Nine Pack

Ok, so here we go then. I’ve never written a journal so I’ll do my best. I’ll start with a brief background about me & Paul who is barmy enough to venture into business with me.
We both used to train at the Powermill gym in Middleton & both competed for the gym too, that’s where I got to know Paul. This way, you’ll see roughly how & why we find ourselves where we are today.

After ten years of training with no real aspirations to compete, I found myself dieting in 2000 just to shed some lard & see what was under it. Little did I know that this was going to become a sport that would grip me so hard & eventually shape my career. Up to this point, I had been in the Motor trade, and then in insurance, spending the days waiting to get the hell out & get to the gym where I could vent all the frustrations of the day (sound familiar?). The gym was a release for me & if you asked me at that point I’d have frowned upon making my free time activity a full time job for fear of getting sick of it. Deep down, I think it was always going to be the end game, but I didn’t know it back then.

After a few years of being a competing BBer and trying to balance a 9-5 job with dieting & training I grew weary of being the office ‘weird guy’ and was actually on the verge of a breakdown if I am to be totally honest. Something had to change so I got myself qualified as a PT because I had been training people for ages anyway & couldn’t work in a commercial gym without the correct paperwork. In the three months I took off work to study for my diploma I seemed to forget how stressful the office job was & foolishly went back into it & did PT in my spare time as I could not bring myself to accept the salaries on offer in a gym. That was a stupid move with hindsight & after six months I was back to square one, ready to crack so I took the bold step to becoming a self employed PT at LA Fitness in Sale.

This move, although not in itself lucrative, proved to be a turning point as I realised the value of my knowledge & experience as I achieved massive results with my clients. I was not prepared to cram in 8 sessions a day to make big bucks, for me the emphasis was on quality and this is something that has proven to be vital if long term success is in the plans. My colleagues knew only what they were taught in their PT diploma courses, but I had 15 years training under my belt and more life experience so I had far more credibility with clients, plus the physique to prove I knew what works in the real world.

I spent six months there, all the time with people telling me I should have my own gym and me saying ‘’yeah, someday maybe’’. I could not carry on indefinitely there as the PT rent was over £600 a month and I was only doing enough sessions to cover this so my income was made up by my supplement distribution business I ran alongside, supplying the PT’s & some other gyms. I left LA Fitness in November 2006 & went full time selling CNP supplements, doing the PT as a side line. I had chatted with a friend of mine last year about opening a gym & he brought the subject up again this year & asked if I’d still be interested so I said sure, why not. During the early planning stages it became apparent that we both had a distinct mental picture of the type of gym we wanted & that we may not have the same vision so he decided to pursue his own project & we amicably agreed it was best. I’m still great friends with him & we compare notes on our plans & still help each other.

This is where Paul came in to the equation. He found out I was going it alone on the venture & asked if I’d consider him to be a part of the business. I had known him for six years or so & knew he was as genuine as they come so after a while, agreed. I knew the job would require more than one person & I needed someone I could trust implicitly. Neither of us have any experience running a gym, but we have both ran our own businesses in the past & would learn together. To me, the most important qualities at this stage were reliability & a strong work ethic which Paul has in spades. Paul had always wanted to own a gym & saw this opportunity as one not to be missed. I knew how determined Paul was from his past.

He was involved in a near fatal car crash about 20 years ago & was told he would not walk again, and may lose one of his legs as they were smashed to pieces in the crash (he has more metalwork in his legs than you would believe) . He actually spent several years in a wheelchair & gained a lot of weight. He could not do his previous job as a taxi driver so got qualified in IT & began lecturing & teaching at Oldham college, eventually working in the private sector on contracts for EDS & working in the music industry. During these years he was inspired by a friend to get off the painkillers & to try to take some form of exercise which he did eventually. This was to be Paul’s pivotal moment. To cut a long story short, as it would need a journal on it’s own, he turned his life around 180 degrees & ended up playing squash, doing martial arts & eventually got into bodybuilding, and even ended up competing and standing on stage at the EFBB British finals. All this after being told he’d never walk again. I have heard all Dorian Yates tales of his blood & guts determination and to me this ranks just as high, if not higher so I knew Paul was no quitter. I knew I could at least rely on him to give 100% even if at this stage, he was not as knowledgeable as me in the fitness industry. He could learn as he went along, we both could, but the basic qualities & desire to succeed were there already. I have several dear friends who would have been equally welcome on board but sadly geography makes it very difficult.

This is where the actual plans for the gym started to take shape which I will expand on in the next post. I thought it best to give this background before we go on to the gym itself.

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''I reject your reality and substitute my own''
Adam Savage.