Top-class oasis for a fitter, leaner and healthier way of life

As the New Year rolls in, the most common resolution among urban Kenyans is eating more nutritionally beneficial foods and adopting a more active lifestyle. On the list of things to do is subscribing to a gym.

Lately, working out and wellness has become a part of many Kenyans’ lives. What started out as aerobics and dance studios in the 2000s have evolved into modern gyms with a variety of equipment.

And now there is a new player in the wellness industry that has decided to take it to a whole new stratosphere. W Exclusive Wellness and Fitness has occupied third and fourth floors in Westgate Mall in Westlands, Nairobi, where it seeks to give its clients the best in gym facilities and technology.

Considering where Westgate is situated, a lot of CEOs and business people constitute the majority of the traffic that walks into the mall. The mall’s design caters for up-level brands, some of which are found in Europe.

The management of the mall put a lot of consideration into what their clients would gain in terms of experience from what they would spend their money on.

 Considering the gym’s lowest cost is a daily fee of Sh3, 000 and an annual subscription of Sh187, 500 for couples, Anton Wakefield, the general manager at W Exclusive, comes with experience, both in the world of fitness and health sector. He worked and consulted for four major pharmaceutical companies in South Africa, before switching to the body image industry.

“The reason I was excited to come to Kenya is that  I was given the opportunity to manage the biggest health club in East Africa – it is 1,900 square metres and double the size of the next best club. It is a multi-purpose gym. Normally, when you are thinking about a mainstream gym, you’re thinking about aerobics, cardio and fitness equipment. We have a 25-metre pool, a specialised area dedicated for boxing, a studio for yoga and pilates, and areas for spin classes (a group exercise session in which participants ride stationary bicycles at varying speeds and resistance settings), weight training as well as cross-training,” says Anton.

The gym only has Techno Gym equipment, and it had always been spaced out even in its initial design, so very little was done to enhance social distancing. Still, they only have alternating equipment being used right now. There are air conditioners placed all over the arenas in the gym, but a few mobile filters stand out. These suck in the air inside the gym and kill viruses before putting back out pure air. This is essential because people might be forced to take off their face masks when they run out of breath in an intense workout session.

“We added this extra measure to make my staff and members a lot safer,” says Anton.

Joy Carol, fitness manager at W Exclusive and personal trainer, has been in the fitness world for nine years. She started out as a client after she realised she was  too ‘fat’.

“I decided to change my life and signed up with a gym, completely changing my relationship with food. I have the responsibility of leading a well-trained fitness team. It took two years of study for me to get certified as a personal trainer by the American Council on Exercise,” says the former blogger.

Having studied public relations and marketing at Daystar University, she only worked in that field for two years, before she quit to focus on training. She has worked with two other gyms before and has also conducted online training.

She notes that she ensures quality training for clients in the classes they offer. She also tailor-makes trainings for clients based on the feedback they provide in their assessment. Further, she tracks popularity of classes and training so as to keep tabs on the facility’s revenue.

Joy is also the go-between with freelance trainers who come to offer their services to the gym’s clients.

These trainers have to have certification in their areas of experience, first aid or CPR certification, and they must have practised for some time, which means they are exposed to handling different clients and situations such as accidents in the gym.

“The group classes we offer are different from other gyms – pool classes, kickboxing, Kriya yoga, Just Joom (Bollywood dance class), and spin classes are strictly offered by spin instructors. We have trainers on the floor at all times,” says Joy.

400 clients

As the operations manager on duty, James Karongo is tasked with ensuring the pool and equipment are in tip-top condition. He was an employee with Ignite Fitness in 2017, where he did a lot of data entry on voluntary basis. He became a manager of the gym before coming to W Exclusive in March last year, while it was still under Ignite Fitness.

“ We’re slowly getting back to the 400 clients we would have daily before Covid. I get here at 5am and clients are already outside waiting for the 5:30am opening time. You can’t come here and be lost; be it mobility, flexibility, strength, or endurance classes,” says James.

Jasneet Sokhi, a digital marketing expert who studied in Nottingham City in the UK and was based in London, runs Peak Performance Marketing agency. She moved back to Kenya in June last year. The 29-year-old, who has been working out since she was 14, says she wanted to get back to her usual routine when her friends mentioned the gym to her.

“Everything is extensive here – the equipment and space. Having worked out at Virgin Active and David Lloyd gyms in London, I wasn’t very happy with the gyms here (Kenya); they were quite small and I would feel claustrophobic. It’s really important for me to have the right equipment since I only started weight training in 2016 to support my strength-building workout. I was going to a gym near my house on Mombasa Road, which was not supporting my growth the way I wanted it to. It has been a good three weeks (since late December) after coming here (at W Exclusive),” she says.

Mathiang Muo is a shooting guard with the South Sudanese basketball team, which is holding a training camp in the country in preparation for the AfroBasket Round 2 games, which will be held in February. The Australian-based professional, who played with Melbourne’s Bendigo Braves last year, says they are using the gym because it is good for them.

“It’s close to the apartment we’re staying at so we can walk down here. Compared to all the other gyms we visited, this one has everything we need. I am trying to get my agility up and be stronger.  I am enjoying it and seeing a lot of progress,” says Mathiang.

Rav Sirha is a young businessman who is based both locally and in Dubai. He was looking for a place that would offer facilities to cater for full-body workouts.“I have been around other gyms in Kenya over the past two years, but a lot of friends and family have joined this gym. They spoke very highly about it in terms of hygiene, especially during these Covid times; it’s very well-spaced out and their hygiene standards are good,” he says.

The whole experience at the facility is packaged like a five-star hotel affair, offering an exclusive lifestyle encounter. With 14 couple-daybeds by the swimming pool and a relaxation area, including a restaurant and a chill-out zone, exclusivity does not just stop in the fitness and wellness offerings. The pool’s pH and chlorine levels are constantly checked to ensure they are strong enough to kill Covid viruses.

“When our clients want to pick up important calls or need to close a business deal, they can take it in these areas, which have full WiFi connectivity. We have designed the facility around their lifestyles and they don’t need to leave the gym in order to perform their everyday functions. They can also enjoy a smoothie or whey protein shake, and socialise and engage with their friends before or after a session,” adds Anton.

W Exclusive also includes a VIP cinema experience. The business class seats at the cinema enable one to recline, and they have a liquor licence that will enable cinema-goers to enjoy a beer or a glass of wine and a meal once the coronavirus situation becomes more manageable.

“The cinema has been redesigned – everything was removed from the previous setting and redesigned to give it wider aisles and less seats to enhance social distancing.

“What we are offering now is what we are calling ‘Phase A’, we’ll be looking to upgrade this in the next four months. We want one place where anyone with wellness, health or fitness interest would be attracted to. We will add squash courts and outdoor training facilities, which would be more appealing because of the Covid situation,” says Anton.

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