***STRENGTHENING TIES***
Whilst we were disappointed with the government’s decision yesterday not to reopen gyms, we refuse to let this news deter us from executing our plan to come out of this pandemic stronger than ever!
In times of hardship and uncertainty, community is more important than ever. We rely on those around us for solidarity, support, guidance, information and empathy.
It is therefore with great excitement we announce our partnership with Canvey Island Rugby Club!
In the time we have been closed we have been making many changes to the gym to better serve our members. In addition we have been looking at how we can further strengthen our ties within the local community. Today’s announcement comes after weeks of dialogue and idea sharing between @islandgym and @cirufc.
In a joint statement Island Gym Manager Aaron Petty said
“When my Dad first took over the gym some 25yrs ago, one of his first, longest and best loved customers was Richard “Biff” Smith. A real character and one of the original founders of Canvey Rugby Club. Over the years we have had some players use our facilities, so the link originates way back.
With the forced closure due to the pandemic, we decided to invest in new equipment and have been able to create a new, unique strength and conditioning area. This will be very useful for these players in terms of game preparation, injury prevention and rehabilitation.
Knowing what the club has been doing within our community for over 50yrs, especially more recently for the youth of this Island we were always keen to get more involved.
When I contacted Alex about this idea and the plans I had for the gym, we discussed how best we could work together. As well as being heavily involved in Rugby, most people will know of Alex’s success within Professional Boxing in Strength & Conditioning. We were able to use this knowledge and experience to come up with programs that best utilise our new specialist equipment and environment.”
Director of Rugby at the club Alex Breading said
”I received a call from Aaron at the gym to discuss linking up and working together. The physicality of the game nowadays for Senior players means that strength training and conditioning is pretty much a necessity. Some of the new Primal Strength Equipment such as the hip thruster and safety squat bar is going to make training for our players much more effective and reduce risk of injury. Some of our guys are capable of lifting quite substantial weight, which is sometimes either not available or frowned upon in some “corporate” gyms. Some of those gyms barely have a barbell, let alone bands or chains for accommodating resistance. Certainly not the case here!
The new conditioning equipment such as the Concept 2 SkiErg, the Assault Bike, Battle Ropes, Jump Boxes are going to provide lots of variety and allow players to build different areas of conditioning.
With the equipment the gym now has and the new conditioning area it has created, we are able to put together bespoke training programmes for our players, relative to their position, the time of the season and their health status.
With Youth players transitioning to Senior rugby many will need help and guidance with their gym work, so this will be perfect for them. The environment and equipment the gym is now providing, along with the specialist programs we have is an unbelievable deal to our club members, both for adults and youth players.”
With the club having the support of the gym and the gym having the support of the club, we hope we can better serve our community and come out of this pandemic stronger!
Thanks to all those people that continue to share our content and support us in this difficult time.
