Friskis & Svettis
Encyclopedia
Friskis & Svettis is a non-profit organization
of Swedish
origin aiming at providing various forms of exercise. A unique feature of Friskis & Svettis is that all work in the organization is based on volunteers. Friskis & Svettis is today one of Sweden
's largest organizations. Since its inauguration in 1978, with only one participant at the premier "Jympa"-session, Friskis & Svettis by 2009 had a total number of paying members exceeding 500 000 in Sweden, equalling 4,21 % of the country's total population. Many clubs in Sweden even have more than 10% of their city's population as members.
Friskis & Svettis features several forms of activities, ranging from outdoor activities, such as Nordic Walking, Jogging and Cross-Training. Its original activity and core product is the "Jympa", a unique Swedish way of training developed by Friskis & Svettis's founder Johan Holmsäter. The word is derived from gymnastics
. A jympa session is rather similar to aerobics
class in exercise content, but tend to be less choreographed and less coordination-requiring. The jympa concept does not assume that participants regularly attend a specific instructor's session. Also, the profile of jympa in Sweden has tended to be more informal in comparison to aerobics, attracting a wider variety of participants.
Smaller Friskis & Svettis clubs usually use school or general sports facilities for their activities, while larger clubs tend to have their own facilities and have all the outward appearance of a commercial gym
. The concept of Jympa, together with Friskis & Svettis maintaining its status as non-profit, has maintained the organization at a unique position on the Swedish exercise market with continued growth despite fierce competition with commercial gyms such as SATS and World Class Training offering similar activities.
There are today several local Friskis & Svettis training centers set up outside of Sweden, most notably in Norway, with 35 branches, as well as activity in Helsinki, Vantaa, Copenhagen, Brussels, Paris, Luxembourg, London and Aberdeen. All of these branches use the concept of Jympa as its core product.
The name Friskis & Svettis comes from the Swedish words frisk (healthy) and svettig (sweaty).
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
of Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
origin aiming at providing various forms of exercise. A unique feature of Friskis & Svettis is that all work in the organization is based on volunteers. Friskis & Svettis is today one of Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
's largest organizations. Since its inauguration in 1978, with only one participant at the premier "Jympa"-session, Friskis & Svettis by 2009 had a total number of paying members exceeding 500 000 in Sweden, equalling 4,21 % of the country's total population. Many clubs in Sweden even have more than 10% of their city's population as members.
Friskis & Svettis features several forms of activities, ranging from outdoor activities, such as Nordic Walking, Jogging and Cross-Training. Its original activity and core product is the "Jympa", a unique Swedish way of training developed by Friskis & Svettis's founder Johan Holmsäter. The word is derived from gymnastics
Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...
. A jympa session is rather similar to aerobics
Aerobics
Aerobics is a form of physical exercise that combines rhythmic aerobic exercise with stretching and strength training routines with the goal of improving all elements of fitness...
class in exercise content, but tend to be less choreographed and less coordination-requiring. The jympa concept does not assume that participants regularly attend a specific instructor's session. Also, the profile of jympa in Sweden has tended to be more informal in comparison to aerobics, attracting a wider variety of participants.
Smaller Friskis & Svettis clubs usually use school or general sports facilities for their activities, while larger clubs tend to have their own facilities and have all the outward appearance of a commercial gym
Gym
The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, that mean a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men...
. The concept of Jympa, together with Friskis & Svettis maintaining its status as non-profit, has maintained the organization at a unique position on the Swedish exercise market with continued growth despite fierce competition with commercial gyms such as SATS and World Class Training offering similar activities.
There are today several local Friskis & Svettis training centers set up outside of Sweden, most notably in Norway, with 35 branches, as well as activity in Helsinki, Vantaa, Copenhagen, Brussels, Paris, Luxembourg, London and Aberdeen. All of these branches use the concept of Jympa as its core product.
The name Friskis & Svettis comes from the Swedish words frisk (healthy) and svettig (sweaty).