Exertion Fitness

I left the military in 2019 and it was always part of my vision to open up my own gym. Despite having to delay these plans for a few years, I am happy to have turned this vison into a reality. In setting up the gym our main focus was to maximize the space available to us as it is in short supply. We have our group training area upstairs including SkiErgs, Concept2 rowers, and a sled with astroturf all organized by Again Faster. We also have kettlebells, some bars and a kettlebell storage rack up there too.

Space management was key to the setup and why we decided to use the Free standing training rig to be the main focus of our space downstairs. This coaching area allows us to have multiple clients training at the same time all able to do compound movements. What helped us most with this was Again Faster’s 3D rendering gym designer. They had vast experience in setting up a gym so I utilized this and they gave me a lot of help by getting the vision from a piece of paper into what you can see at Exertion Fitness today.

The program that we offer focuses heavily on compound lifts e.g. squat, deadlift and bench press. We can get a group of up to 10 people in here comfortably. We also have a lot of conditioning equipment from Again Faster including kettlebells & dumbbells.

I decided to choose Again Faster in part due to the gym in the military that I trained at daily was decked out with Again Faster kit so I knew about the quality of their equipment. I did have several options for Exertion Fitness but we wanted to go with Again Faster due to them being most competitive on price, the quality of the kit and this equipment matched our vision/ brand. They were really helpful and I couldn’t recommend them highly enough.

The vision was for the coaching program to deliver something different to the people of Derby. My best piece of advice is to have a clear vision and stick to it. There are a lot of different ways to set up a gym and lots of other things that could influence you along the way so it is important to stick to your plan and turn it into a reality.