Gary's gym aims to make fitness accessible

Universe Fitness has been launched by Gary Smith at the former Go Fitness studio a the football ground.

Former Warbreck High School pupil Gary, who was a centre forward on the books at near neighbours Preston North End for six years, said he was hoping to breathe new life into the facilities and help the people of Blackpool get access to a healthier lifestyle.

Gary, who was in the Royal Electrical and MechanicalEngineers, served in Iraq at the height of the troubles there. He enjoyed his time in the REME seeing the world with postings to the likes of Belize and Canada.

He said: “I thoroughly enjoyed being in the forces.

“I had just come back from a long tour in Iraq and they wanted me to go straight on to Afghanistan, but by then I was ready for a change.

“I worked for a debts agency for a while but I have always been a fitness fan and was delighted when this business opportunity came up. Setting it all up went very smoothly and we are very excited about how its going so far.

“We are going to be putting a lot on here. We are planning to run 120 classes a month, everything from spinning, boxercise, abs classes and we are setting up a running club.

“We have got Andy Ashton in as manager. He has been out in the US earning $200 an hour doing personal training and is going to be running personal fitness classes at Universe Fitness.

“We want fitness to be more accessible to ordinary people. Some of the gyms can be quite expensive so we are keeping our prices at £14 a month.

“Not only that but it allows members access to our sister gym Universe 24 Hour at Brimwell Road, so two for the price of one.

“We have all the weights and we will be putting more machines in there.

“I have also got plans to open a health food shop, called the Health Lounge nearby in Bloomfield Road in about six weeks time, that would link in to the gym.”