Great Big Gym Conspiracy

Prior to setting up Reboot Fitness in 2009 and then Hooks Boot Camps in 2024, Mark had many different experiences working in many different types of gyms, from those within the military, through to civilian private health clubs, public health clubs and leisure centres.

There seems to be various areas of importance depending on the type of establishment you attend. I found that the best results were attained within the military gymnasiums. I spent some time at Worthy Down Training Camp in Winchester and the main focus of importance was performance results, ie specified goals, linked with appropriate assessments and training, with realistic timelines to enable the individual to develop and improve gradually and incrementally. The instructional content was not designed as a ‘feel good’ factor for the clients - it was there to achieve a set outcome.

When I left the Army in 2002 I went straight into the private sector, teaching various group exercise classes and developing my training techniques. Time and time again I meet people who want to turn up to sessions and get away with as little as they can, but expect to see results.  They have the mentality that attending a training session reflects accomplishment, rather than working hard to achieve results. I believe this is down to both instructional expertise and the general gym ethos. You can’t get away with just signing in for register, then dusting down equipment as you slouch on it. The truth is you don’t get fitter when you train, you simply distribute oxygen to the muscles and break them down. You actually get fitter when you rest, if you get the required nutrients, and the most effective recovery is during sleep.

I also worked as a Gym Manager within several private health clubs and found it was all about sales, ie new memberships, maximising profit, personal training or the new fad health supplement that the club had signed up to. Little, if any focus, was placed on increasing the clients’ physical ability or aiding their clients to achieve performance goals.

The thing is, a typical gym with around 25 running machines, a swimming pool and say 20-30 weight training stations requires between 4,000-8,000 members, paying regular membership to cover costs. Yet they only have enough equipment for around 100 clients to use the establishment at any one time.

When you sign up to a gym the gym instructor may take you around the gym, advising you to spend around 10 minutes on two or three various types of cardiovascular equipment, like the stepper, x-trainer and rower, then suggests you use half a dozen weight machines before relaxing in the pool or sauna. The first time you leave the gym feeling great, then after several visits find the routine quite easy.  You weigh yourself several months later with little or no change whatsoever.  The lack of results and momentum may mean that you use your gym once a month, if at all, but continue to pay your monthly membership. Obviously this is great for the gym but not so good for the client who has never set or achieved a physical goal and may actually have put weight on.

I have met many establishments that are run properly but for me the majority fall short. At Hooks Boot Camps we introduce physical assessments for our clients, for example a timed run, strength assessment on each major muscle group, best effort sit-ups or press-ups over a minute. The list is endless, as the week progresses the client starts to develop their own specific goals. This means the clients know their accurate current fitness levels and can begin to develop effective intervention that can be effectively reassessed for efficacy.

When we follow an effective training schedule, whether strength, endurance, speed or a combination of all three, you can begin to train efficiently with training sessions that work for you. At one particular council owned gym that I worked for, I was informed that clients did not want to get fit, they just wanted to turn up to make themselves feel better.  If this is how health clubs and leisure centres are setting their standards then the levels of obesity and health related diseases are only going to continue to rise.

It really isn’t that difficult educate yourself as to how a professional trains, then adapt to your needs; timetable, ability and aspirations. That is all we do at Hooks Boot Camps but when you educate yourself, don’t find your content in magazines but rather peer reviewed published journals by reputable trainers, coaches or scientists.

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