CARA and Maya Halliday are the gym-owning sisters helping empower women and creating positive attitudes towards exercise.
They own the female-only gym Sorrella in Glasgow’s city centre.
Sign up for the Fabulous newsletter
Thank you!
Maya and Cara Halliday own a womens-only gym in Glasgow Credit: Cara Halliday/Sorrella Gym
The powerhouse sisters won first place in their pairs category at the ATHX Games in Berlin Credit: Cara Halliday/Sorrella Gym
They do what they love, they love what they do, and they are an inspiration for their members.
“Our message at the gym is around empowering women to train hard, to find confidence and kind of break any stereotypes of how they should train,” said 29 year-old Cara.
“We’ve got a massive focus on our community, it’s just a real safe space for women to show up, train with others, and just be themselves – which is why the competing side is perfect for us,” she added.
The sisters ranked first place in their pairs category at the ATHX games in Berlin last month and are competing this weekend.
Taking place on June 20 and 21 at the Scottish Event Campus, the ATHX Games is bringing one of the world’s fastest-growing hybrid fitness competitions to the city.
Glasgow is part of a 10-city schedule this year which also includes Copenhagen, Barcelona, Marseille, Miami and Houston.
The latest test of athleticism was founded in 2023 and now takes place across 11 countries with more than 40,000 competitors.
Cara explained that ATHX is strength-based with weights in the first section followed by endurance then a partner workout, all within two and a half hours.
The competition has six zones to complete including warm-up, refuel and recovery.
She said: “There’s definitely more of a strength element to it than HYROX, which again we prefer, because this is the style of training that we’ve always done at Sorrella.
“We focus on strength and conditioning rather than all conditioning, it allows you not to neglect that side of training, which in our opinion is so important for women.
“It’s important for building strength, building muscle, for bone density and for longevity.”
Several Sorrella members are also taking part in Glasgow’s ATHX event. For some it will be their first competitive event.
Seeing clients take part will be a proud moment for Cara and Maya, 31, from Glasgow.
Cara said: “For some of our members, this is their first time competing, which is really nice to see and ATHX is inclusive.
“There is a ‘light’ category now, which is for complete beginners who want to get a feel for competing.
“It uses lighter weights, so it’s not quite as hard, but it still allows them to get involved and get a feel for the competition.
“It’s great for us to see some girls competing that have maybe come in for a body transformation to start with and now they’re setting themselves these performance goals.”
Sorrella Gym focuses on focus on strength and conditioning Credit: Cara Halliday/Sorrella Gym
Cara in action at the ATHX Games Credit: Cara Halliday/Sorrella Gym
This is an important message Cara wants to share with women and help give them the courage and confidence to work out.
“It’s important to push our bodies through hard things,” she said.
“Because I think there has been a bit of a change in the fitness industry recently, I feel like it has gone backwards a little.
“Women are scared to pull a muscle and we’ve spent years trying to reshape women’s mindsets towards being strong.
“There are a lot more community gyms now but for women, skinny is trending.
“Women are encouraged to have aesthetic goals to be smaller versions of themselves.
“For us, you notice how empowering it is for women to take part in competitions.”
After competing separately at previous events, the European competition was the first time they’d entered together.
The sisters took part in ATHX in Berlin and met other athletes who had travelled there for the competition.
Athleisure is growing in popularity. VisitScotland, the national tourist organisation, identified this as a travel trend for 2026 with visitors planning trips around social fitness events.
And fitness-focused trips are fast replacing traditional group holidays for many who are choosing destinations specifically to train or take part in sporting events.
With a mix of experiences including ATHX in Glasgow, Scotland is a frontrunner to capitalise all year round.
Cara added: “There’s a big fitness scene in Glasgow now and so many community gyms with people getting into HYROX and competitive events.
“So I can imagine lots of Glaswegians taking part this weekend, but I expect lots from England, like Liverpool and Manchester where the fitness scene is big as well.”
The community element and Glasgow hosting the games is a sense of achievement.
Owner of Inspire Gym in Barrhead, Ross Flockhart, said events like ATHX and HYROX give people an opportunity to challenge themselves with others who share similar goals.
He said: “It has become a real hub for fitness events.
“The city has an incredible mix of gyms, running clubs, fitness communities and sporting venues.
“People genuinely get behind these events, whether they’re competing or spectating, which creates an atmosphere that’s hard to beat.”