Fighting the flab with children's FitClub

Middle East Fitness Professionals (MEFITPRO) has launched the UK’s children’s fitness programme  FitClub to the market to battle child obesity and decreasing activity levels.

MEFITPRO group training systems manager Hayley Cottan said: “FitClub programming has been used worldwide and its underlying principles of ‘all children active all of the time’ and appealing to non-sporty children means it works wherever we go”.

With regard to the Middle East market specifically she added: “It also gives clubs and schools an option to run indoor activities for the kids away from the heat as the programmes are flexible and can be run indoors or outdoors.

“The programmes are multi-cultural and have some funky brands, so they’re particularly well suited to this market. When working in schools in the region, there may be consideration given to some of the programmes’ dance moves.
There are adaptations to suit the age, gender and interest differences of the clubs and schools that we may be offering the programmes in,” said Cottan.

FitClub would be offered in health clubs, sports centres, after-school clubs and schools, with The Palms Beach Hotel and Spa Kuwait, Fitness One in Jordan and Abu Dhabi Health and Fitness Club looking to take on the programme in the New Year.

“We have also had individuals wanting to hire our trainers for private birthday parties,” said Cottan.

FitClub instructors go through a two to three day module training course with FitClub master trainers, she explained, and are given new classes, new lesson plans, and new DVDs/CDs three times a year.

Cottan warned that this is important as the main challenge with children’s fitness training was that “people do it to make lots of money and they don’t invest in getting the right coaches to deliver the programmes”.

The FitClub classes include Teamenergy, Teamcombat, Teamjam and Waterworld. Each is a 10-week programme of physical activity and mental stimulation aimed at children aged from five- to 16-years-old.

Teamcombat for example is designed to combine the discipline and tradition of martial arts with the fun of non-contact martial fitness. Each class is programmed to music and involves routines with kick shields, boxing pads and gloves.

The resistance-based programme Teampower, however, only targets 11- to 16-year-olds. It is designed around the latest chart tunes and developed to strengthen and tone.

FitClub was developed by former head of physical education and current Fitness Professionals (FitPro) business development director Andy Jackson in the early 1990s, who set out to get 100,000 children to be more active in two years.

FitClub has so far reached more than five million children across 30 countries.