Club of the week

Absolute Body Conditioning

Absolute Body Condition, or ABC to its members, are a Coatbridge-based fitness club which prides itself on a “no-egos” approach to keeping fit.

Run by Kevin Lynch at Calder Parish Church, the group welcome people along to help them lose any unwanted weight while feeling part of a close-knit community.

As well as working out together, the group often meet outwith that environment and take on challenges such as climbing munros, as well as attending social events together.

We spoke to fully qualified personal trainer Kevin Lynch about why ABC is great to be a part of.

How did the club get started?

I’ve always been involved in physical training and helping others get fit.

I live a healthy lifestyle and enjoy helping others so it just made sense.

A few people asked me to start classes about three years ago and it took off from there.

The dynamic in the group is really good and we have a great deal of support for each other.

What’s involved at a class?

The classes vary most weeks.

We sometimes do high intensity interval training known as HIT training.

We also do tabata training which is a fancy way of saying we work for 60 seconds, rest for 10 seconds, and repeat for a certain time period.

Old-fashioned circuit training is good too and that’s usually led by a set group member.

We’ll figure out what everyone is capable of and arrange the workout accordingly.

Not everyone can do 30 press-ups or plank for a minute so we work to people’s best individual effort.

We stick to compound movements to keep it basic.

Fundamentals are important - it’s dead easy to put kit out right away and ask people to use it but it needs to be done properly to maximise the benefits and prevent injury.

How much hard work goes on behind the scenes?

Thankfully the hard work is shared.

I have Siobhan Mann and Marianne Craig who deal with a lot of the admin and we’ve now got our own bank account which should help us expand.

Thankfully they, and others, allow me to concentrate on creating the class plan and new challenges for the members.

I love that side of things.

What is the cost of taking part at ABC?

It costs £4 per class, or you can organise a monthly set-up of £20.

We train together on Mondays and Fridays and all the money goes back into the club.

Whether it’s to organise days out like gorge walks or a team overnighter somewhere, all the money is used to benefit the group.

I’ve spent most of my life in a gym helping people get fit.

I get loads of satisfaction from seeing other people progress and that’s payment enough for me.

All we pay for is the rent for the hall.

What type of activities do you run?

It’s a very cost effective way of getting, and keeping, fit.

Everything you pay for goes into improving the club through equipment or events.

There’s a big social aspect too and we go hillwalking once a month and our on our seventh munro.

We go on nights out together too and the social impact of joining is great.

There are people from Cumbernauld, Falkirk and Glasgow that come along so we must be doing something right!

There’s a great atmosphere with no egos or competitors - just people who want to get fit.

We have a quote on our website that says“if you want to be an Olympic athlete or a bodybuilder, then this isn’t the place for you”.

It’s all about working together to lose weight in a positive environment with people you get on with.

What is your background in fitness?

I used to be a personal training instructor in the army.

I love fitness so when I left that I worked at a sport centre while I was at university.

Now I work for an educational charity and do this in my spare time.

How many people attend the classes?

On a good day we have around 20 people at a class, but even if only four or five people come along then it still works out really well.

The youngest person we’ve had is 12-years-old and the oldest regular is 56.

Inclusivity is important for the environment here.

Nobody is left out for their age or fitness levels and it’s really pleasing to see everyone encouraging each other.

What do the group have coming up?

We have some members taking part in the Great Scottish Run in September.

We’re also climbing Ben Nevis again in a few months and get a few more munros in before that.

We have a bungee jump planned too and a residential somewhere which we just need to sort dates for.

There’s lots to look forward to.