Inner Athlete Gym

07/09/2026

We say it all the time. Being strong is absolutely essential to be able to handle everything life throws at you. Whether it’s the daily grind, keeping up with the kids, playing your favourite sports, or simply losing weight to feel good about yourself. Being fit and strong is a one way ticket to feeling and looking incredible. Let’s go 🤝

06/09/2026

“No days off” sounds motivating, but it’s not how your body actually improves.

Training is a stimulus. It signals to your body “get stronger, adapt, improve” (if you’re training hard enough).

The actual adaptations happens afterward, during rest, when your body repairs the muscle tissue you worked and rebuilds it slightly stronger than before. When we skip that recovery window too often, we are accumulating more fatigue than your body can keep up with. This tends to show up as plateaued progress, tiredness, or a higher chance of picking up injuries. A rested body will perform better than an overtrained one.

Rest doesn’t have to mean sitting around all day. A walk, some stretching and prioritising sleep all count as genuinely productive recovery alongside a good diet and being hydrated.

So next time you’ve got a rest day scheduled in… don’t feel guilty about it 😉. It’s not a gap in your training plan. It’s a part of it.

05/09/2026

“Fasted cardio burns more fat” is one of the most repeated pieces of fitness advice… and one of the least true.

Here’s what’s actually going on: when you train fasted, your body still has plenty of fuel to draw on (stored glycogen, body fat), so it’s not like it “runs out” and switches to pure fat-burning mode the way people imagine. What the research actually shows is that fat loss over weeks and months comes down to your total energy balance (calories in vs calories out) not whether you had breakfast before your 7am run.

What fasted training often does do is make the session feel harder, because you’re low on immediately available energy. That can mean you move slower, lift less, or cut the session short, all of which work against the progress you’re trying to make.

We’ve also all been aware of people fainting at the gym - often out of nowhere it seems. Here’s what happens: physical activity burns glucose rapidly, causing exercise-induced hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). When your body lacks food before a workout, your blood sugar can drop below normal levels. Your brain and cells lose their main source of energy, leading to sudden dizziness or a loss of consciousness.

So, we’d absolutely prefer that you eat before you come in.

If you’ve been skipping food before training because you thought it would speed things up, try the opposite for a week: a small carb-based snack 30-60 minutes beforehand, and see how your energy and performance change. You might be pleasantly surprised. 🥰

05/09/2026

04/09/2026

Sore two days after a session? That’s Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS). When we train, we inflict tiny little microscopic tears on our muscle tissue, part of the normal adaptation process. It heals back stronger, hence “strength” training. Stimulus —> adaptation.

You may not get DOMS once you’ve been training consistently, but it’s super common in beginners or if you’ve had a week or two off for illness or holiday. So yeah, if you’ve wake up feeling like you’ve been beaten up, you kinda have been, just microscopically, and all for a good cause. Eat well, stay hydrated and try to go for a walk to ease stiffness, especially in the legs!

We hope this helps 😂

03/09/2026

⚠️ Gym Closed – Saturday 5th September

Unfortunately Inner Athlete will be closed this Saturday (5th Sept) due to a planned power cut by SSEN, running 8am–5:30pm. This is a part of SSEN replacing the overhead lines with underground cables so that they are safe and is completely out of our control.

We only received notice of this yesterday through our site office, so we know it’s short notice — we’re really sorry for any disruption to your training this weekend. Again, we know it’s short notice and we didn’t want anyone turning up to a locked door! So please let anyone know that you think will have missed our messages.

We’ll be back to normal from Monday. Thanks for your understanding 💛

Jess, James & The Team

03/09/2026

We get asked a lot: “Is this gym for experienced lifters or more beginners?”

Both. That’s the point.

Inner Athlete is built around the idea that a 12-year-old learning to squat for the first time, a 70-year-old rebuilding balance, and a competitive lifter chasing a new world record can all train in the same space.

Good coaching adapts to the person in front of it, not the other way round. Our community thrives when we all come together from all walks of life, too. And you’ll feel it from the moment you walk in.

02/09/2026

“Functional strength” gets thrown around a lot. Here’s what it means to us: strength that transfers to your actual life.

Carrying shopping or a toddler, getting up off the floor without thinking about it, hauling a laundry basket up the stairs. We programme compound, multi-joint movements like squats, hinges, presses, carries because they build the kind of strength you use every single day, not just the kind that looks good in a mirror.

01/09/2026

Peak bone mass is typically reached by your mid-to-late 20s. After that, without loading through resistance training, bone density gradually declines.

That makes strength training in your teens and twenties one of the best investments that you can make in your body. But, if you skipped training when you were young. Don’t panic.

It’s never too late to start loading your bones. The earlier the better, but “better late than never” absolutely applies here. Start today. We are absolutely here to help you get started and stay strong for life 💕

31/08/2026

Muscle mass naturally declines from our 30s onward… but it doesn’t have to!

Strength training is one of the most effective tools we have for older adults: better balance, fewer falls, stronger bones, and more independence for longer. It’s not about lifting like you’re 25. It’s about lifting like it matters, because it does, at every age.

Some of our proudest members are the ones who walked in nervous about “being too old” and are here three months later doing more than they thought possible.