Heads up!
We’re gearing up!
Outdoor Fitness Friends is just over 1 year old. With longer and warmer days comes the opportunity for some exciting growth!
Introducing our new brand TerrainFitness.club
The work on the Sea Defence Walls are complete and now open.
We are now spoilt for choice with so many versatile spots where we can work out without having to lug along any equipment.
People are already out in droves enjoying the scenery and sunshine.
It would be rude not to invite them to join us in our quest for fitness and physical and mental wellbeing.
Many outdoor boot camps are held on flat sports fields or in parks. And here we are with the privilege of working out in the most versatile outdoor area in the whole of Portsmouth!
It is rustic, scenic, vast, and versatile. We have stairs, short hill inclines, moats, bridges, sheltered decks, grass areas and the beach!
People would join us if they knew what we are about, and how to contact us.
Outdoor Fitness Friends as a name has served us well, but ‘OFF’ simply is not an acronym that we can use to promote ourselves.
Finding the balance
If we are serious about surviving as a group, we simply have to grow. We cannot assume people will join us without us doing something to invite them and to become more visible in the community.
Size matters
We need to strike the happy balance between growing and staying personal, as large groups are not necessarily better.
In the last year I also joined a UK Bootcamp, joined a Gym for classes, and visited Emma at Portsmouth Outdoor Fitness.
I do this to build relationships with PT’s, to learn from others and to ensure I am fit enough to run our sessions even though I am working out alongside you all.
This is what I have observed in large Bootcamp sessions and Gym classes:
- no one might talk to you for a few weeks, and people may not even notice when you are absent
- in small groups people are more likely to attend as they know they will be missed and initially it is not as intimidating joining a smaller group rather than a large one
- you spend more time standing around while the instructor makes sure everyone understands
- bad and dangerous form is frequently overlooked in large groups even if the instructor is highly qualified
How will we balance intimacy with the need for growing?
I intend to enlist the use of PT’s from various disciplines. We could not pull that off with our limited winter numbers, but with the growth strategy in mind, this is totally feasible now.
Monthly Subscription
To this end, we will switch to a paid model with a modest monthly fee of £9 per month. This will commence in May.
Many people I have spoken to almost seem more likely to attend if they were paying.
Funds will be used to pay for incidental costs like Spotify, printing and the occasional cover PT.
Expanding our scope
It is nearly summer! Well fingers crossed anyway. There are many other things that we could also be doing for exercise besides hard core workouts on the Hotwalls.
So, no promises here but I have it in mind to add a cycling club component to Terrain Fitness. We will cater for what people can cope with with their fitness and depeending on their bikes.
Initiated by Lucian, there is also talk of some social Rollerblading, so I am sneaking that in here as a possibility.
Cycling
I know of people who are interested in Cycling as an additional outlet for exercise. We will start with the occasional cycle
Rollerskating
Lucian impressed us all by Rollerblading to the workout lately, and Patricia has expressed an interest in this too.
Branded workout gear
I provide a marketing service for a company that creates bespoke sports gear for Ice Hockey and Cricket teams. I am in discussions with the owner to get us some branded gear created, which I believe will be great for visually promoting the brand.
There will be a cost to this but I am sure to get it at a good rate. We may have to go for something more modest than what is displayed in the image as they don’t have as many female patterns as male patterns as yet. Watch this space!
Why the name?
The word ‘TERRAIN’ provides a better impression than ‘Outdoors’ does of what we really are about. We don’t just exercise outdoors, we use available stairs, benches, hills, and the beach.
‘CLUB’ sounds a bit more organized than our previous word ‘FRIENDS’. Coincidentally it is also handy that the domain extension of .club exists.
Should Dunamis not have adequate patterns or if our numbers don’t make economic sense, we could acquire garments from Pencarrie and have the brand printed on or embroidered.
