Changing the Face of Fitness
The Creator and CEO of GSquared Gyms Andy McGlynn talks to The Cheshire Magazine about the launch of his new innovative fitness space set underground within the Royal Exchange Manchester
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The landscape of health and fitness in Manchester will change this month with the launch of a new health club space within one of Manchester’s stunning Grade II listed buildings. The new gym will include 12,000 sq ft of training space, an indoor running track, 20 metre sled track, a CV garden, climbing wall and studio classes ranging from holistic to high intensity. Below, Andy describes his journey from concept to reality.
What led you to create the GSquared Gyms concept?
After 18 years working as a Personal Trainer, Clinical Nutritionist and operating in commercial gyms all over the UK, I was frustrated by the standard of gyms and the repeated mistakes that every gym chain seemed to make in a replication of each other. I also noticed that the strength or weakness of a gym was very dependent on the personalities within the management structure and the biases, ideas, experience (or lack of) from middle and senior management figures who were brought into impact change were either deleterious or helpful to the customer experience, and all too often the decisions being made just didn’t enhance the customer experience at all. I do attribute this internal failing to the downfall of many of the large brands we used to know; Fitness First, LA Fitness, DW Fitness, to name a few.
I believe it’s such a specific process when it comes to operating a gym that without the in-depth experience of the operating model and specialist knowledge of health, nutrition, exercise and fitness being percolated down to the ground level, a gym is never going to reach its potential, no matter how good the Board of Directors think they are.
I’d always felt that gyms could do more, be better and give a more advanced level of service to their members. I saw it so clearly and was baffled why gym chains held back. To really address the health of the nation, it’s gym chains and fitness facilities that are going to have to lead the way by first of all changing people’s paradigms on what ‘being fit looks like’, and secondly helping people make the link between physical fitness and mental and physical health. So, after this prolonged period of working in the fitness industry, its time now to take the standard of gyms to a level beyond the current replicated model by introducing GSquared into the market.
Hailed as one of the most advanced gyms in the world - what can customers expect from Gsquared Gyms that differs from competitor sites within the city?
First off, an incredibly inspiring space to be within. The design team have done an incredible job of bringing my initial quirky ideas to life. I wanted to create a space that didn’t resemble a gym, but more a hotel reception area with the customer service to match. But we didn’t stop there, the member’s journey (or induction as some people know it to be), has been completely overhauled and reinvented. It’s affectionally named YouSquared; 7 stages of advanced yet non-invasive assessments that reveal compelling and beneficial information to the member to really help them with all components of health, fitness, nutrition and lifestyle habits. I believe if we can improve our health, then the physical benefits become a side effect of that.
There are facilities within GSquared that are very new, very innovative and a real first for a gym; assault course, infrared saunas, BodPod, and the integration of natural elements within the CV space. The Bod Pod is the gold standard of body fat testing, and GSquared is officially the first gym in the UK to house one. With so much inaccuracy when it comes to assessments within the industry or at the worst, no assessing at all, one of the areas in need of attention at a gym really had to be accurate testing to give the member the best possible experience.
To create the innovation that drives GSquared, I basically had to stop taking an interest in what other gyms had to offer. It went as far as just stopping visiting gyms completely to clear my mind of what gyms ‘should’ look like. The amount of replication that goes on between gym brands, in a ‘keeping up with the Jones’s’ type of approach is prevalent. The problem with this replication in the gym industry and the copy-cat approach that gym chains do with each other results in the only thing being original and different is the brand, logo and choice of colours.
Did the success of The Remedy Kitchen (since 2018) sway your decision to locate the health club at The Royal Exchange Manchester and why is this the perfect location?
Ironically, it was the other way around. At the start of this concept in 2016, my intention was to have a gym with a high-quality cafe attached to it, and not just an afterthought. Like so many of the gym cafes I’d been into the execution of this concept was just wrong so many times over.
As it transpired, the major delays we incurred with space within the Royal Exchange largely due to its Grade 2 listing, so by way of a small pivot we figured we just had to get the cafe open and keep working on the gym. This meant that the Remedy Kitchen had to fend for itself, which I have to say the team have done a great job of making a success of the concept and the brand in its own right. Without having Remedy Kitchen operating from late 2018, I’m not sure I’d still be here to tell the tale of GSquared given the serious protraction of the lead time. Still, all throughout the last three and a half years, I’ve kept the faith that the Royal Exchange, steeped in its iconic history within St Ann’s Square had to be the first location for GSquared. Not to mention we learned a lot when it comes to setting up a gym in a Grade II listed building.
Do you have plans to roll out your concept in other locations?
GSquared is without question one of the most advanced gyms in the world due to the specific strengths of how we interact with members, the YouSquared journey, the interior design and 5-star customer service; therefore, a world-leading product should be rolled out as far and as wide as possible. We are currently looking at our investment options to assist us with a rapid roll out across all major cities within the UK and potentially Europe and the States.
With all the new government restrictions and guidelines on how are you planning to make your space safe for customers?
What’s interesting about this is that our initial planned health, safety and hygiene standards already came in well above the covid guidelines. For example, the space restrictions for gyms were set by Public Health England and UKActive at 10 members / 1000sq ft of space, yet with our reduced membership, we fall well under this guideline due to the reduced size of the membership of GSquared. Obviously, the limitations of what can be done in the space still apply to us, but another key feature we already had in store was the aim for the cleanest air in the city by utilising a clean airwave system as a separate function to the air conditioning.
Do you have any links to Cheshire?
I was born and raised in Gorse Hill in Manchester, before moved to Hale in Cheshire during my teens where I went to Knutsford High School. Given my love of astronomy I was a member of the Altrincham & District Astronomical Society, in which I delivered by first ever presentation to a room of old-timer amateur astronomers at the age of 10! A real favourite place to visit for me is Jodrell Bank in Macclesfield and I love going to Tatton Park and have covered a few management training days based at both Cottons Hotel and Tatton Park.
Andy’s Top 5 Exercising Tips for Good Mental Health
Mental health is very much a hormonal process, and there’s actually a lot you can do which sadly isn’t shared in the public forum and the mainstream
First things first, the majority of your neurotransmitters are actually made in the gut. I’ve been saying this for years; healthy gut - healthy mind. I often put free webinars out, so by connecting with us via Instagram or our mailing list, you’ll be notified about our next webinar on gut health and its impact on the brain.
As an immediate measure, you should probably consider a Vitamin D supplement, especially in the winter months. The most absorbable version is Vitamin D3, and you could aim for anything up to 10,000 IU per day, depending on how deficient you are. At GSSquared, we offer our members a Vit D blood test, so we can accurately assess and re-assess once the cells are repleted.
Next up is to increase your intake of Omega 3. Thousands of years ago, we had far more Omega 3 in our diet, sadly most people are deficient in Omega 3 as well as having a bad ratio of Omega 3: Omega6, thereby causing significant inflammation. There are 2 active ingredients within Omega 3, DHA and EPA. It’s the DHA that feeds the brain, and you can find formula’s that have a predominance to one over the other, or you can do it naturally by increasing your consumption of oily fish, mushrooms, egg yolks, and or good quality red meat.
When we are under stress, our Autonomous Nervous System switches into what is called ‘sympathetic state’, prolonged exposure to this state will gnaw away at even the most resilient of individuals, so it’s crucial to do some ‘parasympathetic’ activities to flip the switch, try stretching at night, taking a bath with magnesium salts - the BetterYou brand is good, and if it’s your thing then consider some breathing exercises. On the point of the exercise, you have to apply good feelings to it. If you associate exercise as a chore or something you ‘have’ to do, then it’s likely you’re choosing the wrong exercise for you, and your hormonal makeup. Take the pressure off by not getting drawn into training for ‘x’ minutes, or for ‘x’ distance and be more instinctive.
Work on your sleep. Our mental repair comes between the hours of 3am, and 6am, if you have disruption during the night, you may be compromising on your mental health.
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