Increase Fitness celebrates gym’s grand opening

On Saturday June 1, Increase Fitness held its grand opening. The new gym on Scott Street had an open house from noon to 4 p.m. and everyone was invited to go and visit the new facility.

“We’ve already started to build a really good gym community here,” said Simeon Firth, owner of Increase Fitness. “So far, it’s been really good. We just wanted to be able to let people come in and visit.”

The gym was decorated with balloons and people attending the open house brought their families with them to come check out the new facility. The Firths were on hand to answer questions about memberships and how the gym operates without in person service.

Jordan DeGagné, project manager, is a member of the gym and he likes being able to go to the gym based on his own schedule.

“You come when you want which is a nice thing,” said Jordan. “You don’t have to be here when its busy.”

The gym has been designed to appeal to a wide range of clients, from seasoned gym-goers to newcomers. For those just starting out, diagrams are on every piece of machinery, to show how they work.

New members are required to submit their I.D. and credit card information online to subscribe to a gym membership. Membership is reserved for clients aged 18 an up. Questions and concerns can be addressed to staff on social media.

“They can message us on Facebook or Instagram,” said Khali DeGagné, content creator at Increase fitness. “Someone’s going to get back to you right away.”

Access to the gym’s entrance is done by using an app. that allows you to gain entry through a side door of the building. Stairs lead you down to the basement where there are showers, changing rooms, televisions and gym equipment.

Firth had approached personal trainer Ian McKay, owner of RefleXion Studio, for help in designing the Scott Street gym. McKay had worked upstairs in the Movie Gallery when he was younger, and felt the basement would make a great gym. McKay got the chance to create that dream gym. He and Firth worked together, outfitting the gym with equipment from Treadmill Factories.

“The stars aligned,” said Firth. “Me and him drew it all out on the ground down here with chalk when it was just a terrible mess down here, and made sure we could fit it all in.”

The gym equipment arrived by truck and had to fit down the main entrance before it could be unpacked and assembled.

“We had to engineer some slides. We had plywood, did the stairs so that it was just a big slide, bunch of guys just pulling her down and it was fun!” he said. “I got my workout that day.”

Louis Bergeron, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Fort Frances Times