Wednesday, 16 December 2009
The OLF 2009 Annual Review
Welcome to the OLF's end of year review. I'm pleased and excited to be sitting here writing this as so much has happened throughout 2009. In this review I'll be highlighting 2009's big events, big changes, the new initiatives and I'll be letting you in on what's happening in 2010.
We started 2009 with a bang with our first ever Annual Launch Party. Many of you managed to make it to the York Hall in Bethnal Green where we had a full day of workshops, competitions and demonstrations. All who came were lucky enough to take part in some great sessions and see our team demonstrating how they 'Walk the Walk' and 'Talk the Talk'. The whole day was a great success and although an organisational nightmare we'll definitely be doing one in 2010. There'll be more to come on that later on in this review.
The launch was a big moment for BJ and I, it was our first real big event, the first time where we put everything on the line. Failure was not an option, to have a huge hall with no one in it would be a disaster! But, with a lot of effort we pulled it off and it was a proud moment to see so many trainers in one place all getting involved in 'What We Do'. Click here to see the launch video.
Before we knew it, the Fitpro Convention was upon us and this year, like the others we were going there to make some big waves! I was privileged enough to be asked to do a presentation on kettlebells, which I duly accepted! I'd prepared a presentation called 'What's the Big Deal About Kettlebells?' which was aimed at discussing why and when we should and possibly shouldn't use kettlebells. I wanted to get a completely open view of what they can do. Now obviously I could be said to be slightly biased and I'd not be upset if you thought that. After all, I've spent the last 5 years using them! However, the talk went down really well and it was very pleasing to see we'd managed to pull in such a big crowd.
Along with the presentation, we had our stand in the trade show. As ever we didn't hold back here, with a rather large open stand to help show off what we do. The show was another great success for the OLF team. We had more post show course bookings than last year and brought in more new leads. So we travelled back to London with our head held high and all the windows down in the car... BJ decided that now would be a good time to take off his 5 fingers, which after 3 days of convention, did not smell good! To see the video of 'What We Do' Click Here
Some of the top venues of this year's national tour would have to be The Body Development Studio in Bath; Primal Fitness in Manchester and OutKlass Fitness in Nottinghamshire. Some of the highlights would have to be the journey's we made to Dublin, which were certainly a challenge and then there was the largest EKI course to date in Dublin with 35 people on it. On a personal note, the pint of Guinness I had in Dublin was amazing!! We always enjoy our national tours and we feel it's important to do, so many companies are scared of travelling. But for us it gives everyone the opportunity to take part even if they can't make it to London. We've been lucky enough to meet so many people that we probably wouldn't have done if we didn't travel length a breadth of the UK. For that reason we'll keep doing our national tour, year after year.
To see photos from all of our courses please visit our facebook page
September is always a busy month for us and 2009 was no exception. We had national tour dates to deliver and plan for our UK Kettlebell Open Competition. On top of that I was off to Leisure Industry Week to work with Escape Fitness. Over the year we have been developing a partnership with Escape and LIW solidified this nicely. It is a great honour to be working with Escape and delivering educational training for their customers. We're excited about the year ahead and the opportunities available. I believe the concepts that we're bringing to the industry will change it forever! 
The UK Open Kettlebell Competition was the first official competition held in the UK (as far as we're aware!). Although we'd held a small comp earlier in the year, this one was publicised across the world and we were aim to attract a big crowd. We used the Peacock Gym as the venue and had it set up perfectly for the day. We managed to get 20 lifters down to compete in the traditional biathlon event (jerk and snatch). There were also some great lifts, ranks were achieved and PB's were hit by many. BJ had spent days organising this event and it was tribute to his passion for kettlebell lifting that we had so many people competing. We will now be holding the UK Open Kettlebell Competition annually in London every October.
We started 2009 with a bang with our first ever Annual Launch Party. Many of you managed to make it to the York Hall in Bethnal Green where we had a full day of workshops, competitions and demonstrations. All who came were lucky enough to take part in some great sessions and see our team demonstrating how they 'Walk the Walk' and 'Talk the Talk'. The whole day was a great success and although an organisational nightmare we'll definitely be doing one in 2010. There'll be more to come on that later on in this review. 
The launch was a big moment for BJ and I, it was our first real big event, the first time where we put everything on the line. Failure was not an option, to have a huge hall with no one in it would be a disaster! But, with a lot of effort we pulled it off and it was a proud moment to see so many trainers in one place all getting involved in 'What We Do'. Click here to see the launch video. With a huge start to the year and the energy levels flying high the OLF team were ready to take on the world. With our next big event being the Fitpro Convention in April we had plenty of time to get stuck into the courses. With our first Extreme Kettlebell course at the end of January, closely followed by the Olympic lifting course and Performance Boxing courses, there wasn't much time for a breather. That's kind of how the rest of the year has been as well!
Before we knew it, the Fitpro Convention was upon us and this year, like the others we were going there to make some big waves! I was privileged enough to be asked to do a presentation on kettlebells, which I duly accepted! I'd prepared a presentation called 'What's the Big Deal About Kettlebells?' which was aimed at discussing why and when we should and possibly shouldn't use kettlebells. I wanted to get a completely open view of what they can do. Now obviously I could be said to be slightly biased and I'd not be upset if you thought that. After all, I've spent the last 5 years using them! However, the talk went down really well and it was very pleasing to see we'd managed to pull in such a big crowd.
Along with the presentation, we had our stand in the trade show. As ever we didn't hold back here, with a rather large open stand to help show off what we do. The show was another great success for the OLF team. We had more post show course bookings than last year and brought in more new leads. So we travelled back to London with our head held high and all the windows down in the car... BJ decided that now would be a good time to take off his 5 fingers, which after 3 days of convention, did not smell good! To see the video of 'What We Do' Click HereThe Fitpro convention is used as our launch for all of the national tour training dates. So after the show it was time to hit the phones hard and get the numbers up on our courses. This year's tour had some new locations for the courses and also the introduction of the Performance Boxing National Tour. This was our first year to head across the pond to Ireland as we visited Dublin to run EKI and Performance Boxing course. Thanks to the success of the EKI course we also put on an Advanced EKI later in the year. It seems Ireland can't get enough of their education! Because of that, we'll be back next year for more and delivering the Olympic Weightlifting course out there.
Some of the top venues of this year's national tour would have to be The Body Development Studio in Bath; Primal Fitness in Manchester and OutKlass Fitness in Nottinghamshire. Some of the highlights would have to be the journey's we made to Dublin, which were certainly a challenge and then there was the largest EKI course to date in Dublin with 35 people on it. On a personal note, the pint of Guinness I had in Dublin was amazing!! We always enjoy our national tours and we feel it's important to do, so many companies are scared of travelling. But for us it gives everyone the opportunity to take part even if they can't make it to London. We've been lucky enough to meet so many people that we probably wouldn't have done if we didn't travel length a breadth of the UK. For that reason we'll keep doing our national tour, year after year.To see photos from all of our courses please visit our facebook page
September is always a busy month for us and 2009 was no exception. We had national tour dates to deliver and plan for our UK Kettlebell Open Competition. On top of that I was off to Leisure Industry Week to work with Escape Fitness. Over the year we have been developing a partnership with Escape and LIW solidified this nicely. It is a great honour to be working with Escape and delivering educational training for their customers. We're excited about the year ahead and the opportunities available. I believe the concepts that we're bringing to the industry will change it forever! 
The UK Open Kettlebell Competition was the first official competition held in the UK (as far as we're aware!). Although we'd held a small comp earlier in the year, this one was publicised across the world and we were aim to attract a big crowd. We used the Peacock Gym as the venue and had it set up perfectly for the day. We managed to get 20 lifters down to compete in the traditional biathlon event (jerk and snatch). There were also some great lifts, ranks were achieved and PB's were hit by many. BJ had spent days organising this event and it was tribute to his passion for kettlebell lifting that we had so many people competing. We will now be holding the UK Open Kettlebell Competition annually in London every October. 
As we entered the final quarter of the year, the work load stepped up a notch or two with some in house training courses to run. Firstly is it was time to head back to Germany to work with Fitness First on a 13 club kettlebell install and training week. It was my good self that had the job of driving around Germany delivering the kettlebell workshops. It was then the turn of Esporta UK as we helped out Start Trac with the gym installs. We had been recruited to deliver the training for kettlebells, TRX and Boxing for their training teams. Finally and possibly the most exciting was our work with DW Fitness, which is an ongoing project. We're working with DW to educate their training teams and deliver the Move It training course to all of the new and refurbished clubs. The Move It concept was created by Escape and we came in to help out on the Education front. This is a really exciting new era for us and Escape as we set out to change the way the industry thinks about training. All I can say is 'watch this space people, watch this space'!
As all of this was going on we welcomed Sarah Devlin to the team, she came from an education and sports background in Australia and is now working as our Sales and Operations Manager. After a few weeks training Sarah told us to leave her alone and she got on with the job (she didn't really!). Sarah is a great addition to the team and we're really pleased to have her on board.
Finally and to save the best for last! We took the big step, the step we'd wanted to do for ages. The step that we knew we needed. The step that would catapult us ahead of any of our competitors and secure our place in the educational market place. It's with this 2009 review that I'd like to introduce you to the new OLF Training Centre. The first of its kind, the only educational training centre dedicated to continuing professional development (CPD). We wanted to provide the ultimate in learning experiences and now with this move we are able to. Not only will customers come to learn new skills, they will come for the experience! We'll be taking CPD to the next level with this unique training environment. The centre will be complete with a kettlebell and Olympic lifting area; a boxing ring; boxing bags; an MMA area; a climbing wall; a TRX and rings frame along with climbing frame for Parkour; a sprint track and a free weights area with squat rack and cables.
So you can't blame us for being just a little bit excited, we will be operational at the end of January and aim to have our launch party soon after that. Keep an eye out for this as there will be an invite to all of our customers!
As I try to summarise everything that's happened in 2009 I'm finding it a little hard to keep it short. It's been such a busy year for OLF and both BJ and I are looking forward to firstly having a little break over Christmas and secondly getting stuck into 2010 and taking OLF to the next level!
Thanks To...
All of the venues that have hosted our courses over 2009 and special thanks to the Peacock Gym for giving us over 3 years of great times and brilliant courses, we will miss that place, but will be over for a cup of tea every so often!
Thanks To...
All of the venues that have hosted our courses over 2009 and special thanks to the Peacock Gym for giving us over 3 years of great times and brilliant courses, we will miss that place, but will be over for a cup of tea every so often!
All of our Master Trainers; Andrew Marshall; Mark Hill; Rocky Dean and Mark de Wit.
Our head trainer Andy Phillips for everything and Lisa Hayes for all your help.
And finally to all of you!
Have a great 2010!
posted by Tommy Matthews @ 17:51
2 comments
Thursday, 10 December 2009
The OLF Training Centre is coming!!!
You've probably heard already, 'cos we've probably told you already. We've moved office. But what we're really, really excited about is the facility we're building.
We've moved into 4000sqft of warehouse space in Hither Green, London, which is just 8minutes by train from London Bridge. This means: we have a new office- yes; we have warehouse space so we never run out of our stock of bells- yes; but more importantly we have a facility and space that we can host all of our educational courses out of.
That's right starting with our EKI on the 30th and 31st of January next year all of our London courses will be run out of the OLF Training Centre. This includes our EKI and Advanced EKI courses, our Performance Boxing, Advanced Performance Boxing courses and Olympic Weightlifting for the Fitness Professional courses, plus we'll be launching our Straps course early in 2010.
We also have a host of events including the OLF Training Centre launch, Kettlebell Sport Competitions, plus presentations and seminars delivered by world class athletes and strength and conditioning coaches- I can't wait.
On top of this the facility will become home to the Trojans Kettlebell Lifting Club as well as other clubs we will be establishing in the new year. We're keeping these a little hush- hush right now but watch this space as it's pretty exciting.
The facility will also operate as a Performance Centre, focusing on improving the performance of everybody from kids to World Class competitors. For now it is just an open space, Tommy has been digging away and our first scaffolding poles are in place in what will become our climbing, ring training, suspended training and parkour climbing frame.
"Beej- I dug a hole!"
It's all happening people, stay in touch to see how it all develops.
We've moved into 4000sqft of warehouse space in Hither Green, London, which is just 8minutes by train from London Bridge. This means: we have a new office- yes; we have warehouse space so we never run out of our stock of bells- yes; but more importantly we have a facility and space that we can host all of our educational courses out of.
That's right starting with our EKI on the 30th and 31st of January next year all of our London courses will be run out of the OLF Training Centre. This includes our EKI and Advanced EKI courses, our Performance Boxing, Advanced Performance Boxing courses and Olympic Weightlifting for the Fitness Professional courses, plus we'll be launching our Straps course early in 2010.
We also have a host of events including the OLF Training Centre launch, Kettlebell Sport Competitions, plus presentations and seminars delivered by world class athletes and strength and conditioning coaches- I can't wait.
On top of this the facility will become home to the Trojans Kettlebell Lifting Club as well as other clubs we will be establishing in the new year. We're keeping these a little hush- hush right now but watch this space as it's pretty exciting.
The facility will also operate as a Performance Centre, focusing on improving the performance of everybody from kids to World Class competitors. For now it is just an open space, Tommy has been digging away and our first scaffolding poles are in place in what will become our climbing, ring training, suspended training and parkour climbing frame.
"Beej- I dug a hole!"
It's all happening people, stay in touch to see how it all develops.
posted by bj rule @ 13:54
1 comments
Friday, 4 December 2009
OLF Educartional Newsletter - Issue 73
In this weeks issue we have a look at how to set goals for the new year, I have a review of last weekends EKI course in London, I have an update from EKI Instructor and Trojan Andy Marshall on his MMA strength and conditioning facility plus some news on our extended November Sale- that's right it‘s continuing in December!!
What are you going to achieve next year?
That's right it's that time of year again. Yep it is the end of the year, but not that, yep it is getting close to Christmas, but it’s not that. It's time to start having a think about what you want to achieve next year.
Now this could mean everything you want to achieve for next year including your family and social life, your career and finances, but what I really want you to do is set some goals concerning your strength and fitness (the other stuff is really important too!)…. To find out more read on
Last weekends EKI
We had a brilliant turnout for last weekends EKI at the Peacock. To read a review and to check out the pics please visit the OLFBlog.
Mill Hill Combat Strength and Conditioning
A couple of months ago I let you know about EKI and Trojan Andy Marshall's Strength and Conditioning facility, well it keeps going from strength to strength with the athletes of the facility bringing home medals. To have a look to see how his facility is progressing follow this link.
The November Sale is Still On!
That's right the November sale is still on. Due to our move and popular demand we are continuing the November sale. This will not be indefinite and prices will go up in 2010! So to get all your continuing education at knock down prices: check out the links below. Don’t forget, all London courses in 2010 will be held at the new OLF Training Centre.
To view the calendar of courses please go to the links below. If you would like to book a course please call us on 0208 318 7000 or follow the links below.
2010 Kettlebell Course Dates
2010 Performance Boxing Course Dates
2010 Olympic Lifting Course Dates
Don't forget our new phone number!
0208 318 7000
Keep lifting and stay strong,
BJ & Tommy
What are you going to achieve next year?
That's right it's that time of year again. Yep it is the end of the year, but not that, yep it is getting close to Christmas, but it’s not that. It's time to start having a think about what you want to achieve next year.
Now this could mean everything you want to achieve for next year including your family and social life, your career and finances, but what I really want you to do is set some goals concerning your strength and fitness (the other stuff is really important too!)…. To find out more read on
Last weekends EKI
We had a brilliant turnout for last weekends EKI at the Peacock. To read a review and to check out the pics please visit the OLFBlog.
Mill Hill Combat Strength and Conditioning
A couple of months ago I let you know about EKI and Trojan Andy Marshall's Strength and Conditioning facility, well it keeps going from strength to strength with the athletes of the facility bringing home medals. To have a look to see how his facility is progressing follow this link.
The November Sale is Still On!
That's right the November sale is still on. Due to our move and popular demand we are continuing the November sale. This will not be indefinite and prices will go up in 2010! So to get all your continuing education at knock down prices: check out the links below. Don’t forget, all London courses in 2010 will be held at the new OLF Training Centre.
To view the calendar of courses please go to the links below. If you would like to book a course please call us on 0208 318 7000 or follow the links below.
2010 Kettlebell Course Dates
2010 Performance Boxing Course Dates
2010 Olympic Lifting Course Dates
Don't forget our new phone number!
0208 318 7000
Keep lifting and stay strong,
BJ & Tommy
posted by Tommy Matthews @ 09:44
0 comments
Thursday, 3 December 2009
St Helens Rocks! DW Move It Course Review
After a very hectic week of travelling around the UK, I was hoping to round it off with a good day, a long one, but a good one. So as Andy and I set off from London at 4.30 this morning, we made our way to DW Fitness in St Helens. Where I would be teaching my final Move It Course before handing over to Andy to do the next 4 while I'm away in the Sun!
Arriving at the club at 8.45 we had a little look around to see how the refurb was going. It is early days for St Helens as most of the work is happening over the Christmas period. However the Move It training space had been installed and was ready for OLF to get this training team Moving It! Joining us from Blackburn and Bolton DW's were a few more trainers. They just can't get enough of it up here!! So we had a big group of 14 to deal with which makes my job interesting.Starting with the usual dynamic warm ups, SAQ and plyometric work we got the group mentally and physically ready for my hour long speech about the fundamentals of movement and principles of lifting. Yes, I do go on a bit about this stuff, but it's so important and transforms the way people thing about training. Thankfully these guys were well versed and ready to take on board these fundamentals.
After ploughing our way through the strength zone and the compound movements we went straight of the power zone. The power zone is where we introduce kettlebell and power bag training. We spent some time working on the key lifts with the kettlebell and then proceeded to integrate the KBs, power bags and SAQ drills into some nice circuits. We had all 14 people ustilising the Move It space, all working at the same time, all moving around, lifting, jumping, pressing and squatting. All of this before lunch?! We were on for a good afternoon!
So after breaking for lunch we took the guys through a few more power bag moves and then it was time for the TRX. With a complete body progression on the TRX to teach there are a lot of exercises to look at, but with the frame set up and the TRX ready we fired through the lot in no time. We introduced the group to complexes, circuits and the 40/40 challenge, which can I just say, was great to see all of them get involved and give it a go.
"Well done to all the trainers that completed today's training, you all did very well! As I said I look forward to stopping by in a few months so you can show me what how you've been using the space, oh and to give me a session!"
DW, thank you for a great few weeks of courses, it’s been fun! Looking forward to 2010!
For more information on the Move It training course please contact info@optimallifefitness.com
In 2010 we will holding Move It courses from the OLF Training Centre in London.
To see more photos of the training in St Helens please go to our facebook page.
To see more photos of the training in St Helens please go to our facebook page.
posted by Tommy Matthews @ 22:15
0 comments
They're coming from all over!
Last weekend we had an EKI course at the Peacock Gym in Canning Town. We had quite an international feel with participants coming from all over. There were participants from Ireland, Spain, Italy, Poland and from all over the UK.
It was quite a large group which added to the excitement and energy of the whole weekend. Everybody is to be congratulated on putting in when it was required. Particularly in Andy's last man standing- well done!
Here are some pics from the weekend:
The EKI is definitely growing in renown and reputation. We'd like to thank all those who attended both Andy and myself thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
It was quite a large group which added to the excitement and energy of the whole weekend. Everybody is to be congratulated on putting in when it was required. Particularly in Andy's last man standing- well done!
Here are some pics from the weekend:
The EKI is definitely growing in renown and reputation. We'd like to thank all those who attended both Andy and myself thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
posted by bj rule @ 13:29
0 comments
Wednesday, 2 December 2009
DW Fitness Opens in Milton Keynes with a Bang!
After having a very busy week travelling around the UK from Plymouth to Sheffield, I was looking forward to my short drive to Milton Keynes. It was time for another Move It Training Course at DW Fitness who has just opened a brand new club next to the new MK Dons stadium. Fully kitted out with pool, Jacuzzi, steam, dedicated weights room and of course the 'Move It' training space, this club was definitely going to be a busy place. In fact before they had even started their pre-sale, they'd already taken 700 memberships.
So all was looking good for the DW at MK. All that was left to do was for the OLF team to come in and finish off their education. Each team is currently getting a training week which culminates in the Move It course to set the team up as 'Functional Trainers'. The success of the Move It training space at DW has so far been outstanding and with a fantastic space like this, I think Milton Keynes will be moving it very soon!
As they say, variety is the spice of life and with this course that is certainly the case. It's a great mix of different training methods and tools, which gives OLF and the trainers a real challenge and helps to gain a broad spectrum of experience. From kettlebells to power bags, TRX to boxing we cover it all and this sets the training team up with a great knowledge base to deliver fun, exciting training sessions to their members.
Our DW Tour continues with St Helens tomorrow and then throughout the next month, we'll be in Canterbury, Poole, Bangor and Carlisle. I wish all the guys at DW MK the best of luck with the opening and I hope you all have lots of fun in your new play ground!!
For more information on the Move It training course please contact info@optimallifefitness.com
In 2010 we will holding Move It courses from the OLF Training Centre in London.
To see more photos of the training in MK please go to our facebook page.
posted by Tommy Matthews @ 21:58
0 comments
