Nu Physio and Fitness Places EGYM at the Heart of Its Protection and prevention model to create a resilient business set for growth

Matt McArdle Msc. is a forward thinking health and fitness professional who, for many years, has been blending personal training with physiotherapy practice to provide his community with a wraparound service of care, focused on prevention and protection.

 Last year, Matt elevated the scope of his clinic, by placing an EGYM Smart Strength Series circuit at the centre of his community practice with impressive results.

 “I have been practicing physiotherapy for more than a decade and realised, early on in my career, the value in migrating my services out of a clinic environment and into a community setting” says Matt. “I also recognised the vital link between encouraging and coaching individuals to become fitter, stronger and more mobile in order to prevent the kind of injuries I was treating through my physiotherapy work.

 “For me, the key to a healthy, mobile and fulfilling life is not just about being active, it’s about undertaking the most effective form of activity. Most people are very capable of being active, without the intervention of a coach or personal trainer, but very few will know how to optimise their time spent being active in order to achieve desired health outcomes safely and effectively. This is where a community training space, supported by qualified professionals has a vital role to play. It was this realisation that drove me to train to become a personal trainer – so I could help people be the best versions of themselves both physically and mentally.

 “Typically, people access my physiotherapy services when they have sustained an injury or trauma that is resulting in either pain or mobility issues.  By the time of my intervention, the service is focused on rehabilitation, rather than prevention and once an injury is treated, the individual has no further need for my services. However, if I can then signpost them to a longer term support service that helps protect against future injury, they will continue to employ my expertise. I decided to build a model that provides a wraparound service of care which promotes protection and prevention but can also treat injuries when they occur. This is the foundation on which Nu Physio and Fitness was born.”

Matt runs his business from an independent community gym, NRGym, in Keightley, West Yorkshire. Whilst he has full access to the gym, he also rents a consultation room and a dedicated rehabilitation and training space. In 2020 Matt was introduced to the EGYM’s intelligent Smart Strength Series.

 “The solution blew me away” says Matt. “I loved the fact that the Series could be arranged in a circuit and that the individual units had a relatively small footprint. In a limited space, I could provide the equipment needed to enable a full body, fully automated, strength workout for anybody – from a complete beginner to a seasoned athlete.”

 In July 2020, Matt installed a 6 piece EGYM Strength Series circuit. “EGYM has been a complete game changer for the business”, says Matt. “Rather than just engage with clients for the term of their physiotherapy treatment, I can now offer a long term service to keep them fit, healthy and injury free long after their injury has been sorted. This creates a more sustainable and resilient business model built on long term income opportunities.

 “The beauty of EGYM is its automation and performance feedback functionality. Once clients have completed an instructor led induction on the kit, they can access and administer their bespoke workouts independently. This means, in order for them to benefit from my services, they do not require my time in the way that they would usually in an in-person rehab consultation or personal training session. This frees me up and enables me to collect a fee without putting personal time against it.

 “Also, the performance feedback with regards to strength and imbalance testing is something I just couldn’t glean from any other means with the same level of simplicity and reliability. I find this functionality absolutely invaluable in my rehabilitation work. It also motivates clients because they are provided with regular, evidence that their effort is translating into the achievement of specified goals. This keeps them training and financially committed.

 EGYM has enabled Matt to attract a much broader client base too, reaching far beyond those requiring physiotherapy services. “60 per cent of my clients are now independent of my physiotherapy services and represent a hugely diverse segment of the local population. The automated functionality of EGYM is perfectly suited to those new to exercise, the deconditioned and seniors but also to high performance athletes.

 “The pre-installed programmes also enable me to target specific population groups. For example, Metabolic Fit is designed to fend off or tackle diabetes, whilst Immunity Boost helps to fight infection. Being able to access these scientifically-based training programmes means I can help drive individuals towards specific health outcomes easily and efficiently and, once up and running, they can be largely self-managed. This frees up my time to take on a more coaching and nurturing role focused on personalising the experience and maintaining  important human interaction.”

 The pandemic has obviously created challenges for Matt and has prevented him from optimising the benefits of the EGYM install but he is incredibly optimistic about the future.

“Now that there is light at the end of this Covid tunnel with a vaccine roll-out plan likely to start within the next few months, I am excited about the year ahead. This last 6 months has been a bedding in period, a chance to ‘soft launch’ EGYM to my growing client base. Whilst there have been many negatives associated with the pandemic, one positive is the heightened awareness the population now has to the importance of maintaining personal health and fitness in order to protect against infection and disease.

 “I believe, moving forwards, community based practices, like NU Physio and Fitness, that blend health care and fitness services have an opportunity to play a key role in the government’s move towards a ‘prevention rather than cure’ health care strategy whilst also creating more resilient business opportunities for allied health professionals willing to think a little outside of the traditional delivery box.”

For more information about NU Physio and Fitness visit: https://nuphysioandfitness.com

Originally published on HCM.