NEW exercise equipment at Beechdown Health Club got the seal of approval from Basingstoke’s first citizen at the weekend.

The Mayor Councillor Dan Putty, and his wife, Julie, tried out the state-of-the-art Precur bike machines that have been installed at the club in Beechdown Park, Winchester Road.

The equipment is part of a £200,000 investment that Beechdown has made to its refurbished running room and cardio area – something managing director Ian Minors describes as “a revolution offering performance and entertainment”.

Both areas have been renovated, redecorated and networked to get them ready for the next generation of gym equipment.

Mr Minors said: “The decision to invest the time, effort and resources to this project was driven by exciting our members and helping to get them exercising more regularly.

“For me, our entertainment solu-tion means that I may as well sit on a bike and watch my favourite TV show.”

He said exercise guidelines for health and well-being are 30 minutes on at least three days a week, which could mean coming down to the club a few times a week to watch the news.

On offer is tablet-like touch tech-nology to access premium TV content with internet access, with users being able to track their fitness automatically by keeping a log of their exercise.

Opening the refurbished gym areas, Cllr Putty, who was impressed with the club’s facilities and its hospital-ity, said: “This is a great investment for the club to be able to reach back to its customer base. It’s an excellent resource for people in our borough.”

Talking about the new equipment, gym manager Paul Wetherall said. “There has been a real buzz around gym users. Motivation levels have gone through the roof and from January I think we’ll see that many of our members who currently enjoy swimming, rackets sessions and group exercise will be enticed back into the gym.”