Auckland Les Mills gym bars bodybuilder over claims she was providing personal training

A professional bodybuilder from Auckland has been banned from a Les Mills gym following allegations she was training gym members at the facility despite not working there.

Auckland bodybuilder Ashleigh Pope, who claimed the New Zealand open figure title in 2017, had her membership revoked at the Takapuna Les Mills for what the gym claims was a 'health and safety' issue.

However, Pope denies she was carrying out training, saying she was only working out with friends. She also said she has been "bullied" and "harassed" by Les Mills employees, and was seeking legal advice after the "unjustified" cancellation of her membership.

Last month Pope found that she was unable to access the Takapuna branch of the gym when she found her swipe card wasn't working.

Roughly 30 minutes later she received an email from the Gym Manager, which stated: "after much consideration, we have decided to terminate your membership here at Les Mills.

"I have spoken to you on several occasions asking you to stop training, coaching or providing other services to members at our facility.

"It is my view that you have continued to provide these services despite our conversations to the contrary.”

In the email, the Gym Manager said Pope's "actions to ignore my requests and in my opinion continue to provide coaching" breached her membership contract and Les Mills' health and safety policy.

However, Pope argued she had not been training anyone, and that people who came to the gym with her were training partners and spotters.

She also said she'd had just one face-to-face conversation with the Manager about the matter in July 2018, conceding that conversation was the result of a complaint a personal trainer laid about Pope on the same matter.

Pope said she took her sport and training very seriously, telling media "my sport requires me to push my body to the limits ... and for safety reasons I require a spotter."

She added a strong support system was "vital" for bodybuilders, which was why she often trained with others.

Since posting about the incident on her Facebook page, Pope said she had been contacted by a number of other bodybuilders who had experienced "similar treatment".

Responding to a request for comment from New Zealand website stuff, a Les Mills spokesperson advised “the cancellation of any membership is not taken lightly, all relevant evidence and rules are considered, any issues would have been previously raised and discussed with people concerned, and it is a last resort.

"When it comes to Health and Safety especially, we take this extremely seriously. We do not cancel people's memberships without reason or justifiable grounds."

Image: Ashleigh Pope. Supplied.