Top jockey’s dad says she will survive Covid party scandal
and profit growth each year since its inception.
Hot on the heels of its rival F45, another Australian-born company that has solidified its position on the international stage after listing on the New York Stock Exchange last year, BFT is expanding its overseas presence.
It is set to open its first site in Toronto, Canada, and in the UK city of Leicester in the country’s East Midlands region.
The number of studios in Singapore are set to ramp up from seven to 15 across the next six months, and from seven to 22 in New Zealand.
Mr Falloon’s most ambitious plan, however, centres on the US, where he hopes to expand BFT’s presence from the current two sites – in Santa Monica, California, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida – to 500 studios over the coming years.
“Our model really resonates in America,” he said. “The clubs we’ve launched there have been really successful.”
He said he believed this was in part because the US college and high school systems showed a “real commitment” to strength and conditioning training.
“In the marketplace you’ve got extremes, like CrossFit at one end where you use heavy kettlebells and barbells . . . and a whole lot of brands, like Barry’s Bootcamp, Orangetheory Fitness and F45, are playing in the aerobic space,” he said.
“Body Fit Training is right in between that.”
BFT workouts run for 50 minutes and are made up of strength, functional, and core stability among other elements.
Mr Falloon personally designs BFT’s workout programs, asserting what makes them unique is their focus on training “all of the body’s energy systems”, and the “progressive training model”.
There are 105 BFT studios
STAR jockey Jamie Kah will “come out the other side” of her Covid-19 rule-breaking party scandal, her father says.
Former Winter Olympian John Kah said that his daughter was “OK” despite her world crumbling when she was caught by police having a noisy party at an Airbnb with four other jockacross Australia, with plans to open 60 more in the next six months despite the pressures of Covid and lockdowns.
Former rugby league stars, the Aubusson brothers, opened their BFT studio in Ballina three months ago.
James, who was involved in his father’s car dealership in Goulburn before his unexpected death last year, decided to relocate to his home town.
“We wanted to try to help as many people across a broad spectrum,” he said.
When not in lockdown, James is in the studio almost every day training with members and running workouts, though he would eventually like to step away from the floor.
Mitch does not play an active day-to-day role as he is living in Sydney.
Paine, Riewoldt, and Bailey, all proud Tasmanians, have opened two studios, in Hobart and Devonport, and have plans to open six more.
While the Apple Isle is currently their priority, they have not ruled out tackling the overseas market.
“We want to make sure we nail Tasmania, but that’s not to say there hasn’t been mention of a few international locations,” Paine said. eys. The Covid-19 rule breach led to a three-month ban, with Kah facing a longer stint on the sidelines if she is slapped with an extra penalty for misleading stewards about the attendance of a fifth jockey.
Kah was set for a mega payday of endorsement deals over the Spring Racing Carnival, similar to the deals inked by Olympic gold medal swimmer Ariarne Titmus following her success in Tokyo.
But talks about Kah’s sponsorships have been thrown into disarray by her ban.
Mr Kah, who represented Australia in short track speed skating at the 1992 Winter Olympics, backed his daughter in following the COVID-19 breach.
“She’s OK, she will come out the other side of it,” Mr Kah said.
Kah is half way through a 14day ban from trackwork, and was understood to be devastated at her mistake. She said last week she was “deeply embarrassed.”
But now there are questions about whether she will return to the track at all, and instead follow an earlier dream to be an Olympic equestrian rider.
The 25-year-old was booted for three months from the sport for a 16-hour Airbnb party that broke Victoria’s COVID-19 rules, including its strict 9pm curfew. Kah had been staying at the $500 a night luxury home on and off because she had been having relationship issues with her fiance Clayton Douglas.
Mr Douglas declined to comment. The ban also includes Ben Melham, Celine Gaudray, Mark Zahra and Ethan Brown.
Originally, four of them did not disclose that veteran horseman Mark Zahra, 39, also attended the clandestine gathering and that decision could extend their bans.