![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/4XHGDOZ3J5DV7AJUEBLOY7WZIY.jpg\")
The new Tru The Real You gym on Cranford Street features a dedicated studio for yoga and Pilates classes. Photo \/ Tru The Real You<\/p>\nThere\u2019s nothing unusual about a woman walking into a gym. But feeling completely comfortable once she\u2019s inside? For some, that\u2019s a different story.<\/p>\n
Fitness entrepreneur Carla De Nijs knows that.<\/p>\n
With more than a decade in the industry, she said women had shared experiences of feeling judged, watched or intimidated in mixed-gender gyms, sometimes leading them to stop attending altogether.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s part of what drives her women-only fitness business, Tru The Real You, which is now expanding from Queenstown to Christchurch.<\/p>\n
The new gym has attracted more than 200 members before its official opening in St Albans tomorrow, with another 400-plus registered for the launch event.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want them to feel amazing, empowered. I want them to feel hot,\u201d De Nijs told the Herald.<\/p>\n
She said the first 100 memberships sold out in just three days.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny woman\u2019s space is absolutely amazing because I think we need that safe, comfortable space.\u201d<\/p>\n
The decision to expand to Christchurch came about nine months ago, after De Nijs visited a close friend in the city and fell in love with the place.<\/p>\n
She began researching whether there was enough demand for another women-only gym.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe response that I got was insane,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did not have to question myself once.\u201d<\/p>\n
She has invested \u201ca couple of million\u201d dollars in transforming a 670sq m building on Cranford Street into a fitness hub exclusively for women.<\/p>\n
The gym offers strength-training equipment, hot Pilates, hot yoga, circuit and functional classes, core and glutes sessions, personal training, a sauna and recovery facilities.<\/p>\n
It also has an activewear shop featuring De Nijs\u2019 own clothing brand, and nine women have been employed at the Christchurch branch.<\/p>\n
The new Tru The Real You gym on Cranford Street features a dedicated studio for yoga and Pilates classes. Photo \/ Tru The Real You<\/p>\n
Despite being the founder, she said she was very hands-on.<\/p>\n
Shortly before speaking to the Herald, De Nijs was wiping down gym equipment in preparation for opening day.<\/p>\n
Her customers, she said, follow those behind-the-scenes moments online and feel part of the journey.<\/p>\n
She believed that connection has helped build a loyal community around the brand.<\/p>\n
And she has bigger plans.<\/p>\n
At 47, De Nijs hopes to have five gyms operating by the time she turns 50, with interest already coming from women in other New Zealand cities and Australia.<\/p>\n
\u201c[Women] need a beautiful place that would welcome them, that smells good, that looks like a hotel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her fitness journey began more than 10 years ago, offering online training and nutrition services before setting up a gym in her garage.<\/p>\n
In 2017, De Nijs bought an existing women\u2019s gym in Queenstown.<\/p>\n
At the time, she said, the gym catered to a narrow group of women.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I took over the gym … they didn\u2019t have dumbbells over 5 kgs. They didn\u2019t even have a squad rack.\u201d<\/p>\n
After navigating the Covid pandemic, which saw the business lose members as people switched to exercising at home, De Nijs rebranded the gym as it is today.<\/p>\n
She wanted to create a space where women of different ages, fitness levels and backgrounds could feel comfortable, whether they were experienced bodybuilders or stepping into a gym for the first time.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone feels like they belong.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Part](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/67JCDUMW6JCHVJCSJL5YDTI2OM.jpg\")
Part of the team behind Christchurch\u2019s new women-only gym. Brand manager Bella Clarke, left, founder Carla de Nijs, club manager Gracie Robert and club host Zoe Addison-Robinson. Photo \/ Tru The Real You<\/p>\n
The Christchurch public opening tomorrow will run from 9am to 2pm, with free access to the facilities, tours and 15-minute taster classes, with registration required to attend.<\/p>\n
Memberships start at $29 a week on a 12-month contract or $32 a week for six months, with an optional $10 weekly upgrade for access to training programmes, nutrition plans and other features through an app.<\/p>\n
The gym will initially operate from 5am to 10pm, with the possibility of extending to 24-hour access if demand warrants it.<\/p>\n
Rafaella Melo is a multimedia journalist with more than 10 years\u2019 experience in Brazil. She spent two years reporting for Hawke\u2019s Bay Today before joining the NZ Herald\u2019s Christchurch team in 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s nothing unusual about a woman walking into a gym. But feeling completely comfortable once she\u2019s inside? For…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":638922,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[8126,4487,565,14744,134,111,139,69,71308,313221],"class_list":["post-638921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-canterbury","tag-christchurch","tag-fitness","tag-gym","tag-health","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-southisland","tag-trutherealyou"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=638921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638921\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/638922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=638921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=638921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=638921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}