What started as a professional relationship between a personal trainer and his client led to the creation of a state-of-the-art gym with bespoke hot yoga studios and a personal training academy. Member Kate Stanley reports on the duo’s quest latest challenge to find the region’s ‘biggest loser’
Fewer than three years ago businessman Gary Gibson was “shockingly overweight” and desperate to make huge lifestyle changes, prompted by the loss of a number of close family members. Little did he know when he hired personal trainer Phil Lamb that it would mark the start of a friendship that has seen them invest half a million pounds in a high-end gym with custom-made studios to teach hot yoga - a practice followed by celebrities Gwyneth Paltrow and Madonna and tennis star Andy Murray.
EXPERIENCED: Atom’s head yoga instructor Agnes Knutelska
With Gary’s business acumen and Phil’s knowledge of the fitness sector, the pair vowed to take a fresh approach to fitness, bravely bucking the trend in the industry towards large, budget gyms. They opened Atom Health and Fitness on Wynyard Park Business Village, in County Durham, and employed a team of personal trainers, specialised instructors and a nutrition expert to offer members a tailor-made package of services.
“We don’t want our members to be just a number through a turnstile,” explains Phil, who ran his own personal training business in Liverpool for eight years before moving back home to Sedgefield, County Durham. “There has been a marked increase in budget gyms offering budget services with a ‘pack them in and stack them high’ mentality. This might suit some people, but we believe members want more in terms of quality and atmosphere when serious about losing weight and getting fit. We want to provide a friendly, personal service with a team of industry experts that we know will give people real results.”
So, sure of its abilities to get results, Atom now plans to open its doors to ten non-members and support them through a weight-loss challenge similar to that seen on hit reality television show The Biggest Loser. The competition will run over ten weeks and see hand-picked entrants taking part in weekly fitness bootcamps, improving their health and diet with nutrition coach Laura Allerton and tracking their weight-loss as a group.
“The programme is specifically for people who are overweight and perhaps uncomfortable with going to the gym, but who are looking for a way to get active, lose weight and change their lifestyle," says Phil.
It was the desire to change his lifestyle that led Gary, a 44 year-old father and founder of x-ray technology firm IBEX Innovations Ltd, on NetPark, in Sedgefield, to hire Phil as a personal trainer back in 2013.
“I was shockingly overweight at the time and totally unfit; a typical office worker who lived a sedentary lifestyle. There had been a few deaths of close relatives and it made me really think about what sort of quality of life I wanted in the future,” says Gary, from Coxhoe, County Durham. “I decided to do something about it and hired Phil. We used to go out on runs and at the start I could barely run 100 yards without wanting to keel over, but I persevered and relatively quickly exercise became enjoyable and rewarding.”
It was during one of these runs that their conversation turned to gym offerings in the region. “We were saying how great it would be to have a high end gym that actually supported its members with their fitness goals, where people were made to feel comfortable and happy about exercise, a place that offered something more personal than the mega-gyms,” says Gary. “This idle conversation planted an idea in our minds and less than a year later, we opened Atom.”
The pair invested £500,000 in a purpose-built training studio, a high-spec gym and a specialised studio for hot yoga and pilates classes, where classes are taken in 37 degree heat. Atom’s head yoga instructor Agnes Knutelska, who trained at the Absolute Hot Yoga Sanctuary in Thailand, says: “Hot yoga helps people develop strength, balance and posture. The effect of the heat allows people to stretch a little more deeply and achieve far greater results. You get a great sense of well-being through taking the class.”
Atom boasts a personal training academy, with Phil working alongside personal trainers Pete Sweeney, Michelle Davies and Ben Raw, as well as boxing expert Craig Maskell.
Phil is proud of his team’s expertise and says: “There are about as many different training methods out there as there are fad diets. A good trainer will ensure that you’re doing the most effective exercise for you and will safely push you to your limits.”
Away from the gym, Atom also works with training instructor Gordon Hindson to hold free bootcamp fitness classes at Hardwick Park, in Sedgefield, on Tuesday and Thursday evenings at 7pm.
- To be considered for Atom’s weight-loss competition or for more information about bootcamps and classes, visit www.atomhealthandfitness.co.uk; contact Phil on phil@atomhealthandfitness.co.uk; or see Atom’s Facebook and Twitter sites.
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