A family of members of XCELERATE GYM Edgware won the Membership Achievement category at last month’s National Fitness Awards
The Knight family – Christina, Dave, and their four children, Xavier, Ella, Hannah and Jake – beat eight other entries from across the UK to be named winners of the Member Achievement award.
“We are over the moon!” said Christina. “To think how far we’ve come in the past six months as a family, and for this to be recognised at the National Fitness Awards, against lots of other great entries, is amazing!”
On a mission to get the family fitter and healthier, the Knights joined XCELERATE GYM Edgware when the club opened in May. Dave was recovering from major surgery, following a diagnosis of thyroid cancer in 2020, while Christina also suffers from health conditions including fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis. Both joined the gym to help manage and improve their physical health, and enrolled their four children, as part of the gym’s family membership, so they could all exercise together.
Since joining XCELERATE, Dave has been able to return to work thanks to bespoke programming and support from gym staff. He now trains three times a week and has rebuilt a lot of the strength he lost from surgery. Christina has also seen significant improvement in her overall fitness and wellbeing, following her own unique training programme and working closely with XCELERATE GYM’s coaches.
“Until we joined XCELERATE, we’d never set foot in a gym,” said Christina. “It has completely transformed our lives and the overall health and wellness of our family. We couldn’t have done it without the support from the gym’s team and we owe our family’s newfound love for fitness to them!”
Xavier and Ella, the youngest Knight family children, regularly take part in X-NATION classes – XCELERATE GYM’s exclusive programme for younger members, which is focused on four fundamentals – developing children’s core motor skills, creating stronger family bonds through shared workouts in a fun fitness environment, teaching life skills through martial arts and providing a focus to work towards and introducing goal setting.
The involvement in the X-NATION programme has led to Ella attending a local karate club with other family members. Hannah and Jake also attend the gym, with Hannah, who has autism, working closely with the gym’s coaches to improve her confidence.
XCELERATE GYM’s programming, including X-NATION, was developed by product director and former GB athlete, Ashley-Faye Helsby: “At XCELERATE, we take a holistic view of our members’ health and wellbeing, and we want to bring that elite mindset to every XCELERATE GYM community. So whatever our members’ fitness level or ability, they feel supported and motivated to unlock their full potential and achieve their personal best, and the Knight family is a fantastic example of doing just that.”
Mark Chambers, XCELERATE GYM’s co-founder, said: “We’ve always had big aspirations for XCELERATE GYMS, but just six months on from our first club opening, we never thought we’d be celebrating winning a National Fitness Award!
“I’m so proud of our team and the achievements of the Knight family – the collective passion and dedication to improve the family’s health and wellbeing is truly inspirational. This is just the start for XCELERATE GYMS; with big plans for 2022, we can’t wait to positively change more lives in more communities.”