Former England and Newcastle United FC footballer Alan Shearer has officially launched a new Speedflex studio at Bannatyne Health Club in Darlington.

Bannatyne's is the first national health club operator in the UK to offer Speedflex training and takes the number of locations running sessions in the UK to eight.

The studio at Bannatyne Health Club is 78sq m (840 sq ft) and has eight Speedflex machines.

Group circuit classes are led by a personal trainer and incorporate machines, which respond to the user’s force to create appropriate resistance levels. Machines do not need adjusting as users are put through their paces from one machine to another.

The concept aims to deliver a full body, cardio and resistance workout which results in high calorie expenditure – up to 1,000 per session – and reduced post-exercise pain.

Shearer, a Speedflex director and ambassador, uses the training sessions three or four times a week due to his "bad knees, ankles and a bad back".

Speedflex was developed in the US, in 2009, by former professional baseball player, Darren Holmes, in partnership with orthopaedic surgeon, Dr Jim Silliman and mechanical engineer, Joe Worley.

Speedflex Europe was formed in 2011 by businessman, Graham Wylie, physiotherapist, Paul Ferris, and Shearer.