REPs Member Satisfaction Survey 2013

WIN a FREE Polar Heart Rate Monitor!

This annual survey is an informative resource, which:

– Has shaped many recent changes and improvements to the Register

– Enables us to learn about your experience of joining REPs and the services you use and value

– Allows us to review our offering, highlighting any aspects of the Register that require attention.

In order for us to get a full picture, it really is crucial that we gain feedback from as many members as possible.

This survey should only take 15 minutes and will be conducted independently to guarantee anonymity.

Survey closes on Friday 15th March.

Please note: All results will be treated confidentially in accordance with the Market Research Society Code of Conduct. SkillsActive will report the aggregated results to REPs, and no individual responses will be identified in the report. We may contact some, but not all, of those that tick the box stating they would like to be contacted.

PRIZE DRAW DETAILS

Enter your email address at the end of the survey to be in with the chance of winning a Polar FT80 Heart Rate Monitor. The lucky winner will be selected at random and contacted directly!

Prize draw terms and conditions

1. The closing date for prize draw entry is Friday 15th March 2013.
2. The email address supplied will only be used to contact the winner.
3. The winner of the prize draw will be randomly drawn on Monday 18th March 2013 and the winner will be notified by email within six weeks.
4. Permission may be sought from the winner to have their name published in marketing material – however, there is no obligation.
5. There is no cash alternative.

Charity Calls For Tax On Sugary Drinks

Food and farming charity Sustain is calling for a new tax on sugary drinks with the proceeds going towards child health.

In a pre-budget report, the charity claims that the government could raise £1billion a year from a 20p a litre rise in tax on high-sugar drinks. It suggests this extra revenue could be used to pay for free school meals and initiatives encouraging children to eat more fruit and vegetables.

According to the report, the levy would also help save lives by cutting consumption of sugar-laden drinks, which has been backed by more than 60 organisations including the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, Friends of the Earth, the National Heart forum and the Royal Society for Public Health.

Sustain’s Campaign Manager Charlie Powell, said: “Sugar-laden drinks are mini health time bombs, contributing to dental diseases, obesity and a host of life-threatening illnesses which cost the NHS billions each year.

“We are delighted that so many organisations want to challenge the government to show it has a public health backbone, by including a sugary drinks duty in budget 2013.

“It’s a simple and easy-to-understand measure which will help save lives by reducing sugar in our diets and raising much-needed money to protect children’s health.”

The chairman of Sustain, Mike Rayner, of Oxford University’s department of public health, added: “Just as we use fiscal measures to discourage drinking and smoking and help prevent people from dying early, there is now lots of evidence that the same approach would work for food.

“Our obesity epidemic causes debilitating illness, life-threatening diseases and misery for millions of people. It is high time government did something effective about this problem.”

Follow this link for more information.

REPs Training and Category News

Physical Activity Advisor

NOW AVAILABLE

Have you completed the Walking Instructor Training?

If yes, and you hold a REPs entry Level 2 qualification in Gym, Exercise to Music or Water based Exercise, we can update your profile qualifications to include ‘Physical Activity Advisor’.

Please upload your Walking certificate to your activepassport™ and we will then add this category to your profile qualifications.

To do this simply:

• Login to your activepassport™ account at http://reps.activepassport.com/
  
• Click on ‘Entry Qualifications’ and then select ‘Log Qualifications’
• Next, select ‘Level 2 Fitness Walking’,  and Enter Your Awarding Organisation.

Level 4 Specialist Instructor – Strength and Conditioning

LAUNCHES 1^st APRIL 2013

Following significant demand from REPS members, for the creation of a new Level 4 role amongst Personal Trainers allowing them to reach the highest level of their profession (without needing a specialism in a medical area), the Register is adding Strength and Conditioning to the career framework.

From 1^st April, 2013 this category is available to REPs instructors who have achieved the UK Strength & Conditioning Association UKSCA accreditation, which supports employability via this route.

An instructor will require a prerequisite of the Level 3 Personal Trainer Category on REPs, in order to gain this new category.

Training providers that deliver training in this area will need to emphasise to their students that the requirement to gain L4 REPs status is UKSCA accreditation via successful completion of the UKSCA assessment day.

If you have already successfully completed the UKSCA assessment day (and therefore hold UKSCA accreditation) and wish to be recognised in this category by REPs, please scan and email a copy of your UKSCA certificate after 1^st April 2013 to info@exerciseregister.org  or alternatively, upload to your activepassport™ account at http://reps.activepassport.com/ (instructions below):

To do this simply:

• Login to your activepassport™ account at http://reps.activepassport.com/
• Click on ‘Entry Qualifications’ and then select ‘Log Qualifications’
• Select ‘L4 Strength and Conditioning’.  Awarding Organisation ‘UKSCA’, and Level ‘Level 4’.

If you are interested in attending an accreditation day please contact the UKSCA info@uksca.org.uk

Fantastic Offers for REPs Members!

We’ve teamed up with these great health, well-being and fitness brands to offer you fantastic discounts on a range of products and services.

Choose REPs as your ‘go-to’ for everything you need to stay on top of your game!

 

Nutricentre Sports – 12% OFF

• 1-time 12% discount on all Nutricentre Sports Products
• Visit http://www.nutricentresports.com/ and follow the instructions on this Coupon code to claim your discount today!
• Hurry, offer ends 29th March 2013.

Kinetica Sports – 20% OFF

• Enter REPS20 at Checkout!
• All Kinetica products are rigorously tested and scientifically proven to work, to help ensure peak condition before, during and after training.
• Follow this link to start purchasing today.

VIVOBAREFOOT™ – 20% OFF

• Simply enter REPS20 during checkout for any shoe purchases.
• In 2003, VIVOBAREFOOT™ became the pioneer of barefoot movement by launching the first barefoot shoe with a patented, ultra thin puncture resistant sole, offering maximum sensory feedback and protection.
• Follow this link to make your purchase today. Offer ends 30^th April 2013.

Zaggora – 10% OFF

• Enter REPS at Checkout!
• Follow this link to start purchasing now.

Bupa – 15% OFF

• Includes discounts on Everyday Healthcare Costs and Bupa By You Health Insurance
• Follow this link for full details, including terms and conditions.

 

Kinetica offer terms and conditions:

• The promotional code entitles you to 20% off any Kinetica Sports Products purchased online at http://SkillsActive.kineticasports.com?code=REPS20
• Offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other promotion, discount or offer.
• Offer is subject to availability, whilst stocks last.
• The promotional code can be used in multiple transactions.
• Retailer reserves the right to refuse any promotional code if it suspects misuse, abuse or fraud.

VIVOBAREFOOT™ offer terms and conditions:

• The promotional code entitles you to 20% off any VIVOBAREFOOT™ shoes via http://www.vivobarefoot.com/uk/ – It cannot be used for any other product or at any other websites.
• The promotional code is valid for use between 8th Jan – 30th April 2013.
• Offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other promotion, discount or offer.
• Offer is subject to availability, whilst stocks last.
• The promotional code can only be used once in one transaction.
• Retailer reserves the right to refuse any promotional code if it suspects misuse, abuse or fraud.
• By making a purchase in conjunction with this offer at http://www.vivobarefoot.com/uk/ you are consenting to receive marketing communications from REPs and VIVOBAREFOOT™. You will be given the option to opt out of further communications should you wish to. We will not pass on your details to third parties not previously mentioned without seeking your permission first.

REPs Discussion: Protein Powder

An article, posted on healthuncut.com discussed the benefits of protein powder, in aiding muscle growth.

We would be interested to hear your thoughts…

Research explained that dietary protein had been found to increase post-exercise muscle protein synthesis rates and inhibit muscle protein breakdown during the post-exercise recovery period.

The real question for them was the need and merit to advocate additional supplementation for healthy individuals already achieving relatively high protein intakes from diet alone.

With so much ambiguity around this topic, researchers carried out an investigation (on 22 randomised controlled trials of participants on a resistance-type exercise training with one subject group receiving a protein supplement or a modified higher protein diet), with the following findings:

• Protein supplements significantly augment the adaptive response of our muscles; increasing skeletal muscle mass and strength compared to non-consumers.
• In ‘younger’ individuals (< 50 years) the introduction of protein supplements to resistance training regimes produced a staggering greater than fourfold increase in fat free mass accumulation, and an impressive demonstration of 20% greater strength in one rep max leg press compared to the placebo groups.
• Results for the over fifties were intriguing. Examined individually, every study failed to observe a significant benefit on fat free mass gain from protein supplementation. But when compiled together, bringing about an increase in one’s power to detect an effect, it was found that supplementation actually increased fat free mass by 38%, compared to placebo, after three months of training.

Follow this link to read the research conclusions and for further information.

What are your thoughts on this topic? Leave your feedback in the comments section below.

The Tortoise Or The Hare?

Check out this great article from Janet Thomson, Mind-Body Health & Fitness expert, on the power of the mind during exercise.

The Tortoise Or The Hare?

How many of your clients started the year with resolutions that are already fading?

Are some less motivated than they were a few weeks ago?

You are giving them good advice, designing great programmes that you know will work, if they put in the work in between sessions, but what they are doing when they are not with you may be negatively impacting on their resolve. If you don’t help them change their behaviours, you can’t change their bodies.

We have two minds, a conscious mind that we are aware of, which process approximately 7 pieces of information simultaneously, and an unconscious mind which simultaneously processes billions of chemicals and thought-based signals.

These thoughts are based on past experiences and learnings and they dictate everything we do. When someone eats a cake even though they want to lose weight, something in their psyche is telling them it’s OK and that they want the pleasure of the cake more than the pain of being overweight.

This won’t change without some reprogramming. The good news is it is easy to change the way you think, the bad news is that it’s just as easy not to change.

Sometimes the fear of change is enough to stop the process before it’s begun. By giving your clients one small change to make, “allowing” them to keep the other behaviours (for now), and asking them to repeat this one small thing again and again, you can desensitize their fear.

As they see and feel the benefits of even one small change, they become open to the next change.  Whilst in reality it would be great if clients took on board all of our advice and made huge changes, for most people this is too much to ask. We should remember the story of the tortoise and the hare…..

Janet is one of the UKs leading experts in Mind-Body Health & Fitness.  She combines an MSc in Nutrition and Exercise Science with advanced certifications in a range of psychological therapies. Formerly Head of Training for a National Slimming Chain, she ran her own chain of successful  health  clubs and is now a Best Selling author and regularly contributes to TV and media. She is an endorsed training provider and runs Life Coaching for Weight Loss courses. Visit www.powertochange.me.uk   or email janet@powertochange.me.uk

REPs attends e-Learning in Fitness strategy meeting

Earlier this month, REPs Register Jean-Ann Marnoch joined representatives from 18 other core partner organisations in Valencia, Spain, to discuss ‘next steps’ in creating a European platform for e-Learning in fitness.

Based on European standards for fitness, the e-Learning Fitness project (eLF) aims to produce a template for national registers that can be used across European countries.

It was explained that a pilot register platform is currently under construction, allowing graduates of the e-learning courses to become registered.

The e-learning training provision for Exercise to Music, Gym, Aqua and Personal Training is also being developed, with learners for a series of pilot trials being recruited across relevant partner countries.

The eLF project involves partners from 14 countries, including REPs UK and the University of Rome, in Italy.

REPs Registrar Jean-Ann Marnoch said: “We hope that the provision of standardised e-learning will increase participation from the many instructors around Europe that find it difficult to access courses for instructing and training that meet the agreed standards.”

Follow this link to find out more about the e-Learning Fitness project (eLF).