Jo Lothian and Aicha Hallam, ASFA

Jo Lothian and Aicha Hallam

started their fitness journey together in 1996, friends working for the same health club as instructors. They went in different directions but have now come full circle and their varied experiences have culminated in the success that The All Sports & Fitness Academy is proud to share.

ASFA - The All Sports & Fitness Academy has been created by these two passionate and dedicated Personal Trainers and Sports Coaches - both mums who are driven to improve the health, well-being and lives of children and young people.

As Advanced Functional Trainers, Aicha and Jo are not prepared to accept that functional movement is an adult only domain - quite the opposite! Their view: “If we address postural, biomechanical and movement issues in children and young people, firstly their general health and well-being will improve and secondly their sport performance and ability for many streams in life will improve further. This in turn increases attainment and ensures fewer issues to address when children and young people become adults”

There is a heavy science based explanation behind the tried, tested and results driven ‘Academy Method’ - in short, a combination of Gary Gray, FASTER™ Training, Joseph Pilates, Sports Injury Therapy and Conditioning and 15 years working in Fitness and Education. All this teamed with the two passionate and dedicated mums that they are, the journey continues and will continue to inspire both children and adults for generations to come.

Passionate about Children´s Health and Fitness

Key to their vision is an ethos to 'make a radical difference and provision for all’ - the latter being especially important! Their aim is to ensure that ALL children from ALL backgrounds can be exposed to the expertise that the ‘Academy Method’ provides.

So far, local projects consist of extensive Netball and Running sessions, and Functional Fitness programmes which cover a range of different sports and movement based classes - all provided within schools as extra-curricular activities and as private classes. Their programmes have been backed by sporting celebrities, National Sporting governing bodies, government and their local Olympic 2012 counterparts.

Meet Jo

Jo's journey included the contrasting worlds of Marketing Finance, DJing around the globe, and voluntary work - all reaping awards which inspired her to teach her skills to children and young people.

Jo excelled in sport at school, was keen on martial arts and found her running and training abilities improved after having her two children as she recognised that as a mum a great way of clearing the mind is to train in a certain way which provides new found energy to be a fantastic mother!

If not fruit picking, re-creating Art Attack or writing short stories, you can find her running through open spaces with her two children in tow.

Jo is a trained Athletics Coach and Advanced Functional Trainer, whose adult clients are seen dropping waist sizes and her children’s athletics groups (backed by Denise Lewis) making leaps and bounds from week to week.

As a Kettlebell Master Trainer she has developed a class format superior to any other, with guaranteed results and people travelling for miles for Jo's expertise and motivation.

As a strong willed and determined character with an unbelievable power of persuasion, she is always challenging herself and others, opening new doors and has an eye for creating opportunities in health and fitness and sport for children and adults in her local community.

Jo is not prepared to accept ‘that’s just the way things are', is at times controversial but always developing ideas for good just cause and always for the benefit of children.

Meet Aicha

Also excelling in sport and where the passion began - Aicha captained the Bucks County Netball team, county Athletics, and played in women’s Basketball Leagues coached by the women’s England Basketball Captain from as early as 13 years old.

Aicha's journey along with Jo, started with humble beginnings scrubbing down showers and cleaning out steam rooms in between fitness assessments and aerobics classes, and continued whilst achieving a 1st class (hons) degree in Management and Sports Studies.

15 years on Aicha spends her time coaching Netball for children as young as 4 to college Netball Academy teams and adults returning to netball (backed by Tamsin Greenway – England’s Netball Captain).

If not on the netball court she can be found rehabilitating and training clients with Personal Training and Sports Injury Therapy and is a highly reputed Pilates Teacher.

With the arrival of her children she gave up Club Management in favour of Secondary Teaching. 6 years on and a little wiser to the tricks of children and young people she combines running the All Sports & Fitness Academy with being a College Lecturer in Sports Science with the desire to inspire young people to do sport, stay fit and encourage them into the industry.

During her role as ‘Leader for Healthy Schools’ at a Secondary School with an excess of 1900 students she learnt a great deal about the best and the worst of government / school provision with regards to health and well-being and was part of the team who gained an OFSTED 'Outstanding' School where provision for health and well-being was considered a flagship. This too contributed to the aspiration to offer provision to 'ALL' young people including those who are less fortunate.