JANUARY 11 LETTERS write to reply


Do you have a strong opinion or disagree with somebody else’s views on the industry? If so, we’d love to hear from you – email: healthclub@leisuremedia.com


fi tness managers must increase focus on older users I couldn’t agree more with the editor’s letter in HCM NovDec 10 (p3). Our power-assisted products are


specifically aimed at the 50+ and deconditioned markets and are used in a number of leisure facilities across the UK. This allows the centres to engage a host of new members who would never have dreamed of setting foot in a ‘normal’ gym. The local authorities we work with are


énergie Fitness for Women has 16 clubs aimed exclusively at older women


énergie fi tness for women: targeting older females


I read your editor’s letter concerning the senior market in HCM NovDec 10 (p3). This market certainly represents an opportunity for operators: the UK’s 65+ age group is set to grow by 63 per cent over the next 25 years. In fact, we already have 16 clubs


catering exclusively for seniors in the UK, with a further eight in the pipeline. They’re perhaps slightly under the radar in that they’re part of the énergie Fitness for Women portfolio – we don’t differentiate these senior clubs in branding terms. However, they are significantly different in their offering as this market has very different needs: mobility and fitness as a way to improve quality of life is key, even over weight loss; a sense of community at a club is vital; clubs are better when they do not look like gyms; the sales process


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must be more subtle; and, crucially, the audience will not view itself as ‘senior’, so trying to identify the market by age alone will be ineffective. Our seniors’ clubs offer a motorised


health and wellbeing circuit comprising 10 Motortone machines – an accessible, active yet gentle exercise solution specifically for the mature market. The kit is designed not only to aid CV fitness and weight loss but also to improve mobility, flexibility, energy levels, strength and posture. It’s these types of improvement that can make the significant differences in the lives of seniors: the difference between being able to get up the stairs or to walk to the local shop without feeling pain or being out of breath. peter croney ceo, énergie fi tness for women


Read Health Club Management online at healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital


well aware of need for social inclusion in their centres and are also savvy enough to realise the commercial potential that can be gained from focusing on this. Yet sadly there are still many fitness managers who are more interested in which brand of treadmill is compatible with their iPod, rather than the fitness options they offer for older users. Many don’t even know the difference between air hydraulic and power-assisted systems, and a lot of the schemes aimed at older users are token gestures that are often ill researched and, in many cases, patronising. I feel we’re moving in the right


direction and initiatives such as IFI are doing wonders to drive things forward. But I believe this is something all fitness mangers must turn their attention to, to ensure that these age groups are effectively catered for within the industry. rachel hobbs business development director, shapemaster uk


Fitness managers must turn their attention to catering for older people


January 2011 © cybertrek 2011


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JANUARY 2011


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