Industry legend Jo Russell joins Fitness Australia’s prestigious Industry Roll of Honour.

Co-founder of the Re-Creation Health Club brand in Melbourne (VIC) Jo Russell, has been inducted into the Fitness Industry Roll of Honour.

“The Fitness Industry Roll of Honour recognises the contribution that people like Jo Russell have made to the fitness industry,” says Bill Moore, CEO of Fitness Australia, the peak national fitness industry association. “Jo is one of the great innovators and club builders on the Australian fitness scene. She’s been in business since the 1980’s, and has built a sustainable model which has allowed her to keep doing what she loves whilst impacting many people in a positive way. It’s a bit of a rarity. Sustainability and innovation are key in our industry, and if you can master that like Jo has, then you’re on the right track.”

Jo’s passion for innovation and driving desire to do things differently has made Re-Creation one of the country’s most interesting and cutting edge independent clubs.

Jo is a self-confessed ideas person with a restless spirit to always look for the next interesting thing be it big or small.  This has made Re-Creation an industry leader carving a way forward and influencing the landscape of the early fitness industry in Australia.

When asked what she is grateful for Jo says:

“I’m so lucky to have been in the right place at the right time.  I got to run one of Melbourne’s first true health clubs at the very birth of the fitness industry.”

“We had a blank canvas to work on where there were really no rules and where everything was new and exciting. That is a once in a lifetime, never to return opportunity. It’s easy to be a trail blazer when there are no trails”.

Jo still teaches Fit Classes, Spin, Abs and loves working out. She is well remembered as a Step Reebok and Results presenter and was Fitness Leader of the Year in 1992.