Boosting membership

Client: Barnsley Premier Leisure
Supplier: Pulse Fitness

Fitness Flex, operated by Barnsley Premier Leisure (BPL), began working with Pulse Fitness in 2009. Over the last five years, Pulse has installed equipment at eight of its 10 sites, and a further £300k installation is now planned for September 2014 at the final two sites: Workshop and Retford Leisure Centres.

“Since we began working with Pulse, we’ve achieved a 646 per cent membership growth across all our sites,” says Steve Roberts, head of business development for BPL.

In June 2013, Pulse kitted out a 75-station gym at Fitness Flex Pontefract and an 80-station gym at Fitness Flex Doncaster. Twelve months on, membership at Pontefract has increased by 45 per cent, while new site Doncaster has achieved an NPS score of 67 per cent. CV equipment, resistance equipment, free weights, plate-loaded machines and ‘light to sound’ functional rigs were installed across the two projects, amounting to a total investment of £320k.

Despite a strong working relationship spanning five years, Fitness Flex has not given Pulse preferred supplier status. “It’s our policy to always put equipment contracts out to tender, but Pulse consistently comes out on top,” says Tim Wilson, BPL chief executive. “Our partnership with Pulse adds significant value to our business. In addition to providing competitively priced, quality equipment with extensive warranty support, Pulse also delivers a comprehensive staff training programme, marketing support and a promotion and sales package. It has also advised us on creating effective and efficient gym floor layouts which maximise use of space.”

Three Fitness Flex sites – The Metrodome, Royston Leisure Centre, Hoyland Leisure Centre – will be receiving a £400k Pulse equipment upgrade later this year. “We’re excited about installing the Console 6,” says Wilson. “It will allow our members to experience digital TV and radio while they work out, as well as full internet browsing with social media access. The console also has personalised workout options via a web-based cloud solution.”

In addition to installing fitness equipment, Fitness Flex has switched from a key system to the SmartCentre member management system at four of its sites. “Since switching to SmartCentre, membership has increased and there’s been a significant improvement in attrition and retention figures,” says Wilson. “At our flagship site, The Metrodome, retention has increased to 72 per cent.”

Fitness Flex has worked with Pulse to make SmartCentre even more effective than the ‘out of the box’ solution, with several site-specific enhancements – particularly to the GP referral module, which has allowed the brand to convert more than 70 per cent of its patients to a fitness membership. Following this success, two additional sites will have the system installed later this year.

The Metrodome was also among the first to install L-Train, Pulse’s lateral trainer, in 2012. Research carried out by an independent company showed that 82 per cent of members preferred the L-Train to the cross-trainer.

Details: www.pulsefitness.com

The partnership with Pulse has grown membership by 646 per cent

Member experience

Client: Nuffield Health
Supplier: Wattbike

Nuffield Health is the UK’s leading provider of preventative healthcare services. Through its 31 hospitals, 65 Fitness and Wellbeing centres and large number of corporate facilities, it offers patients and members a service that makes achieving and maintaining good health possible.

The organisation’s success is attributed to its focus on putting its members, patients and clients first and providing them with high quality services. From offering all gym members a free, comprehensive health MOT to adding medical services to its Fitness and Wellbeing centres, the organisation is focused on offering integrated solutions to improve overall wellbeing.

It also adopts an innovative approach to the equipment and facilities it offers its members, to ensure exercise is accessible, sustainable and enjoyable. As part of this – and in line with the boom in cycling and triathlon – Wattbike has now been installed in over 50 Nuffield Health locations, including consumer, corporate and education sites.

Rick Crawford, ?fitness innovation and development manager at Nuffield Health, explains: “Both our existing and new members are excited to have access to Wattbikes. Cyclists and triathletes are very keen to use the bike, and we’re pleased to see people who are new to fitness also trying them out and experiencing the benefits.

“Our members range from those who simply want to improve their lifestyle through to elite athletes. The flexibility of the Wattbike’s set-up and in-built testing features means we can use it with all our members in different ways to help them get results.”

As an accessible and reliable tool for fitness testing, the Wattbike is providing many of the teams within Nuffield Health with an additional way to measure fitness. Its live pedalling technique analysis, the Polar View, visualises imbalances and is used for assessment, intervention and the treatment of lower body injuries by expert on-site physiotherapists.

Crawford continues: “Many of our members like being able to record what they’ve achieved. The storage of data on the Wattbike is really useful for this and can be used by our experts to help measure progress in a productive way. Members also love the feedback Wattbike offers, whether that be training to a certain power output or improving pedalling technique.”

Nuffield has also introduced the Wattbike to its pioneering education sites. At the Fitness and Wellbeing site at Bilborough Sixth Form College in Nottingham, Wattbike is used for practical demos as part of the BTEC Subsidiary Diploma in Sport. Being able to undertake testing with instant feedback has enhanced a traditionally theoretical aspect of the course.
Richard Baker, commercial director at Wattbike, says: “Nuffield Health offers a fantastic example of how the Wattbike can offer versatility to an organisation that’s focused on health and wellbeing.

“Wattbike provides a whole host of recordable fitness data that improves the overall ride experience. Every day, our commercial partners tell us that new members are signing up simply because they have invested in Wattbike for their sites.”

Details: www.wattbike.com

Wattbike is now installed in over 50 Nuffield Health locations

GLOBAL TOUR

Supplier: Les Mills

Global fitness brand Les Mills has pioneered a new approach to group exercise by launching The Project – its immersive fitness concept – which debuted in London on 28 May 2014.

Taking the form of a purpose-built studio, the travelling pop-up box brings together high octane video projections with pumping music and a live instructor-led class. The result is a multi-sensory experience that’s already wowed 600 UK-based exercise lovers and is now set to take Europe by storm.

The Project, an event created by Les Mills and Reebok, sees cinema-quality imagery projected all around the participants, on three walls of the pop-up studio, to add a rich visual element to the exercise experience. The instructor then cues the moves in time to the music and graphics – for more detail, see http://youtu.be/y_Q46bn0WaI

In a cycle class, for example, participants might be riding up an impossibly steep glacier, or sprinting around a digital velodrome in a space age city. In a martial arts class, they will find themselves punching a computer game spaceship or ducking as they fly through an urban cityscape. Each class lasts 30 minutes, with the visual element ensuring that engagement and motivation levels remain high.

Les Mills came up with the idea for The Project following the 2009 publication of a white paper entitled The Future of Fitness, which explored central themes of connection, personalisation and convergence as key trends in fitness. One of the areas explored was the blending of technology into fitness and activity, also referred to as exergaming; this formed the foundations of immersive fitness.

The brainchild of Les Mills Jnr, grandson of the Les Mills founder, and creative director Adam Lazarus, The Project has brought their vision of integrating technology, exercise education and creative design to life.  

Following its debut in London and showcase at the Les Mills GFX convention at London’s Alexandra Palace on 14 June, the live pop-up event will now embark on a promotional tour of major European cities during summer/autumn 2014. These will include Stockholm, Berlin, Amsterdam, Paris and Milan, giving fitness enthusiasts the opportunity to experience the event for themselves, free of charge. A wider consumer launch in Europe and the United States is planned for 2015.

Les Mills CEO Phillip Mills comments: “The concept of immersive fitness is all about what the fitness community refers to as the ‘zone’ – that state of mind where people are performing at their peak; a place of focus, achievement and fulfilment. 

“At Les Mills, we’ve been creating group workout environments that lead people to the zone for 30 years, through music, choreography and rock star instructors. The Project really takes it to the next level and we, along with our collaborator Reebok, are so thrilled to share this brand new fitness experience with the world.”

Existing Les Mills workouts have been adapted for consumers to trial during the European tour of The Project. Workouts include The Trip (cycle class), BodyCombat/Les Mills Grit Immersive, and BodyJam/BodyBalance immersive.

Details: www.lesmills.com/immersivefitness

Launched in London in May, The Project will tour major European cities until autumn 2014

Blending technology and exercise provides an immersive experience