In a quiet corner of Jesmond over the past few years, there has been a constant stream of activity at Fleming Business Centre.
It was here that a fitness revolution was born, the first home of Speedflex, a unique work out system which comes with the added bonus that it didn’t matter what size, age or sex you were, you could get a full body work out – with none of the next day muscle ache.
Speedflex studios started to spring up around the country, often finding a new home in leading gym chains such as Everyone Active and Bannatyne’s.
The company was on course to become on one of the UK’s fastest growing HIIT training methods – and then Covid hit. For CEO Paul Ferris, a business that relied on the actual physical presence of its clients ie “bums on seats,” was faced with a bit of a problem. “Having to shut our doors during lockdown like so many fitness outlets meant it was a tough time,” said Paul. “Because when your business is built around people coming to you in person for training sessions then there’s nowhere else to go.” Paul however is not a man to be defeated for long – and decided to use that downtime to look at a new version of the Speedflex machine, one that could be created for use at home. “We hade been thinking for a long time that we should look at a version that people could have at home,” said Paul.
“But it wasn’t until we had some free time during lockdown that we started to seriously work on it and came up with Speedflex Blade.”
Speedflex was developed out of a piece of equipment created by an American orthopedic surgeon, who wanted a way that his patients could improve their fitness levels but without causing any of the pain or strain that usually goes with exercise.
It was fine tuned and adapted by Speedflex to its current incarnation and has now become hugely popular with everyone from celebrities such as Alan Shearer to people suffering from acute medical conditions.
Speedflex Blade has all of the attributes that the original studio machines have – the ability to work at your own pace doing cardiovascular and resistance workouts without any next day pain.
And then they simply fold away neatly, to be brought out again for the next work out. “We have worked really hard on creating a version that is perfect for anyone who wants to exercise at home,” said Paul.
“The Speedflex Blade has all the same features plus a screen which is linked to wifi and gives the user access to a number of workout options with our top trainers, so it is like having someone helping you at home.” The at home version costs £2499 which includes delivery and with finance options available, plus a £30 month subscription fee to access the constantly updated video workouts. “We are just rolling this out in the North East at first,” said Paul.
“This is where Speedflex started so we are going to let people in this region have the first opportunity to buy the Speedflex Blade.”
Speedflex studios are now open as usual, with the company now back on course with plans for the machine to be offered at Everyone Active sites across the UK and a whole host of other gym and fitness outlets.
For further details about the Speedflex Blade or to book an appointment to see the equipment in action at the Jesmond tudio visit www.speedflex.com
