Be:FIT – Europe’s largest fitness festival solely for women

Fitness and wellness festivals are having a moment this year.

There’s LoveFit. Sweat Life. Soul Circus.

But if you’d rather work out in a female-only, non-competitive environment, then you might want to watch out for the Be:FIT bus.

Be:FIT is Europe’s largest fitness festival designed exclusively for women and this summer, it’s going to be touring ht eUK, providing women with free workshops, fitness classes, pop-up protein and lunch stations and drop-in advice sessions with PTs and other wellness professionals.

While it seems like everyone’s getting busy in the gym, it’s thought that only one in five women in the UK do enough exercise. And that alarming statistic has been put down to a cripplingly low self-esteem, body image and lack of non-competitive spaces for women to exercise in.

The brainchild of Chelsea Cox and Rachel Chatham, Be:FIT is aiming to change all that.

‘With all the conflicting information out there, we wanted to create one safe, comfortable place where visitors could break down the barriers that had prevented them from focussing on their health and fitness previously,’ Rachel tells Metro.co.uk.

While Rachel says that they don’t discriminate against anyone taking part, she does point out that their events are ‘specifically designed around and tailored towards women’.

‘At the time that Be:FIT launched, there was very little in the fitness industry specifically for women, and many health products and fitness classes seemed to be aimed more at the male market,’ she explains.

‘That has changed dramatically in the past few years and we are now part of a really exciting movement in women’s fitness and female empowerment.’

Rachel says that by concentrating on female fitness, they’ve been able to create ‘a safe and intimidation free environment in which women can enjoy working out and learning how to improve their health’.

So, just what can we expect from the Be:FIT bus (due to hit London on 28 July), and why do we need something like this? Rachel explains…

How is this bus tour going to improve women’s confidence when it comes to exercise?

The aim of the Be:FIT Tour is to reach as many people as possible, and inspire a new audience of women to become passionate about health and fitness, and gain self-esteem with their own body image.

All activities will be completely free of charge- from fitness and yoga classes in various gyms and studios, to pop up nutrition workshops, body confidence workshops and more, women will be able to take part in inspiring and motivational activities free of charge, that will help equip them with tools and information to improve their own health and body image.

Do you think the way women think about fitness has changed a lot over recent years?

Absolutely! From yoyo dieting and desperation to fit into a size 4, we have now entered a really exciting time where the female body is being celebrated in all shapes and sizes.

Fitness has become focussed much more around what your body can do rather than how it looks, and this is encouraging a really positive outlook that we are starting to see more and more in young people.

However, there is definitely still work to be done, and certainly more that the media can do to support and encourage positive body image – particularly for young women.

What can we do to make women feel more confident about doing exercise if they’re tentative to even get into a gym kit?

This is a huge part of Be:FIT’s purpose, and we have worked with so many different women over the years, all of whom have their own individual reasons for being dubious about health and exercise.

The key is group support – social media groups and mass participation classes are a great way to help women feel encouraged and supported by others as they embark on a new fitness routine. It’s also important to bring the focus away from how you look in a pair of leggings and talk much more about how good nutrition and exercise makes you feel internally.

Anyone working in the fitness industry today has a responsibility to promote this message and help their clients to prioritise good health and physical benefits of exercise over a desire to change the way they look.

How did you get into the wellness industry? Has it been a tough one to crack?

Definitely- but it’s getting better!

I started out as an unpaid intern in a marketing agency that specialised in health and fitness, and over a few years worked my way up to an account manager position.

After finding one brand I really wanted to get involved with, I took the plunge and quit my job, starting to reach out to more brands that I liked within the industry via letters and email to see if I could help them with their marketing and promotions.

At the time, there were no job searching platforms or guidance available that was specific to wellness, but thankfully that is now changing, and brands like Well to Do London, who we work very closely with, and Be:FIT itself are providing careers workshops, online search platforms for vacancies and more, to help young people break into the industry.

What advice do you have for other women looking to get into the scene and to make money from fitness?

Put yourself out there!

What never ceases to amaze me in this industry is how unbelievably positive and encouraging the people that work within it can be, and the more you go to events, talk to people, communicate on social media, the more likely you are to be in the right place at the right time when an opportunity does come up!

What never ceases to amaze me in this industry is how unbelievably positive and encouraging the people that work within it can be, and the more you go to events, talk to people, communicate on social media, the more likely you are to be in the right place at the right time when an opportunity does come up!

If you don’t ask, you don’t get, so I would never be afraid to try.

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