AN OLYMPIAN husband and wife duo from Rugby have challenged the nation’s underfit, overweight over-40s to get fit with them.
Former Olympic Judo athletes Neil Adams MBE and Niki Adams want to help improve functional fitness in middle-aged people as part of their new venture, The Adams Family.
The couple plan to fill a gap in the fitness market by creating workouts tailored to the over 40s or for those looking to get fit from home.
Neil, 62, is a former world Judo champion and two-time Olympic silver medallist. He competed in three Olympics in 1980, 1984 and 1988 and has since gone on to be a world-renowned commentator for Judo, speaking as an international representative at both the Commonwealth and Olympic Games.
Niki Adams, formerly Jenkins, 47, is a Canadian-born Pan-American Judo champion and competed in the 1996 Olympics for Canada. Since retiring from professional sport, Niki has created a homemade skincare brand, Uniqi Productions, and also runs Nordic Walking and Swiss Ball exercise classes with particular emphasis on curvy women looking to lose weight and get fit for health and recovery reasons.
The Adams Family project, a spin-off from their NA 416 Legacy Fitness business, will launch with fitness routines which can be done at home via live and pre-recorded online workout sessions.
Neil said: “I’ve had a lifetime of fitness; I owned a health club in Coventry for 15 years and saw every fitness craze and fitness professional imaginable.
“I’ve stuck to the functional fitness model and it has lasted me all this time. It has, without exception, been 100 per cent successful with anyone I have trained, at grassroots right up to Olympic level.
“Everyone needs a strong foundation to succeed. Without it, we can set ourselves up for serious injury and let’s face it, I don’t need any injuries at my age!”
Niki added: “Neil and I have a lifetime of experience as professional athletes. We’ve both competed on the world stage for Judo and wanted to bring some of that knowledge to people our age who might want to get fitter, but not know which way to turn or who to trust, or even just how to get started in a safe, supported way.
“Every day we are bombarded with airbrushed images of youth and ‘perfection’ and that’s hard to live up to, even when you know it’s a lie. What we aim to do – under The Adams Family – is to give a face and a voice to the 40s, 50s and 60s in terms of fitness and health.
“We want to show our generation that you can be curvy but fit and healthy. It’s all about being your best ‘you’.
“We don’t see people like us on our screens, promoting fitness or wellbeing. I’m a curvy girl and Neil is in his 60s. We want to change that perception that fitness is only for the ‘young and beautiful’, and show everyone over 40 that it’s never too late to get into the best shape of your life.”
Visit www.adamsfamilyuk.com for more information.
