Stockport based LifeLEISURE’s determination to get the UK fit, as per the news reported here earlier this week, has attracted huge interest resulting in coverage in the national press and live interviews broadcast across the UK.
The Daily Telegraph, the BBC’s Radio 4 ‘You and Yours’ programme and Adrian Chiles on his BBC Radio 5 live lunchtime programme have been learning about how LifeLEISURE is working to get everyone fit, even ‘gym-haters’ as the team spread the word about the ‘health hub’ at Avondale Gym and how Stockport is leading the way in helping people to get healthier at ‘the gym for people who don’t like the gym’.
Michelle Childs, Health and Physical Activity Manager at Life Leisure, stepped up to the microphone to be interviewed about why Life Leisure Avondale is different from a traditional gym, explaining how they asked the local community what they wanted (or in this case didn’t want) to help with the fear and embarrassment which is felt by many about going to a gym. This is why there aren’t any wall mirrors at Avondale, why there are partitioned areas and why a free crèche has been provided, just some of the things which were requested.
Michelle explained:
“We can’t make a bold statement about what we do without having the tools to do the job. That’s why we have made the investment and commitment to help people who are currently inactive for whatever reason, be it mobility issues, injuries or obesity to get active and healthier.”
Left: NASA DESIGNED ALTER G
Before the end of the Radio 5 Live interview from Avondale’s gym, the interviewer tried out the Alter G, an anti-gravity treadmill, and experienced first-hand this NASA designed machine which allows people to work out on the treadmill at up to 20% of their bodyweight therefore supporting and reducing the pressure on their body!
Life Leisure member Jenny, interviewed for the Adrian Chiles programme, summed it why she as originally ‘ gym-hater’ but was now a ‘gym-lover’:
“I previously just didn’t know what to do, I felt rubbish compared to everyone else, in fact, I felt like you could only join a gym when you got to your goal weight, not as a way of getting there!”
David Stalker, Chairman of UK Active was interviewed and immensely supportive of what Life Leisure is doing: ‘helping people get active through support and encouragement, guiding them so they can find out what they enjoy and how they can achieve their goals.’
To find out more about what’s on at your local Life Leisure centre visit www.lifeleisure.net or
call 0161 482 0900