A new wave of specialist gyms is using low lighting, simple 30-minute workouts and easy-to-use equipment to lure the many people who feel too old, too chubby or just too sensitive to put their body on public display while trying to get fit.
They are pursuing an 'all shapes and sizes welcome' policy to try to bury the idea that gyms are only for toned young men and women. Almost 100 such clubs have already opened and scores more are planned.
The Attiva gym in Malvern, Worcestershire, has signed up 800 members, each paying £32 a month, since it opened 18 months ago. 'There are countless people who understand the benefits of exercise and want to be healthier, but are put off gyms because they feel they're full of body-builder types and ladies in Lycra. We have tried to create a gentler, intimidation-free environment and judgment-free zone', said owner Richard Noble.
So it has no mirrors, subdued purple lighting, and only quiet background music. Members are mostly aged 30-55. The instructors, unusually, are the same age.
LA Fitness, the high street chain of clubs, has recently begun targeting gymphobics through a new series of 'lifestyle and wellbeing centres' under the brand name Promise. So far 300 people have joined their first two outlets; their average age is 42 and they typically weigh about 13 stone. Most are women, many of whom have tried - usually unsuccessfully - to trim down by joining slimming clubs.
Fitness industry analyst David Minton, who runs the Leisure Database Company, says that most gyms have overlooked the commercial potential of recruiting older and bigger clients, some possibly because they did not want such people around in case they put off their more svelte members. 'At how many clubs does the membership reflect national or local demographics? Very few,' he said.
Operators that target those markets skilfully and without patronising those people could make a lot of money, he believes.
