Non Stop 24 Hour Fitness set to become one of Australia's largest 24 hour gyms

Non Stop Fitness, the only 24/7 gym in the Western Australian community of Port Kennedy, is set to become one of Australia's largest gyms, with plans to expand after just 12 months of operation.

With more than 1,900 members, the club would not have had capacity for any more had co-owners Chad and Amy Francis and Brendan Knowles not made the decision to expand.

With their first birthday coinciding with the Western Australian Fitness Industry Conference (WAFIC) and the Perth Fitness Show this weekend, Non Stop are celebrating a very successful first year of operation.

Explaining the club's growth, Knowles states "our first year of business has been exceptional, better than we had hoped or expected.

"We're excited about our plans to expand we are taking over the three buildings next door to us, which will give us an additional 900 metres2, making the club close to 3,000 metres2!"

Chad, Amy and Brendan have not always been in the fitness industry, despite having a keen interest in keeping fit themselves. Brendan and Chad worked together on oil rigs and husband and wife team, Chad and Amy met while both serving in the Australian Navy.

As Knowles explains "when we decided to open a gym together, we really wanted to create something different in Port Kennedy.

"There are a lot of shift workers in our community so it makes sense that we are a 24 hour gym, but we didn't want that to restrict what we offered and the size of the club."

The club features endurance, strength and agility classes called 'The Locker', personal training, a special programe for women, mixed martial arts, group fitness, free weights and machines as well as a supplement store. They also offer a crèche service, and a choreographed childrens' group fitness class called 'Rad Kids'.

With the expansion, the trio will add a dedicated body building room, a weights room, a juice bar, cardio cinema and a power lifting room, as well as a bigger crèche.

Knowles adds "our aim was to respond to the demand locally for a 24 hour gym, but remain a full-service gym in terms of our facilities, offerings and customer service.

"Our gym is big for a 24 hour facility, it's also staffed for the majority of the time it's open, as one of us is generally in the gym from 7am til 12midnight.

"We've created an atmosphere that our members say they love, with some fantastic artwork, music and sports channels projected on to big screens, and we're even looking to screen body building movies in our new body building room."

The gym will officially open the body building room on this weekend, coinciding with WAFIC and the Perth Fitness Show, showcasing their new range of Precor strength equipment.

Knowles continues "we're excited about opening the new weights room, and very pleased with the Precor equipment we have chosen.

"We have already installed a number of Precor pieces including their Discovery Line plate-loaded and selectorised equipment, as well as benches and free weights, and later on we plan to add a collection of their top-of-range P80 cardio equipment as well.

"Precor have been instrumental in helping us to set the gym up with their quality equipment, as well as providing service that is just second to none.

"We installed another brand of equipment when we first opened but found that some of it just didn't last even beyond a few months of heavy use, so we're pleased to now be investing in the quality that Precor offers."

For the next 12 months, the club's focus will be on their expansion, as well as further their involvement in the local community.

Knowles concludes "we're supporting a young local hockey player and a rugby club as well as sponsoring some of our body builders, but this is definitely an area that we want to do more of as we grow."

The club owning trio's tips for others considering opening their own gym:

Understand your level of risk and what

http://www.nonstopfitness.com.au/