Leisure Industry Week ... by Sean Blyth World Gym Challenge.com

I love Leisure Industry Week, but on this occasion and this time round I just cannot get excited enough about it to go there.

Lets start with the reason LIW exists ..

In the run up to this event, which has been expertly managed by the guys who also run BodyPower, there has been snippets of just how exciting this event is going to be this year. Industry leaders presenting, industry providers showcasing their latest equipment and a whole hive of busy bees generating business and networking like crazy. If you are in the industry you are basically nuts to miss it.

And that is what LIW mainly is and what it stands for. What it is not is a celebration of what the industry has produced and what the effect the fitness industry is having on the man or woman that goes to the gym. They are after all what the show are aiming at to sell to and what THEY will end up using and as with most gyms this day and age its mainly about the sales, rather than the results.

What effect is LIW having on the member in the gym ?

I can only go by my past experiences at LIW and the general atmosphere of somebody who is fascinated by what the industry has to offer and how it filters down into the gym. Each year that passes after LIW I have been waiting patiently for the kick start into what the industry has to offer a member in terms of sporting performance and as each year passes, I sit and see no change. Where is the excitement of products on show and the effect of how we should take physical activity seriously? And sadly as a member of a gym the glitz of LIW evaporates into a thin plume of smoke never to be seen again. The man and woman who go to the gyms are as usual the last on the list - but ironically the first to part with their money in search of getting fitter. But this could change (I will go onto this later)

Only yesterday I was in the gym looking around at what was going on. I saw gym staff that were unmotivated and chatting amongst themselves. I saw treadmills being ramped up and idly having members walk with their hands gripping on the side bars for dear life and I saw nothing that would encourage me personally to engage me in physical activity and for it to be effective. Its one thing turning up and its quite another turning up and it being effective. I turn up because it is part of my lifestyle not because the message has been delivered through anything to do with LIW or the leaders of the fitness industry.

What's the positive message about LIW?

I can't deny it every time I have been to LIW I love looking at the fever pitch intensity of it all. There are so many gadgets , gizmos and celebrity fitness personalities, that's its hard not to see it for what it is. An extravaganza of what is on offer to those that will be going to gyms. Every corner there is somebody trying to sell you something that has the ultimate fitness experience for you, or rather somebody that goes to your club. It is a continual circle of pure rush and what and where to find the best of it is usually in the prime area, people pay big bucks to be here and they generally have a fantastic ROI in terms of PR and social engagement to potential customers. It is probably the best trade show of the year.

What is needed ?

Well there is a statement in itself - who am I to say what is needed to the most successful trade show in the fitness industry, attended by the industry leaders - CEO giants of vast corporations - Media outlets - leaders of innovation in technology and entrepreneurship - World Fitness trade bodies - Directors - Sales Executives - Sporting Personalities ... the list goes on ..

So who am I ? I am the end product of what you are selling to the member in a gym who is so frustrated at the lack of opportunity to expose the gym member to an experience of getting results in fitness. Not losing weight and toning up - but tangible evidence that what is being sold is effective and helping the nation to tackle issues that need addressing.

What is not happening in the fitness industry?

I can say to you now that since I have been a member of a gym (twenty odd years) not one gym has been interested in actually recording the data that shows that what they have been providing me has been effective. Year on year evidence is non existent. And not one gym has publicly published figures of any evidence that says their members have increased physical fitness and are fitter now then they have ever been or more importantly somebody my age my gender how fit am I in relation to them ? What progress have i made and what progress he?

Why choose LIW to showcase what is the effect of training in a gym?

Now lets just take a look at what LIW Fitness stands is selling shall we and ask ourselves where is the evidence to back up what they are selling?

You see in the sporting world there is evidence of training but in the fitness industry there is none. But at LIW there is the perfect opportunity to engage with the gym member and showcase his/her achievements. Its is the culmination of the effect of what is being sold and the effect training can have on someone.

The greatest sporting gym event yet to be ...

The member in the gym is the one person who is forgotten about at this show. I don't mean on the day but I mean throughout the year, so it makes perfect sense to try and engage the member of a gym to represent the products that are being sold to us and show just how effective the training has been over the year.

So a sporting event with the equipment that is being used at LIW to last over a year and have a final of those that are the product of continued training in the places that these products are being sold to - if you like the end product.

Is it possible ?

And again the simple answer is yes. Any gym can run the event at their own gym over the year. Of the fastest people who qualify a regional event event will take place. Of those a winner and national event will take place ... and guess where the final will be ?

At the very place where LIW is being held - at the NEC in Birmingham.

It sounds too easy why has it not been done so far ?

I have continually written to the organisers of LIW in the hope to encourage a national event with the final to be held at LIW. I always remain optimistic about the potential. And leave the door wide open for talks ..

LIW Fitness Championships is greatest sporting event in the fitness industry calendar yet to be ...

Ready ... Set ... Go ... LIW 2016