Hanley the right fit for AFL-style gym
FORMER Gold Coast Suns running machine Pearce Hanley may be one of the crazy few to enjoy the gruelling grind of pre-season — so much so that in retirement he’s working to bring the best of the AFL’s fitness programming to the Gold Coast public.
After 169 AFL games spanning 14 years and two Queensland clubs, Hanley, 32, chose to hang up the boots at the end of 2020, saying his run of injuries at the Suns had dulled his passion for playing at the top level.
“I felt like the weight of the
world had been lifted off my shoulders when I did it,” Hanley said of his decision to retire.
“I see a lot of the boys go back to training now and while I would still love to do that, I think just the mental side of football and the injuries I had over the journey took a toll in the end.
“Coupled with the hub last year and then being injured through that, working so hard and then not being able to get back to my best just hurt my drive to do it.
“I worked my butt off when we were hubbing and then came back and didn’t hit the heights I wished I could,
which was (the story of) my four years at the Suns — a bit injury-plagued unfortunately, and I just lost that fire in the end.”
As the electric Irishman wound down his playing days with the Suns in the AFL hub, business partner and former Brisbane Lions teammate Jordon Bourke was hard at work getting Body Fit Training at Miami off the ground.
The brainchild of former AFL strength and conditioning coach Cameron Falloon, BFT incorporates the best of AFL conditioning programs, caters for all fitness levels and boasts other high-profile franchise owners such as Tim
Paine, Nick Riewoldt and Dyson Heppell.
With the rigours of AFL now in his rear view, Hanley has rediscovered his passion for health and fitness through Body Fit Training.
He says BFT offers a unique approach that draws on the best intellectual property of the AFL’s fitness gurus as well as his and Bourke’s experiences in professional sport.
“When our members leave it should feel like they’ve had a personal training experience,” Hanley said.
“The fact Cam (Falloon) started it — he based the training programs off exactly
what we would do in an AFL gym. At the Suns … anything we did there in terms of our training programs is exactly what you would see in here.
“Obviously I think AFL athletes are some of the best in the world so to take the program they do and deliver it to the public, while also having a sense of community at the same time, is why I invested in it.”
The BFT base at Miami has been running for about seven months and there are plans to expand to Banora in the near future.
BFT now boasts more than 100 studios across Australia.