Vivafit, the Portuguese chain of women’s express workout centres, opened six new clubs in the last two months of 2008 to consolidate its position as private fitness sector leader.
Vivafit, which launched in 2003, was the first brand in Portugal to launch the 30-minute, women-only concept. The new clubs – in the Lisbon area, north and south Portugal – take the chain’s total to 91, including one in Spain.
The company is also developing plans for expansion through master franchising, following up leads in Europe, South America and Asia.
“Vivafit is growing at full speed in Portugal, with an average of two new openings each month,” says CEO Pedro Ruiz. “Our expansion programme is for 45 new centres by 2010, reaching a total of 130 locations in Portugal, 30 in Spain, and at least one master franchise.”
Ruiz, along with wife and business partner Constance, received the European Club Leadership Award at the 2008 IHRSA European Congress.
Vivafit, the Portuguese chain of women’s express workout centres, opened six new clubs in the last two months of 2008 to consolidate its position as private fitness sector leader.
Collaborations with the medical profession and greater aspirations around wellbeing are creating a need for more experts in our sector. It’s time to reboot our thinking around the workforce
If the health service is to
survive, we must recognise
that it is a disease service
– and that wellbeing rests with
us, says the activity advocate
and healthy ageing champion.
He talks to Kate Cracknell
As the entrepreneur who started Wexer, Fresh Fitness, Fitness DK and Repeat, as well as being a former elite athlete, Rasmus Ingerslev’s life looked perfect from the outside, but onthe inside it was a different story. He talks to Kath Hudson about healing old wounds
Active Blackpool is deploying Cornerstone Connect, a new digital interface allowing
disparate information from multiple systems to be aggregated into one dataset, to support
its focus on reducing health inequalities and improving healthy life expectancy.
This week (17 June) saw charitable social enterprise GLL bring together invited guests from
across Parliament, local government, national sector bodies, cultural organisations, the
literary community and sports bodies at a celebration to mark the successful first year of
the GLL Literary Foundation.
A nationwide celebration for the upcoming Summer Solstice and International Yoga Day will
take place at Everyone Active facilities across the country on Friday, 19 June 2026.
Vivafit, the Portuguese chain of women’s express workout centres, opened six new clubs in the last two months of 2008 to consolidate its position as private fitness sector leader.
Vivafit, which launched in 2003, was the first brand in Portugal to launch the 30-minute, women-only concept. The new clubs – in the Lisbon area, north and south Portugal – take the chain’s total to 91, including one in Spain.
The company is also developing plans for expansion through master franchising, following up leads in Europe, South America and Asia.
“Vivafit is growing at full speed in Portugal, with an average of two new openings each month,” says CEO Pedro Ruiz. “Our expansion programme is for 45 new centres by 2010, reaching a total of 130 locations in Portugal, 30 in Spain, and at least one master franchise.”
Ruiz, along with wife and business partner Constance, received the European Club Leadership Award at the 2008 IHRSA European Congress.
Vivafit, the Portuguese chain of women’s express workout centres, opened six new clubs in the last two months of 2008 to consolidate its position as private fitness sector leader.
Collaborations with the medical profession and greater aspirations around wellbeing are creating a need for more experts in our sector. It’s time to reboot our thinking around the workforce
If the health service is to
survive, we must recognise
that it is a disease service
– and that wellbeing rests with
us, says the activity advocate
and healthy ageing champion.
He talks to Kate Cracknell
As the entrepreneur who started Wexer, Fresh Fitness, Fitness DK and Repeat, as well as being a former elite athlete, Rasmus Ingerslev’s life looked perfect from the outside, but onthe inside it was a different story. He talks to Kath Hudson about healing old wounds
Strength training is evolving,
driven by changing consumer
preferences. Julie Cramer talks
to innovators about how their
products are meeting this demand
For every member with a tripod and a big following, there are others irritated at the way equipment is being hogged or wary they’ll be in the background on someone’s Insta feed. Do influencers offer valuable, free marketing or are they just a nuisance? Kath Hudson finds out how operators are responding
With corporately-owned clubs,
franchise networks, investments
and proprietary tech, Viva Leisure’s
ecosystem is redefining how
gyms scale and generate revenue.
Its CEO speaks to Kate Cracknell
Active Blackpool is deploying Cornerstone Connect, a new digital interface allowing
disparate information from multiple systems to be aggregated into one dataset, to support
its focus on reducing health inequalities and improving healthy life expectancy.
This week (17 June) saw charitable social enterprise GLL bring together invited guests from
across Parliament, local government, national sector bodies, cultural organisations, the
literary community and sports bodies at a celebration to mark the successful first year of
the GLL Literary Foundation.
A nationwide celebration for the upcoming Summer Solstice and International Yoga Day will
take place at Everyone Active facilities across the country on Friday, 19 June 2026.