Mitchelstown is now home to one of Ireland’s only 24-hour gyms, as Declan O’Shea’s ‘Gymlife’ premises in the business park at Coolnanave goes from strength to strength with the new offering from this fully-equipped gym.
Owner Declan says that, as far as he is aware, there is a 24-hour gym in Ballincollig in Cork, but after that, it is Dublin or even Northern Ireland, in order to produce a good sweat in the middle of the night. While the gym has been open for two years, it is 24-hour-access since last June and proving to be popular.
Referring to the recent bank holiday Monday (for St Brigid’s Day), Declan says there were 25 cars still in the carpark in the Monday evening after 6pm; members are able to gain access via fob on the main door at any time of the day or night.
When he was previously opening up Gymlife in the morning at 5.30am, Declan says there were people waiting in their cars to go in, earlier and earlier until eventually he made the commitment to make it 24-hour access altogether. Shift workers from Dairygold, Kerrygold, and the Aldi Distribution Centre make up many of his clients, but the facility caters for many others, and of all ages from 16 to 70. A monthly membership is €55, with personal training recommended for newcomers to the gym lifestyle.
Personal safety is a matter for the client themselves, although there are cameras in the gym, and it is staffed at certain hours of the day. The gym has many machines on the ground floor, with a larger space on the first floor for stretching and free weights. Showers are also available on-site, as is a sauna which currently needs to be pre-booked, but there are hopes to power the sauna with PV panels in the long-term to leave it on all day.
Declan says while the concept is relatively new in Ireland, he had the opportunity to see how other gyms operate on trips to south-east Asia while working in Australia. Mr O’Shea worked in the mines in Western Australia, taking his opportunities to travel in the area in his ‘two weeks off’ in the ‘fortnight on/fortnight off’ schedule. At the mines, too, there was a gym onsite that he would visit every day.
The government did not include any tax relief in the recent budget for pre-emptive healthcare, like gym memberships. Ireland Active had lobbied government to consider Personal Tax Relief (as a medical expense) for gym and swimming pool memberships, quoting stats that almost 30% of adults would take up a membership under such a scheme, meaning almost one million people who do not currently use such facilities could be incentivised to do so.
So now there’s no excuse, 24/7, head to Gymlife.
