North of the Border

There are still a few places left at the REPs Scottish Convention to be held on Tuesday 28th June at David Lloyd in Glasgow.

This year’s convention offers a mix of theory and practical sessions delivered by approved training providers as well as key note speaker Ben Pratt, Research & Development Manager, Active IQ. For more see: http://www.exerciseregister.org/documents/Scotland%202011%20Programme.pdf

Book before Monday 20th June to qualify for an early-bird price of just £35 for members and £55 for non-members. Bookings made after 20th June will be charged at £40 for members and £60 for non-members. All REPs members who attend will be awarded 4 CPD points. To book click here: http://regonline.activeeurope.com/Register/Checkin.aspx?EventID=968938

 

 

 

 

Have your say……

The 2011 Working in Fitness Survey goes live this month and REPs registered instructors are being invited to take part.

The on-line questionnaire will run from May to July and be accessed by clicking here: www.skillsactive.com/survey/WIF2011/

Run each year the study, developed by SkillsActive and REPs, is viewed by the fitness industry as providing an accurate snapshot of current working conditions.

First PTs, now children

Hot on the heels of the news Hammersmith and Fulham Council has introduced a yearly license fee for Personal Trainers wanting to use its parks for business, Wandsworth Council (also in London) has announced it will charge children to use playgrounds.

Council chiefs claim they’ve been forced to introduce the £2.50 a head levy to use an adventure playground area in Battersea Park because of Government cuts. The weekend-only pay-to-play scheme will start in October this year.

A report in the Daily Mirror states that nearly 12,700 children live in the borough, nearly a third in poverty. It also reports the borough has a higher than average rate of child obesity. Click here to read more >

REPs rocks Raynes Park

Nearly 200 delegates braved train delays and traffic jams to attend the REPs South East Convention held at David Lloyd in Raynes Park (Wednesday May 11^th).

Despite problems on both the railways and the motorways delegates were able to hear an update from Registrar Jean-Ann Marnoch, the FIA’s Chief Medical Officer Dr John Searle and Nic Jarvis, from Nic Jarvis on PT, who spoke on “Mastering the key to long-term behaviour change”. They were also able to take part in a range of interactive workshops and seminars including ones on Speed Training, Exercise and Pregnancy, Muscle Testing, Extreme Kettleball Training and Exercise and Paradoxical Obesity.

If you missed the SE convention don’t worry – there’s still time to book for the REPs Scottish Convention to be held on Tuesday, June 28 in Glasgow and the National Convention on Thursday, September 22at Leisure Industry Week in Birmingham. Delegates also earn 4 CPD points for attending.

REPs registered instructors can also download speaker notes and conference programmes from the member area of the REPs website www.exerciseregister.org

Fitness Professionals and Physios working side by side

The Fitness Industry Association and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy have completed a year long project to improve collaboration between fitness instructors and physiotherapists, and benefit patients.

In March 2010 the two organisations established a Joint Working Party and just over a year later they have produced “Guidance on the referral of patients between physiotherapists and fitness instructors”. The guidance was developed in order to clarify how the two professions should work together, in recognition of the overlapping roles of the two professions.

Traditionally physiotherapists have worked in functional rehabilitation in the health service and private practice, whereas fitness instructors have worked with healthy clients directing them to specific fitness goals. Increasingly, however, fitness instructors work with people suffering from medical conditions or in the midst of rehabilitation from injury. Physiotherapists, meanwhile, are running campaigns such as Move for Health, which promotes regular exercise and a healthy diet to prevent the onset of ill-health.

The guidance solves this confusion by detailing when a patient’s treatment or recovery will be best managed by a physiotherapist or a fitness instructor. The guidance will also provide General Practitioners with clear guidance on appropriate referral pathways.

As co-chair of the Joint Working Party, FIA Chief Medical Officer Dr. John Searle OBE commented, “Being involved in such an innovative project has been a pleasure.

“It seems like a long time ago that we first sat down together as a group and realised that we both dealt with the same patients, however ever since then we have been working together for the benefit of patients and constantly discovering ways in which we can improve our respective professional development”

The guidance is the first output from the Joint Working Party, which has also discussed joint educational opportunities, however it is not the last. The Working Party will now research and collate local examples of best practice collaboration between REPs Registered exercise professionals and physiotherapists.

It’s good to feel the burn…

Could it be that Jane Fonda was right all along? A new report due to be presented to the British Psychological Society Annual Conference in Glasgow tomorrow says that vigorous exercise helps boost mood but moderate exercise does not. Researchers from Manchester Metropolitan University’s department of exercise and sport science found volunteers taking part in the study said they felt more positive after a strenuous work-out (i.e. one that left them out of breath and with muscles burning) than they did after less taxing exercise.

Nickolas Smith, of Manchester Metropolitan University’s department of exercise and sport science, said: “These results have implications for the recommended intensity of exercise required to produce the ‘feel good factor’ often experienced following exercise.

“There are also implications regarding how people new to regular exercise should expect to feel during the exercise itself if they are to experience post-exercise mood benefits.” Click here for more info >

Strict bosses make workers feel guilty about exercise and lunch breaks

Workers feel pressurised into not taking a lunch break, feel guilty taking time to exercise and worry about making medical appointments during working hours, according to a new report published by the Central YMCA.

Called All Work and No Play?, the report also shows that one third of employees feel their boss is a poor role model.

The YMCA is now working with businesses to encourage “fit” workplaces where staff buddy up to encourage exercise and healthy eating.

For more visit: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23946815-bosses-give-office-workers-guilt-trips-about-lunch-and-exercise.do

British men among fattest (and least fit) in Europe

According to a new report from the World Health Organisation (WHO) Britain as a nation does less exercise than almost any other country on the planet. The same report also ranked men from the UK as the third fattest in Europe claiming 67.8 per cent of men aged 15 or over are either obese or overweight.

The Global Status Report on Noncommuicable Diseases concentrated on the growing global burden of what are more commonly called lifestyle diseases.

Launching the report, Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of the WHO, placed the blame for the “impending disaster” of chronic NCDs on multinational corporations that sell cheap food and drink laden with fat and sugar, without considering the consequences for society.

She said: “Today, many of the threats to health that contribute to noncommunicable diseases come from corporations that are big, rich and powerful, driven by commercial interests, and far less friendly to health.

“Slums need corner food stores that sell fresh produce, not just packaged junk with a cheap price and a long shelf-life.

“Here is a question I would like to ask the food and beverage industries. Does it really serve your interests to produce, market, globally distribute, and aggressively advertise, especially to children, products that damage the health of your customers?”

She concluded: “Unless they wake up, and take a hard look at policies across-the-board, some countries may very well see that the benefits of economic progress are quite literally cut up and devoured by a knife and a fork.”

To read more visit: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8476754/British-men-among-fattest-in-Europe.html