The park, which is open to people of all ages in the country, started operations recently and is providing numerous services such as functional moves, jump and jack, spinning classes, trampling classes, weight loss clinics, massage therapy, zumba, step aerobic, physiotherapy, martial arts, athletics training, a football academy, corporate boot camp, tennis/volleyball practice and other activities.
Speaking to reporters yesterday at a press briefing held at the gym, Lyndon B. Johnson, the MD/Wellness Coach at Global Fitness Park, said they are here for everybody and aim at injecting energy and life into people.
“Fitness is not about your body getting big, but your mind, body and soul”, said Johnson, who has been in the industry for 17 years.
Fitness is meant to change the lives of people not just in their growth, mentally, in business and education, the wellness coach who studied law in England added.
“We want to be role models because we know what it does for the young generation. We do not have too many role models anymore and, as such, the goal is to start up something that will help improve grassroots sports, such as football academies for ages 5 to 17 years, and help them not just play football but also on the health side of football.”
They also intend to have an athletics club, where they will teach kids about sports - not just doing it, but also the ethics to build the foundation for them in case they become professionals in future, he went on.
Johnson claimed to have worked with world famous celebrities in the past, such as Dr Dre, Ben White, Incredible Hulk, Ronnie Coleman, among other big names.
Je said they are not only interested in the money aspect, but when you sign up with them they first give you “a 15 minutes’ consultation, fitness test to know you level, then design a programme for you.”
“People are dying from high blood pressure, diabetes and other diseases due to ignorance because they are not told the damages of food they eat”, he said.
“For us, we are not competing with any fitness center. We are open to any gym that wants to restructure their programmes toward a wellness programme instead of just making money…in as much as we want to make money, we know in the long term the money will come.
“We want to create value for money. We want to see results in the daily lives of our customers, and not just their fitness.
“Our goal is to help the older folk live longer, healthier and happier”, he added, and announced that they intend to sponsor a lot of events.
Their plan for the fitness park is to start at Paradise Estate, then next the Independence Stadium where they aim to open another branch by the end of March, he also announced.
They are also looking at opening branches in Brikama, Kanifing and other areas, according to Johnson.
They open daily from 5 am to 12 midnight, and charge D750 per month.
They are working on bring some celebrities he has worked with to come over and organize clinics for Gambians, and the first clinic will be a one-week football clinic starting on 21st February.
They have other plans, apart from health and fitness activities.
Mohamed Cole, a massage therapist/wellness coach at Global Fitness Park, also spoke briefly at the briefing session.
