Open day at Aviemore Community Centre to celebrate new gym addition
High Life Highland will be unveiling its new-look studio today with a host of exercise taster classes and other fun activities to celebrate the big occasion.
The investment by HLH includes a brand new Olympic lifting rig and and official gym matting as well as new weight plates, dumbbells, medicine balls, kettle bells and other new gym gear in the converted studio.
The changes also mean that the existing gym is more spacious and lighter.
HLH instructors will be leading a range of free exercise classes and taster sessions throughout today from 9am until 2pm at the Aviemore Community Centre venue.
There will be regular inductions and special offers to entice people to sign up to the High Life Highland scheme.
Josh Brannan, leisure supervisor at the Aviemore site, said: "There is plenty going on for kids too to keep them supervised whilst parents go and look around the new gym facilities and perhaps take part in one of the classes as well.
"Members are, of course, more than welcome but we'd love to see brand new people coming along to have a look around and a go."
Free classes include Strength HIIT work-outs, an intro to yoga, bar-core, Step HIIT, pilates, Muay Tha, indoor cycling and specialist workshops including learning how to squat and an Olympic lifting workshop.
There is no need to be shy, everyone can work at their own pace whether they are new to keep fit or regular exercises, and members and the instructors are super-friendly.
There will be classes going on in the new-look studio and the main hall.
Fun sessions for the kids include gymnastics, Meta Cub kids, bouncy castle and soft play, arts and crafts and Lego club. There is also street football skills with Inverness Caledonian Thistle and a football tournament being organised by Strathspey Rovers.
Mr Brannan is delighted with the new look studio.
He said: "It's fantastic. It's a large space – around half of the area of the existing studio – which has been converted into a gym of its own.
"The good news is that it can be sealed off so we still have one studio space which can be used for dancing and other classes while this new space is being used as a its own entity.
"There are two new lifting rigs and a lot of brand new equipment including weight, plates dumbbells, the rigs themselves have got a lot of new equipment attached to them so as the jammer arms and then we have a lot of functional cardio equipment installed as well."
He continued: "This will take a huge weight off our shoulders in terms of the maximum numbers allowed in the gym compared to what we have been able to handle.
"We have only had two Olympic lifting racks until now – two bars and weights to share amongst a maximum capacity of 20 gym users.
"We have drastically improved the number of people who can use our gym facilities at any given time."
Instructors from the Badenoch Centre in Kingussie and the Craig MacLean Sports Centre in Grantown will be assisting their Aviemore colleagues with the taster sessions.
Mr Brannan said: "They are all fantastic instructors and there will be some different things going on to spice up the programme as well."
There is no need to book up – people can just turn-up at the centre for a fun day out for individuals and all the family and at no cost whatsoever.
All the timings can be found on Aviemore Community Centre's Facebook page.
Anyone who signs up for a High Life Highland membership during the open day will pay nothing until October 8.
Non-members can contact the centre on 01479 813140 for more information.
