A new gym just for kids has opened up in Australia, and is hoping to inspire the nation’s youth to move a whole lot more.
You won’t find a treadmill or spin classes at MyFirstGym, but you will see plenty of adorable babies getting their first taste of fitness.
The Brisbane gym features lessons for children as young as seven months old, all the way up to 13 years of age.
MyFirstGym, in Brisbane, offers classes for children from seven months up to 13 years of age
Classes for babies focus on developing their balance, coordination, and basic motor skills
Classes range from learning the fundamentals of balance and coordination and basic motor skills to yoga, dance, and even Ninja Warrior as the children get older.
MyFirstGym CEO Dan Newton told Daily Mail Australia that his team saw a ‘huge gap’ in the market for children’s fitness after working at adult gyms for decades.
‘With the trends with childhood obesity, we felt we needed something for kids,’ he said.
‘We wanted to give a variety of activities for children, to activate them and keep them moving and give them an opportunity to fall in love with fitness.’
Newton describes MyFirstGym as a ‘swim school out of water’, where babies are being taught how to pull themselves up, brace themselves, and grab for objects.
‘We saw an opportunity for kids from seven months, that’s when they start to develop their motor skills,’ he said.
Newton describes MyFirstGym as a ‘swim school out of water’, where babies are being taught how to pull themselves up, brace themselves, and grab for objects
Newton said that unlike just letting children run free on the playground, MyFirstGym has designed classes that are all ‘outcome based’ and always have something for them to learn
MyFirstGym CEO Dan Newton told Daily Mail Australia that his team saw a ‘huge gap’ in the market for children’s fitness after working at adult gyms for decades
‘They’re grabbing, crawling, starting to walk…they develop most of their coordination and confidence building from one to three years old.’
‘And all of that can be improved if you give them development activities. They’re learning different milestones.’
Newton said that unlike just letting children run free on the playground, MyFirstGym has designed classes that are all ‘outcome based’.
‘Whether it’s martial arts or Ninja Warrior, everything has a teaching point and an outcome that the children are trying to develop,’ he said.
The children go up levels, from ‘Crawling Koalas’ to ‘Jumping Joeys’, as they learn these essential building blocks and discover what kind of sport they enjoy most.
Classes range from learning the fundamentals of balance and coordination and basic motor skills to yoga, dance, and even Ninja Warrior as the children get older
MyFirstGym wanted to give parents a break as well, creating time periods where they can drop off their children for free play or even before a date night
The gym currently offers a 12-month membership at $25 per week or a month-to-month membership at $30 a week per child
‘It offers peace of mind for the parents, because the kids are doing things that are going to get them started on development activities and build a basic passion for exercise and movement,’ Newton said.
‘MyFirstGym gives them activities that they can take wherever they go as they get older.’
And MyFirstGym wanted to give parents a break as well, creating time periods where they can drop off their children for free play or even before a date night.
The gym currently offers a 12-month membership at $25 per week or a month-to-month membership at $30 a week per child.
After trialling the gym in New Zealand last year, MyFirstGym officially opened in Hawthorne last month.
Newton said the positive feedback was instant, with parents revealing that their children are happier, sleeping better, and have improved confidence.
There are plans to expand My First Gym across Queensland, and interest is also coming from Melbourne and Sydney.
Newton said the positive feedback was instant, with parents revealing that their children are happier, sleeping better, and have improved confidence
There are plans to expand My First Gym across Queensland, and interest is also coming from Melbourne and Sydney