The consequences can be\u00a0wide-ranging:<\/a> higher risks of mortality, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, several cancers, anxiety, and depression. Meanwhile,\u00a0people who do meet the 150 minute requirement\u00a0see\u00a0benefits for bone health and cognition.<\/p>\n\u201cEvery opportunity to try and learn other ways we can move our bodies is super important,\u201d says Jean Buckler, associate professor of exercise science at UVic.<\/p>\n
Buckler\u00a0also stresses movement as preventive care.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to reposition recreation and movement as preventative health,” Buckler said. “We have to look at things we do in our leisure time as health and health promotion. Prevention is the best way we can spend our money.”<\/p>\n
In downtown Victoria, spaces like Studio 4 aim to make that prevention easier and more inviting.<\/p>\n
Co-owners Kevin Brett and Darcy Dommett envisioned a place where people want to be when they opened in 2004\u2013 not just somewhere they feel obligated to go.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can have a set of weights anywhere, but if someone\u2019s trying to integrate that into their lifestyle, it\u2019s really helpful if they actually want to be there,\u201d Brett said.<\/p>\n
Their two-storey heritage building, dating back to 1886, holds separate spaces for free-weights, boxing, dancing, yoga, cardio, and group classes \u2013 all designed to be approachable for both beginners and seasoned gym-goers.<\/p>\n
The 12,000-square-foot facility now welcomes roughly 2,500 members, many of whom attend four or five times a week, well above the national guidelines.<\/p>\n
Natural light, exposed heritage wood, and rows of real plants \u2013 which Dommett personally tends to each week \u2013 are part of their effort to make the gym feel less like a gym and more like a space people enjoy being in.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe basically did a reverse renovation \u2013 peeling back to what the building was in 1886,\u201d Brett said. \u201cEvery single plant in here is real. It changes the energy of the room,\u201d Dommett added.<\/p>\n
The gym avoids classic weightlifting stereotypes, which can be a barrier for newcomers. Dumbbells top out at 80 lbs, and the atmosphere is intentionally non-intimidating. Their mission is to reach more of the 59 per cent of adults who aren\u2019t meeting activity guidelines.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur job\u2014our mission\u2014is to try and pull in some more of those and get them involved,\u201d Dommett said.<\/p>\n
Buckler notes that early and repeated exposure is key to making spaces like gyms less intimidating. And in a place like Victoria\u2014with its abundance of trails, waterfronts, and outdoor spaces \u2013 movement doesn\u2019t have to be limited to gyms at all.<\/p>\n
“Our biggest competition isn\u2019t any of the other gyms, it\u2019s Dallas Road,” Brett said. “We know how lucky we are to live here, we feel so fortunate that people are choosing to spend time inside our gym.”<\/p>\n
For Brett, Dommett, and Buckler, the message is clear: physical activity is essential, and the right environment,\u00a0indoors or out, can make all the difference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s 5:30 a.m., and the alarm goes off. Rolling out of bed for a workout isn\u2019t exactly thrilling…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":71602,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[6647,102,36971,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-71601","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-fitness","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-movementgyms","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom","13":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71601"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71601\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}