HEALTH & FITNESS


Mintel: half of Britons tried to lose weight during 2013


More than half of Britons tried to lose weight at some point last year, according to new research from Mintel, which also highlights some of the key trends and tac- tics adopted by dieters. The research found that two thirds of


women in the UK claimed to have tried to lose weight in 2013, while four in ten men also admitted to having thoughts relating to personal weight management. T e fi ndings also conveyed some interest-


ing results in relation to how dieters chose to go about losing their desired amount of weight. It was found that exercise took pri- ority over making changes to food or drink intake. Details: http://lei.sr?a=n9A8H


Wearable fi tness tech going strong


A host of new and innovative wearable tech devices have been unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2014. CES 2014 showcases more than 20,000 new


products to 152,000 attendees on an annual basis and a notable piece of health and fi tness technology came from Intel, which revealed a pair of biometric earbuds that can track your heart rate (and display it on a companion app), keep tabs on your running and get power from your device’s headphone jack. Not to be outdone, LG unveiled a pair of ear-


phones that measure your heartbeat in your ears while playing you music as you work out. T ese new headphones are coupled with LG’s Lifeband Touch, which tracks your activity like a Nike Fuelband, but includes a touch-sensi- tive screen on the top of the band. It connects via Bluetooth to a phone and LG’s fi tness app, but will also display notifi cations for calls and text messages and control music playback on your smartphone. Among the new products was the Tao


Wellshell, which is designed to track your motion like everything else, but also to inte- grate a full workout. Based on isometrics, it measures your compressive power and pro- duces precise workouts using your own muscle strength against you.


Plans will see 30 new centres roll out in three years


énergie preparing for launch of 30 new Irish clubs


Health club franchisor and operator éner- gie Group has secured a deal with Abbey International Finance that will see up to 30 new centres roll out in Ireland over the next three years as part of an aggressive expansion plan. Abbey has committed €3m (£2.5m, US$4.1m) as part of an agreement that gives the fi nance house licence rights for the énergie Fitness, Fit4Less and éner- gie Fitness for Women brands in Ireland. T is week saw the opening of the fi rst


énergie Fitness Club in Cork, a 13,000 sq.ſt (1,208m) facility that will serve as the brand’s fl agship club in the west of Ireland. With a brand new design and range of fea-


tures – two studios to accommodate a variety of group workout off erings, the Irish debut of the Bilt lateral weight training equipment – developed by tennis star Andre Agassi – and a pioneering salad bar concept from Dublin outfi t Chopped – the latest addition to the énergie Group family is one that chair Jan Spaticchia is particularly proud of. “It’s a new breed of énergie Fitness Club,


with a fresh new look and feel,” Spaticchia said. Details: http://lei.sr?a=T5N9V


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Lifeband touch was one innovation revealed at CES Also introduced were Notch – a new mod-


ular approach to fi tness tracking which links up to 10 sensors mounted around your body tracking individual motions – and the Sony SmartBand – a device that tracks your motions like any other activity monitor, but also logs things like the music you listen to and where you’ve been via the Lifelog Android smart- phone app. Details: http://lei.sr?a=Q8g8S


Will LA fi tness enter microgym market?


LA fi tness CEO Martin Long is hinting at a possible move into the microgym sector, fol- lowing the launch of the fi rst £2.5m LAX brand premium health club in the heart of London. Interviewed in January’s Health Club


Management magazine, Long suggests the oper- ator could use its new LAX brand to stay in step with market trends. T e inaugural LAX club opened in October 2013, off ering premium ser- vices with a focus on short workouts, designed to suit the hectic schedules of the 5,000 city slickers working in the building above the club. Discussing plans to open more LAX clubs,


Long said: “T ere’s also, within the design of the LAX brand and the structure of the off ering, the option to launch a small studio format in line with the growing trend of the microgym.” Long added that the success of the new facil-


ity’s intensive small group training sessions – LAX20 and LAX30 – could be transferred into smaller boutique locations, having become “very portable as a sub-brand.” T e LAX venture in St Botolph’s Building, near Aldgate underground station, was the operator’s fi rst new opening in 10 years and marked a shiſt towards a new brand of health club, distinct from the LA fi tness model. Long says this was driven by the desire to start


Read Leisure Opportunities online: www.leisureopportunities.co.uk/digital Martin Long says the company must react to trends


LAX with a “blank canvas and bring it to life,” revealing the move was also inspired by trends in other industries. “It’s similar to the hotel model, where you have


diff erent levels of branding within a portfolio,” he notes. “If you were in an Intercontinental, for example, you wouldn’t necessarily see brand- ing for the group’s other hotel chains in there. Similarly, there aren’t many references to LA fi t- ness at LAX.” Details: http://lei.sr?a=d3E4S


Twitter: @leisureopps © CYBERTREK 2014


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