CSP: Suffolk Sport
Further Information: This Girl Can Tri Gym Challenge
BACKGROUND
The Tri Gym challenge project incorporated initiatives from both This Girl Can and the Workplace Challenge, targeting inactive females in the Workplace. Sixteen females from four different workplaces were offered the opportunity to complete six hourly group sessions with a personal trainer at a gym closest to their workplace, as well as 6 weeks free gym membership so they could exercise in their own time outside of the hourly group sessions. All sixteen ladies said they used the gym at least twice a week in their own time as they felt more confident to go alone after the initial group session.
All 16 ladies were inactive (inactive being classified as not a member of a gym or a sporting club and doing less than 30 minutes exercise per week) at the start of the challenge and not at all keen to go to the gym, let alone on their own. Each group of four were offered support from a personal trainer every week on three pieces of equipment; the treadmill, rowing machine and bike. To ensure consistency they had the same personal trainer each week who offered a lot of support and encouragement. As teams of four exercised together as a group, this was a great way to encourage involvement and engagement week on week, leading up to the final challenge where the winners each received an activity tracker.
On the sixth and final week of the challenge, the ladies wore their This Girl Can t-shirts, which were provided as part of the project and collectively completed a 20km tri challenge (rowing 5km, walking or running 5km on the treadmill and cycling 10km on the bike) against the remaining workplaces.
Prior to the first session and immediately after and 3 months post completion of the challenge the ladies were offered a Boditrax health assessment (a body composition tool which provides 16 different measures about your health) where they were able to track improvements in their fitness levels, muscle and fat percentage, visceral fat, metabolism plus many more. All sixteen ladies completed the challenge and saw improvements in their body composition over the initial six weeks.
On completion of the project discounted membership rates were offered to the participants and eleven out of the sixteen joined the gym as a direct result of the project. The remaining five said they continued to exercise in their own time (predominantly walking and running). The most significant changes in body composition via the Boditrax Health Assessment were seen 3 months post challenge, specifically for those who continued to be active on a regular basis.
IMPACT
For one lady in particular (as seen on the video), the Tri Gym challenge was the catalyst she needed on her journey of significant lifestyle change. Prior to the challenge she was the heaviest and most unfit she had ever been and had also lost a lot of confidence, felt isolated and had shut herself off from friends without even realising it. Two days after completing the challenge in June, Sue was chatting to a friend over dinner about the tri gym challenge and how much she had enjoyed it and her friend asked her if she would join them on trekking a 70km stretch of the Great Wall China for charity, which she accepted and completed in October 2016. Since the start of the tri gym challenge to the time she completed her trek, she has lost over 3 stone in weight through personal training sessions, attending the gym on a weekly basis and swimming, all whilst making new friends and feeling a lot better about herself both physically and mentally.
As can be seen from the Boditrax results below, which shows Sue’s body composition changes from pre challenge where she did no exercise, to 6 months post challenge where she was exercising at least 3 times a week, Sue has achieved some amazing results through sheer hard work and determination, all stemmed from the opportunity to take part in the tri gym challenge.
Body Composition changes over 6 months
Here is a quote from another participant of the challenge:
“I really enjoyed the experience and got much more out of it than I had originally planned. It was great to see us progress week on week as a group and I was really proud of all our efforts. I have refused to run since I was 16, so this challenge certainly helped me overcome my fears and I found myself running for a full 9 minutes! I was pretty inactive prior to the challenge, but as a group we signed up to a number of classes which was great fun. We had a great group of girls and it was nice to socialise in a different atmosphere. I would love to see a group sign up again and would certainly recommend this to those who are a little fearful of exercise” – Philips AVENT
A number of the participants were Under 25 and some Sportivate funding was used to part pay for the project. This is the second year we have run the Tri Gym Challenge project due to its popularity and success and plan to run another project in 2017. Last year one of the younger participants won the Sportivate participant of the year for the East of England region where she was presented with her award by Sport England at the Suffolk Sports Awards in November 2016.
The project has also encouraged partnership working between four local leisure providers and amongst workplaces. Following the positive Boditrax improvements, this has encouraged participants to continue exercising and wanting repeat scans to see further improvements in their health and fitness levels.