features
Flooring: More than a floor
With the increase in popularity of functional training, the floor is increasingly becoming a piece of equipment in itself. Kath Hudson investigates
The Reax Board by Italian company Reaxing is a smart floor that has been developed to generate sudden balance interferences, destabilising any movement performed on it in order to increase neuromuscular intensity and improve reactions and proprioception. It’s an unpredictable, fun and effective way of training, which requires the user to stay focused and reactive at all times.
Multiple training moves are possible, such as squats, press ups and lunges, while equipment like balance boards and balance balls can be used on it. All muscles are activated and the user focus must always be kept high and steady.
The Reax Board is controlled via a tablet and a dedicated app: the user or the PT can select difficulty levels and choose among several pre-configured training programmes. In the live programme, the PT can alter the movement through real-time interferences, adjusting the intensity, speed, direction and frequency of the interference and freeze the board in the position they choose.
The product has been introduced into elite sports clubs such as AC Milan and Juventus as a dynamic and engaging tool to help support rehabilitation post-injury, as well as strength and conditioning for a variety of targeted training techniques.
Neuromuscular responses are fundamental to the development of athletes to allow them to react in real-time and respond to changes in direction, elevation or movement. The Reax Board supports this development.
Yorkshire-based health club Fit 26 is using the Reax Board to support personal training during one-to-one sessions and also as part of group exercise. The Reax Board is housed within a tailored functional training area.
Reaxing’s UK distributor: www.physicalcompany.co.uk or www.reaxing.com
With the trend towards functional training, people are increasingly using their bodies and the floor to train, which requires the surface to be interactive. Ecore surfaces feature vulcanised rubber, which helps to protect members’ bodies, as well as providing acoustic dampening to cut down noise.
GymNation recently opened its first 40,000sq ft fitness facility in the UAE, in Dubai, and CEO Loren Holland said the floor was considered to be as important a piece of gym equipment as any of the other kit. A total of 14 different flooring zones were used in the gym, corresponding to separate activities – for example speed and agility turf was installed for footwork drills and sledwork.
Looking more like an arcade game than a gym, Prama by Pavigym is an interactive fitness concept designed to inject fun into a workout by offering an engaging, immersive space that enables exercisers to play while they are working out.
The floor, and sometimes walls, are programmed to enable participants to do a range of exercises including sprints, squats and jumps.
“Don’t mistake fun and play for an easy workout,” warns Pavigym’s Steve Shaw. “Prama is an extremely effective workout, with exercisers burning up to 1,000 calories per class. The training itself also hits elements of fitness that are frequently missing on the gym floor. Participants work every muscle in a functional class with a focus on speed and agility.”
Prama is gaining traction all over the world, including with operators such as 1610 Fitness and Leisure Trust and David Lloyd Leisure, both of which offer a range of classes for all demographics at their multiple studios. Elite football clubs, such as Barcelona and Boca Juniors, are also integrating Prama into their training.
For a full experience, a space of 60 to 150sq m is ideal, but also smaller interactive units are now being installed on the gym floor, to enable PT and small group training.
TVS was tasked with designing a versatile, multi-functional training area to be rolled out across Xercise4Less sites. The brief was to include an area for sledge work, along with floor demarcations for activities such as lunges, sprinting and battle rope exercises.
TVS sports carpet was bonded to substrate to create a central lane for the sledge, with a black recycled rubber floor covering installed around the outside of the area to form a two-lane running track, with one metre markings. The workout areas are being used for personal training, as well as small group training.
At a new Sports Direct gym in Derbyshire, TVS provided a statement floor that complements the brand’s colour scheme. An elastic underlay, designed to absorb impact shock in the weight lifting areas was also used.
A stencil of Everlast’s logo was applied to part of the floor area in the functional training zone and a bright yellow sled track is an eye catching feature.
At Third Space Canary Wharf, London, EXF has worked in partnership with the club to transform the site’s former sports hall into a dedicated 745sq m flexible training space called The Yard.
It features bespoke flooring solutions throughout, including functional performance flooring, strength flooring and a 15m three-lane indoor track.
EXF strength flooring has been installed in areas that require protection. This was important for the Third Space team, as the Yard features an extensive range of cross-training and strength equipment.
The EXF functional performance flooring range has been installed to reduce the chance of injury during sporting activity, by integrating the EXF Control SD underlay system.
This makes it suitable for use in functional training areas: the range includes shock absorption and anti-slip properties, as well as noise reduction, which was important in this case, as the area is above the spa.
The team also installed a running track, to allow for sprint training and prowler-sledge work. The agility turf track was designed in terracotta and white to stand out from the industrial black and grey aesthetic.
”There’s a huge demand for flexible training. Our vision was to create a dynamic space for strength and conditioning, functional training and combat arts,” says Third Space fitness director, Rob Beale.
Ledflex from Indigo Fitness is an interactive fitness system that allows operators to take fitness rooms to another level with a simple technology.
With Ledflex, LED lights are inserted into PaviFlex flooring and walls. They have proximity sensors, allowing them to be used with feet, hands or sport accessories like balls and boxing gloves, enabling PTs to create and save interactive training programmes.
Installation is straightforward – PaviFlex flooring is puzzle interlocked and the lights are inserted, then connected to Wi-Fi via a router. The system can then be used with an app on a tablet or smartphone. www.indigofitness.com
