INDUSTRY NEWS

EREPS news European fitness forum

EREPS has held its third European annual fitness forum in Madrid attracting exercise professionals, managers, operators, suppliers and training companies from across Europe and the USA. Presenters included Les Mills International, Reebok with their brand new “fit-to-flex” training system developed by Cirque du Soleile and Nic Jarvis who spoke about professionalism and profitability for personal trainers. The forum included a guided tour and dinner at the famous Real Madrid El Estadio Santiago Bernabéu. Next year the Forum will be held in Milan.

Club Med accreditation Club Med Gyms, the largest operator in France with 22 clubs,

has successfully completed accreditation for its own training academy - the Institut des Métiers de la Forme. EREPS presented certificates of registration to the first 40 trainers who completed their personal trainer programme at a gala event at the Adidas Store in Paris in July. There are now members of EREPS working in 28 different countries.

European qualifications framework

The University of Greenwich hosted a top-level technical meeting of experts to further develop the European fitness qualification framework. This references to the new main framework, known as the EQF, which will help exercise professionals to have their qualifications properly recognised and to improve the movement of trainers. The UK Government recently completed its national referencing against the main EQF and all EU countries will have done this within the next year or so. The European Health and Fitness Association recently completed a full update of the level 3 and 4 standards for exercise professionals – better recognised as Fitness Instructor, Group Fitness Instructor and Personal Trainer. SkillsActive, the Sector Skills Council with responsibility for standards and qualifications for fitness training in the UK is now completing a technical comparison to the European standards. Within the next year EHFA will have completed standards for assistant instructors and for working with children and older adults.

European Register of Exercise Professionals ereps www.exerciseregister.org 09