Why did you get into lifting weights?

As a kid, I wasn’t the strongest.

I suffered from being a chubby wee thing, with a propensity to put weight on at the merest glimpse of food.

Growing up, my parents were adamant that my brothers and I would learn to swim, given there were any number of water hazards near our house, and I guess because we lived on an island! I came to both love and hate swimming.

I loved the freedom being in the water offered, and the confidence I got from being able to swim well. On the flip side, my chubbiness made it quite uncomfortable to be strutting around in speedos (I’m not sure anyone feels that comfortable strutting around in speedos…)!

Swimming wasn’t the most fashionable sport when I was young, so as a teenager, I slowly but surely found myself playing rugby. Where swimming allowed me to be free and mobile in the water, rugby demanded that I get rid of the chubbiness and get strong.

My younger brother had recently bought a bench and some weights, so it was time to get started. I found a book at the library (pre-internet days meant analogue research) and started pumping.

Fast forward a couple of years, and I was captaining my university side on Wednesday afternoons, and playing for a local side on Saturday’s. This was largely possible by being in the gym most days (and being young!)

Nowadays, I lift weights for the same reasons many of our members do, I want to be as physically independent in forty years as I am now. I want to be able to get up off the couch without help, or take my dog for a walk without needing rest.

I don’t lift to failure, or break myself every 3 or 4 months. I get coached by our great staff, get to workout with our great clients, and enjoy the benefits of being able

To Move Better

To Live Longer

To Be Happier

Why did you starting lifting weights?