Nightclub-style fitness experience on offer in new underground Sydney gym

A new 24/7 gym has opened in an underground space in the inner-city suburb of Surry Hills.

Called The Bunker, the club’s theme has been inspired by nightclubs – with its design featuring lots of exposed concrete, neon lights and brushed metal. There are no windows and the lights modulate to reflect the time of day.

The fifth facility in the Sydney-based Fitness Playground chain, co-founder Justin Ashley explains “we’ve gone with the theme of ‘going into a bunker’

“So when you walk in the foyer you take an escalator down this concrete chute.”

 “We knew that, being an underground facility, a key part of it was going to be lighting, so we really went all out on the lights,” says Ashley.

The 500 metre² space is also fitted out with 24 speakers and four subwoofers, with Ashley explaining “the sound system was a really big thing for us. We’re targeting a particular demographic who are really into their music and want to go to a beautiful environment to train.”

The boutique facility offer tailored programs while keeping membership numbers low - Ashley says about a fifth of the number other gyms usually allow - and class sizes are capped at 18 people.

Classes have been designed for people who have trained for more than three years, while members can also do their own workouts with backing from a team of personal trainers.

Ashley adds “the class sessions will progress rather than repeat, so you’ll still get good workouts. For example, you might do gymnastic rings, a very complicated exercise to do, and week-on-week you’ll build your skills until you can master the next exercise.”

The Bunker offers gymnastics rings, barbell classes or handstand lessons while its highquality equipment has been sourced from a range of equipment suppliers.

Ashley explains “our Bunker-branded revolving thick grip Watson dumbbells are designed in England. Our Eleiko weightlifting bars from Sweden are used in the Olympics. Our beautiful Technogym cardio is produced in Italy. We selected Atlantis strength machines for their superior biomechanics and ergonomics.

“The Bunker also features many pieces not commonly found in commercial gyms: the SKILLMILL, Octane AirBike, pendulum squat, reverse hyper, GHD and the bench pull (while) squat racks, platforms and benches are abundant.”

Click here for more information.

Images courtesy of The Bunker/Fitness Playground.

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