FolkFit Functional Fitness gym opens at Hardwick Industrial Estate, King's Lynn

A new gym which has opened in Lynn aims not only to improve people's fitness but also their overall health and mental wellbeing.

FolkFit Functional Fitness, at 3 Paxman Road, Hardwick Industrial Estate, is an independently-run gym started up by Adam Pitchford and his other half Serena Shanahan.

Adam has five years experience as a personal trainer and being a head coach at other gyms when he lived in Bedfordshire before moving to Norfolk in recent months.

He said: "Our mission at FolkFit is to provide functional fitness classes designed to get you fitter, healthier and happier.

"Creating a supportive community is a major part of our mission, our group classes help nurture a sociable and friendly atmosphere that builds relationships that move outside of the walls of the gym.

"We will also provide a variety of workshops focusing on nutrition, mobility and mental health to raise awareness, educate or just be there to listen."

He said when he and Serena, who is a vet, moved to Norfolk, they were looking for a gym to join but could not find the kind they were hoping to. Said Adam: "So we thought now was as good a time as any to open our own.

"We are opening knowing the restrictions that Covid will require, but we have planned these into how we work from the outset. Going forwards when times change again, it will be easier to bring in more people.

"Now, we have designed the layout of the gym so that each individual has nine square metres of space to work in and equipment assigned to people will not be shared during the class and then sanitised afterwards."

The functional fitness classes combine weight lifting with body weight movement and cardio vascular exercise, which are designed to make every day life for people easier.

"I also want the gym to be a place not only where people can get fit, but also where they can build positive relationships and make friends," said Adam.

The workshops will begin on a monthly basis to start with and will cover topics such as meditation.

Also chilling at the gym will be the couple's eight-year-old labrador, Peppa, who is sociable and welcoming.

FolkFit will be open from 6.30am-8.30pm Monday to Thursday; 6.30am-7.30pm on Fridays; 9am-1pm on Saturdays; and 9am to noon on Sundays.