February Gym & Pool Openings

In February 2016, a total of 20 new gyms and pools opened across the UK including 18 private sites and 2 public sector sites. 

Valentine's Day Special

We want to share the love of fitness so we've picked our top 5 Valentine's Weekend Offers:

1. The Pendle Leisure Trust believe that if you train together, you'll stay together so they're giving away couples 7 day fitness passes for free. The offer is valid until February 15th and gives you access to 4 gyms, 3 swimming pools, fitness classes, water-based exercise classes, personal fitness advice and an induction.  

2. 1Life at Sleaford is giving away 3 day free passes for a member to bring along a friend. The pass includes access to the gym, pool, classes and squash courts and can be used between Friday 12th to Sunday 15th. Whilst, 1Life Tiddenfoot Leisure Centre is offering joint membership for just £19.99 a month.  

3. Places for People want you to fall in love with their #Place and they're offering the rest of February at only £14 (plus an admin fee). The membership includes unlimited gym, swim and class access and the offer also applies to swim only memberships. 

4. TruGym are taking a slightly different approach to Valentine's and are having 'Bring a Buddy' weekend between 13th and 14th February meaning you can train with a friend for free. 

5.  A number of Pure Gym sites including Edgware, Wakefield and Newcastle Eldon Garden, are giving out free day passes for loved ones or friends using the code 'PGLOVE' which can be used between the 13th and 14th. Pure Gym Widnes have a no contract 24/7 membership for £14.99 so you can get in shape for Sunday and Pure Gym Newport are giving away free day passes using the promotional code 'LOVE' which will be valid for use between 12th-14th February. 

These other Valentine's offers are also worth mentioning:

Active4Less Hove are feeling the love and to show it they're are giving out Valentine vouchers at reception which lets you bring a loved one to the gym for free. It's valid until 14th February but does not include classes.

The Rossendale Leisure Trust are giving away a whole year's membership for just £250 as part of their Valentine's Offer.

Fit4Less Enfield are asking members to refer a friend and win the chance for a dinner for 2 at a Gordon Ramsey restaurant. 

And finally, there's a few other brands which may not be offering voucher codes, discounts or free passes but are still promoting the romantic weekend vibes. Everyone Active Cambourne are suggesting couples Valentine's Day workouts whilst the newly opened boutique cycling studio, Pure Ride, will be celebrating on 12th February with special edition classes and unique sounds. 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Motivation is the key to success

Despite our best intentions, some days are harder than others to persuade ourselves to get up and exercise. But when the exercise gear is finally on, what inspired us to do it?

I asked the Leisure DB team what or who gets them motivated to do sport and exercise and here are their answers:

Abi: I’ve been into sport and exercise since I was little, it’s engrained but I find that the excitement and enjoyment you feel from playing sport or doing exercise is probably what motivates me most. I’d be lying if I didn’t also say it’s partly guilt…I’ve got a huge appetite so I need to keep fit and healthy so I can still be a foodie!

Charlotte: I love the feeling you get after exercise, I couldn’t live without the buzz you get after working to your max!

Hux: Mark Cavendish is my fitness inspiration when I get on a bike but it doesn’t happen often enough and that’s where the comparisons end…

Jamie: I’ve recently been going out jogging with my 11 year old son, he’s pretty inspirational, but he’s also getting a little too quick for me now!

Jen: My biggest inspiration for taking part in netball is the social side of it as I love being part of a team and playing it for each other. But what inspires me to go to the gym? How I feel about myself. I know that going to the gym, clocking up the calories and working hard will make me feel great when I finish. If I do exercise all week, I know I can hit the dancefloor on a Saturday night feeling comfortable and confident.

Nat: All the motivation I need is knowing how exercise makes me feel – a mixture of invigorated, exhausted, fitter and stronger.

What motivates you to get up and go?

Fitness Predictions for 2016

David Minton, Director of LeisureDB, is a widely sought after mentor and consultant for a range of health and fitness organisations with his extensive industry knowledge and here are his top 10 predictions for 2016.

1.       The number of people who are overweight will continue to rise. An opportunity for the industry to provide an alternative to the harmful fat, sugar and salt consumed by the majority?

2.       British Heart Foundation research found 75% of Brits are unaware of the recommended minimum amount of physical activity. Current guidelines are too complicated so nothing will change in 2016.     

3.       Following the successful Initial Public Offering by The Gym Group last November, London Stock Exchange share price is 234, up from initial offering of 189. Very good news for the industry and a second IPO should follow in 2016.

4.       In 2016 the top two fitness brands by number of sites will be Pure Gym and, in the public sector GLL’s Better. 

5.    Low cost brands will take 30% of the private sector membership, up from 24%.

6.       2016 will be the year of aggregators, bloggers, unboxing channels, trackers, wearables and an app for everything that targets the fitness consumer. Woe betide any brand that doesn’t react.

7.       Real-time transparent data on timetables, bookings and smooth payments will be king in 2016. Pdf’s, telephone bookings and credit cards are dead or dying.

8.       Any brand that does not use social media as its main form of communication with the consumer will lose market share. Watch out for the launch of LeisureDB’s Social Media Index in 2016. 

9.       Brazil will have the host nation advantage at this year’s summer Olympics and so should jump from 22nd in the medal table in 2012 to ……. 12th!? Best of luck to all the athletes.

10.   And it’s good bye to LA Fitness, a once great brand who never really recovered from the social media nightmare in 2012.

60 SECOND UK FITNESS NEWS - 22nd Jan 2016

In this weeks 60 second news; It's been announced that Fitness First has sold its founding site in Bournemouth. The Queen’s Park Health Club has been bought by BH Live for an undisclosed sum will now be known as BH Live Active. Jatomi Fitness CEO Tracey Gehlan, who moved in the industry April last year from Burger King, believes the Fitness Industry needs to learn from the fast food Sector and start engaging children rather than making them wait until they’re 18 for a gym membership. Part of McDonald’s success is that every three year old in the country has heard of them, the fitness industry needs to think of a way it can include the younger generations. Could it be through creating the Ultimate Selfie? Ian Pearson a futurologist, commission by Fitness First claims that by 2046 we will be exercising with performance recording drone-swarms. It could improve technique and allow for video streaming. Further technology advances could allow us to spar with a robot opponent and run the marathon with Mo Farah. Lastly, our director David Minton will be making his industry predictions for 2016 keep an eye on our blog to find out who he believes will be the largest fitness brand in the UK this year and more.

Health Club Management Yearbook 2016

First we shape our industry and afterwards our industry shapes us.

This aphorism is perhaps the least quoted exposition of the relationship between people and their fitness (and health). In a year when we should be celebrating, I want to question, as a critical friend, why we're not achieving more.

First the good news. The industry has shown itself to be recession proof and is back in positive headline growth, year on year. This year’s State of the Fitness Industry Report infographics are excellent at showing trends over longer periods, something industry veterans and financiers are finding reassuring. The penetration rate across the total population, has grown to 13.7% as monthly direct debits hit 8.8 million, up from 13.2% and 8.3 million.

I put this up front because it recently came to my notice via social media that too many people working in the industry do not know the size of the industry they work in. The day to day isolation that many people suffer whilst working in what should be a very social environment needs to be addressed and we’re looking to present more ‘real-time’ data on our website in 2016.

So back to the good news. The total number of fitness sites stands at 6,312, up from 6,112 and the market value has grown to £4.3bn almost £1bn growth since 2007.

Across the private sector, low-cost sites have continued to drive growth. There are now 319 low-cost clubs, up from 257. Membership has jumped to 1.3 million with a market value of £290m. Last year members were paying on average £17.99 and this year it has increased to £18.23, an indication that more low-cost are bordering on the £20 per month definition. If we keep this definition then some low cost brands are either finding the model isn’t working on all sites, or find the strength of the market means they no longer need to be constrained by price. Some brands are moving not only into the £20 plus but £30 plus brackets, particularly in London. So low-cost brands are moving into the very mid-market they were once attacking.

The public sector, meanwhile, is playing a far more long term game, gaining strength and are embedding itself into the local community. Public sites have a wider range of facilities and maintain over 3.3 million members paying an average fee of £30, unchanged since last year. Back in 2011 the public sector opened 81 all-new gyms but although refurbishments have grown new openings have dropped year on year till 2015 brought just 46. However these sites on average have 58 stations and are charging £31.25 both higher than the all public site average. This average is being pushed up by the work of the larger public site operators. GLL and their Better brand is now the largest fitness brand in the country with 126 sites, SLM’s Everyone Active, has 79 and Places for People Leisure have 78 sites. GLL manage 38 more gyms than twelve months ago and is also the largest swim and diving school operator.  

Our personal preferences can become personal insight based on information in the public domain yet few public or private brands are taking advantage to engage in meaningful conversations, present real-time information and convert interest into commerce or visits. For the first time in the report we have included a Fitness Social Media Index looking at brands on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. The results do not make for good reading; four out of the top ten private brands and nine out of the top ten public brands do not use Instagram. Compare this to the ‘active wear’ brands that have taken fitness beyond the gym to become a lifestyle. Nike, Adidas, Vans, Converse, Puma, Under Armour and New Balance have all seen between 252% and 144% growth rates in their Instagram followers, unprecedented in other forms of social media. Are fitness brands neglecting a highly engaged and superior indexing platform?

Could the lack of social media strategies, along with a lack of innovation and differentiation, be the downfall of the industry in 2016? Weight Watchers is a good example of how quickly new technology can destroy the value of a business. In 2015 its stock dropped 92% from its all time high, membership is down 38% and the number of meetings has fallen by 20%. Dieting tools have gone high tech and the weight watchers weekly meetings and weigh-ins have been replaced by on-demand conversation and support.

Husband and wife bloggers Daniel and Kelli on Fitness Blender have over 18 million followers and like Wikipedia rely on donations. In the UK Body.Network, promoted by The Times and fronted by well known personal trainer Matt Roberts provides an on-demand library of videos with your favourite trainer for £15 per month. Around twenty new aggregators, high tech start-ups from UK, India, Israel and USA are working around the lack of APIs (an abbreviation for application program interface) to go direct to the consumer. These aggregators will have a conversation with the consumer, will provide a personal service and will create an experience for them. Does the fitness industry do all three and do it well?

Some new technology attracts criticism for undercutting the industry but like Uber and Airbnb the power and choice lies with the consumer. Will aggregators, bloggers, unboxing celebrities, on-demand channels, trackers, wearables and an app for everything win over the consumer and impact traditional platforms and websites? It’s only a matter of time …… so embrace new technology and help shape our industry in 2016.

David Minton, Director, LeisureDB, November 2015 

The Best January Gym Deals

#HealthyJanuary is well under way, so what better way to stick with your health and fitness New Year resolution than picking out the best gym deals available. We researched what deals both public and private operators are offering and posted them below:

Private:

A 3 day pass for Pure Gym would normally cost you £12.99 but as part of the January deals, they are offering it for free using their promotional code ‘WELCOME’. The offer is valid only on open Pure Gyms and the use of the code expires 31/01/16. 

The Gym Group is offering to both members and non-members (after signing up) three free one to one training sessions but note that it applies only to sites that were open or opened during 2015. 

DW Sports Fitness are proposing you join their #FitnessEvolution and become a member for just £5. If this doesn’t suit you, you can always get 2 months free if you buy a 14 month membership up front, and you won’t be charged a joining fee either.

Virgin Active and Nuffield Health have both stated that if you buy into their membership in January, they will pay for the remainder of the month but remember that terms and conditions always apply.

Blue Monday, or more commonly called Monday 18th January 2016, is apparently the most depressing day of the year according to…the internet. Rather than getting down and out about it, jump on Fitness First’s Red Monday, they’re aiming to turn people’s frowns upside down by offering free entry to non-members at their clubs across the UK. They’ve even partnered with the fitness expert Joe Wicks, or ‘The Body Coach’ as he’s known, to offer free HIIT sessions throughout Red Monday.

If you are a member of The Times, David Lloyd have released an exclusive offer of a 14-day free trial at their clubs across the UK. It’ll allow you to use the gyms, exercise classes and squash and tennis courts in their clubs. You can start your trial at mytimesplus.co.uk. Énergie Fitness Clubs, like David Lloyd, are offering the same two week free deal for their gyms but have partnered with the Daily Star and the Daily Express. 

Public:

Better has no joining fee until Jan 31st and it could save you up to £35! The offer is valid from 1st January until 29th February 2016 meaning you have no excuse but to keep fit throughout Jan and into Feb! 

Everyone Active are offering an impressive deal – to join their centres from £1 and the offer is open between December 27th 2015 and 31st January 2016. However, please note that the offer states “from £1” and the cost will vary dependent on which participating leisure centre you’re looking to join. If you have children and they are enrolled in swimming lessons at Everyone Active, some leisure centres also offer an extra 25% off your pay monthly activity membership – get all of the family active! 

1Life are inviting non-members to sign up and pay a joining fee of only £1 and unlimited access to their facilities. The offer will end 31/01/16. Additionally, you can register for a free 1Life Card which includes a free 3 day trial, free activity passes and discounts from their partner brands.

If you’re a regular swimmer Places for People Leisure have the perfect deal for you! They are offering two free swims after you’ve been ten times. 

Fusion Lifestyle are giving out two day free passes from 1st January to 29th February and must be used within that time period. This offer is only valid to new customers.  

With all this information you can now keep fit for a good price!

The Road to Rio

The 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics are looming and Leisure DB can’t help getting excited…only 206 days to go! On August 5th 2016 the flame will be lit and the games will begin. Two weeks of exhilarating sport and phenomenal achievements is exactly what we love and we will be proudly backing Team GB. Thus far, a total of 18 Team GB athletes have been confirmed for the Olympic Games, including 4 athletes for the canoe slalom, 8 for sailing and 6 for shooting and we can’t wait to hear who else will be announced.

International Olympic Committee President, Thomas Bach, provided a positive New Year message to welcome in 2016: “In August, the world will come together in Rio de Janerio, for the very first Olympic Games in South America. I am confident that Brazil will enthusiastically welcome the world with their joy of life and their passion for sport…I wish everyone a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Olympic Year 2016”.

As is tradition, the Olympic torch has been designed and its relay course has been mapped. The Rio 2016 Olympic Torch is one of a kind and it certainly reflects the colourful flavour of Brazil. Unlike any torch before it, this year’s has opening segments which each reveal a new element of Brazil as the flame is passed over. Starting from the top, the bright gold piece of the torch reflects the sun and the ultimate achievement possible at the Games. Next the torch mirrors the mountains with green, then blue for the sea and the ground represented by the colours of the Copacabana promenade, the most famous piece of ground in Rio. The torch will make its way across the whole of Brazil during the Olympic Torch Relay spectacle, starting in the capital city Brasilia on May 3rd. It will visit every state of Brazil over a 95 day tour covering a total of 20,000km by road and 16,000km by air and be held by 12,000 torchbearers. Remarkably, the relay aims to reach an estimated 90% of Brazil’s population.

The construction of the new Olympic Parks in Barra and Deodoro have been confirmed by the Rio City Government as 95% complete. Test events have been staged at the venues which has allowed Games organisers, athletes and the public to see what it’ll be like come August. Additionally, the new Olympic Golf Course and Paralympic & Olympic village set in the Barra region are in the final stages of completion. Only the Velodrome and Youth Arena are set slightly behind at 75% completed.

The London 2012 games were incredibly memorable and Rio has a lot to live up to, particularly for the Paralympics. Following its previous success, it’s vital that support continues to peak this year. Paralympics GB have launched their new campaign Supercharge which aims to once again “inspire the nation, challenge perceptions and help create a better world for disabled people” with the aid of the British public. Competition will be tougher than ever this year for our Paralympians and any funds raised will help to prepare the team on the Road to Rio and set the way for future success.

David Minton, director of Leisure DB, can’t help but recognise that after the 4 years of legacy, Team GB will probably not make history in Rio. Infostrada Sports’ Virtual Medal Table predicts that Team GB will bring home 48 medals including 10 golds compared to their 2012 result of 65 and 29. However, there is still ample chance of the forecast changing in the lead up to the Games and we can’t wait to see the actual outcome.

Bring on the Games and good luck to everyone involved!

By Abi Taylor, Sports Researcher

Why We Love The Apple Watch

The Leisure DB team are big fans of the Apple Watch!  Here they are explaining which apps they love to use and why. 

Abi Taylor

“I discovered an easy-to-use fitness app called Seven which takes you through a seven minute workout. It has easy to follow images of how to perform each exercise and best of all it tracks your performance. I’m very competitive and it gives you regular challenges which I love! It’s simple to use on the watch meaning I don’t have to think about taking my phone to the gym”

Charlotte Quesnel

“Citymapper is by far one of the most useful apps I have on my Apple Watch. A must have for anyone living or working in London. Gets me from A to B without fail and now with the added benefit of live updates on the apple watch it makes it even easier to travel. No more missed stops with live notifications straight to your wrist!”

Chloe Davis

"The GoPro app is great, it allows me to preview the shot and capture photos and videos conveniently on my watch"

David Minton

“The Apple Watch enables me to keep track of calls and texts, use Apple Pay, order an Uber all without having to use my phone, but mostly I use the Apple Watch’s in-built health app; the data collection is transparent and I can view or share it instantly”

Jamie Buck

“Zopim on Apple Watch is my favourite business app by far. It gives me the freedom to respond quickly to potential new business enquiries via the online chat feature on our website. Without the watch app there’s no way I’d be able to react in time when messages arrive. The Apple Watch pings me wherever I am and then I hop onto the full Zopim app on my iPhone to quickly reply. Hopefully in a future update they’ll let me dictate an even quicker reply via Siri on the watch meaning I don’t even need my iPhone!”

Jennifer Schooling

“Apple Pay makes it a little too easy to spend my money! But I love the fact I can now leave the house without my purse”

Jon Huxtable

"I rely on the Apple Watch mostly for alerts (particularly Whatsapp) and as a link to the iPhone mapping functions. It makes for a more surreptitious, hands-free street guide when navigating around Central London. People might even mistake me for a real London checking the time, rather than someone peering at a map on a phone"

Natalie Gibson

“I love the activity tracker on the watch – it’s great for an outdoor bike ride as it tells me my average speed as well as mile splits, calories burnt, average heart rate, etc. It syncs to my phone so I can view it on that later but during the bike ride, I just have to move my wrist to view my current speed, distance, time, etc. Much easier than having to get my phone out! The tracker is also great for giving you regular updates on how close you’re getting to your daily goals to move, exercise and stand; it makes me stand up every hour and walk around for a minute!”

60 Second UK Fitness News - Dec 2015

In this weeks 60 second news; our director, David Minton claims it’s time for the fitness industry to innovate or die, this echoes similar belief to that of Les Mills Chief Exec Martin Franklin who states an unwillingness to go digital could be what kills the industry. And Pivotal Living are helping everyone to get digital by bringing a £15 fitness tracker to the market. The tracker has sold out until Jan in the US, where it’s only $12. But if you’re not sure about wearable tech then maybe a Tech Tattoo is what you’re looking for? Chaotic Moon have announced they are working on a prototype for a bio wearable to track your medical and activity data.

Also this week, it's been announced that Sports Direct Fitness have acquired the Print Works Health Club and Spa at London Olympia, and we would like to congratulate all the winners at the 2015 National Fitness Awards especially Burnley Leisure who picked up 3 awards! Thanks for watching.

Pivotal Living Tracker Review

In LeisureDB TV’s recent video we referred to the Pivotal Living £15 fitness tracker which has revolutionised the concept of budget health tracking. The tracker is even sold out across America until January. Here at Leisure DB we have got our hands on our own Pivotal Living tracker and in the New Year, we will be giving you a personal review of how we got on with it.

In the meantime, here’s a few reviews from popular bloggers:

Up first is Valentina Palladino who thought the band looked subtly high end compared to other inexpensive trackers on the market. Even at its low-cost the tracker monitors all the essentials required to get healthy and the app made the data easy to understand, particularly with the graphs that broke down the steps, activity and sleep information. Valentina did highlight a few negative aspects of the Pivotal Living tracker including a recurring issue with the band resetting itself. They also found that syncing the band with the app could be challenging and occasionally resulted in lost data. After only 3 days the battery was nearly depleted which is much less than the suggested 7 day charge life. Valentina felt the band lacked a few things such as tracking specific exercises and offering advice for health improvement.

Andy Boxall reviewed the Pivotal Living tracker for Digital Trends and felt it was an amazingly low price with accurate tracking and collated a wealth of data. Whilst he felt the band was visually bland looking it was still very comfortable and unobtrusive. The battery life exceeded the 7 day expectation and lasted two weeks but perhaps this length of time was due to under use? A few let downs were the unfortunate use of a proprietary charger, slow syncing to the app and weak alarm vibration. Overall though, he felt it was a perfect entry level fitness tracker with great build quality and solid app performance.

Amie from The Senior List thought the tracker was a great option for first time activity band users. She felt the best selling point was the price but it was also easy to charge and had an average 5 day battery life. The band itself was considered unassuming and a simple design that looked nice with any casual outfit, however the width of band could be irritating for people with smaller sized wrists.

Dan Graziano for CNET thought the tracker was basic and comfortable, with a solid 7 day battery life. The benefits of the band included the silent alarm for gentle wake ups, inactivity alerts to motivate you and the hydration tracking. Dan felt one of the biggest drawbacks was that the tracker was not waterproof and he was concerned over the build quality due to the appearance of scratches after only a few days wear.

Judging by these reviews the most notable comments made were how comfortable the tracker is to wear and of course it’s value for money. Having read these, we are even more excited to try ours out. 

How many UK gyms are opening in January?

5 Big Health & Fitness Facility Openings From November

1. Oldham Leisure Centre - North West
2. Wednesbury Leisure Centre - West Midlands
3. Pure Gym (Bedford) - Eastern
4. DW Sports Fitness (Ewell) - South East
5. Anytime Fitness (Tooting) - London

New to the public sector and located just outside Manchester, the Oldham Leisure Centre, opened its doors on 18th November. Managed by the Oldham Community Leisure Trust, the new centre aims to put Oldham on the “sporting map” with its brand new facilities. The new centre offers an 8 lane 25m swimming pool with a sizeable viewing platform and the 8 court sports hall also has a 250 person flexible seating area. The gym has 80 workout stations with equipment supplied by Technogym together with a dedicated spin studio. Also available for use and hire are the 4 indoor bowls rinks, 2 studios, and sauna and steam room. Membership prices do vary starting from £19.99 and an increase in charges for activities will come into effect 2nd January 2016. 

Oldham Leisure Centre

Slightly further South, near Birmingham, The Sandwell Leisure Trust, working in partnership with the Sandwell Council, opened the new £8.1million Wednesbury Leisure Centre on the 9th of November. The leisure centre provides a large variety of sporting facilities including a 25m indoor swimming pool, a second smaller learning pool, and a 75 station gym with a dedicated spin studio. In addition, the centre also provides a 3 badminton court sports hall and two studios; the centre offers a number of classes such as Pilates, spin, ViPR, Zumba and Aqua Fit. Membership is £19.50 per month with a 3 year fixed price.

Within the private sector, Pure Gym continues to expand and on 20th November they opened a site in Bedford which had been rebranded from a formerly LA Fitness gym. The Bedford site, like most Pure Gyms, is open 24/7 and costs £18.99 per month or has a walk-in fee of £5.99. In addition to the Bedford site, Pure Gym opened a further 6 gyms across the UK during the month of November.

Similarly to Pure Gym, DW Sports Fitness took over a previously LA Fitness gym in Ewell and reopened it on 3rd November. The new Ewell site offers a 40 station gym, 17m indoor swimming pool, 2 studios and 3 tennis courts. In November alone, DW Sports Fitness opened a total of 6 sites across the UK.

Finally, Anytime Fitness Tooting opened on November 25th and offers a 25 station gym and studio in the heart of Tooting. The gym is open 24 hours a day with membership starting at £35.95 per month. Anytime Fitness have now successfully opened 3,000 health clubs worldwide which ranks them as a top global franchise. 

- Abi Taylor, Sports Researcher

Latest Twitter News from @TLDC_UK:

Inclusion, a whole new ball game

The 'greatest Paralympic games ever' claimed Philip Craven, President, International Paralympic Committee (IPC) after the games achieved mass market appeal for the first time. Ultimately the games met and surpassed many expectations including breaking records for ticket sales and heightening the profile of multi-sport events for athletes with disabilities. London 2012 Paralympic Games, the fourteenth Summer Games, set a new benchmark for Rio and Tokyo.

With 4,302 athletes from 164 countries taking part in 503 events in 20 sports, it was the largest Paralympics ever. Great Britain, as host nation sent 294 athletes to compete, the largest delegation, followed by China with 284 and United States 223. Russia and Brazil both had 181, Australia 160, France 158, Germany 152 and Japan135. The Paralympic movement has grown since the first ever organised sporting event for disabled athletes took place in the small British village of Stoke Mandeville in 1948. Then just 16 ex-members of the British Forces took part but numbers grew very quickly and within just 6 years 14 nations were represented in 1954. Today the Stoke Mandeville Stadium is a state of the art sports and leisure centre with a unique sporting history, just 92 miles (148 Kilometres) from the Olympic Stadium. With history in mind Lord Coe, Chairman of LOCOG, launched the official London 2012 training camp programme in 2008 at Stoke Mandeville.

Even before the start of the Summer Olympics 1.4 million Paralympic sports tickets had been sold, surpassing the total number sold in Sydney. In August 2012 LOCOG announced that 2.1 million tickets had been sold, breaking the record of 1.8 million set in Beijing. By the opening ceremony 2.4 million had been sold with the remaining 100,000 sold during the games.

These ticket sales and the huge rise in viewing figures, 38% up on 2008, helped raise the social agenda associated with the Paralympic Legacy. The hope that positive attitudes towards disability sport would reduce much of the discrimination faced by disabled people in everyday life. The top 5 countries' viewing figures for the Paralympic Games belonged to China, Japan, Germany, GB, and France which according to the IPC, underlines the huge potential for growth at future games. Many with direct experience of disability praised the Games for their influence in promoting inclusivity among them was Prime Minister, David Cameron, who in 2002 as a young Member of Parliament, became the father of a disabled child requiring 24 hour care. Lord Coe's closing speech struck a chord with the nation when he said the Paralympics Games opened our minds to what people can do and 'we will never think of sport the same way, and we will never think of disability the same way.'

Two years later, the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee offered more events and more medal opportunities for Para-Sport athletes than any Commonwealth Games before showing not only the growth, but the popularity of Para-Sport, at all levels. In 2014 the inaugural Invictus Games took place. Established by The Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, the Invictus Games is an international sporting event for wounded, injured and sick servicemen and women. Set up to use sport to inspire recovery, a passion of Prince Harry in his role as both a soldier and a sportsman. Over 400 competitors from 13 nations took part in the four day event. Lewis Hamilton, the Formula 1 driver, whose brother is disabled, became the first ambassador for the Invictus Games earlier this year. Lewis visited competitors to see how they were using sport as part of the recovery process and joined them in a wheelchair basketball match.

In the Invictus Games, Prince Harry took part in wheelchair Rugby, which was recognized as a full medal sport for the first time at the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney, Australia. It has since been featured at the Paralympic Games in Athens, Beijing and London. World Championships and the Paralympics are held every 4 years. Currently, there are more than forty countries that actively participate in the sport, or who are developing programmes within their nation. The three zones are, the Americas, with six active countries; Europe, with fourteen active countries; and Asia-Oceania, with six active countries, including Japan.

The potential of this sport was underlined at London 2012 where capacity crowds watched in awe of both the sport and its athletes. On a recent visit to London SSF Director Kazutoshi Watanabe and colleagues (Tom Yoshida and Max Tamazawa) saw the best international teams in action in the BT World Wheelchair Rugby Challenge held in the Copper Box arena in the Olympic Park. Canada became world champions by beating the USA team while Australia claimed bronze in the playoff against Japan.

On the same evening as the playoff, the Recruitment Industry Disability Initiative Award winners were announced and The Leisure Database Company sponsored one of the category awards. Organised by Instructability, the fitness industry training organisation for disabled people. Based in north London, at the Aspire Leisure Centre with the Aspire Charity, Instructability was established for those with disabilities to work in the sport, health and fitness industry. SSF visited this unique site in 2015.

The International Charter of Physical Education and Sport (1978) states that 'every human being has a fundamental right of access to physical education and sport' and although the benefits of sport are well publicised yet there are barriers for many who cannot access avenues to participation, including the estimated 15% of the population who have a disability. UNESCO is the United Nations lead agency for Physical Education and in 2013, in response to this need a, UNESCO Chair at IT Tralee in Ireland was established and now leads a global partnership focused on the social inclusion of marginalised groups. Brian Carlin from Aspire Charity and myself representing SSF attended the opening ceremony in Tralee, Kerry, to which the President of Ireland spoke passionately about the need for inclusion.

Inclusion is now a whole new ball game across the UK with support from royalty, top politicians, international and global organisations and of course the general public. There's lots more to do but we have made a good start and the social agenda associated with the Paralympic legacy has made a good start.

David Minton

This article can be found at Sasakawa Sports Foundation.

Time for a new strategy for fitness? SIBEC Europe 2015

By 2016 every high street bank, most heritage brands, boring but essential service providers and probably your organisation will have established internal or external ‘disruption’ teams with the sole purpose of looking at how new technology can change the face of delivery while improving the consumer experience.

Innovation and differentiation is key to all businesses and fitness is no different.

Weight Watchers, (WW) is a good example of how quickly new technology can destroy the value of a company. In 2015 its stock dropped 92% from its all-time high, membership is down 38% and the number of meetings has fallen by 20%. The company is struggling to keep up as dieting tools have gone high tech. Dieters can now count calories with smartphone apps, calorie controlled food and snacks can get delivered every day and YouTube has free guidance and advice when you want to watch. So the weekly WW meeting and weigh-in has been replaced by on demand conversation and support.

Could the value of the fitness industry be affected by new technology so quickly?

Transport for London, (TfL) is one of many transport companies who have embraced new technology. TfL have over 5,000 developers registered on their open data platform with access to around 30 APIs, an abbreviation of application program interface. This is a set of routines, protocols and tools for building software applications. From these APIs developers have crowdsourced money and created hundreds of transport applications which reach millions of people every week.

Is there one public fitness API for developers to use?

Around twenty new aggregators, high tech start-ups from UK, India, Israel and USA are working around the lack of APIs and are developing a business plan which bypasses the industry and its providers and goes direct to the consumer. These aggregators will have a conversation with the consumer, will provide a personalised service and will create an experience for them. ClassPass, now available in London, in 2015, completed Series B funding round of $40m for expansion. Bloggers like husband and wife team Daniel and Kelli on Fitness Blender have over 18 million followers and like Wikipedia rely on donations. Both have attracted criticism for undercutting the industry but like Uber and Airbnb the power lies with the consumer.

Meanwhile the fashion and toy industry have been caught off guard by the phenomenon of unboxing channels; Funtoys Collector, for example, had 517 million views last month while the most (previously) anonymous, richest and most powerful woman is on DisneyCollectorBR, with billions of views and consistently at the top of YouTube performance charts.

Will the fitness industry find some magic in unboxing too?

In June 2012 Barack Obama directed all Federal Agencies to have APIs to improve their delivery of services and the customer experience. In 2016 should the industry issue a similar directive? It means we will have to become more transparent but that’s no bad thing. To paraphrase Joe Biden, our competitors are not our enemies, they are our opposition and for the sake of the industry we have to work together.

After the 1996 summer Olympics in Atlanta where the Great Britain team finished 36th in the medal table behind North Korea, Algeria and Ethiopia something had to be done. Fast forward to 2012 and GB as the host nation finished 3rd in the medal table. UK Sport in twenty years achieved its mission to provide investment and deliver world class sporting success. In 2016 we need a new organisation fighting for and concentrating on the fitness industry. If we don’t, then aggregators, bloggers, unboxing channels, trackers, wearables and an app for everything will win over the consumer. Food for thought whilst in Spain?

Enjoy SIBEC, David Minton

Fitpro Live by Day, Summer Party by Night

Jen with her winnings! Walking out the proud owner of a ViPR and a Bosu ball!

Last week saw the TLDC team head down to Fitpro Live 2015 at the Excel - The UK and Europe's leading education event for Fitness Professionals. Keen to experience what it had to offer both in terms of seminar sessions and classes it was a busy but fun packed 2 days.

With classes such as 3D-Xtreme (think Bosu ball circuits), Athletic Bodyweight Conditioning, Group Centergy (needed the 5 minute lie down relax at the end!),  Parkour: MOV’ (freerunning inside!), TribeCORE™ (6 pack here we come), BOSU® On the Minute (hardcore) and MOSSA: Group Blast experienced, it is safe to say we could barely walk the next day!

Luckily there were a few seminars in-between for that well needed rest including how to open your own facility, sugar is good for you!, how to big up your business on Twitter, how to use your social media to build your online fitness business and most importantly how to become a 6 figure fitpreneur! We definitely all came away that little bit fitter and a little bit wiser...

This was followed by some light relief at The Projects Networks latest event - The Summer Party, an industry charity (Streets of London) event sponsored by ourselves. Located at The Mermaid it was a great venue with views onto the Thames. The amazing saxophone player was the highlight of a very enjoyable evening.

Stats, Stats, Stats!!

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My visit to the Baku 2015 European Games

2015 marks the first year the European Games have taken place. The host city was Baku in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan has a population similar to that of London and around 20% live in the capital Baku. Over the course of 2 weeks it featured just under 6,000 athletes from 50 countries competing in 20 sports. Team GB sent 160 athletes and finished 3rd in the medal table with 18 golds, 10 silver and 19 bronze medals (47 total). Russia topped the table with 164 medals and the host nation came 2nd with 56 medals. David was lucky enough to experience the games first hand and a few of his photo's and comments are below. 

Typical new sports facilities seen in Baku, which will play their part in the legacy of the games.

At 33 degrees it's a bit hot for the spectators of the water polo matches today

Baku Olympic pool! 

Seems cycling isn't that popular in Azerbaijan. Next year F1 will be using the same streets so let's hope that's more popular.

GB athletes waiting for the same plane :)

The Olympic Sports Village. Each nation adorned the balconies with their flags.