Three years of friendship and fitness.
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Vanguard Fitness celebrated its third birthday on Friday, November 8 with a fairytale and superhero themed workout.
Gym members dressed up in their finest costumes to not only celebrate the business' birthday, but also compete in the last week of the CrossFit Opens, a worldwide competition.
Vanguard owner and coach Phil Evans said the competition was run through the gym's CrossFit program over the past five weeks.
"It's been really good fun and there's been heaps of involvement, heaps of people getting new personal bests and doing things they didn't think they could," he said.
He said it was the perfect combination of exercise and fun to celebrate the anniversary and he was proud of the environment he had created.
"We had a great night, some great costumes and once again the support was off the charts.
"People were getting their very first muscle up or just showing how far their fitness has come," he said.
Evans said he grew up playing sports and being active and that was the reason he wanted to open his own gym.
"I found it helped a lot with the mental side of life and overcoming life's problems and difficulties, I wanted to help other people so I opened up Vanguard," he said.
He did some training and worked with high level coaches and learnt about the different aspects of life right through from nutrition and health, to breathing and mindfulness.
"We opened up here and kicked away," he said.
Evans said Vanguard was very much a community based gym.
"We've got people that started three years ago and are still here, they've become good friends, we've had people walk in the door who didn't know anyone and make friends for life.
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"We've been involved in the community through having TAFE and high school groups down here.
"We aim to be all inclusive so anyone is able to come and train," he said.
He said the environment had grown in the last three years from having half-a-dozen gym members to almost 100.
"We've also got several different programs now including a bootcamp, kids program and teens program," he said.
Vanguard has also been involved in community fundraisers including Burpees for Bowel Cancer, White Ribbon and the Resilience festival.
Evans said the last three years had been a rollercoaster of ups and downs.
"In this industry I find people come in and get great results, however a lot of people - when financial pressure is on, lose their gym membership which should be the last thing because of what it does for your overall health and mental health," he said.
He said his journey however had been amazing and he was pleased he had the opportunity to help people.
"It's not just physical training, it's helping people out in lots of ways and making good friends from it.
"I've learnt a lot myself and it's been a really good journey and it's going to continue," he said.
Evans wanted to thank Vanguard coaches and members for their support over the last three years.
"They're a great bunch of people always willing to help out with anything, whether they're in here changing weights, judging or cheering people on," he said.
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