An independent gym in Great Blakenham has followed the trend created by big sports centres and is now opening 24 hours a day to provide customers with flexibility and freedom when it comes to their workout.

Since the opening hours at the Kickstart Gym changed three months ago, the club owners have noticed an increase in the number of people who like to do their training outside normal hours.

Alex Welham, one of the owners, said: “It was quite a bit of a transition, but I think a lot of our members found having access to the gym a little bit later or a little bit earlier very handy.”

The owner admitted that he always wanted to create a place where everybody, including shift workers, would be able to enjoy a good workout.

Alex added: “The entire world is going 24 hours, and I don't think gyms are any different. This is something we wanted to offer to our members and just give them a little bit more flexibility.

“There's always going to be people that are struggling to make it if we've got rigid opening hours.

“Having that extra bit of time and freedom is just good for anybody who struggles to make normal times.”

The owner said that the Kickstart Gym is different from other sports clubs.

He said: “When you walk in you won't see any fixed resistance, like machines, because the whole basis and premise of our training is based around what we call functional training.

“The training can be adapted to train your body in order to perform day-to-day functions or it can be sport-specific, so you can build muscles or lose weight.

“We're definitely changing people’s gym habits."

Training at the Kickstart Gym can be a combination of bodyweight exercises, free weight workout and functional based exercises.

The club also offers four-week boot camps, as well as Muay Thai and Sanda sessions for all age groups. Besides the functional training area, the club has got a boxing ring and matted studios for fitness classes.

Alex added: “We set our gym up the way that we would want it to be set up in order to train our clients. Rather than looking at it from an investor's perspective, we looked at it from the perspective of people that use gyms.”