Meet the Worthing gym owners who say it's never too late to start exercising

Steve and Lisa Smith run Yes You Can Gym in Dominion Road, Worthing, which they took on last summer when it was On 1 Fitness.

The pair also run a publishing company, but said they saw an opportunity when the gym came up for sale to start a new business.

They have now turned it into an over-30s gym with a community feel, and are reaping the benefits of their time and investment.

Steve said: “Fitness is a genuine passion for us both, and we wanted an extra steam of revenue. We’ve both been gym-goers for ages and we thought about a lot of different ways to make exercise a business, and then Lisa thought about buying a gym. We saw this advertised and we thought we could make it work.

"We’re a specialist over-30s gym. We want to encourage people who are scared or awkward about coming to the gym to come and see us so we can help them get started.

"It’s never too late to start exercising. We have lots of members who started later in life, even into their late 60s or 70s, and are getting stronger and fitter as time goes on.”

Lisa said she recognised women often felt daunted by the idea of strength training in the gym, but knew it was something that got increasingly important as they got older. She said she likes to work with women to show them how they can lift weights without getting bulky, and to make sure they’re getting the exercises right.

"We want people to come in and realise that nobody is looking at them,” Lisa said. “Nobody is going to look at you if you’re wearing the wrong clothes, and we can create a plan for you for whatever you want to achieve.”

Steve and Lisa said the existing members of the gym had been really receptive to them taking over, and the changes they have made. They have installed air conditioning, created a café in the entrance area and made it a welcoming space, bought new machinery and have made sure the gym is manned by one of the five members of staff all the time (where it hadn’t been previously).

They also have a daily timetable of small-group classes in the gym, as well as a range of classes in the upstairs studio including yoga, pilates, spin, circuits and boxing-style sessions.

There is also an on-site physio and another room that can be booked out by an outside business.

In the future, they would like to install a sauna in each changing room and expand their membership base.

Steve said: “It’s definitely taken a bit longer than we thought, but we’ve got to a place we’re happy to keep expanding on now. We think we’ve found a gap in the market, because there are other local gyms where younger people can go.

"We’ve deliberately created a community feel from the moment people walk in, and we’ve found that carries through to the gym. We see people having a coffee together after their workout who never knew each other before, which is great, as there’s a friendly atmosphere and people are so supportive of each other.”

Lisa said they are also working with Worthing Homes to provide a bespoke course for people who live nearby and who ordinarily wouldn’t be able to afford to go to the gym. They will also be starting to work with the Sussex Cancer Fund on a specialist eight-week course later this year, to help with cancer rehabilitation.

For more information about the gym, see https://yesyoucangyms.co.uk/