We are continuing with ongoing work throughout the facility and below is the latest update on how we are progressing.

Changing Rooms – Repairs have been ongoing this week and will be completed by Friday 6th September.

Gym Equipment – There are still two pieces of equipment to arrive, a dual pec fly and back fly machine, also hip abductor/adductor. These are due in the next few weeks and an update will follow.

Squash Courts – Courts 2-6 will reopen by the end of this week. More updates to follow.

Studio 1 – Work progressing well, estimated time of opening Monday 9th September.

Sports hall 2 – Unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances there has been a delay in the opening of the sports hall and the new estimated time of opening is Friday 6th September.

Free Weights – We are still working on a resolution for this area and are liaising with the insurance company at present. More details to follow.

If you have any questions in regards to the above areas, please contact hello@oriam.hw.ac.uk and we will be happy to assist.

Last week two of our Bistro staff were called up to Shelley Kerr’s Women’s squad. Jamie-lee Napier and Sam Kerr were both part of the squad that defeated Cyprus 8-0 in last weeks Euro 2021 qualifier.

Hibernian F.C., Jamie-lee recently represented Scotland women’s under 19 squad at the UEFA championships held in Scotland. Injuries to the women’s national squad last week meant Jamie-lee earned her first call up at the age of 19.

Glasgow City’s F.C. Sam Kerr, who has previous experience with the squad was an unused substitute during Friday’s clash. Both girls have the UEFA Women’s champions league football to look forward to.

Jamie-lee and Hibernian ladies take on Slavia Prague while Sam and Glasgow City F.C. travel to Russia to take on Chertanovo.

Well done to both girls and good luck for the upcoming fixtures.

This week we welcome both the Men’s A and under 21 squad. Both squads will use Oriam to prepare for their upcoming qualifiers.

The Under 21s take on San Marino and Croatia in a bid to qualify for the European championships.

Steve Clarke’s squad have an important week ahead, two crucial home fixtures versus Russia and Belgium.

As always its great to be part of preparation and a massive good luck to both squads in their quest for qualification.

After the installation of the new fitness suite we have recently installed 7 pieces of outdoor gym equipment kit on the trim trail around Oriam.

The equipment includes:

Balance Beams

Body Raise Bars

Step Up Logs

Chin Up Bars

Monkey Bars

Parallel Bars

Tyre Run

The outdoor gym equipment is designed to make training fun, accessible and encourage the local community to get involved in exercise.

Whether its a walk with the dog or a jog round the track, we would like our members to get involved with equipment and spread the word, no Oriam membership is required.

Send us your photos of exercising on the equipment and let us know what you think!!!

Oriam sport scientists Andy Lombard and Katrina Gibbon have this week been on international duty with Scotland women’s squads, Under 17s and under 19s respectively.

Katrina is currently over in Belfast with the 19s for two friendly matches versus Northern Ireland. Tuesday the squad won 2-0 and yesterday picked up a second victory winning 1-0.

Its the start of a new campaign for Katrina and squad as they prepare for the under 19 UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying round in October.

Katrina’s role is mainly education based, not only to help the players while they are on camp but also to educate them and help away from national camps in their day to day lifestyle and training routines.

Her responsibilities include collecting GPS data at all training sessions and matches, daily well being data and rating of perceived exertion (RPE’s). Katrina also delivers workshops and management of all things nutrition and hydration.

Andrew Lombard hasn’t had to venture far, the under 17 squad have been based with us at Oriam, defeating Slovenia 3-1 on the indoor synthetic on Wednesday and will play them again Saturday on the indoor synthetic, 10am kick off.

Andrew’s role is quite similar to Katrina’s, mainly focusing on educating the younger players about the habits of the performance lifestyle of a pro player.

He has helped the players learn about the correct nutrition preparation as well as recovery strategies on and off the pitch. This is Andrew’s first camp with the SFA and he has found it to be a learning experience for himself whilst being integrated with the squad for the full week.

In follow up to the refurbishment, today we have started work at the main entrance to the gym. This work is for the installation of turnstiles access into our newly refurbished fitness suite.

We believe with the introduction of turnstiles our user experience will be enhanced and it also allows us to fully integrate the member journey with the newly installed TechnoGym technology that we now have within the fitness suite. The introduction of gated entry into the gym will bring us in-line with the majority of other facilities across Edinburgh.

The Installation of turnstiles will be complete by Wednesday 28^th August. During the install we have a diversion in place that allows users to enter the gym via the fire exit from the walled garden. The fitness suite opening hours will remain the same and no areas within the fitness suite floor will be effected.

The introduction of turnstile access into the gym will allow Oriam to:

-Better manage member access into the fitness suite

-Monitor busy times within the fitness suite and improve the member experience around these times.

-Restrict non-member access into the fitness suite

We will keep you all updated on the progress of the installation. Members will use the same membership card to access the gym via the turnstiles and our fitness team will be on hand to support members to use the new turnstiles once these are operational.

 If you have any questions in regards to the installation of turnstiles please contact hello@oriam.hw.ac.uk.

Thanks

Oriam Team

Over the weekend we opened our doors to our newly refurbished fitness suite. After a period of 11 days closed, we were super excited to welcome back our members and show off the new fitness suite and equipment.

Newly installed Technogym equipment has replaced Life Fitness equipment, the fitness suite area has been revised to allow for more space and a new improved rig with Outracer lines installed.

As part of the installation the ‘my wellness’ app was introduced, along with ‘Tanita’, equipment designed to measure body compositions. This includes weight, body fat mass, muscle mass and many more components to help give an overview of body compositions.

Our Health and Fitness supervisor Mandy Stott was instrumental in the installation of the new fitness suite and had this to say

“Myself and the rest of my fitness team are extremely happy with the outcome of the new fitness suite. We are all looking forward to delivering inductions on the new equipment and app to our users. We would also like to thank all our members for their patience during this period and we hope the new fitness suite was worth the wait”.

Below are a few of the FAQ’s we have received since opening the new fitness suite:

Why are there less squat racks in the new fitness suite?

We are currently working on phase 2 in our free weights three area, once this area is complete there will be additional squat racks available.

Why have we reduced the number of adjustable pulley machines?

We have increased the number of fixed weight equipment that allows for similar movements and exercises as the pulley machines.

Has all the equipment been installed?

No, we are still waiting on the delivery of 2 additional pieces of equipment. A dual abductor/adductor, as well as a dual pec-dec and reverse fly machine.

Do I need to download the ‘my wellness’ app to use the equipment?

No. However there are a number of benefits of the app, including digital programming and ‘How To Videos’.

Do I need the ‘my wellness app’ in order to measure my body compositions?

No, a member of our fitness team can set you up manually within the gym. However doing it this way, your results are unable to be saved.

The fitness suite is now fully functional and back to normal opening hours, we look forward to seeing you all soon, if there is any feedback you would like to share with us please speak to a member of our fitness team or email hello@oriam.hw.ac.uk

CBBC ‘Can You Kick It’

After the success of last years competition, CBBC’s Can You Kick it? Mark and Sam returned with series 2 of the ultimate footballing test.

On the day we welcomed hundreds of excited kids through the doors as they created an unbelievable atmosphere of cheering as the finalists dribbling, accuracy, tekkers and speed were all put to the test.

As well as Mark and Sam, the audience were treated to footballing freestyler John Farmworth as he showcased his impressive skills.

Like last year, it was an excellent spectacle and a great day out for all the families in attendance. Tune into the BBC this October to see who was crowned Can You Kick It? series 2 champion.

Heart Of Midlothian F.C. Invitational

After the success of Aprils Invitational tournament, it was the turn of the 2007 age-groups to compete over the weekend.

This time round we welcomed two sides from America, Legends FC and Orange County Soccer Club, as well as English Premier League clubs Arsenal and Bright & Hove Albion. Heart Of Midlothian F.C. were joined by fellow Scottish teams Rangers, Motherwell and local rivals Hibernian.

After a highly competitive weekend with plenty of talent on show, all roads led to the final, an Edinburgh Derby. After a closely fought match, the young Jambos were victorious winning 2-0.

Hearts Academy manager Roger Arnott spoke with Hearts FC and said:

“Events like this give them (youth players) the ability to showcase themselves against what you think is some of the best talent coming through in the world”

The success of these tournaments are building with plans already in the works for a 2020 invitational tournament. Teams such Juventus, Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea already signed up.

Louie Spence Dance Masterclass

TV Personality Louie Spence stopped off at us as part of his Dance Masterclass U.K. tour. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity taught by Louie and his team of leading industry expert choreographers.

On the day of the event Louie and his team taught techniques, jazz and temporary dance. With over a hundred participants and more in attendance it was much enjoyed spectacle for all involved.

Chemical Engineering student David Cumberlidge won gold at this years World University games.

His winning swim made him only the 4th British swimmer ever to do the 50 metre freestyle in under 22 seconds.

The Great Britain Team managed 3 gold medals and 10 medals overall. Highlighting the success of David’s achievement amongst his peers.

David was delighted and his this to say
“I had a great experience in Naples. The level of competition this year was really high but we had a great team supporting us. I had two targets going into the meet which was to pb in both my events, to hit both these targets and to win a gold medal in the process was amazing. It’s been a great motivation for me and I’m look forward to next year and the run up to Olympics.”

David was joined in Napoli by fellow Heriot-Watt University students Kate Daykin and Seonaid McIntosh. Kate reached the last 64 of the women’s sabre individual Fencing.

World champion and commonwealth medallist shooter Seonaid, was chosen as flag bearer for Team GB, another excellent achievement.

Seonaid finished 17th in the Women’s 10 metre Air Rifle shooting.

A massive well done to the Heriot-Watt University triplet and Team Great Britain who finished 17th overall.

We are only days away from the opening of our newly refurbished fitness suite. We have teamed up with Technogym, the leading designer in gym equipment and fitness.

Since closing the fitness suite Monday 29th July, everyone has been hard at work in order to transform the gym in order to improve the experience for our users.

All the old equipment has been removed, mirrors have been replaced and the new Outracer lines have been laid before the new rig is installed.

Today seen the delivery of the new equipment, along with the completion of the new Technogym branding within the fitness suite.

We are well on schedule to re-open the new fitness suite Friday 9th August and look forward to sharing this experience with you.

As part of the new Technogym installation, the ‘mywellness’ app will be available to download. The app will allow users to track their fitness activity indoor and outdoor along with many other fitness benefits.

Follow the steps below to get registered and start your journey today.