Rohan StrideFit partnership with Matt Roberts!

Walking helps to improve your overall health and fitness and is a great way to lose weight, tone your muscles, strengthen your heart and instill a general feeling of well-being and positive self-esteem. As makers of brilliant outdoors kit,  Rohan thought it was time that he developed an initiative to get outdoors regularly (practice what you preach) and so launched Stridefit – part social club, part fitness, part walking group for like minded people.

Stridefit has been developed in partnership with Matt Roberts one of the world’s leading personal trainers. Matt is a big fan of Rohan and has worked together to develop a 12 week Rohan Walks fitness programme for your customers.

The Matt Roberts team hosted ‘diagnostic days’ at four Rohan shops across England on 11 September,2011  – StrideFit armed with digital foot-scanners, physio tests and a wealth of advice.

This is an opportunity to get tailored advice about niggles, previous injuries and training tips.

Research shows that although 62% of adults like to walk outside for exercise more often1, 14% don’t know how to get started and 16% are worried they are not fit enough.

Embracing the Rohan ethos of ‘Live More, Outdoors’, StrideFit is designed to build walking confidence and enjoyment for everyone from novices to experienced walkers. It is a programme of exercises to increase strength and mobility incorporated into guided local walking trips – because research shows that 24% of people would be encouraged to walk outside for exercise more if they had information about local walking paths.

At the launch, StrideFit participants had their walking ‘type’ assessed with an RSscan footscan® which provides an analysis of individual foot posture. This combined with information about the sort of walking a person would like to do will help trained advisors recommend the most appropriate footwear for people’s needs.

Becky Serieys, Rohan Brand Development Manager, says: “The programme is designed to show people just how easy walking for exercise is, and how it can fit into everyday lifestyles – because a third (32%) say that lack of time prevents them walking more often. We also know that people can be put off by not knowing what kit to buy, or thinking that it will be too costly – through this initiative we want to help would-be walkers choose the right kit that will last a lifetime. And autumn is the perfect time to get started because there are hundreds of walking events taking place across the country for people to take part in.”

Matt Roberts says: “We have a growing exercise problem in the UK – our research is consistent with this view, with a quarter of all adults (23%) walking outside for exercise less than once a month.

Visit www.rohantime.com for more information