News & Features

It is now much easier to renew your REPs membership online by logging into your Members Dashboard.

Following the release of the new REPs website you can choose your package with a few clicks of a button – a far quicker process than phoning us to renew.

From Sunday, July 1 2018 renewals over the phone will be subject to a £5 administration charge. Of course, we are more than happy to assist with any query you may have, so please do not be scared to call – we will not automatically make the charge!

By encouraging online renewals it will help reduce the high volume of calls to our customer service team and free them up to spend more time answering your membership enquiries and e-mails.

Please note we

With the ever changing landscape of online health and fitness training we have been negotiating with our insurers to cover this developing mode of training.

In the past we have not been able to cover injuries that are suffered by someone following an exercise video that has been uploaded onto the various channels – the good news is this is now included in your REPs insurance, the bit to be aware of is the standard policy does not cover any publishing or professional indemnity risk. If you require this you will need to purchase additional insurances and by contacting Howdens using the details below.

Virtual training has always been covered by the REPs insurance where the trainer can view their client online through the various modes e.g. Skype, FaceTime, etc. but we are now able to confirm that online programming falls

How are you in the mornings? Full of beans and raring to go, or sluggish until you’ve had a cup of coffee or logged onto your work computer? If the latter resonates with you, and your sleepy morning slump is hard to shake, you might be open to considering a change to your daily routine – such as exercising early in the morning, before you launch into the day.

This post, courtesy of the workout gurus at Start Fitness, will explain the benefits of this shift towards AM exertion. There’s probably more to it than you think.

Coming into work in the morning, having already been for a run or completed a challenging workout at the gym will leave you feeling motivated and en

There is one mistake we see far too many fitness professionals and business owners making and it’s incredibly painful to watch: They are vastly undercharging for their services, writes Sean Greeley, NPE Founder & CEO.

Undercharging can take many forms. It can mean charging too little, poor packaging, and incorrectly structured margins¹.

But all these mistakes mean slim to zero profit in your business.

If you’re working your butt off, and aren’t finishing with more money at the end of the month than when you started, this area needs your attention.

How do you know if you’re currently undercharging?

More important, how can you make changes once you’ve identified them to ensure your continued success?

Well, let’s dive into that…

Women have approximately 457 menstrual cycles in their lifetime, corresponding to around 35 years of menstrual activity, writes Dr Jacky Forsyth – who works in the centre for Sport, Health and Exercise Research at Staffordshire University.

For a woman, therefore, the menstrual cycle pervades their reproductive life. And for the exercising female, the menstrual cycle may affect aspects of their exercise performance. This could be because of blood flow and severe abdominal cramps interfering with engagement in certain activities, or because excessive exercise and dietary restriction lead to a complete absence of the menstrual cycle.

Menstruation is often still considered taboo, and something that is mocked, or considered frivolous (Kissling, 2006). It is important, however, to keep talking about and

This year’s Women in Sport and Exercise Conference: Blood, Sweat and Fears will take place at Staffordshire University, Stoke on Trent on 13th and 14th June.

The aim of the conference is to debate the female-specific health and medical issues arising from physical activity and sport, and to raise awareness of the issues and opportunities for women’s exercise participation.

There will be two REPs CPD points available for those who attend.

Conference keynotes come from Annamarie Phelps CBE OLY, Vice Chair of the British Olympic Association and an advocate for safe and inclusive sport for all; Angela Smith, who was instrumental in the formation of the women's squash professional organisation and circuit; and

Over the past 12 months Barreworks founder Vicki Anstey and leading Physiotherapist Katherine Ready have been working to create a programme which identifies the benefits of barre for rehabilitation as well as its more commonly known benefit of conditioning for fully fit individuals.

Through their research they have identified that barre is versatile, adaptable and relevant to different audiences with simple modification. It can be used to treat end-stage rehab for Physio patients returning to exercise, just as much as it can enhance sports performance in elite athletes and offers a complete training programme for 'mainstream’ clients.

Barreworks is uniquely placed to offer both Instructor training (for fitness professionals to draw in general audiences) and the Physio Programme (for Rehab Professionals) looking to learn new techniques to incorporate

Holly Lynch has been crowned the REPs-sponsored International Fitness Showcase 2018 Personal Trainer of the Year.

Holly is the Fitness Coordinator at Fitness Evolution in Burnley, where she delivers personal training sessions and Group X classes.

She played a key role in the opening and designing of the facility.

Holly is pictured receiving her winner’s trophy from REPs Head of Operations & Services Tracé Barry and PD:Approval CEO Tom Bell.

Her nomination form stated: ‘Holly's ethos is to empower and share knowledge with her clients, and this has inspired nine of her past and present clients to start working in the Fitness Industry.

‘The work Holly does as a National Trainer for Fit Pro and the charity projects she has coordinated will all help towards her aim of get

Awarding organisation YMCA Awards has created a new suite of fitness qualifications mapped to the existing UK National Occupational Standards as well as the new professional standards created by CIMSPA, offering dual recognition by REPs.

The new qualifications are:

Level 2 Certificate in Gym Instructing

Level 3 Diploma in Personal Training Practitioner

Level 3 Diploma in Gym Instructing and Personal Training Pra

Osteoporosis is a disease characterised by brittle bones, resulting in an increase in fracture risk. In the UK, 1 in 2 women and 1 in 5 men over the age of 50 suffer from osteoporotic fractures (National Osteoporosis Society, 2016) and this high prevalence causes a substantial cost to the National Health Service, writes Dr Jacky Forsyth – who works in the centre for Sport, Health and Exercise Research at Staffordshire University.

Osteoporosis is not limited to old age – deterioration in bone health can start at a young age due to inappropriate lifestyle choices – however, osteoporosis is generally not diagnosed until later in life. For this reason, osteoporosis has been described as a ‘silent disease’, in that an individual will not realise that the