FIA at LIW 2011

This year’s LIW was abuzz with activity and camped at the heart of hall 19 was the FIA team.

At times, the was a sanctuary of calm for members to meet, and at times members and non-members were clambering over each other to reach us… or was that the bar at the drinks reception? Whatever your reason for coming over it was great to see so many familiar faces and some new ones interested in becoming FIA members!

As hinted in my last blog, I opened the show, (although it may have been stolen by Wenlock and Mandeville) with the launch of ‘Our Greatest Team' - the Industry's new Olympic & Paralympic Initiative.

I truly believe that since this is the only time, in our lifetime, that the Olympics and Paralympics will visit our shores, the impact on our country, our economy and our industry will be phenomenal. ‘Our Greatest Team’ has the potential to be the landmark industry initiative which will propel us into the hearts and minds of every consumer’s health and wellbeing consciousness. So what are you waiting for…pre-register now to be part of the movement.

Of course the Games are not the only exciting event happening next year – launched at LIW, the 2012 FIA & Matrix Flame awards are now open and with some new categories thrown into the mix, we look forward to even more, and an even better level of entries. 

Across the three days, the LIW seminar programme and range of Q&A sessions provided thought provoking discussions. CMO John Searle continued to ‘infect’ us with the benefits of physical activity in the prevention and management of diseases and it was great to hear that the industry is really benefiting from our Code of Practice with examples from across the sector.

We hope your time with us at LIW answered your questions and you can now go away, enthused to get more people, more active, more often throughout the autumn. Remember we are never more than a click or phone call away so visit us online or contact the team.

Get Set Go for LIW 2011

- David Stalker -

Tuesday – Thursday next week sees the return of the biggest annual event in our sector – Leisure Industry Week 2011. Based at the NEC, LIW is a fantastic opportunity to catch up with new ideas, suppliers and the wit and wisdom from those in the know… myself included!

This year, my keynote speech will focus on a major industry opportunity…clue: it might have something to do with the greatest sporting event in history. The other exciting news is the integration of Quest and our Code of Practice, as well as updates on industry wide initiatives such as Shift into Sport (a Workplace Activity programme), Data and Consumer Insights and the skills agenda.

This year’s seminar theme is "Exercise is Medicine Too!” and I’m pleased to welcome the industry's leading experts - including Prof. Alfonso Jimenez, Ben Jones and our very own CMO John Searle. The agenda: the role of physical activity as a routine part of the prevention and management of diseases.

The sequel to last year’s successful IOU seminars and, based on the feedback received, will be an even bigger and better programme for FIA IOU members. The wide ranging seminar programme, which reflects your interests/requests, will help you enhance your business offer.

Finally, the epicentre of the show must be the FIA Industry Lounge, staffed by our team trained to provide you with all the answers to everything related to physical activity, the 2012 Flame launch, Shift into Sports and best practice – if they don’t have the answer, then they’ll know the person who does. Tim Waller, from Right Direction will also be hand to answer any questions around Quest & the Code of Practise.

So please pop over and see us, in the centre of the Fitness Hall (Hall 19)…..and, pre-register to enjoy the FIA drinks reception with a glass of wine (or two) and a touch of jazz.

If you think ‘..there’s so much to do and see and not enough time to do it all…’ don’t worry, check out the new free smartphone app…. developed specifically to help you get the most out of your LIW.

For more info on all the FIA events visit our website, or ask the FIA team or myself

We‘re all looking forward to seeing you.

My plans to prove Exercise is Medicine at LIW

- John Searle -  

As anyone who has read my blog before will know that in my role as Chief Medical Officer I work to bridge the gap between the fitness sector and medical profession and ultimately establish exercise as part of the routine prevention and management of chronic disease.

I am pleased that we are making progress with both of these aims, however it is important that we take time out to remind our members and the wider physical activity sector of what every club can do in their own local community to work with the health service…………….and what better place to talk to the industry than LIW?

This is why I will be working with Prof. Alfonso Jimenez and Ben Jones to deliver the FIA’s “Exercise is Medicine” seminar! The seminar has not come about by chance rather we have carefully selected our topics and speakers based on what the sector needs to do in order to move forward. From when I first took the role as Chief Medical Officer and even when I first trained as an exercise professional it seemed clear that there were three areas (at least) where we needed to concentrate our efforts:

·         The role of exercise (and the fitness sector) in the prevention of disease

·         The delivery of exercise in the management of chronic disease

·         How to adapt our programmes & professionals to work with patients

Alfonso will kick the seminar off and will answer the first question with some in disputable evidence. Since the 19^th century we have known about how exercise is essential to maintaining a healthy lifestyle  and this has been proven in a number of peer reviewed journals, however there is little on how the fitness sector is effective in delivery it. In short during the journey from the laboratory to the gym floor we seem to lose our evidence base and then struggle to convince commissioners of our ability to create long term physical activity change. Alfonso, will explain how the work of the newly created FIA Research Institute with the University of Greenwich is set up to change the evidence base, and how operators can get involved.

I will follow Alfonso (no easy task), and will discuss an issue I am very familiar with – the delivery of exercise in the management of chronic disease. For the last 10 years I have used a structured exercise programme to help manage my own Rheumatoid Arthritis, and I have also delivered exercise for my own patients with chronic disease, and most recently I have chaired a group with the medical community, the Joint Consultative Forum, attempting to develop National Standards for Exercise Referral.

This leads nicely into the final presentation to be delivered by Ben Jones. I first met Ben when he delivered my training to become a personal trainer many years ago, and he has been involved in writing training programmes to enable professionals to work with patients ever since. Ben is a founding member of the Joint Consultative Forum and will explain how professionals must change their communication, planning, and programmes when working patients. Patients expect a different service to the traditional gym user so we need to deliver one, and Ben will tell us how.

Lastly, we will all be on trial as Technogym will conduct a panel session and get things started with a few case studies showing what the fitness sector can do!

I hope to see you at 2pm on Tuesday 20^th, so we can review the progress made and more importantly plan for the future.

If you any questions regarding the details of the event please visit http://www.liw.co.uk/education