News.

The first ever Gym on Gym Challenge.

When training in a gym it's really down to the results you achieve, if you want to improve your fitness - but how about your gym? Can your gym achieve results ? Read on and find out just what is happening in the first sport for gyms - X Training and the gym members who get real results in fitness.

Whitefield Fitness First

Based in a small suburb of Manchester is Whitefield. The small area I visited indicated that as I drove through  and looked on at the boarded up shops and rows of small terrace houses, littered with patchy outlets of bushes and trees and a green and where I saw football being kicked around by a group of teenagers - would indicate that the local community is just like any other all over the UK. The harsh financial times impact on and shows no mercy, but in Whitefeild there is one addition that could make a slight difference, Fitness First has one of its modern well equipped gyms nestled in the heart of it and a gym is essential to act as portal as a way into the world of fitness and health in these very demanding times.

On Saturday 14th November Whitefield Fitness First became the first gym in the whole of the UK to run the first ever 'Gym on Gym Challenge' using the WGC Course. Members gathered from neighboring gyms Rochdale and Gorton and competed against one another in a Fitness Challenge that tests, speed , strength and endurance, based on fitness levels of their members.

Whitefield FF had never competed in an XTE (X Training Event) but they were intrigued to see just what it involves and local personal trainer Marvin Edwards, worked closely in securing the venue and learning from the day - a few of his clients entered at a lower level and were impressed with just how X Training can challenge you to a new level of fitness and provides a platform, so that every gym visit you are training for has a purpose, using the equipment and venue you train at.

Whitefield FF, is a modern gym, high on quality and a steady buzz of the general gym people who work out - so an ideal venue for the growing sport of X Training. The Studio itself was large and spacious with a interlocking bright blue foam mat floor - ideal for a studio that can host a XTE. Three race lanes were set out of bikes, rowing machines , treadmills, weights and cardio stations without any disruption to the running of the gym and all that was needed were the 'Gym Athletes' to compete.

Rochdale Fitness First

Captain of the day for Rochdale Fitness First was Rich Ainley. No stranger to working hard and creating that something extra in a gym so that members can always feel that they have achieved something. Rich is the Health and Fitness Manager and works closely with General Manager Kate Read , so as well as taking on the very demanding tasks as manager, Rich also finds time to train to a level of peak fitness. But on this day, it was not about individual performance but how a gym can gel and as a team get results.

Bringing together a gym is something Rochdale FF does. It is a very unique gym as the members there are amongst the fittest in the UK for the sport of X Training - a Gym Based Sport, that brings sport into a gym.

Rochdale is famed for its foundations in X Training, which has played host to the Dale Destroyer a fitness challenge created by former health and fitness manager Aidy Cartwright (now general manager at Pontefract FF )

Individuals there such Andy Lett play a huge role in letting people know about the sport and encouraging its development and as one of the fastest people in the WGC leader Board Andy's vast experience and presence is a unique attribute to Rochdale FF- and a perfect role model for X Training sport development.

Gorton Fitness First

Captain of the day Mike Jones, now run's the famous Gorton Grueller - the classic X Training event with 60 Bench and 60 shoulder press.

Gorton FF as a team have well established 'Gym Athletes' who commit heavily into training together and getting results together and this year - in the first year of 'X Training Gym of the Year' Gorton have outshone any other gym in the UK , by entering more events and gaining the best results based over a one year (more details of this will be mentioned later) period.

Gorton FF history into X Training can be traced back to when Micky White first created the buzz there some four years ago, and since his departure to Australia, the buzz has never really gone and Micky's legacy lives on.

Team 'Fitness' First Gorton

Well done to all the 'Gym Athletes' who took part on Saturday and for those of you in the know - look out for 'War of the Roses' coming in 2010!