Ashley Reese, founder and government director of the South Carolina Health and Fitness Association, standing in his health studio, Defining Moment Fitness, in Mount Pleasant.
A want for collaboration inside the health trade led an area health studio proprietor to provoke a statewide affiliation.
South Carolina Health and Fitness Association (SCHFA) brings collectively health studio homeowners, private trainers and medical professionals to share sources and advocate for change within the health trade.
“It’s very lonely to be a enterprise proprietor within the health trade as a result of whereas now we have a lot in widespread with our fellow enterprise homeowners, we don’t join, we don’t share sources, we don’t assist one another,” mentioned Ashley Reese, founder and government director of SCHFA and proprietor of Defining Moment Fitness in Mount Pleasant.
Throughout Reese’s 13-year profession within the health trade, one central objective has been to assist individuals. His private health journey started virtually 20 years in the past when he misplaced 115 kilos the “mistaken approach” by operating marathons and weight-reduction plan. As a private coach and health studio proprietor, making a welcoming environment the place shoppers can discover optimum coaching nonetheless stays a prime precedence.
The affiliation is one other step in offering a reliable community that shoppers can depend on.
Membership with SCHFA is on the market for well being and health professionals. Currently, particular person membership prices $25 per thirty days and a gaggle facility membership is $250 per thirty days.
South Carolina Health and Fitness Association (SCHFA) brings collectively health studio homeowners, private trainers and medical professionals to share sources and advocate for the health trade.
Education is a key part of SCHFA. Members have entry to weekly digital periods the place an area skilled within the area talks a few particular well being subject. In addition, there are quarterly alternatives to obtain persevering with schooling credit by way of a nationally accredited platform.
SCHFA’s final objective is to profit the shoppers that the members serve.
In South Carolina, trainers shouldn’t have to be licensed, so a consumer may obtain health recommendation from somebody who just isn’t a skilled skilled within the area. In an effort to lift the requirements, SCHFA requires members who’re trainers to both have a level in train science or a associated area, or have a nationally acknowledged certification. The objective is for shoppers to determine the SCHFA emblem at a health studio or on a web site and know the employees is educated and certified.
Reese defined {that a} lack of connections locally limits what a health studio can do for its shoppers. For instance, if a consumer has a medical concern and needs to go to a health care provider, chiropractor or bodily therapist, having a reliable referral from a coach makes shoppers really feel extra assured within the care they’re receiving.
“I think about an trade that does that in an entirety. Where you’ll be able to are available in and also you’re related to all these dots and you’ve got a complete wellness as a result of that one individual has all these different sources and connections round,” Reese mentioned.
Another side of the affiliation is to advocate for well being and health on the state and native stage. Reese hopes the affiliation will function a unified voice for the well being and health trade in South Carolina. Reese used the COVID-19 pandemic for example. While sustaining well being and health ought to have been a precedence through the pandemic, he mentioned gyms had been the primary to shut and gradual to open again up. He defined that extra illustration on the state stage may have opened discussions in regards to the most secure methods to advertise health through the pandemic.
Ashley Reese speaks to the group at O2 Fitness in West Ashley through the kick-off occasion to formally launch the South Carolina Health and Fitness Association.
Membership with SCHFA additionally supplies well being and legal responsibility insurance coverage choices, which is rare within the trade as a result of many private trainers are self-employed even after they work in a studio. Reese mentioned the insurance coverage alternative is a big promoting level for membership.
The affiliation formally launched on the finish of April with a gaggle health kickoff occasion at O2 Fitness in West Ashley. Reese mentioned to date he has obtained pleasure from new members about the way forward for the affiliation. He’s trying ahead to rising membership and persevering with to construct the group by way of conferences and meetups.
“They love that it brings us on an area stage collectively,” Reese mentioned. “I feel everyone is searching for that.”
Reese plans to increase the affiliation throughout the state as soon as it turns into extra established in Charleston.
While membership is for well being and health professionals, the affiliation in the end advantages the health trade as a complete as a result of the professionals acquire extra data and shoppers really feel extra assured in regards to the health selections they’re making.
“I’m actually excited to see a greater trade and customers be extra pleased with what their result’s and what the health trade is providing,” Reese mentioned.
More details about the affiliation and membership could be discovered at www.schealthandfitness.com .
