On 22 October, the new flagship Virgin Active Claremont club opened its doors in Cape Town, South Africa.

Facilities at the 4,300sq m club include a 25m indoor pool with underwater sound system and a spa pool with a view of Table Mountain. The gym is equipped by Technogym – including its Kinesis cable system – and Power Plate, and members can track key health measurements such as blood pressure and body fat percentage at the Virgin Life Care HealthZone.

The club has also been trialling Star Trac’s new eSpinner, and Virgin Active now plans to install them in flagship clubs across the country. Piet Oosthuizen, national fitness manager for Virgin Active SA, says: “The eSpinner adds to our existing group cycling programme.

It gives experienced Spinners the option of an interactive workout in their own time, while non-Spinners can use their experience on the eSpinner as a launch pad to start doing Spinning classes.” A second unit is being trialled in the UK.

Virgin Active SA now has 88 clubs including Claremont and Century City, which opened at the end of November.