A new health club brand, Livia Exclusive Ladies Health Club, has launched in Essex, marking a first UK site for the Finnish operator.

Located in Colchester, the club features HUR resistance equipment that creates a circuit, combining strength and endurance training with the aim of providing safer, effective exercise for women of all ages and abilities – from mainstream exercisers to seniors. The HUR equipment works with SmartCard technology to keep track of members' progress, manage training programmes and provide feedback, with in-built automatic programme updating.

The Livia Exclusive Ladies Health Club brand was founded by Mats Manderbacka, MD of HUR in Finland and developer of the SmartCard technology, following the growth of ladies-only health clubs and 30-minute activity concepts over recent years. Off the back of his research into the effectiveness of strength and aerobic training for weight loss, Manderbacka opened his first ladies-only health club in Finland – called Actilife – followed by a further two sites, both in Helsinki, under the Livia brand.

Manderbacka and Norman Smith, MD of HUR in the UK, have now joined together to open this first UK-based Livia Exclusive Ladies Health Club.

Smith said: “Mats has developed the Livia Club concept and SmartCard technology from extensive research into the effectiveness of strength and endurance training, and members of other Livia Clubs have had fantastic results.

“We are inviting the women of Colchester and Essex to take part in a free trial to find out more about the equipment and technology.”

For more information on HUR fitness equipment see here