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75 and thriving with a career in fitness – Maureen Hudson MSc
With a passion for developing her knowledge, Maureen Hudson’s MSc professional credentials stretch far beyond those of most personal trainers.
Her unique yet inspirational career spanning five decades covers roles that could account for as many individuals’ CVs. And the most inspiring part? Maureen isn’t anywhere near ready for retirement!
Gym class heroine
Beginning her life in London, Maureen has had a colourful career since she entered the working world. As a resident model working for a clothing company, she had begun to travel to show collections. When she married Chelsea midfielder Alan Hudson, the couple moved to Seattle, Washington as he was transferred to play for the Seattle Sounders in 1979.
The move across the pond was helping to fulfil her travel goals, however, rather than fashion, Maureen’s high energy and love for helping others to improve themselves led her to a life of supporting clients within the capacity of fitness and wellbeing. She has been immersed in that world ever since:
“I love to work with people; it’s a bit selfish, but when people come to you and say you’ve changed my life – wow – what a great feeling!”
She built a successful following teaching lots of group exercise and aerobic classes in the Pacific Northwest, with time also spent in Vancouver, Canada. As Maureen built up her experience of the industry, her roles evolved from group exercise instructor to fitness manager and personal trainer, undertaking these concurrently at times.
Her time in the US and Canada coincided with the 1976 Olympic summer games in Montreal, for which she helped with choreography for the opening ceremony. Maureen also spent some time volunteering for the Special Olympics charitable organisation in Seattle.
Before moving back to London, Maureen went on a holiday to Switzerland where she fell into a job offer after attending a gym with a free pass. She raised to the manager the lack of initiative from the sales team on her visits, essentially highlighting the missed opportunities to bring her into membership. Having accepted the offer, Maureen stayed in the country for a year, running the club and teaching group exercise classes.
Throughout her career, Maureen has made sure to set time aside for self-improvement and is a huge advocate for continuing professional development:
“I believe it’s vital that knowledge and skills are kept up to date on a regular basis. In the health and fitness industry changes can happen quickly, so it’s important not to get left behind!”
On her return to the UK, another opportunity arose as she attended a group exercise class with a friend in a busy church hall in Staffordshire. By now, these classes had become Maureen’s bread and butter, and following another 18-month stint of teaching she decided to turn it into a business of her own and opened her own studio and became Director of Goodbodies Fitness:
“Eventually I opened my studio for 10 years which I loved. It was successful, and I was so proud of what I did. Every one of my certificates was on the wall and I thought, I’m going to let people know I’ve worked for this.
“At this time, I was also a tutor for RSA (Repeated Sprint Ability) exercise to music, which we used to run on a regular basis.”
Becoming professionally recognised
Maureen’s studio membership increased, and as the lease came up to its expiry date, she began to seek a new, larger premises. As she was doing so, Fitness First were entering the sector and becoming a prominent and popular fitness centre on the market. With her consistent networking across the sector and appetite for growth, Maureen’s professional recognition in the industry increased and she was approached by the brand to open and run one of their clubs. Maureen’s opportunistic instinct led her to accept the offer, and she put her plans for her own studio on hold.
“I was immersed in the club environment, running as a general manager which was a fabulous experience and still teaching group exercise classes. Within three months I was promoted to national manager.
“At the time personal training was growing, so I took my NASM PT certification and studied an MSc in Exercise Physiology and Nutritional Biochemistry with Liverpool John Moores University. I spent a lot of time over the years at Fitness First taking course after course.”
A 12-year long career followed, and commercial opportunities began to arise. Maureen hosted a weekly fitness break radio show, which opened the phone lines to the public for question time to discuss health-related issues, fitness, diet and nutrition. She also worked in TV, starring in fitness shows for children, showcasing work that she had done with children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), as well as news features for her work with professional football clubs Stoke City and Birmingham City focusing on PNF (Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation) flexibility training.
But her commitments didn’t stop there. Maureen wrote and published a book in 1989 called ‘Shape Up’ which featured an aerobic-based home work-out programme. Alongside this, other publications included newspaper articles on healthy lifestyle exercises including a 12-week centre page spread in the Sentinel on exercises for every part of the body.
“Lots of commercial stuff came my way; it was an exciting time. But I carried on doing my training and development, increasing my qualifications. Over the years, I’ve never stopped learning. Some of the areas I’ve trained include ante- and post-natal, seniors, exercise referral, nutrition, strength and conditioning, TRX, spin, Les Mills classes, Pilates and aqua. Plus, I have a CertEd for tutoring and have achieved my personal training level 4 qualification and now assess those studying for theirs. I am also a qualified life coach and business coach, in addition to supporting with sales and presentation skills. These have proved very useful in my own career.”
Why does professional recognition matter?
In many industries, professional status and recognition hold particular significance because of the emphasis that they place on maintaining high standards of quality, accountability and public trust. This year, sport and physical activity will become one of those sectors.
For decades, the sector workforce, deployers and employers have been calling for a means of formally recognising professionals working in sport and physical activity, and professional status is the solution to that.
As the professional body for the sector that is recognised on the government’s Regulated Profession Register, CIMSPA has worked with professionals, employers and other stakeholders across the sector to develop criteria for issuing professional status to professionals working in the sector, whether that be as a practitioner, manager or senior leader.
In the coming months, we’ll be working with current CIMSPA members, employers, education providers and other stakeholders to launch professional status.
Professional status refers to the ‘standing’ that an individual achieves within a profession. It often signifies a person’s qualifications, experience and commitment to meeting and adhering to the professional and ethical standards of their occupation.
Professional status is the means for professional recognition, i.e. for a professional to be acknowledged and respected in their role.
Making an international impact
The experience that Maureen had under her belt at this point meant that she had formed an international reputation within the sector:
“I was experienced in every job you can imagine with regard to running a club, which led me onto another adventure in my career in the fitness industry. I started getting offered consultancy work.”
The first opportunity came when the chair of Fitness First proposed she open three clubs in Istanbul, which is where Maureen went on to become sales and operations director, located at Trump Towers in the Turkish city, meeting now-president Donald Trump himself at the grand opening. From there, the consultancy offers continued; Maureen would be asked to go into the clubs to maximise the PT and Group X model and improve operations.
Maureen had found her next specialism in consulting, working with a variety of scales of businesses from large gyms to small franchisees like Anytime Fitness. Consulting opportunities took her around the world, with locations of the clubs requiring assistance ranging from Monaco to Abu Dhabi; Belgravia and Highgate to world-class clubs in Russia. Of course, Maureen continued her role as a personal trainer at the same time.
“I managed to carry on doing PT and teach classes – you might wonder why. It’s because I absolutely love it. I found my niche in Group X and personal training.”
Consistency is key: Self-reflection and self-improvement
If there is one thing that Maureen has been consistent about during her career, it’s her continuing professional development (CPD). Even now, she is still learning, having recently completed another nutrition course. She’s also looking to do an extra course on the updates on diabetes. When speaking about her relationship with self-development, Maureen said:
“I want to be the best I can be for my clients and myself. I aim to inspire and support as many individuals as possible. That’s why I love being with CIMSPA, because you have the resources to accelerate your knowledge and enhance your career opportunities.
I believe it’s important as a professional that you are linked to a credible professional body like CIMSPA. It helps you to create a structure for your training and personal development, and I get the most up-to-date information that I can transfer over to my clients.
The more you educate yourself, the more credible you are on the gym floor. It’s a fundamental factor for anyone in the sector wishing to realise and maximise their potential.
Each year I reflect on what I’ve learnt. I assess my skills. I identify where development is required to further my career, and I take another course. Reflection is a way to consider aims in life, review your performance and achievements, then set new goals.
For anyone considering joining CIMSPA, I would encourage it. Learning something new can provide you with lots of fresh opportunities which might not have otherwise arisen in the industry.”
Looking to the future
Although turning 75 later this year, Maureen isn’t concerned by her age – she wants to defy it. Her most recent consultancy work took her to Dubai, and she currently still works several roles, examining trainee PTs with Focus Fitness, offering personal training to her own clients and teaching group classes with Anytime Fitness; her schedule is as busy as ever.
“I believe life is about holistic health, longevity and sustainability. I aim to continue as long as I can, continue to learn as much as I can and help as many as I can with the support of CIMSPA.
“I believe in defying age, and I want to continue to spread the word. I’d like to invest more into research on ageing. My next goal is to get some work at a university to investigate the science around anti-ageing. The world has an ageing population, and old age leads to increased risk of chronic illnesses, cognitive impairment, stroke and falls, so I wish to educate older people to maintain independence and quality of life for longer through regular physical activity.”
Maureen continues to thrive in the industry – she aspires to continue practicing her passion for as long as possible and hopes to achieve chartered status with CIMSPA in the near future.
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