Brotherly love of fitness earns prestigious award
Two brothers have scooped a top award for providing fitness classes to elderly care home residents.
Tony and Joe Burns were named Scotland’s Personal Trainers of the Year in the Scotland Prestige Awards 2021.
The pair, originally from Uddingston, set up their own business, Burns Gym HQ, before the fantastic initiative to help older clients proved a huge success.
They now run regular classes that are on offer to more than 17,500 care homes across the UK.
The Burns brothers’ classes are devised to achieve better health and wellbeing for home residents and the feedback from care home bosses has been “hugely positive”.
In awarding former Cardinal Newman High School pupils Tony and Joe the top title, organisers of the Scotland Prestige Awards 2021 said they were “particularly impressed by the thoughtful workouts devised by the pair”.
They added: “The judges praised the trainers for providing fun, accessible and inclusive workouts that ensure positive results for all participants.”
Former police officer Tony joined forces with Joe, who previously worked in oil and gas, to become qualified personal trainers.
That led to the duo opening their own private gym in the heart of Glasgow in 2019.
Prior to the pandemic, they started in-person classes at several care homes in the west of Scotland area.
And once lockdown kicked in, the pair switched totally to online workouts for care home audiences.
Tony, 34, said: “We really had to work hard to think of ways we could reach the residents without actually visiting the care homes – which understandably had become impossible. We invested in the technology to allow us to deliver quality classes all over the UK.
“Our goal in these sessions is to increase mobility as well as focusing on the residents’ strength, endurance, balance and co-ordination.
“The full session can be completed in the armchair and targets upper, lower muscles and joints.”
Joe, 37, added: “When we planned our business, we carried out a lot of research and found the CAPA initiative which is Care About Physical Activity focusing on helping residents to become more efficient using exercise.
“With our passion for fitness combined with our love for the elderly – we’ve close bonds with our grandparents – we decided to create a full body functional exercise class deliverable from an armchair.
“Our workouts continuously evolve as we research to ensure we are leading the way.”
The brothers have also had great feedback on the music they select during workouts, which include hits from Frank Sinatra and Perry Como.
Proud of their achievement, Tony and Joe have loved the variety of work they have been able to offer to look after clients in their 20s all the way through to 80-plus.