The importance of providing a general lifestyle message where every component has equal weight has been addressed recently in a pilot project by LA Fitness. Still in the development stage, the Promise initiative may soon be offered to third parties such as healthcare providers.
The concept of Promise began with an initial study of 200 people carried out in LA Fitness clubs, which looked at what support people needed in order to adopt a healthier lifestyle for the long term. Two pilot sites have been in operation for the past year where participants have been encouraged to review all aspects of their lifestyles, and are provided with the knowledge, guidance, support and motivation needed to ensure lifestyle changes are made and sustained.
The programme has been specifically developed for people who need and want to change their lifestyles, but find making the change difficult because they feel intimidated or alienated from traditional gyms or slimming clubs or just don't know how to make those changes.
LivingWell tries 'Body Transformation'
LivingWell has also decided to run its own weight management and activity programme that is radically different from what has gone before.
"First of all we dropped the term weight management," said fitness director Michael Clark. "We want to help people change the way they look, so we called it the Body Transformation Programme and we aim to help people change the mix of lean muscle and body fat."
The six-week programme provides a "supervised, supported personal eating and exercise programme." Each course runs with just eight members who pay £99, with a money-back guarantee, for a range of seminars hosted by Body Transformation Coaches. With such intimate
groups, the participants soon form bonds with each other and enjoy a team atmosphere and camaraderie.
The participants, who can be members or non-members of LivingWell, are given tasks to do such as reviews of kitchen cupboards and drawing up shopping lists, as well as information. They are also issued Body Transformation Programme books every two weeks, which describe the myths about exercise and diet, and the nutritional advice.
Exercise is a vital part of the programme and the majority is strength training, in structured, supervised sessions. "As 95% of the participants are female, weights were a big hurdle for
them," said Clark. "We have had to educate them that to increase their lean mass they have to lift weights. We have coached them so that they feel comfortable doing this."
The programme has been devised in-house, and training of coaches is ongoing as the company rolls out the initiative throughout its Premier clubs.
"It is an intense programme for the fitness coaches,' said Clark, "and they have to have reached a certain level of expertise, and display certain attributes before they are considered suitable to
undergo this training."
There are already plans to offer a complementary scheme called the Body Development Programme, in 2006, which is more suited to the male physique and mentality.
The programme has proved successful, too, in its secondary spend sales. Participants are encouraged to purchase supplements to help with detox and low GI replacement foods like shakes and energy bars. There are no bodybuilding supplements.
The success of Rosemary Conley
Meanwhile, products from the Rosemary Conley Diet and Fitness Clubs are for sale in supermarkets nationwide. Low-fat foods and home exercise equipment, as well as the diet books and videos, for which Conley is more usually known, are widespread. And the success of the
clubs is growing apace, with the latest development being discussions with Primary Care Trusts to implement the programmes within healthcare services.
The clubs were launched in 1993 and now offer some 2,000 weekly classes all over the country, operated as franchises in community halls. Fundamentally run by and attended by women, Conley believes people follow her programme because they can identify with her. Now in her 50s, she has overcome ill health with diet and exercise and continues her regimen to ensure she retains her petite figure and good health.
"The health club business needs to bring along someone like her," says Hunking. "The Primary Care Trusts in the health service are talking to her and GPs are referring patients to Slimming World. It works and these operations are working with the health sector."
