE UK’s first dedicated health andfitness TV channel is celebrating anunprecedented level of supportfrom top fitness industry bodiesand businesses.Fitness TV, due to launch later thissummer on Sky, has secured a number of brand partnerships andindustry associated support including the FIA, ConnectionFitness, Power Music and YMCAfit.Luan Underwood, managing director of Media Fitness Ltd andcreator of Fitness TV said: “We’reexcited about the recent partner-ships and are looking forward toworking with even more like-mind-ed businesses.”

Proposed tax labelleda ‘crippling burden’By Mary Ferguson

A PROPOSED tax that could costgyms up to £13,000 per year has beenbranded a ‘crippling burden’ byindustry professionals.

Business Rate Supplement (BRS),the proposed bill which will allowlocal authorities to add an additionaltax on businesses to the normal busi-ness rate, is a ‘wellbeing tax’ whichwill undermine the government’sown public health strategy, it hasbeen claimed.

The Fitness Industry Associationsay the impact will be disproportion-ately greater on gyms and leisurefacilities than other businessesbecause of the large spaces thatmany of them have.

And they claim the cost of a 2pbusiness rate supplement to an aver-age operator in London for example,could be as much as an extra £13,000per club per year.

Andree Deane, CEO of the FIA said:

“There is a fundamental inconsisten-cy between setting targets forincreased participation in sport andphysical fitness on the one hand,whilst simultaneously imposing a

crippling tax burden on the veryorganisations tasked with helping theGovernment achieve those targets.

“If the bill goes through in its cur-rent form, BRS could single-handedlydismantle the industry’s ability tohelp deliver current public healthcampaigns such as change4life. Thisis a classic case of reap with onehand and forfeiting on the other.”

The FIA is calling for health clubs,sports clubs and leisure centres to beexempt from the tax and if that can-not be achieved, the threshold forthem should be increased.

Andree added: “The ultimate vic-tims will be the 50 per cent of adultsand 90 per cent of children who willsuffer from obesity and the otherlifestyle diseases by 2050, as well asthe taxpayers who will have to pickup the resulting NHS bill.”� Are you worried about how the taxcould affect your gym? Send yourcomments to Mary Ferguson atmf@whpl.net or call 01226 734712.

Andree Deane

PJ ready to get backin shape

A gym instructor who gained eightstones in order to understand how his overweight

clients feel has begun a regimeto get back to his original

fitness.Paul ‘PJ’ James, who worksas a personal trainer at an

independent gym inAustralia, decided to pile on the

pounds after Christmas,swapping his healthy diet for

burgers, pizza and chips.PJ, who has modelled for Calvin Klein

and FCUK, is now try-ing to slim backdown and is hop-ing to reach hisoriginal weightof 79.5kg byDecember.

Paul ‘PJ’ James before he put on eight stones for his experiment.Picture: Blush Photography www.blush.com.au

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By Mary Ferguson

THE first budget club from theénergie Group is due to open inSwindon in July, charging just £16.99a month.

Fit4less, one of ten due to open bythe end of this year, will have no con-tract and no joining fee, but will notinclude saunas or steam rooms andgroup fitness classes will cost extra.

Jan Spaticchia, CEO, said: “This isquite simply a gym like many othersbut minus the frills, high costs and 12month contracts.

“Fit4less can save people hundredsof pounds a year. It is still a profes-sional gym and we demand high

quality and high standards through-out but all ‘extras’ have been removedto keep our own costs to a minimum,which allows us to pass this on to thecustomer.”

Part of the day-to-day cost cutting isachieved through an online member-ship administration service, whichallows new members to join and paymonthly through a website andinstead of membership cards, accessis by a biometric fingerprint identifi-cation system that is the first to beintroduced in a UK gym.

The club in Swindon was formerly aFitness First club purchased as partof a group of eight clubs by a Middle

Eastern partner of the énergie Group. The second Fit4less club will be in

Inverness, Scotland, which will openin September followed by four moresites in North London.

Jan added: “This is a very excitingconcept that we believe will do wellin this current economic climate. Weare looking to introduce Fit4less inmultiple towns and cities in Britain.”

The Swindon club features a mem-bers’ lounge, solarium, sports mas-sage and hair salon. A six weekémpower programme, featuring apersonal training session once aweek, comes with a money-backguarantee if results are not achieved.

New gym removes ‘extras’to keep costs to a minimum

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Youths promote fitnessACTIVITY for health charity CentralYMCA have recruited 20 youngpeople in London to help deliver anew programme to promote healthin the city.The youths aged 16-25 will play akey role in the delivery of WellLondon, a five-year programme totransform the health of people living in 20 of London’s most disadvantaged neighbourhoods.The initiative aims to promote mental health and well-being,encourage healthy eating, improve access to London’s openspaces and increase levels of physical activity.

Tone zone boostBONNYRIGG Leisure Centre inScotland have refurbished their ton-ing zone as part of a number ofimprovements at the local authorityrun site.The ‘Tone Zone’ has double theequipment, including the CardioWave and the Galileo vibration training platform – a first forMidlothian.Midlothian Council have alsoinstalled a number of WaterRowermachines, made over the changingrooms and installed new audi-visu-als.A new poolside sauna has also beencreated.

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‘Slashing pricesmakes industrylook desperate’By Mary Ferguson

ADVERTISING price cuts and promo-tions is the wrong way to attractmembers during the recession,according to an industry expert.

Innes Kerr, head of direct franchis-ing for energie, claims slashing pricesand shouting about special offersdoes more harm than good, as itmakes the industry appear desperate.

He said: “People will remember thebenefits of their memberships longafter the price is forgotten. So insteadof half price offers that actually deval-ue the product, you should advertisemember achievements instead.

“I understand that breaking thecycle of price promotion is difficultbut it really undermines the value ofthe membership.”

To advertise how successful the gymis, Innes suggests adding up the totalamount of weight or inches membershave lost in the last year and usingthat figure instead.

And for existing members, he saidthat the key to preventing them leav-ing is to convince them of the value

of their membership, instead of dis-counting the price.

“Members make value judgments allthe time so we need to increase peo-ple’s perceptions of what we are giv-ing them.

“We need to promote the real bene-fits of the gym – not the great equip-ment or audiovisuals, but the healthbenefits they are achieving. And thisgoes for attracting new memberstoo.”

According to Innes, a key way toattract more members is to convincepeople they need the gym more thanthe gym needs them – and shoutingabout cut price joining offers doesn’tdo that.

Speaking at the FIA Flame confer-ence he added: “When someonethinks about joining a club they willask themselves: ‘what’s in it for me?’and as an industry, we need to makesure that we answer that.”

� Have you cut membership pricesrecently? Let us know how you arecoping with the recession by emailingmf@whpl.net or calling 01226 734712.

Hundreds of peoplewill be dancing themselves fit by taking part in a massaerobics session inLondon’s Regents Park.The Breast CancerCampaign and LessBounce Pink Aerobicsevent takes place inSeptember and exercise includes tribaldance, seventies discoand dirty dancing sessions. Sessions willbe led by Denise Page,Troy Dureh and JoDarry and otherinstructors can holdtheir own events bypledging minimumsponsorship.

HUTCHISON Technologies pridethemselves on delivering top qualitytechnical solutions, tailor-made tomeet the most stringent of perform-ance standards.

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Hutchison Technologies areextremely fortunate to have state-of-the-art research and developmentfacilities at their headquarters inDundee.

This valuable resource allows them to offer their clients a bespoke service, in addition to amuch-acclaimed standard productportfolio.

Hutchison’s skilled in-house design-

ers and engineers manufacture,install and maintain a wide range of top quality, tailor-madetechnological solutions, including TV systems for fitness centres andaccess control systems for membercontrol.

Whether you’re an internationalhotel chain or a small private gym,you can count on HutchisonTechnologies to provide a first classservice and offer an unparalleledchoice.

Enquiries: 01382 835000 Website: www.hutchison-t.com

Solutions from Hutchisons

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Parliamentforces FIAreshuffleBy Mary Ferguson

PROBLEMS in parliament meantorganisers of this year’s FIA Flameconference were forced to adapt theirprogramme of summit speakers atthe last minute.

A badly-timed debate into the dis-solution of parliament meant theMPs scheduled to speak were unableto make it to the summit, but Dr. WillCavendish, director of health andwellbeing at the Department ofHealth, took the place of DawnPrimarolo, former minister of publichealth, who stepped down the week-end before the event.

Also due to speak were NormanLamb, shadow secretary of state forhealth, Lib Dems, and Mike Penning,shadow public health minister for theConservative party.

The two-day event, held at theReebok stadium, featured a pro-gramme of educational seminars,scheduled social events and the FIA’sannual summit, this year titled‘Issuing the dose.’ It was the first timethe conference has taken place out-side of London since it started sixyears ago.

The seminars covered topical issuesincluding retention, programming,sales and technology, delivered byexperts including Robin Gargrave,Melvyn Hillsdon, Adrian Marks andPaul Bedford.

Keynotes from author YossiGhinsberg and motivational speakerAdrian Webster set delegates up forthe day.

Opening the summit, Fred Turok,chairman of the FIA said: “The gov-ernment and the industry need usdesparately, and more than they haveever done. They need our facilities inorder to get Britain moving and ourgoal in this industry is to influence afurther one million people a day to

use our facilities. The governmentand the nation have a massive prob-lem but our industry has a solution.”

Other summit speakers taking tothe platform included Sue Tibballs ofthe Women’s Sport and FitnessFoundation, Tam Fry of the ChildGrowth Foundation, Professor GarethStratton of NICE and Victoria Frenchof Sunderland City Council.

Closing the summit, FIA directorAndree Deane said: “This is the firstsummit out of six that we haven’t hada politician here, but we have hadsome really fantastic speakers.

“Now, the FIA’s call to action is totake up Active for Life over the sum-mer, engage with your local PrimaryCare Trusts and target the inactivemarkets. It would be fantastic if wecould galvanise the sector under theFIA to turn the obesity tankeraround.”

Fred Turok

RobinGargrave

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By Christina Eccles

THE success of a pilot project toget more young women in Londonactive has led to plans for a repeatprogramme in the capital.

Over 2,000 women aged 16 to 24took part in Sweat in the City – athree month long, governmentfunded programme giving themfree gym membership and supportfrom a dedicated mentor.

110 FIA gyms opened their doors,hoping participants would sign upafterwards as members – andaccording to FIA chief executiveAndree Deane – feedback has beenpositive.

The results of the project – a part-nership between the FIA and theWomen’s Sport and FitnessFoundation – showed 70 per centof the women went to the gym atleast once a week during the pro-gramme and 30 per cent wentthree times or more.

Before they started, five per centadmitted to enjoying exercisewhich went up to 30 per cent and90 per cent pledged to stay activeonce the programme had finished.

Andree said: “This has allowedgyms to get new members from anarea they perhaps wouldn’t have

ordinarily attracted. “Private gyms did particularly

well. Anecdotally, a lot of girls saidthey didn’t want to use their localleisure centre because they used togo there with school. This is reallyinteresting as it tells us a lot abouthow young girls are affected by theexperience of PE at school.”

Andree added reasons why it wassuccessful included the free ele-ment – which removed the barrierof cost preventing exercising. Theonline community also helped par-ticipants support each other.

She added: “The blogs have hadsome fantastic stories and a lot ofthe women exercised with friendsso are more likely to keep it up. The

website, blog and text messagingcreated a community.

“We have been asked to roll it outagain with the same title so clearlythe branding has attracted that agegroup.

“These results have shown youcan change attitudes and behav-iour in as short a time as threemonths. We were also very pleasedwith the number of health clubsthat participated. We don’t knowyet how many of them joined thegym they exercised in but if it is agood conversion rate we are morelikely to be able to run the pro-gramme again.”

It is hoped the scheme will even-tually be rolled out nationwide.

Celebrity ambassador Jessica Taylor with some of the Sweat in the City members.

Sweat in the City readyto hit the capital again

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Hormone boosterINACTIVE people could be encour-aged to go to the gym if levels of acertain hormone were increased,according to new research.Very overweight mice doubled theiramount of physical activity whenthe hormone Leptin was ‘switchedon’ in their brain in tests at HarvardMedical School in America.They also began eating about 30per cent fewer calories and lostsome weight. The mice had become morbidlyobese and severely diabetic, as wellas very sluggish, after being bred tolack Leptin or the ability to respondto it.Researchers say the findings maylead to the development of drugsthat increase obese people’s desireto exercise.

Councillors under fireCOUNCILLORS in Barnsley havecome under fire for working out ata private gym instead of the coun-cil-owned leisure centre.The Mayor is among those whoexercise at DW Sports, instead ofthe Metrodome, which is managedby Barnsley Premier Leisure onbehalf of the council.Both gyms offer discount to mem-bers and employees of the council.A councillor said: “It’s like someoneworking for the Halifax then havingtheir account at Barclays.”

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By Dominic Musgrave

A BACK-TO-BASICS fitnesscompany has joined forces witha like-minded exercise companyto drive their philosophy ofachieving results throughnature.

Wildfitness, which offers holis-tic holidays for people to moveand live the way they wouldhave done thousands of yearsago, has just completed the firstcoaches training programme forsix of its trainers in Kenya withMovNat founder Erwan LeCorre.

The company now plans tointroduce elements from theapproach to all of its courses.

MovNat is a new trend in fit-ness which aims to take peopleout of the gym to make broader,faster and safer progress in nat-ural movement.

Erwan said: “What I have puttogether is a natural movementapproach. Our bodies are notdesigned to be a particular sportspecific, but are more designedlike animals to survive innature.

“Nature can be very inspiring,

but society does not encourageus to explore any more, creatingwhat I call ‘zoo humans’.Everything these days has to bestructured, including fitness, butI am not going to tell people tojump around and then lift someweights, because that is howpeople get injured.

“This is not about looking fit inthe first place, but is more aboutfeeling fit and good. By learningthese initial movement skillsyou don’t have the cosmeticagenda in mind, but you havemovement instead.”

The philosophy behindErwan’s work comes from aFrench form of training createdby Georges Hebert in 1902called Methode Naturelle. Afterseeing disaster strike an islandand an entire population toounfit to save themselves, hedeveloped a training methodbased on the principle that it ispossible to have a high level offitness without the help ofdevices or facilities. Erwanadded: “The traditional gymstruggles to retain its membersbecause many don’t go there toenjoy themselves, but see exer-cise as more of a chore.

“What I teach people is to goback to when they were childrenand rediscover when it was funto go out and climb trees orboulders.”

There are 12 natural move-ments incorporated into what Ido, and we all have theseinstinctual movement patternsbuilt into our primal memories.

“Most people need coachingthrough these movementsbecause they’ve been discon-nected for too long from theirtrue nature.”

Back-to-basics fitnessfirm goes back to nature

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Caroline Sandry swapped modelling for motivating when she became a personal trainer and is now a celebrityfavourite. Mary Ferguson found out how she does things differently.

How Carolinebecame fitnessfriend to thecelebritiesAFTER making a DVD with TV starClaire Sweeney, Caroline’s reputa-tion grew and she has since workedwith singers Gabrielle Cilmi andMichelle Heaton, model NicolaMcLean and Dame Kelly Holmes.

Starting out as a commercialmodel and told to lose weight bysome agencies, Caroline decided toquit the camera and train in the fit-ness industry instead, so she couldfocus on health.

Following a personal trainingqualification she gained work pre-senting fitness products on shop-ping channel QVC and after taking acourse in Pilates to help her sellsomething, fell in love with the dis-cipline.

She now uses it in all areas of herpersonal training work and said ithelps her achieve the results thatboost her reputation in the industry.

“Pilates helps to tailor-make thebody and people don’t realise howbeneficial it can be. One of myclients was very fit but had no waistand is convinced the Pilates is whathelped her shape her middle.

“And when I worked with a profes-sional rower, despite being over sixfoot with an amazing body, hecouldn’t believe the results he goteither.”

As co-author of the recently-pub-lished book Shape Up! Caroline is

helping women see that to get thebest results, they need to exercisefor their body shapes and splitsthem into pears, apples, hourglassand celery.

She said: “People need to look attheir bodies as independent shapesand exercise accordingly. For exam-ple a pear shape can’t change thefact they have wide hips, but upperbody resistance work will help bal-ance the shoulders. And becauseapple shapes tend to carry fat roundthe middle – which is dangerous –they should concentrate on fatburning activity.

“Even celery shapes who are slimmay not have muscle tone and defi-nition, but should stay away fromlengthy CV sessions.”

The majority of Caroline’s clientsare women, who – she claims – tendto need more motivation than men,who often choose team sports ifthey want to boost their fitness.

Women are also attracted by theelements of Pilates and yogaCaroline uses in her workouts, help-ing her stand out from the competi-tion.

She added: “Lots of people go togroup Pilates classes at gyms andleisure centres but often don’t getthe full benefit. It works much bet-ter in one-on-one sessions.”

Above: Caroline Sandry and, below: Caroline running with Kelly Holmes

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Shelley’s gympackage hopesto attract teensBy Dominic Musgrave

A WOMEN’S only gym in London haslaunched a new membership forteenagers.

Shelley White, who runs Sunstonehealth and leisure club in StokeNewington, told Workout the gym haddecided to put together the package in abid to get more youngsters active.

She said: “There is so much on the tele-vision and in the newspapers about thenumber of obese children rising that thestaff here decided at a meeting that weshould try and do our bit.

“We want to get more teenage girlsactive, and it also gets them off thestreets. We have been around all the localschools and colleges trying to spread theword about the scheme and telling theyoungsters that health and fitness is foreverybody. So far it has proved to be verysuccessful.”

The gym, which is based in a formersynagogue, has been open 16 years andhas more than 1,600 members, with 200new ones joining over recent monthsthanks to a marketing campaign.

Shelley added: “We decided to drop thejoining fee of £125 in a bid to attract

more new members, and that has mas-sively boosted our membership num-bers.

“The credit crunch has been really goodfor us because I think women are want-ing to get more for the spare money theymay have so are coming to us to get fitand healthy rather than going out.

“They tell us they prefer coming to usrather than going to one of the biggergyms because of the atmosphere here. Assoon as they walk through the door theyfeel relaxed and know they can walkaround and please themselves.”

The facility boasts a gym over fourfloors, swimming pool and studios offer-ing a wide variety of classes – everythingfrom salsa dancing to Pilates and variouscombat sessions which Shelley says areproving increasingly popular. She added:“We run 65 classes a week and one of thebiggest changes I have seen since takingover here four years ago has been themove towards the body combat, bodypump and body conditioning type ofclasses. I think this is because they arefun and change every three months sothe members never get bored. Boredomis one of the key things you have to bemindful of when putting on any class.”

Fitness First is bringing the latestAmerican exercise craze to the UKby introducing the Indo BoardBalance Trainer to its classes.The balance based workout, whichexperts claim can be mastered injust 15 minutes, features a woodenboard balanced on a cylinder rollerwhich provides a multi-functionalworkout focusing on the core muscles, leg strength and balance

co-ordination.Europe master instructor KevinHubble, pictured on the board, said:“It’s great to bring Indo Boardclasses to the masses. There are somany ways the boards can be usedfor an excellent full body workoutincluding push-ups, squats andeven using weights while on theboard.”

UK FITNESS SCENE16

By Mary Ferguson

AN independent gym is reaping therewards of an in-club weight losscourse for members that was origi-nally launched to raise money forcharity.

Calso Health and Fitness, based inBromley, launched a ten-weekslimming course in 2002 to raisefunds for Cystic Fibrosis but it wassuch a success, programmes havecontinued for the last seven years.

Members pay £25 for the course –non-members pay £35 – whichincludes a half-hour consultation atthe start to discuss what they wantto achieve and their eating andexercise habits.

Weekly weigh-ins encouragemembers to stay on track and aleader board on display in the gymrecords how much people lose – ordon’t lose – each week.

Gary Nicholas, an ex army PTI,runs the gym with wife Becky, anutritionist and ex-professionalathlete.

Slimmers are encouraged to keepa food diary, which they can gothrough with the pair if they arestruggling.

Gary said he takes a strict militaryapproach with the courses, butclaims it gets results.

He said: “I make it clear at thestart that I am strict and I won’taccept poor excuses. If people messup, they are off the course.

“I’m not horrible to them but Iwon’t take being lied to so as longas people are honest about goingoff-track, I’ll help them. I have hadto kick people off the programmebefore and they don’t get a refund,but they always pay to come backon and do it again – properly.”

Members lose up to two stoneover the ten weeks and users of theprogramme range from overweightwomen to men wanting to gain afast six-pack.

The gym is also heavily involvedwith cross training – encouragingmembers to push themselves andenter competitions – and Beckyherself won the national crosstraining gym fitness grand prix in2007 and 2008.

Charity weigh-in reapsrewards for gym ...

CALSO specialises in the overfifties and Gary takes regularclasses for older people, many ofwhom have severe health condi-tions.

He said: “Some of my classesjust break my heart – I’ve gotpeople with triple heart bypassesand some that have had severestrokes but they all take part. Icreate circuit sessions that every-one can do and I adapt them forthose that struggle.

“I’ve got so many characters inthe classes. I used to run themjust once a week but it justexploded and I’ve noticed a realimprovement in the health of the

people who come to them, so itmakes my job really satisfying.”

Calso is surrounded by chainsbut Gary said it thrives because itis small and attracts the oldermembers who are intimidated bylarge health clubs. The gymholds regular open days so peo-ple can see what goes on in theclasses and has seen some mem-bers achieve amazing results.

Gary added: “A few years ago wehad a lady in her fifties join whohad never been to a gym in herlife but she lost seven stone andbecame a British rowing champi-on. It’s an incredible story andwe have lots more like it.”

Gary’s helping older people

Bid to boostbusiness viamobile phoneFITNESS First have teamed up withO2 media in a bid to boost businessvia mobile phones.

The marketing campaign – one ofthe first of its kind in the UK –involves offering five days’ free mem-bership and a personal training ses-sion via SMS to O2 customers living inspecific postcodes near Fitness Firstgyms.

It specifically targets O2 customerswho are interested in health, well-being and sports, aged between 18and 35. Target customers within threemiles of a Fitness First gym are sent ashort text message which asks them torespond to a short code with theirpostcode.

Those that respond receive a person-alised text message reply with theaddress and phone number of theirlocal gym, and with a five day voucherto use in that gym. O2 providesFitness First with a daily email withqualified leads of customer mobilenumbers and postcodes to call thecustomer and book an appointment.

Sophie Lawler-Hall, UK marketingmanager for Fitness First, said: “Usingthis highly-targeted medium is help-ing ensure maximum campaign effec-tiveness, proving mobile to be one ofour most successful acquisition toolsto date.”

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UK FITNESS SCENE18

By Mary Ferguson

A FORMER footballer has swappedturf for treadmills and opened a gymwith his family in West Yorkshire.

In his professional heyday, RoyEllam spent his time tackling legendslike Pele and helping Leeds Unitedand Huddersfield town move up theleague.

And at 66, he is using his reputationon the pitch to attract business to thegym he has opened with daughterJeannie – a regular on the bodybuild-ing competition circuit – and son-in-law Mo.

When Workout visited Roy Ellam’sPremier Health Club in Mirfield, ithad been open less than 48 hours butfollowing an open weekend thatsigned 100 new members, the familysay they have got off to a positivestart.

Roy said: “I expect things to reallymushroom now. I’m known as a bit ofa legend in Huddersfield from myplaying days so I’m hoping that willappeal to people round here andthat’s why I have put my name to theclub.”

Jeannie also runs FitnessConnection, a bodybuilding gym sixmiles away, and Roy has spent thelast seven years helping out downthere. They joined forces to open thenew club when the building came upfor lease following the bankruptcy ofthe old gym on the site, which was

originally a cinema.The 4,500 sq. ft gym floor has been

equipped with CV and strength facili-ties, free weights, TV’s and a soundsystem by Olympix Fitness, making itthe company’s first full installation.

A mezzanine level is currently beingdecorated to provide rental space formassage and beauty businesses and alarge studio is being constructed sothey gym can put together a classtimetable.

“We literally gutted the whole place

and even though it was closed for sixmonths before we opened, we werepleasantly surprised to gain somemembers who used the facilitiesbefore.

“Mirfield is a big, affluent town andthe area warrants a nice, well-rungym, so hopefully we have broughtthat to the community.”

Membership is set at £29 a monthwith a year long contract and thefamily have decided that to makesure they attract the right kind of

users, they will not offer a pay as yougo option.

A reduced off-peak membership forthe over 55’s is designed to keep thegym busy during the day and Roy ishoping that because of his own age,he will be an inspiration to the olderusers.

He added: “I learned a lot fromhelping at Jeannie’s other gym andespecially in view of the recession,things have started really well for ushere.”

Jeannie, Mo and Roy

Roy of the rowers ...

Roy in his Leeds United playing day

UK FITNESS SCENE 19

WHEN Paul Lonsdale was studyingsports psychology at college, hedidn’t expect that one day he wouldbe running a gym with his teacher.

But seven years later, businesspartners Paul and Jo Holmes tookover the York-based club and havedeveloped a model that sees middleaged ladies happily pumping ironnext to muscle-bound men.

Paul said: “I kept in touch with Jowhen I went off to do my degreesand when I qualified as a personaltrainer, I ended up helping her trainafter she damaged her knee.

“We found we worked well togeth-er and set up a team-buildingsports company, before the oppor-

tunity came up at the club.”The pair took over Samson and

Delilah’s in November last year,after seeing its potential from train-ing there. Within a month, they sawmembership increase by 500 percent.

“The old owner seemed to bestruggling but we felt we knew howto give the gym an identity and givethe members what they want, andbecause Jo is a woman it has reallyhelped attract more females.”

Despite a limited budget, Jo andPaul made as many changes as theycould when they took the reins.

The sunbed room was convertedinto an office, a members’ area with

bar and internet access was set upand the yellow and black colourscheme was toned down into neu-tral creams and blues, to make thegym more female-friendly.

The original name of Samson andDelilah’s was kept but the strapline‘real results for real people’ wasadded to attract users from all walkof life. And as well as working toturn the gym around, Paul and Johave been preparing for their owncompetitions. In the space of twoyears, Jo has gone from beingunable to walk up the stairsbecause of a knee injury to prepar-ing for her first Strong Woman con-test and Paul believes her success is

inspiring women in the gym.“Jo has middle-aged ladies in her

circuits class that would never havedreamed of training with weightsbut now when I walk onto the floorI’ll see them on the resistancemachines and with the free weights– and that’s really great.”

Paul himself is in training for a Mr.UK bodybuilding title and said itsimportant to lead by example, somembers can see their success.

He added: “We are still very muchrooted in strength and bodybuild-ing so its really nice to see womenusing the gym more. And althoughits still a spit and sawdust gym, it’s aclean one now too.”

Eight months after twomembers took it over,Samson and Delilah’s isshaking off its spit andsawdust image andattracting women who havechanged their attitude toweights. Mary Fergusonreports.

Paul and his teacher bring newstrength to Samson and Delilah’s

Bodybuilding revisited ...A GYM manager is tasting success aftergoing back to bodybuilding following adecade away from the stage.

Vanessa Sewell, who has run the FitZone gym at Kendal Leisure Centre forthree years, first started competing inbodybuilding competitions ten yearsago.

When a friend died last year shedecided to do a show in his memoryand said she ‘caught the bug again’ andis hoping to do six or seven shows thisyear, after qualifying for the WSSUniverse competition in June.

She said: “At the moment I’m com-peting pretty much every weekend,

getting up at 4am to train before andafter work. A lot of my clients are inter-ested in what I do and even if they arenot into bodybuilding themselves, theyrespect the willpower and dedicationthat it takes.

“12 of the guys at the gym came towatch me in a local show and it wasgreat to have that support.”

Vanessa does a lot of her training atBody Tech in Carlisle, as well as atBody Zone. She added: “If you trainwhere you work you tend to get col-lared by customers so it’s sometimeseasier to train somewhere else, withoutthe distractions.”

Personal trainer Alex Woods was one ofthe successful competitors at a gym crosstraining event in Luton.Alex, who works at a health club in inEdinburgh, came second in the Fitness X

competition, which was held at FitnessFirst.He was the second man only to have broken sub 17 minutes, behind winnerRoyal Marine PTI Chris Lord.

Jo trainingwith MarkWestaby,world'sstrongestmancompetitor

UK FITNESS SCENE20

New equipmentprompts surgein membershipBy Mary Ferguson

THE owner of an independent gym inNewcastle has reported a hugeincrease in membership since hereplaced all his equipment.

Ian Morgan, who operates Morgan’sPowerhouse Gym, ripped out his oldkit two and a half years ago andreplaced it with 30 pieces of HammerStrength equipment from Peak BodyFitness.

He told Workout that since then,membership has doubled and thegym is going from strength tostrength.

He said: “We have a big gym withlots of members so when we replacedeverything they were used to using allin one go it was a bit of a gamble.

“There were a few complaints frompeople in the first week because theydon’t like change but everyone lovesthe new equipment and when I triedit all myself, I could feel that it hit thespot.”

Ian, an IFBB professional body-builder, replaced all the equipmentthrough the night so he didn’t have toclose the gym during normal openinghours. He opened the club three yearsago, following a career in the securityindustry.

Peak Body is based in the north east

and has been manufacturing in itsUK factory since 1985. A family busi-ness for over 20 years, it offers all thetop brand names including LifeFitness, Star Trac and Precor, supply-ing gyms, schools, colleges, theArmed Forces and hotels.

They can offer everything frombranded cardio to spare parts and aswell as the north east warehouse,have a 160,000 sq ft warehouse in LosAngeles.

Ian Morgan

Glen Tipton, lead guitarist with leg-endary heavy metal band Judas Priest,was a special guest at the opening anew personal training centre inBirmingham.Indy Sanghera and partner Mandy havetaken on the BodyZone franchise,owned by celebrity trainer RobBlakeman.

His client list, that also includes Glen,features Mike Tyson, Ozzy Osbourneand Ricky Hatton, as well as other filmand television stars.Pictured, from left, Franchise owner,Indy Sanghera, Rob Blakeman, JudasPriest's Glenn Tipton and MandySanghera.

Programme is ‘opportunity tomake the world a fitter place’PERSONAL trainers from Fitness First are to feature in a new Nintendo Wii programme to encourage people to exercise.

For the first time real personaltrainers rather than 3D graphics willbe on the screen when the NewUFitness First Personal Trainer isreleased in September.

The computer programme will alsoinclude a nutritional element witheating plans, recipes and tips from

the experts behind TV show You AreWhat You Eat.

Fitness First managing directorJohn Gamble said: “This product willnot only complement what membersfind when they come to a FitnessFirst, but gives us another opportunity to make the world a fitter place.

“For non-gym members we hopethe NewU experience will encouragethem to take that final leap intoFitness First gyms.’’

Suffolk leisure centre nearscompletion of £6m revampHAVERHILL Leisure Centre in Suffolkis nearing the end of a £6m refurbish-ment, after being closed for a year forwork to be carried out.

Managed by Abbeycroft Leisure, the1970’s site has been closed since July2008 for the redevelopment, whichincludes expanding the gym to twiceits former size with 100 stationsdivided into zones including cardio-vascular, strength, functional andcore stability.

There will also be a dedicated combat and personal training area.

Matrix Fitness Systems were contracted to kit out the new gym and the centre, which hasaround 1,400 gym members andreceives up to 1,000 admissions a day, it will also boast refurbish-ments to its sports hall, swimmingpool, soft play area, squash courts, changing areas and administrationareas.

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UK FITNESS SCENE22

Marketing in quiet timesBy Dave Wright Creative FitnessMarketing

THE art of goodsurfing is to not totry and fight thewave or the sea butto work with itspower and use it toyour advantage.The same goeswith summertimewhen the blisteringEnglish sunshine draws our membersaway from our clubs, leaving manyclub staff scratching their heads onways to get members back in.

There are a couple of ways to workthis to your advantage to try and turnlemon into lemonade. First and fore-most is that the sunshine is the timewhen the emotional needs of havingto take off the t-shirt or expose ourlegs or arms in public come to reck-oning. And as emotional needs arethe paramount factors that drivemembers into our gyms in the firstplace, it’s worthwhile capitalising onthat with your own marketing.

Outside running or walking clubshave been around for years as theyincorporate the sense of belonging tosomething as well as the motivationof doing activity together. So too bootcamps have been a great way toincrease that intensity with motiva-tion but enabling members to getfresh air into their lungs.

Members also want to get the bestuse out of their time, so you need toeducate them about the benefits ofstrength training and encourage themthat if they are planning to go for a

long walk outside, then get them offthe cardio when they come in and tellthem to focus on resistance training.

If the club is quiet, then a great ideais to write to all your members andthen offer them a special ‘summer-time supporter’ membership thatthey can give to one of their friendsor family which entitles a friend oftheirs a free months membership tothe club for the month of August. Itgets activity into the club that youcan sell them more supplements ordrinks, without having to worry aboutexisting members complaining aboutthe busy-ness of the club.

It’s also a great time for you or yourstaff to set up a merchant co-op pro-gramme for your business.

This involves going to every localsupplier and for return of you send-ing members down to their business,they just give a percentage off whatthey purchase in the store.

So as a member, you get to supportlocal business and maybe are entitledto 15 per cent off everything at acomputer shop, 20 per cent off a hair-cut, or a buy-a-meal get-a-meal freeat a pub etc. You can then add up allthe values that they get and it couldeven mean that their membership toyour club is free because of all thethings that they save if they were toutilise this merchant co-op pro-gramme.

This ultimately adds great value inquieter times when members look toget as much value out of their mem-berships as possible. And if all thatdoesn’t work, then let’s close ourclubs for the months of August andDecember and go on holidays.

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UK FITNESS SCENE24

OVER 160 gyms in the UK arelicensed to deliver Body Pump,Attack, Combat and Balance andmany more run group fitness timeta-bles.

According to Phillip, the industry iswaking up to the importance of class-es when it comes to running a suc-cessful business, but they don’talways get things right.

Speaking at the seminar, run byLeisure Exchange, he said: “You needto maximise your timetable and it’sas simple as finding out which class-es are most popular and whichteachers, and then do more of them.It’s so simple, but I’m amazed at howmany clubs don’t do it.

“Timetables with 40 or 50 classesare very hard for the club to manageand for the members to work with.But of all the key elements to goodgroup fitness management, getting,motivating and retaining the rightstaff is most important.”

In Phillip’s clubs in New Zealand, hesets his group exercise teachers tar-gets to achieve certain levels of atten-dance and if they hit them, he paysthem more.

Performance-related pay, he said, is

a way of increasing participation andultimately, retention.

“A single great teacher, over time, will bring hundreds of newmembers to a club so if you build ateam of them, they will bring thou-sands.

“You have to be constantly traininggroup exercise instructors and upskillthem towards mastery. And if youfilm someone taking a class then playit back to them, they will often knowthemselves where they are goingwrong.”

Phillip said the marketing of classesis important too and it’s vital to keeppeople’s interest. He suggests invitingmembers to bring a friend to a classfree and sending out mass emails,reminding people that they are goingon.

“Every three months, you need torebuild the excitement. And get yoursales team to talk about group exer-cise when they are inducting them tothe club.”

All sales staff at Phillip’s clubs haveto take part in classes themselves aspart of their own induction, so theycan talk to prospective membersfrom experience.

He said group exercise can helprecreate some of the camaraderieand social interaction that attractspeople to team sports, helping gymsto appeal to new people.

Phillip added: “We have traditional-ly lacked the excitement of sports but

the faster we can change that, thebigger our future.

“There is huge potential and as aworldwide industry we have the abili-ty over the next 20 years to have halfthe population or more using ourfacilities.”

His father is the founder ofthe Les Mills group fitnessformulas and as theoperator of a successfulhealth club chain in NewZealand, Phillip Millsknows a thing or twoabout group exercise. MaryFerguson caught up withhim at his seminar inManchester, to find outhow gyms can make moreof their classes.

‘Every three months, you needto rebuild the excitement ...’

Phillip delivering the seminar

Above: Phillip Mills and, above right:: Gyms are now recognising the importance of classes.

INSURANCE 25

By Craig Smith, ACII, CharteredInsurance Broker, John Ansell &Partners Ltd.

WHEN buying insurance businessowners will sometimes choose priceover value, more so in a recession.Unfortunately by concentrating onlyon saving premium the costs involvedwhen a claim arises can increase sub-stantially, particularly if it’s not cov-ered.

Besides the right cover, a goodinsurance provider should also offer arange of additional services to helpthe small business.

Some things to look out for are:� Does your liability insurance coverall your activities and is it as restric-tion free as possible? Injury as aresult of advice is frequently excludedor the cover has so many restrictionsas to make it of minimal benefit. Aliability claim which is not covered islikely to be very costly.� As theft and arson claims tend toincrease during a recession do youknow how to get advice on securityand discounts from suppliers ofextinguishers, alarms, etc? Prevention

is better than a claim, no matter howefficient the service.� Do you have access to informationand help lines to assist you withquestions and documentation forhealth and safety, risk assessments(particularly fire risk assessmentswhich are now the responsibility ofthe business, not the fire brigade)continuity planning, accident report-ing and investigation?� Do you have a free helpline to giveyou advice on legal, tax or employ-ment issues and, if all goes wrong,legal expenses insurance? After all, asmall business is five times more like-ly to face an employment tribunalthan submit a fire claim and withbusinesses needing to restructure andpossibly make redundancies supportall the way through the process is amust.

As a business owner should you beexpected to be expert in arrangingsomething so crucial?

If you’re not, make sure you speakto a specialist broker with a bespokefitness insurance product and sup-port to match.

Insurance issues in a recession

Insurance blow to 24-hour planBy Mary Ferguson

A FRUSTRATED gym owner desperateto open 24 hours a day has had to puthis plans on hold because he can’tfind insurance.

Richard Jones, who operates UniqueHealth and Fitness in South Wales,has been turned down by every insur-ance company he has tried becausehis plans would leave the clubunmanned between 9pm and 6am.

He said: “We had been thinkingabout opening around the clock for awhile and then when I read inWorkout that it was working for agym in Portsmouth, I asked our bro-ker to start looking around for insur-ance.

“But even though we would put insecurity cameras, emergency systemsand close off some of the equipment,no-one will agree to cover us. I’mreally surprised that we have come upagainst such difficulty.”

This isn’t the first time that Richardhas had problems with insurance – herecently had to shell out £850 when amirror was accidentally broken by amember whose foot slipped off amachine .

“The insurance company said itlooked like deliberate damage sowouldn’t pay. They said I couldn’tprove it was an accident but howcould they prove it wasn’t?

“They always get out of paying youbecause there are so many exemp-tions, and the old favourite is holdingback payment by claiming somethingis damaged through wear and tear.”

Richard wants to open round theclock to cater for members who donight shifts and those who prefer totrain late at night, following com-plaints that the club was closing tooearly.

He added: “We are just below the

water line at the moment and I wasreally hoping that 24 hour openingwould help boost business.”

Richard is appealing for advice from other gym owners about how he can overcome insurance difficulties and can be contacted on 01495 229926.

Leaving members to work out on their own can cause problems with insurance.

PRODUCT NEWS26

BADGEMASTER has launched a user-friendly, fully interactive on-linedesign facility, enabling customers todesign their own name badges andcreate their own designs instantly onscreen.

Badgemaster first introduced a spe-cialist, professional, free design serv-ice 12 years ago, and their designersregularly support many top design-ers, corporate clothing suppliers andleading companies across everyindustry.

Now this new and innovative web-site makes all the professional skills,experience and resources used by topbadge designers available to everyonewith internet access.

Via a user-friendly, step-by-step

programme,it allowsusers toexplore dif-ferent looksfor their newbadge and tocreate instantly their chosen optionswithout any of the delays or costsinvolved in the need to use a design-er. Accessed through www.badge-master.co.uk, this unique facilityenables users to select from a com-prehensive range of badge shapes,styles, sizes, colourways, layouts,fonts, letter heights and clothes-friendly fasteners, instantly onscreen.

Enquiries: 01623 723112

Badgemaster launches online badge design facility

CORPORATE Trends is the leisureindustry specialist staff uniform sup-plier and their garments meet theneeds within all health and fitnessenvironments.

They focus on product, price andservice and strive to satisfy corporateidentity using latest branding tech-niques while embroidery and printprovide a bespoke look to initiallyplain garments.

Using innovation in design and fab-ric choice their garments aredesigned to adapt in all environmentsfrom pool hall to air-conditionedhealth suites.

Their La Beeby range of qualitybeauty therapist and spa uniformsprovide beautiful designs, wonderfulrange of colours and great fabrics andstyles.

There is also no stock commitment

financially,quick deliver-ies of a maxi-mum of fivedays and firstclass service.

Sales andmarketingdirectorRichard Johnsaid: “‘Wecare more’ iscentral to allof theCorporateTrends team’swork ethic.

“Enjoy themany benefits of being supplied byCorporate Trends.”

Enquiries: 01142 513512 Website: www.corporatetrends.co.uk

Corporate Trends ‘cares more’UNIFORMS AND MERCHANDISE

A NEW call centre facility is settingnew standards at Belmont LeisureSolutions.

Aided by an automated dialling sys-tem Belmont’s clients now benefitfrom additional levels of service notpreviously possible.

Member service agents outboundcalling on behalf of clients are nowten times more efficient as the diallersystem filters out incorrect and unob-tainable telephone numbers and onlypresents each agent with active andcorrect party contacts.

This has resulted in 60 per cent suc-cess rates in activities such as collect-ing fees from failed direct debits,resetting direct debits, contact formembership renewals and arrearsmanagement.

David Hoard, CEO of Belmont said:“The implementation of the diallerhas opened up many new opportuni-ties for us and our clients.

“We are now able to offer a greaterrange of member contact servicesthan previously possible and as far asI am aware this is the only automateddialler assisted call centre available inthe leisure industry.”

Enquiries: 01932 753200 Email:d.howard@belmont-finance.co.uk

Breaking new ground at Belmont

WHEN Northampton basedBodypower Sports moved intonew premises to cope with itsexpanding market, it turned tointegrated interior space solu-tions company, Spaceway, toensure that its investment wouldcreate an efficient working envi-ronment.

Transformed from a 1970s’building into a prestigious newheadquarters, Spaceway have

contributed in creating animpressive head office thatreflects the corporate values ofthe company and adds muscle toBodypower’s marketing and dis-tribution performance.

Spaceway responded toBodypower’s brief with a totaloffice and ancillary area refit.This included a total reconfigu-ration of the ground floor andfirst floor offices, to include new

offices, reception area, canteen,showroom and boardroom.

Paul Walker, managing directorof Sportsway said: “We hadworked with Spaceway beforeand knew their expertise. Onceagain their design work, hand-holding and attention to detailsurpassed even our expecta-tions.”

Enquiries: 01794 835600 Website:www.spaceway.co.uk

Spaceway delivers new headquarters for Bodypower Sports

New Freedom Climber providesclimbing system for clubsCLUBS looking to be dif-ferent can now offermembers the increasinglypopular activity of climb-ing with the revolutionarynew Freedom Climber,rock climbing trainer.

It takes up minimalfloor space, will mount tomost walls with normalceiling height and pro-vides a real climbingexperience for membersin a safe and unsuper-vised environment. Itrequires no electricity,motors, sensors and isvirtually maintenancefree. Its space savingdesign makes it perfectfor gyms and clubs with aspare wall.

A large climbing surface

rotates either clockwiseor anti-clockwise with theaction of climbing caus-ing the rotation. A uniquehydraulic system con-stantly controls the speedand can be adjusted tothe climber’s ability by asimple turn of a knob.

A few minutes on theFreedom Climber can provide a great total bodyworkout especially thecore and stabilizer mus-cles, increase flexibility,balance and provide agood cardiovascular exer-cise.

Enquiries: 01483 559785 Website:

www.freedomclimber.com

UK FITNESS SCENE00

INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT28

IN 2007, the club was named in theWho’s Who of the most successfulsmall businesses and Carl, who ischairman of the FIA’s single site oper-ators group, has learned to adapt tomembers’ circumstances during therecession.

If they have been forced to canceltheir memberships due to redundan-cy, he sends them a personal card,offering them membership for halfprice while they find another job.This, he said, has encouraged somepeople to stay.

“They may have been punched inthe stomach by losing their job, butthat doesn’t mean the gym has topunch them in the face. We try tomake them see it will help if theykeep a routine and fill their time bykeeping healthy.”

Carl said that between September2008 and May this year, the gym lostsomething like 15 per cent of its longterm members who had been withthe club eight or nine years, and theyall cited financial reasons.

“We let members suspend theirmembership for three months if theyneed to and many with financialissues take that up.

“It’s about responding to customers’needs and those needs are changing.We keep in touch with them duringthe suspension period and we haveregained some members but it’s thelong-standing ones that we thoughtwe didn’t have to worry about that

have left.”To combat falling numbers, Carl

made the decision to introduce along term contract for new members.

“We have never in the past felt theneed to tie our members into longterm contracts. We have alwaysbelieved that if we delivered what thecustomer wanted then they wouldcontinue to use the gym and this phi-losophy has served us extremely wellduring the last 12 years.

“The recent economic downturn,however, has started to affect evenour most loyal customers making usrealise that, no matter how good areour products and services, we couldbe put at risk by economic influencesbeyond our immediate control.”

The gym currently has just over 500members and Carl said that althoughthat’s a good number – and despitethe recession – he would like toexpand.

“The problem is that we are in aresidential area and when we openedwe had a condition placed on us thatwe wouldn’t expand. We are hopingthe council will see that we are offer-ing a good service though and recon-sider. However we don’t want to getso many new members that the exist-ing ones get less attention. You onlyhave to increase membership by 50and you are forced to spend 30 sec-onds less with everyone else. Peoplecan get quite sensitive about that asthey expect good service.”

IN FEBRUARY this year, Courtyard Healthand Fitness became the only fitness facilityin the UK to install Milon equipment andCarl said they have been reaping therewards ever since.

Popular in Germany, each machine isspecifically configured to the personalrequirements of each individual with rangeof motion, concentric and eccentric resist-ance levels together with seat, arm and legpositions all being recorded on a members’‘smart card’.

These details are instantly recognised byeach machine which then adjusts itself tothe details stored on the members’ card.Workout details are then transferred to the

main computer where they are stored andrecovered as and when required.

Carl said: “We have never been persuadedto buy all our equipment from one manu-facturer and this is the biggest single com-mitment to one brand of equipment wehave made in recent years.

“Inevitably, it comes at a price and thecost of installing the Milon system is higherthan normal and we realised it could notbe absorbed into normal membershiprates.”

Members are charged extra for using theMilon system, but Carl said they have beenhappy to pay because they see resultsquickly.Carl and his staff with members using the Milon system in the gym

UK first pays off for gym

Courtyard Health and Fitness has been a high street fixture in Gloucester for 12 years, but things at the gym arechanging. Mary Ferguson spoke to owner Carl Ward to find out why.

Carl in recession-busting move

Above:CourtyardHealth andFitnessowner CarlWard and,left,membersenjoy thefacilities atthe gym.

UK FITNESS SCENE 29

By Louise CordellRED BULL’s Formula 1 racing teamhas taken on a personal trainer tohelp get the pit crew in top conditionfor the competition season.

James De Montfort has been creat-ing specialised workout routines anddrills for the team to help them main-tain the peak fitness needed for thejob.

He said: “It is really all about finetuning those essential skills.

“Most important is hand and eyecoordination, so after assessing theirspeed and how they perceived dis-tances I created a series of drills tokeep their reactions sharp.

“Also essential is core strength andflexibility, needed for movements likechanging the tyres, so I includedplenty of work on equipment thatwould help those areas.”

The team have been working out inthe newly built Red Bull gym on arange of Nautilus stations.

Their routines have also been tai-lored to include plenty of cardio work- as stamina is particularly importantto cope with the high stress atmos-phere and working while wearingfire-resistant multi-layer suits andbalaclavas.

James added: “Before the car comesin their heart rate is very high, buttheir fitness, strength and reactionsall still need to be at optimum levels.

“We conduct mental as well asphysical drills to keep them focussedand use equipment like the NautilusSchwinn bike to get them fatiguedbefore the routines to test them whenthey are tired.”

James is now creating individualprogrammes for the crew that theywill be able to carry out while theyare on the road, to make sure they arein top condition before a race.

He is also set to start working withthe whole Red Bull team throughoutthe site so that everyone from thedrivers to the designers can benefitfrom being fitter and in better condi-tion.

He added: “Everyone here works ina naturally competitive environmentanyway, so I use when creating theprogrammes to keep them focussed.

“I try to make the workouts as inter-active as possible and vary the drillsto keep them on their toes.

“I also reassess everyone every twomonths to keep on top of theirprogress which is great for motiva-tion.”

Personal trainerto get pit crewin top gear

ADULTS with cystic fibrosis arebeing encouraged to take part in a unique exercise programme to help them manage their condition.

The 12-week start-up exercise pro-gramme at Llandough Hospital, nearCardiff, will also educate patients tohelp them exercise independently.

A similar scheme has been runningin Birmingham for the last year.

Although regular exercise can help

improve lung function, unlike othergym users, people with cystic fibrosismust be careful not to push them-selves too far.

Declan Weldon, general manager ofhealthcare for sponsors Air Products,said: “We’re aware of the problemsand challenges that patients haveaccessing gym facilities.

“Doing this programme throughthe hospital where patients attendseems a much better way of tacklingthis issue.”

Cystic fibrosis patients encouraged to join unique exercise scheme

UK FITNESS SCENE30

AFTER 15 years of taking aerobicsclasses in school halls, Jo stumbledacross a studio location in Ilfracombetown centre and set about gettingready for business.

When people started asking if therewould be gym facilities, at first shewas determined to hold studio classes only – but after bowing topressure and installing a few pieces ofequipment, the success of the facilities inspired her to expand and create a fully-functioning healthclub.

She said: “I was reluctant to open agym at first because my passion wasaerobics and I had never even been amember anywhere myself.

“But now I can see why people getsuch a buzz from being in the gym.

“I wasn’t worried that I didn’t haveany experience of running one as Iknew I had passion and the ability tomotivate people – the rest just camenaturally.”

Jo’s friend had bought the buildingand used the downstairs as a hair-dressers, and the upstairs as a flat tolive in.

“When she bought a house, Jo rent-ed the flat and turned it into a studioby installing flooring and mirrors.

“After a year though I realised thetown would really benefit from a gymso I created a small mezzanine levelof equipment that was really success-ful.

“Then last summer we got thechance to buy the whole building so

When Jo Walker opened Studio 20, she was adamant she would only teach fitness classes. But four years later andafter installing a gym, business is booming and she hasn’t looked back.

Jo’s gym proves a real hit

closed for seven weeks and installed afull gym downstairs, creating two stu-dios above.

“It meant we tripled the size of theworkout area and I needed anotherstudio too as some classes wereattracting 50 people.”

A packed timetable now includes TaiChi, Kung Fu, Pilates and Yoga andalthough membership currentlystands at 500, Jo said it is growingcontinuously.

“You have to stay one step ahead ofwhat people want all the time andI’ve learned that you can’t be afraid togive something away free to retainwhat you have already got.

“For example we have recentlyhalved our one-to-one sessions to £10an hour because I believe that it’smore important to keep people moti-vated over the summer and that willhelp with retention.”

Jo refuses to let her staff simply sitbehind a desk and encourages themto approach members who are work-ing out in the wrong way, or whocould benefit from intervention.

She added: “We get a lot of lads whostack up the weights because it looksgood, but then use the wrong tech-nique because it’s too heavy.

“But they are happy to take advicebecause we do it in the right way,without being patronising.

“I regularly put comment forms outand the feedback I get is that mem-bers really appreciate us offeringhelp.”

BEING member-focused is the mainreason the gym is continuing to dowell, Jo claims.

She said: “We are very much a ‘peo-ple’ gym and it doesn’t matterwhether people are size 6 or 26 orwhat they wear – we have lads thatcome in here straight from work cov-ered in paint and it doesn’t matter.

“I was talking to a member whojoined recently with his wife and hesaid he was concerned about joiningbecause of bad experiences at othergyms.

“But one of the first times they camehis wife was struggling with a piece ofequipment and the young lad exercis-ing next to her showed her how to useit, which really impressed them. Sowe may have got bigger but we havestill retained our friendliness.”

Organising regular social events thatbring everyone together is a key wayof encouraging unity within the gym.

And for Comic Relief last year,members suggested dressing up inschool uniform for their workout andbuying raffle tickets to win prizesdonated by local businesses.

Jo added: “We thought it was some-thing everyone could join in with, nomatter what their size or age as it’s aneasy costume to put together. It reallybrought everyone together because itwas so much fun.

“And on the last Friday of eachmonth we always go to the pub overthe road for a drink straight from oneof the classes – it doesn’t matter thatwe are sweaty and in hoodies. Lots ofpeople come here for the social expe-rience as well as the health benefits.”

Jo (centre) with her staff during the Comic Relief fancy dress event.

‘Social events are the key to unity within gym’

Business is booming at the gym at Studio 20

31KIDS’FITNESS

Sponsored by:

Ian Wright is the face of Fitter Families

FITNESS First gyms got behind IanWright’s ‘Fitter Families’ initiative byopening their doors to children work-ing out with their parents.

Clubs across the country held openweekends offering free activities,classes and health checks and thechance to sign up to the initiative.

Activities were specifically designedwith families in mind and included aco-ordination test, number of timesfamilies can catch and throw a ballbetween them, core strength, numberof chair lifts each family member canattempt and shuttle runs.

John Gamble, managing director ofFitness First said: “The aim is to

encourage families to train together –and find ways of exercising that suitand fit in with their own way of living.

“We want to help families to under-stand more about their own fitness –and break down any perceived barri-ers which stop many people fromexercising. The Fitter FamiliesChallenge is a fantastic starting point– a place to begin encouraging every-one to get active and incorporateexercise in to their everyday lives fora healthier, fitter nation.”

Fitter Families is an initiative intro-duced by Fit for Sport – aiming to getfamilies teaming up to become moreactive.

Gyms say it’s all Wright forkids to work out with parents

Shorter can bejust as sweetfor kids’ fitnessBy Louise Cordell

CHILDREN should not be forced totake part in long exercise sessionsbecause shorter play-based gamesare just as effective, according to newresearch.

For the first time evidence hasshown that sporadic activity can beas beneficial to children’s health aslonger workout periods.

Researchers at the University ofExeter carried out a study measuringthe frequency, intensity and durationof physical activity in a group of chil-dren and analysed the results.

They found that the associationsbetween the children’s activity andtheir health were similar regardless ofhow they accumulated the activity.

This meant that a child who builtup short bursts of moderate or vigor-ous exercise throughout the day wasjust as healthy as one who did a simi-lar amount of activity over longer ses-sions.

Lead researcher Michelle Stone, aPhD student at the University ofExeter, said: “Our study suggests thatphysical activity is associated withhealth, irrespective of whether it is

accumulated in short bursts or longbouts. Previous research has shownthat children are more naturallyinclined to engage in short bursts ofrunning, jumping and playing with aball, and do not tend to sustain boutsof exercise lasting five or more min-utes.

“This is especially true for activitiesthat are more vigorous in nature.

“If future research backs up ourfindings, we would do better toencourage young children to do whatthey do naturally, rather than tryingto enforce long exercise sessions onthem.”

The study focussed on 47 boys agedbetween eight and ten who all woreelectronic ‘accelerometers’ to recordtheir activity levels over seven days.

The researchers then conducted aseries of tests to measure their health,including waist circumference, aero-bic fitness and cardiovascular risk.

During a typical day, less than 15per cent of the boys achieved fivebouts of moderate intensity activitylasting five minutes and very fewmanaged to achieve one bout of vig-orous intensity activity lasting fiveminutes.

Long exercise sessions do not necessarily mean better health for children

BOXING

Sponsored by:32

Trained by Enzo Calzaghe, champion middleweight boxer Gary Lockett now teaches at Miskin Manor Healthclub in Wales and here he answers our quick questions.

Why is boxing a popular sport totrain in?I think that people see how physi-cally fit a fighter is and it is veryimpressive. Add to that the shapethat most boxers are in when theystep through the ropes and it mustbe an attractive incentive to people.I also think that in general peoplelove to be able to throw puncheswithout getting hit back.

What are the benefits of peopletraining in boxing for fitness?The exercise element is obviouslythe attraction but add that with thebonus that you are learning todefend yourself and also trainingmuscles and parts of the body thathave never been trained.

How would it benefit a gym tooffer boxing training classes?Boxing is very much on the up. I’mfinding more and more women arebecoming boxing fans these daysso now we have an all-round audi-ence. What better classes to offersomeone than a boxing class wherepeople can have a great workout,learn to defend themselves andalso boast to their friends and col-leagues how well they can throw a‘right-hander’ or ‘left-hook’.

What does a gym need to considerwhen looking for someone to takethe classes?The person who takes the classesshould have a good standard ofboxing experience behind themand/or be a fully qualified coach ofeither amateur or professionalstandards. I’d also insist on theperson having passed the Boxercisequalification with advanced hon-ours.

What kind of person makes a goodboxing instructor?That would be someone who issensible and experienced enoughto keep it simple. I recentlyappeared at a gym and saw coachestrying to teach bare novicesadvanced punching drills. Why?The best way to coach someone isto keep it simple and move thefighter on stage by stage; give themtime to let things to sink in.

Does boxing’s image put somepeople off trying it? What are themisconceptions that people have?I think that boxing is seen as a bar-baric sport that isn’t for the fainthearted. I can understand that butjust look at the white collar eventsthese days. Most of the boxers arelawyers, barristers, estate agentsand generally people in well-to-dopositions. I train a few of themmyself and they love the releasethat boxing gives them.

How are you finding your classesat Miskin Manor?There has been a real buzz since westarted it. We saw a gap in the market and thought over long andhard about what exactly peoplewould want from a boxing related fitness class. My class isenjoyable, sometimes old school,

sometimes modern exercises. I always change the sessions tokeep them enjoyable and refreshing and I always take timeout to teach people to punch with the correct technique. I thinkthat in life, if you are going to doanything then why not do it properly.

Why boxing really packs a punch in the popularity stakes ...

Gary Lockett and,below, Gary in the ring

33

BOXINGwww.workout-uk.co.uk

PADBOX prides itself on being themost realistic course within the fit-ness industry.

The practical course starts fromteaching the punch and footworkfoundations of boxing before encour-aging students on how to build uppunch combinations.

Their professional and friendlyinstructors will advise on how to getthe best results on combining yourcombinations with our reactionarymoves to create a challenging roundof boxing.

Among their students have beenpeople who have never boxedthrough to professional boxers whoas well as enjoying the course havepicked up new ideas for their trainingsessions.

Their methods can be used on a one

to one basis orboxing circuitswhich they arehappy to helpplan.

Padbox hasbeen intro-duced into sev-eral schools inEssex and SouthLondon.

Padbox isbased at theworld famousPeacockGymnasium,but the first course in the North Westwill be held at the JJB Gymnasium inWarrington11 and 12 July.

Enquiries: 07930 376 995 Website: www.padbox.co.uk

Boxing clever with Padbox

By Mary Ferguson

AN independent gym owner is tryingto drum up business by taking boxingclasses out into the community.

Neil Henshaw, who operates HelioFitness in Blackpool, has rented asocial club seven miles away to deliv-er Thump boxing sessions twice aweek.

Neil, who is the only UK trainingprovider for Thump, told Workout hehopes to attract people who will thenbe persuaded to work out and take

classes in the gym too.He said: “Most club managers spend

all of their time thinking about theirown facilities and how they canincrease their profile, attract more ofthe local community in to the club,increase membership and profitabili-ty. But how many have thought aboututilising their resources and takingfitness outside their club?

“It’s something I had thought aboutdoing even before I got involved withThump. If I look at the membershipof the gym, it probably accommo-

SPORTS Minister Gerry Sutcliffeunveiled a new era for British boxingat a special event in Sheffield to cele-brate the opening of the sport’s newOlympic gym.

He visited the English Institute ofSport to officially open a new state-of-the-art boxing hall at the venue,which will be used by the GBDevelopment Squad in the build upto the 2012 London Games.

Mr. Sutcliffe said: “I am a keen box-ing fan and it is a privilege to openthis new gym. We have congratulated

GB Boxing for their success atEuropean and Olympic contests butthose congratulations are in the past– this is the future. This is a worldclass facility and that doesn’t happenby chance.”

Sheffield Central MP RichardCaborn, who is president of theAmateur Boxing Association ofEngland (ABAE), was among 150guests including the Lord Mayor ofSheffield Jane Bird, GB boxing offi-cials, coaches and boxers who attend-ed the event.

Sports minister Gerry Sutcliffe with the GB development squad at EIS Sheffield.

Minister opens state-of-the-art boxing hall

Neil takes boxingclasses intothe community

dates just two per cent of the localpopulation so we wanted to do some-thing to help reach the rest.

“And I appreciate that the gym isn’tfor everybody, so by taking classesinto the community it helps spreadour name.”

Neil’s instructors will run two class-es in the social club a week, one forteenagers and one for adults, costing£3 and £4 respectively. People have tobook by ringing the gym, so they willbe able to capture their data forfuture marketing purposes.

To promote the community classes,Neil is creating a group on social net-working site Facebook and has doneleaflet drops to try and spread theword.

Instructors will be able to turn up atthe venue with a kit bag of gloves andpads, music and microphone, deliverthe class and then be on their way.

Neil added: “Community fitnessclasses died out in the nineties whenpeople started joining gyms insteadso by doing this, we hope to bringthings round full circle.”

Neil Henshaw has rented a social club to deliver Thump boxing sessions

BOXING

34

www.workout-uk.co.uk

KEEPING it close to home, Rickyhas set up the club with father Rayjust 800 metres from his house inHyde.

The upper level on the two-floorbuilding – a former printers – isreserved for elite boxers and fea-tures two rings, speed balls, bodyshape bags and pads. Wall padswere made specially for Ricky, whowill be training there himself.

Members can work with a person-al trainer in the rings and the teamare hoping to set up some whitecollar events in the future but forthe moment, the facilities areclosed off to members of the fitnessgym downstairs.

Manager Nigel Wilkes, who usedto train with Ricky, said demandfrom the general public wanting touse the boxing facilities has beenhuge, but they have to be turnedaway.

The main gym features two PowerPlate machines plus a full range ofCybex equipment, including theFT450. Group exercise classes runin an adjoining studio and the gymalso retails Ricky’ branded clothing.

Prints that show the boxer inaction during his fights decoratethe whole of the facilities and hisworld title belt hangs in the recep-

tion area, along with framed photo-graphs of him with celebritiesincluding Oasis and DavidBeckham.

Nigel, who has known Ricky for 20years, said: “How many gym man-agers can point to something likethat and say, ‘that’s my boss?”

Three to four weeks of pre-saleswere done from a portable buildingand the gym wasn’t officially fin-ished until a week after opening.Ricky opened the gym at an officialopening ceremony after flying fromback from a boxing defeat in LasVegas.

Nigel said: “They asked me to bemanager before they had evenbought the place. It’s not the besttime to open a gym in the summerbut we were willing to take achance and memberships are goingwell.

“Ricky’s name has had a bigimpact on enticing people herebecause it’s where he comes from.He’s attracting a lot of interest fromyoung lads but we have set theminimum joining age at 18 – wedon’t want 13 years olds trying topush people off equipment duringbusy times.”

Nigel decided he wanted an equalbalance of men and women in the

gym so spent time in local shop-ping centres to convince femalesthat just because Ricky is a boxer, itwasn’t going to be a male-dominat-ed club. He showed them floorplans and a video walk-through ofthe club while it was being builtand Nigel himself teaches free fami-ly boxing sessions at weekends,engaging children as young as six.

And he said that when it came tofinding staff, he was overwhelmedby the responses.

“We put adverts online for 13 jobs

and had over 600 applicants. Wehad mechanics and shop workersapplying, whose only experience isthat they have worked out in a gymbefore, and that made me realisehow hard things are out there forpeople in the recession.”

The most expensive membershipis £35 a month and according toNigel, it’s a really good deal.

He added: “There are no otherfacilities like this in Hyde and if wehad a pool, we could easily charge£55.”

Champion boxer Ricky Hatton has opened a new gym in Manchester, bringing his brand to the masses. MaryFerguson visited Hatton Health and Fitness to see the facilities first-hand.

Ricky boxes clever with new gym in Hyde

The boxing facilities The punch bag area Gym manager Nigel Wilkes

Ricky Hatton with Power Plate representatives.

TRAINING AND RECRUITMENT

Sponsored by: 35

Ken becomes a fitness instructor at 73A RECENTLY-QUALIFIED 73-year-old fitness instructor is helping pen-sioners get into shape at a retire-ment village gym.

Ken Howlett, from Northampton,has qualified as a level 2 gyminstructor and now delivers fitnessprogrammes to residents at a retire-ment scheme’s onsite purpose-builtgym.

He said: “I went for an interviewfor the job and was told they’demploy me on a temporary basis,but that I must complete a fitnessinstructor course before they wouldtake me on full time.

“I put programmes together forretired people with a whole host of health complaints, fromheart problems to hip replacementsto high blood pressure – it’s

certainly a varied role.”Since doing the YMCAfit course

and taking on the job Ken has tre-bled the gym membership at theclub. He believes that being a gyminstructor keeps him young, andthat having someone older buildtheir programmes encourages hisclients to take part in exercise.

He added: “I think it gives themhope to see me. And it’s the effectyou can have on improving people’squality of life that’s the importantthing – that’s true for any fitnessinstructor. One of my members hada stroke which left him paralyseddown his right side – but last weekhe was able to grip a light weightwith his hand.

“Moments like that are what thejob is all about.” Ken Howlett with a client

New foundation makesleadership trainingavailable to youngA NEW foundation has beenlaunched to open up sportsleadership training to youngpeople.

Sports Leaders UK haslaunched the Foundation forSports Leadership to provideopen access to sports leadershiptraining, build a network of local sports leadership centresand develop strategic allianceswith organisations operating inthe youth and community mar-kets.

It aims to help marginalisedyoung people and adults achieveawards, qualifications and train-ing as a route to further educa-tion and employment.

Operating alongside the SportsLeaders UK function as anawarding body, it will broadenthe reach of sports leadershiptraining to communities andindividuals who have been

excluded on grounds of locationor cost.

Linda Plowright, chief execu-tive of Sports Leaders UK said:“Our intention is to take sports leadership into the community where the benefits itcan bring are most clearly needed.

“Sports leadership courses provide valuable qualificationsand life skills but it is the volun-teering requirement of allawards that links us firmly in thecommunity.”

The Foundation will build onthe network of 50 local sportsleadership centres created overthe past year and open a num-ber of regional centres offeringopen access courses.

Project officers have beenappointed in three regions todeliver direct interventions.

DC Leisure has restructured its fitness team and appointed three new regional fitness managers.Allan Reid, who will be looking after theSouthern region, joined DC Leisure in 2002 as arelief receptionist, then became a fitnessinstructor, progressed to fitness manager anduntil recently was operations manager at

Fleming Park Leisure Centre in Hampshire.Mark Knight will be covering the north andwest and Tim Burrow, who has joined the com-pany from Freedom Leisure, will be overseeingthe London and East Anglia region.Pictured, from left: Tim Burrow, Allan Reid,Sarah Leonie (group fitness manager) and MarkKnight

TRAINING – ADVERTISER’S ANNOUNCEMENT36

By Alan Runacres, director oftraining, WABBA Qualifications

SO WHAT is The Rotator Cuff?

It’s talked about all the time, yetwhen you ask a dozen people you geta dozen different answers. Thatmeans that 11 were wrong and onewas right, or even worse all 12 ofthem were wrong.

Contrary to popular belief it is not ajoint, and it is not a muscle.

In truth, the rotator cuff is bestdescribed as a group of muscles,which collectively stabilise the shoul-der during movement of the arm.

The primary muscles concerned aretwo ‘superficial’ (surface) muscles,called the teres minor and theInfraspinatus, located in the upperback whose main function is to turnthe arm out.

Next, we have two ‘deep’ or hiddenmuscles, called the subscapularis andthe supraspinatus. The location ofthe subscapularis is almost self-explanatory.

‘Sub’ meaning submerged, whilst‘scapularis’ refers to a muscle

attached to the scapular or shoulderblade. Therefore, it is a deep musclesubmerged underneath the shoulderblade separating it from the ribs.

Its function is to turn the arminwards.

The supraspinatus is located under-neath your mid trapezius neck mus-cles.

It runs from the cervical vertebraein your neck along your shoulder lineto the top of your humerus (upperarm bone).

Its function is to initiate arm move-ment away from the side of yourbody before your lateral deltoid con-tinues to lift your arm out from theside of your body.

Ok, now we’ve got the muscles sort-ed so why all the hoorah about whatinjures it?

Ironically it’s nothing to do withpulldowns to the back – the main‘whipping post’ and ‘scapegoatexcuse’ often used as the instrumentof blame.

The main guilty party is in fact lat-eral DB raises done like you are pour-

ing jugs of water, an old trainingtechnique ditched by knowledgeablebodybuilders over 25 years ago, butnow ironically being taught by tutorsto prospective personal trainers oncertain courses here in the UK as a‘new and progressive functionaltraining technique for better results’.

Students are unknowingly passingon this duff information to clientswho end up injured. Why did body-builders stop using this technique?Because of injuries to their shoulders.

The lateral deltoid’s only function isto raise the arm out from the side ofthe body up to parallel – absolutelynothing else.

It does not rotate or twist the arm inany way, so the crazy notion of ‘dis-covering a new technique’ has actu-ally led many people to experiencepain and injuries which could have

been easily avoided.

People who had been told to usethis technique were also at the timedoing pulldowns to the back, andamazingly found that they no longerhad good enough shoulder mobilityto perform the technique in the cor-rect way and were forced to lean for-ward, nodding their head like a don-key, and hyper extending their frontshoulder region (anterior deltoid),placing excessive stress onto not onlythe shoulder muscle, but moreimportantly, the supraspinatus, oneof the muscles which surprise, sur-prise, makes up the rotator cuff.

Has the penny dropped?

� Alan Runacres has over 35 years’ gymexperience, been WABBA director of train-ing for 14 years and is the author of threebooks and over 100 published articles.

Defining therotator cuff

Alan Runacres

37TRAINING AND RECRUITMENT

www.workout-uk.co.uk

Success seesschemerun againA SCHEME to encourage morewomen from ethnic minoritiesin London to work in the fitnessindustry has proved so popularit is set to run again.

Unemployed women aged 20and over, who are fromBangladeshi, Pakistani or Somalicommunities in Newham andTower Hamlets are being giventhe chance to train withYMCAfit. The ten-week trainingscheme provides the opportuni-ty to become a fully qualifiedYMCA kids’ fitness play andgames instructor, able to planand teach exercise classes forchildren, as well as monitor pos-itive changes to their fitness lev-els and mental well-being.

Instructors can teach childhealth and fitness classes incommunity centres, as well asafter-school, holiday and break-fast clubs.

Participants have support fromtheir own mentor and oncequalified also receive help find-ing a job in health and fitness orto sourcing further training.

A FITNESS coach specialisingin weight loss programmes islaunching a series of work-shops to help professionalsdesign and deliver their ownslimming schemes.

Erak Simmson set up CoachMe Slim And Trim in 2007 andhas since delivered the pro-gramme to the NHS, in gyms,corporate settings and privatefacilities.

He is introducing the one-day workshops – to be held inWiltshire – to help existingprofessionals and those newto the industry pull togethertheir skills to create their own

successful weight loss pack-ages for clients.

How To Write, Market andSell Your Own Successful andProfitable Weight LossProgramme will be deliveredusing Erak’s own business asan example and will offer amoney-back guarantee.

Erak said: “From my ownexperience of struggling whennewly qualified I know it canbe hard to package and sellyour skills.

“Weight loss is such a growth area and I want to helppeople in the industry tap intothat.”

Erak Simmson

Design and deliver ...

TRAINING AND RECRUITMENT

38www.workout-uk.co.uk

Cash boost forsports coachesgaining skillsBy Mary Ferguson

SPORTS coaches from aroundDerbyshire are being offered financialsupport to help them gain new skillsand qualifications.

This year the Derbyshire CoachBursary Fund will be awarding morethan £5,000 to 67 paid and volunteercoaches.

The bursary fund aims to support theprofessional development of coachesworking in the area by helping them tomeet the costs of education.

Those involved work across 18 sportsincluding athletics, boxing, canoeing,cricket, football, golf, rugby league andtable tennis.

The money will allow them to worktowards assistant coach qualifications,Level 2 and 3 qualifications and othercoaching education.

Clive Moesby, chair of DerbyshireSport, said: “We want to see young

people taking part in sport regularly,achieving the highest level they can,and having more opportunities opento them.

“The Coach Bursary Fund is one waywe hope to achieve this.

“By supporting coaches to gainaccredited qualifications and improve their knowledge and skills, wehope more young people will get a better, more positive experience ofsport.”

Applications are now being acceptedfor the bursary’s next round of fundingand anyone who coaches throughschools or community clubs, on a paidor voluntary basis, is eligible to applyfor cash help.

Money can be used to pay for train-ing, or other associated costs such astravel and accommodation, to gainnew qualifications or skills throughobservation and mentoring.

Tom Ramsay has beenappointed as communi-ty sports developmentmanager for BarnsleyPremier Leisure (BPL),which runs elevenleisure venues throughout the borough. Tom’s mainrole will involve promoting DartonSports Centre as aleisure and fitness facility to the local community, as well asencouraging localschools in the region touse the facilities thatare right on theirdoorstep.

FITNESS staff at leisure operatorSheffield International Venues (SIV)are leading by example with thelaunch of a new employee healthinitiative.

SIV, which employs more than1,000 people across its portfolio of14 facilities in South Yorkshire haskicked off a company-wide WellWorkforce scheme.

The group has already introducedhealthy tips printed on pay slipsand the creation of a smoking ces-sation scheme.

Company cook offs, a new part-nership with Coca Cola to distributewater bottles to all staff and a web-site with health forums for employ-ees are also being planned by thegroup.

Justine Foster-Davis, head ofsport, for SIV, said: “It is reallyimportant to practise what youpreach.

“If you take part in exercise, cus-tomers will see you benefiting andas a result they are more likely staymotivated.”

New employee health initiativeis launched in Sheffield

39SUPPLEMENTATION AND NUTRITION

Sponsored by:

THE latest residential fitness campto open, Prestige Boot Camp focus-es on weight loss and fitness devel-opment through rigorous exerciseregimes and a strict diet.

Iain Reitze set up the camp withbusiness partner FrancescaChristian after a spell at a differentcompany and has 20 years’ experi-ence as a physical trainer in theBritish military.

He said: “The correct nutrition isvitally important during a bootcamp week. It is tough on the mus-cles so correct amounts of carbo-hydrates and protein are requiredto aid with recovery in musclerepair and replenish glycogenstores. High or low GI carbohy-drates are used in conjunction withthe type of activity following thatmeal.”

The menu is designed by thecamp’s chef, Mike Sanz, alongsidethe team of physical traininginstructors (PTIs) in conjunctionwith NHS recommended dailyallowances of calories, carbohy-drates and protein.

Four grams of carbohydrate isused alongside every gram of pro-tein and Prestige is about to beendorsed by NHS Bristol, who willdesign the menu so it is research-based and along governmentguidelines.

Iain said: “The feedback I havehad from women who have been toother camps is that the food ismore varied and they don’t feel likethey are being starved into gainingresults. The idea is that people cancontinue a healthy eating regime

when they leave the camp.”Clients are served three meals

and two snacks per day, with every-thing made from scratch by theonsite chef – who is available allweek to answer questions and dis-cuss food and nutrition with theclients.

A typical day’s menu would behomemade muesli with rice milkfor breakfast, tuna steak and saladfor lunch and soup followed bychicken and vegetables for dinner.

Snacks range from seeds and halfan apple to homemade cereal barsand a soya and banana smoothie.

During the week that Workoutvisited the camp, clients also atekippers and eggs for breakfast andmeatballs and healthy curry fordinner.

On three occasions, they wereoffered two squares of dark choco-late for an afternoon snack,encouraging the idea that every-thing is ok in moderation.

Most days consisted of eighthours of exercise, with activitiesincluding circuits, rock climbing,canoeing, hiking, boxing and run-ning.

Iain, who is in the process of set-ting up men-only camps too,added: “Clients do moan aboutbeing hungry, which is understand-able because most are used to big-ger portions and less exercise.That’s why there is such a bigemphasis on portion control at ourcamps and we try to educate peo-ple that they should eat accordingto what physical activities they aredoing that day.”

As well as hours of exercise, military-inspired weight loss camps use diet and nutrition to help clients shed upto a stone in a week. Mary Ferguson visited Prestige Boot Camp to find out how much thought goes into thefood served up – and how it achieves results.

Chef Mike ensures successon a plate at boot camp

Above: Chef MikeSanz in the bootcamp kitchenRight: hard physical trainingsessions meanthe women need the rightnutrition

40www.workout-uk.co.ukSUPPLEMENTATION

AND NUTRITION

One of LA Muscle’s sponsored athletes isentertaining the nation after winning aplace in the current series of reality TVshow Big Brother.Angel McKenzie, a professional boxer whoalso runs McKenzie Boxercise, a gym inSouth East London, is sponsored by the

supplements manufacturer and took upthe sport following a BMX accident.Angel, who’s main goal is to become aworld champion boxer and Miss Universe,joined 15 other contestants in the BigBrother house when the series started inJune.

‘Vitamins afterworkout canblock benefits’TAKING vitamins after a workout canblock the benefits of exercise, newresearch has suggested.

A study by academics in Germanyfound that taking vitamins C and Eafter an exercise session can preventthe workout improving the body’senergy regulation.

According to the study, published bya group of researchers from Leipzigand Jena Universities and HarvardMedical School, the health-promot-ing effects of exercise require the for-mation of oxidative stress duringsports and if this is blocked, some ofthese effects do not occur.

The researchers compared twogroups of 20 men who took 85-minute exercise sessions five days aweek for a month. One group tookdaily vitamin C and E supplementsduring their training and the other

did not.The researchers report that men

who consumed antioxidant supple-ments showed no changes in theirreactive oxygen levels, whereas thosewho did not take antioxidantsshowed an increase in the formationof the free radicals.

Dr. Michael Ristow, lead author ofthe study, said: “Exercise causesrepeated boosts of free radicals,which – according to our results –induce a health-promoting adaptiveresponse in humans. Subsequently,our body activates molecular defencesystems against stress and metabolis-es carbohydrates more efficiently,both of which prevents diabetes andpossibly other diseases. Blockingthese boosts of free radicals byantioxidants accordingly blocks thehealth promoting effects of exercise.”

CNP Professional have launched anew product that combines threedifferent supplements in one.The Endurance Stack contains ProEnergy, Pro Hydrate and ProRecover, designed to worktogether but taken individually.Kerry Kayes, founder of CNP said:"As former athletes ourselves weunderstand the demands sportplaces on thebody. With theEndurance Stackwe've puttogether apackage ofthree of ourpopularproducts tohelp the athletego that extramile."

SUPPLEMENTATION AND NUTRITION

41www.workout-uk.co.uk

NATHAN started cycling at tenand at 11, was diagnosed withdiabetes. But through carefuldiet management he managed toachieve National Champion sta-tus and was selected to representthe Great Britain cycling team.

He said: “I definitely feel it putme at a disadvantage as I wasconstantly having to monitor mysugar levels and if they were toohigh I’d get lactic acid build-up.When I was out on a four or fivehour ride I’d be checking myblood sugar every half hour andif I had to give myself an insulininjection while training, I’d haveto give myself less because mymuscles were so sensitive. It wasa case of constant monitoring.”

To manage his diet, Nathansaid he was careful to eat ‘clean’and when he needed extra sugarhe would have a drink of Coke –but changed his ways after get-ting involved with GB Fitness.

“I stopped drinking the Cokebecause of the aspartame it con-tains and now if I need sugar I’llhave a banana instead becauseit’s more natural and is faster-acting. And when I was cycling Iused to have sugary sports drinkstoo but now I take dextrose.”

After approaching CainLeathem, owner of GB Fitness,for nutritional advice he beganstudying with him and in 1997was asked to become a mastertrainer in the London area.

“I’ve only actually worked withone client who has diabetes, Ithink the problem is that I don’tpromote it enough that I have itmyself. Having diabetes reallyshouldn’t be a barrier for peoplewho want to achieve their goalsthrough sport.”

Today, Nathan works with arange of clients including boxers,cyclists and bodybuilders, as wellas those wanting his help to

achieve weight loss and generalfitness.

He said the biggest misconcep-tion amongst his clients is thatyou have to eat less to loseweight and said that in general,everyone has too much sugar intheir diets. He believes everyonecan benefit from vitamin andmineral supplements and saidpeople need to realise that pro-tein supplements are not just forbodybuilders.

He added: “Because everyonegets so stressed these days, theyrelease cortisol which breaksmuscle tissue down. So if theywant to lose fat, but have a par-ticularly stressful lifestyle, theycould really benefit from a pro-tein supplement if they want tokeep muscle tone. You see somany skinny celebrities butoften they are really soft, becausethey are literally eating away atthemselves.”

When Nathan Harman was a professional cyclist, Type 1 diabetes forced him to be more careful than most when it came todiet and nutrition. Now working as a master trainer for GB Fitness and helping others with nutrition, he spoke to MaryFerguson about bananas, sports drinks, and why having an illness shouldn’t stop people achieving success.

Nathan with Cain (right) and one of their clients

How master trainer Nathan didn’tlet diabetes get in his way ...

A BRISTOL gym is celebrating thesuccess of one of its trainers who haswon the title of Miss Britain.

Joanne Sperring, pictured above,who works at the Fitness Factory as areceptionist and trainer, flexed herway to the title in Southport and wasinvited to compete in Miss World inSlovakia.

Gym owner Sally Jeffery saidJoanne – who has worked there forten years – is an inspiration to the

members.She added: “She has so much dedi-

cation and trains three times a day,despite being a single parent.

“I feel like a second mother to herand always do her hair and make-upbefore competitions – I’m so proud.”

The gym is also following the success of their work experience student Daniel Barry, who wasnamed Mr. Britain at just 20 yearsold.

Joanne muscles in on title

42www.workout-uk.co.ukSUPPLEMENTATION

AND NUTRITION

SUPPLEMENTS distributor and for-mer Mr. Universe Dayo Audi organ-ised the SportsPN Classic, held inconjunction with England’s StrongestMan contest.

The event, now in its third year,made its debut at Doncaster Domeand saw Terry Hollands emerge as theoverall winner of the Strongmanevent, with Mark Felix as runner upand Darren Sadler in third place.

Paul Mason walked away with£1,000 worth of supplement prizes as

winner of the Open Amateur. TheMasters class was won by MartinHolroyd, the First Timers by AdamElhasham and the Novice by JonTuplin.

Sponsors of the event included SKSports Supplies, Sci-MentorNutrition, U-Boss Nutrition, PerfectUK, Peak Body, MuscleTalk andVitargo.

Dayo, a Vitargo UK distributor, alsoowns a retail and wholesale supple-ments store in Wakefield.

Terry Hollands displays his strength

Dayo (left) with Paul Mason

Dayo organises Classic Endurance motorsport team Strakka Racing is workingwith sports nutrition company CNP Professional.The aim is to ensure the drivers' diets are formulated todeliver the concentration, coordination, stamina andenergy they need to drive the perfect lap during the LeMans Series, Europe's highest level sports car champi-onship."Strakka's combination of supplements is designed tosupport the body in all these areas," says Kerry Kayes,CNP's sports nutrition expert. "For example, Pro-Napalm's electrolytes maintain hydration and the prod-uct has caffeine and guarana for alertness. The ProSlams include beta alanine and help with muscularendurance before and during a race."

PRODUCT NEWS 43

THE Ultim8 Pro + is thetop of the range vibra-tion plate and designedfor use in fully commer-cial gyms, studios,sunbed centres, beautysalons, clinics and hospitals and has a fullprofessional warranty.

It is made from solidsteel and not plastic andhas a large wide plate to enable you tohave a full workout.

The computer allowsthe choice of a widerange of frequenciesand there are 2 largemotors to ensure the

vibrations are strongenough to stimulate thelargest user.

Corporate customersreceive a full ‘train thetrainer’ programme in-house or at a trainingcentre. Buy the bestsolid steel Vibrationtrainer available today.Buy the Ultim8Vibration Plate.

Commercial leases arefrom £110 a month overfive years.

Enquiries: 0845 226 0067

Email:sales@ultim8fitness.co.uk

Top of the range vibration plateatg UV Technology is a world marketleader in the design, developmentand manufacture of state-of-the-artultraviolet disinfection systems for arange of applications including swim-ming pools, spas, hydrotherapy poolsand splash pads.

Their fundamental commitment todevelopment and innovation hasbeen the driving force behind theirsuccess for over three decades.

This approach, alongside their pas-sion for social corporate responsibili-ty has lead to the equivalent of a busi-ness 'knighthood', seeing atg UV joinBritain's business elite after beinghonoured with a Queen’s Award forEnterprise, the UK’s most prestigioushonour for business performance.

With product advancement strongly

linked to technological ingenuity andthe needs of their customers, atg UVare able to provide the level of serviceexpected from both a market leaderand Queen’s Award winner.

Enquiries: 01942 216161 Website: www.atguv.com

Queen’s Award for UV pools specialist

LIGHTMASTERS was established in1994 to service the needs of theexpanding leisure and entertainmentsectors in the UK.

The company has supplied systemsto bowling centres and health and fit-ness operations, cabaret clubs, dis-cotheques, theme restaurants, barsand corporate hospitality,.

Working out in a gym can be boring,but it needn't be with imaginative,flexible, lighting. Combined with highquality Lightmasters designed enter-tainment systems, it's an experience.

We have been successful in businessby maintaining close contact with ourcustomers and adapting to the ever-changing needs of the market.

Our philosophy is that we are anintegral part of your operation. It isessential that we gain a full under-

standing of your business' strategy sothat we may specify the most suitableproducts for your particular applica-tion.

This approach ensures that our cus-tomers have a system that is unique,custom-designed and fit for the pur-pose.

Enquiries: 01480407727 Website: www.lightmasters.co.uk

Good lighting enhances workout experience

TO COMPLEMENT the Atkinsrange of low carbohydrate bars,which can be enjoyed alongside ahealthy eating diet plan, Atkinshas added two ready to drinkshakes to its Advantage range,which come in convenient 325mlTetra Pack.

The shakes come in twoflavours – cafe royale, made withreal coffee for a coffee boost, anda creamy milk chocolate.

They offer a delicious way tostart the day and are a perfectway to refuel after a workout.Both guilt-free and a nutritiouspick me up, each contains 15g ofprotein, and only 151 and 157 calo-ries respectively, with less than 3g ofnet carbs per serving.

The full range is available from CLFDistribution.

Enquiries: 01725 514200 Website: www.atkins.com

Atkins’ ready to drink shakes

THE latest heat experience tobe made available byDalesauna Ltd is the saltinhalation room. This steamfilled tiled room is infused witha salt water solution whichmingles with the steam to cre-ate an invigorating effect. The salt vapour produces nega-tive ions which are widelyregarded to assist with sufferersfrom head aches and migrain.Salt vapour is also extremelybeneficial as an aid to breath-ing and for those sufferingfrom bronchial ailments. Thelatest centre to add such aroom is the newly refurbished Wavescentre in Whitley Bay.

Enquiries: 01423 798630 Website: www.dalesauna.co.uk

Salt inhalation rooms from Dale Sauna

Chelsea FC the new venue for the International Fitness Forum Convention & Expo 2009THE International Fitness ForumConvention and Expo is back and willbe held across 10 – 11 October 2009at Stamford Bridge, the home ofChelsea Football Club.

Europe’s leading fitness conventionwill be split into three themes: per-sonal training, group fitness andmind and body, and will have anarray of sessions to cater for allindustry professionals.

It will showcase the world's leadingfitness presenters and educators withsessions ranging from hi-lo, step,conditioning, kickboxing, indoorcycling, youth group sessions, Pilates,Yoga and everything in-between.

The Expo is a trade show specificallyfor health and fitness instructors andwill be showcasing a wide variety of

new products and services frommany different companies, includingsports apparel, small equipment,training supplements, recruitmentagents and training providers. Newareas of interest for this year includeyouth training and physiotherapy,with experts on hand to demonstratenew technology and ideas.

Enquiries: 020 7719 1414 Email: marketing@multitraxgroup.com

Hatton Health and Fitness chooseLeisureMost ...BOXER Ricky Hatton’s new state ofthe art gym and leisure complex inHyde, Cheshire have chosenLeisureMost leisure managementsoftware.

Having looked at various softwaresolutions, Hatton’s manager NigelWilkes chose LeisureMost as it is a‘powerful, cost effective and straight-forward system backed up with excel-lent training and support’.

LeisureMost comprises member-ship, visit recording, access control,bookings, courses, point of sale and

back office reporting modules. For almost 20 years LeisureMost

have supplied leisure managementsoftware to leisure facilities through-out the UK and are continuouslydeveloping and enhancing the soft-ware’s capabilities.

Enquiries: 0113 2370688 Website:www.leisuremost.com

S.K. Distributions cool down the industryS.K. Distributions are one of the UK’slargest suppliers of mobile fans andcoolers to the leisure industy, special-ising in products that can dramatical-ly improve the poor air conditions inmany leisure establishments.

Most establishments will have theobligatory plastic fans and dream ofthe day they can afford conventionalair conditioning. However, S.K. sayalternative products can be equallyeffective and just a fraction in run-ning costs. The Cyclone range ofcooling fans is just one example andexclusive to S.K. Distribution. Theimpressive top of the range Cyclone650 fan is capable of moving 13,000cubic meters of air per hour. Theamount of air movement producedgives the same effect as holding yourarm out of a car window on a hot day.

The Cyclone 650 is the first truly

commercial oscillating fan and isavailable on a pedestal adjustable upto two meters in height or can be wallmounted. For small areas we recom-mend the 450 range also available ona pedestal or wall mounted.

Effective air movement creates posi-tive pressure especially in rooms thathave open windows. Normally pres-sure coming through an open win-dow will push the stuffy and stagnantconditions further in to the room.The Cyclone fans will prevent thishappening. Other products includelow cost evaporation coolers, suitablefor receptions, crèches etc. Mobile airconditioners designed for roomswithout natural ventilation are alsoavailable. We are offering pre-seasondiscounts including free delivery.

Enquiries: 01216020411 Website: skravenhurst@btconnect.com

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