Chris Hemsworth’s exercise physiologist has opened his own gym banning millennials from joining.
Jonathan Freeman founded Club Active in Castle Hill, north-west of Sydney, to help Baby Boomers get fit like the other generations.
However, the 35-year-old decided to take it a step further and ban millennials from the gym.
“There’s lots of offerings in mainstream fitness, but there’s really no offerings when it comes to the Baby Boomer market,” Mr Freeman told The Daily Telegraph.
“Club Active was born out of a need for those over 50 to exercise in a safe, fun, non-intimidating environment.”
“As an exercise physiologist, I’ve just seen so many people over 50 who needed help with exercise, but didn’t want to go into a mainstream gym environment because the support wasn’t there.”
He claims the reason why seniors don’t go to the gym is because of the intimidation they’re faced with when going to an all ages/sexes gym.
“The majority of Australians, no matter how old they are, know that exercise is important for them to do … and the biggest barrier to a lot of people walking into a gym is the intimidation (relating) to what, in the past, gyms have always been,” he said.
“We want Club Active to change the way people think about exercise and to change the way people think about going into a gym.”
When the gym opened, a media alert was sent out informing those born after 1970 “need not apply”.
“Sydney’s exclusive new fitness club banning all Millennials, gym junkies and fitness posers has opened in Castle Hill and is set to change the way Sydney Boomers view health and fitness,” it read.
He argued that the policy was not discriminatory, because all one had to do was read the Club Active website to notice you actually didn’t have to be over 50 to join.
“I’m not worried because if you look at (Club Active’s) website, it talks about the over 50s but never says you have to be over 50 to join,” he said.
“We’re very comfortable catering towards the Baby Boomer population … but if you want to exercise at any age, Club Active will be able to help — you just might not be around younger people.”
Mr Freeman hopes to open 100 clubs across Australia in the next five years, as well as launching overseas.
Image: Instagram
This article first appeared on OverSixty.