British Figure girlie moving to Wellington!

[Dinahlady]

Just thought I would introduce myself,

I've been training at a spit and sawdust gym in Southampton UK with some UKBFF finalists for about 6 months now with the goal to compete in a figure (the category is called bodyfitness in UKBFF) competition next year but have decided to relocate to Wellington NZ where my father lives for the Winter (NZ summer!) at least. And hopefully get a job as a Personal trainer as I have my UK qualification for that.

Any info on gyms in the area where there might be others with similar goals would be helpful, also gyms that would be good to apply to work at. or just general hello's etc would be nice to get to know some bodybuilders or bodybuilding ladies as there aren't many at all in the UK! I've only met one or two in Southampton!

My training's going great so far, I dropped down to about 15% bodyfat in a trial cut I did a few months back and am now bulking the areas I saw needed work and am 5ft 7 (and a half!) and am around 70kg and about 19% bf atm. If working in NZ goes well I may be looking to compete out there instead of coming back to the UK, so we will see how it goes!

Thanks!

[mike27]

hi and welcome aboard

[Kracka]

I'll say what every guy on here is thinking...pics!

[Dontrunwithknives]

I'll say what every guy on here is thinking...pics!

ILY NH

And welcome Dinahlady

[wgtnmuscle]

yep....pic's

[teamfatboy]

Welcome....

For gyms with like-minded people, probably Les Mills - Either LM Extreme on Taranaki St in the city, or Hutt City, in Lower Hutt.

CityFitness Thorndon, Porirua or Upper Hutt, as second-tier choices.

There are a couple of womens-specific chains (Contours and Configure, but I don't think I've ever seen a bodybuilder, in any class at all, come out of there.

There's a couple of gyms out at Paraparaumu on the Kapiti Coast, members like Shutupandsquat and PeterDolan would know more than I do.

For spit-and-sawdust gyms, The Powerhouse is a powerlifting stronghold - by comparison, Les Mills is shiny-land

[scrambledeggs]

I'll say what every guy on here is thinking...pics!

:nod:

[Dinahlady]

Yeah I've been told about a few of those gyms. Powerhouse sounds awesome but I don't know if there would be any bodybuilders there or just strongman/lifters. So might go for Les Mills extreme as I'll be living like 15 minute walk from taranaki st. I heard one called Bodyworks was supposed to be good but my cousin told me that from when he was younger???

And guys! gotta get to know a girl first before she posts pics!

[Shutupandsquat]

I've heard Les Mills is a really good one. Powerhouse is bodybuilding friendly, but a majority of the customers are powerlifters (or along those lines). There's also City Fitness Thorndon. Not sure how good it is actually, but I'll be going there over the next few months for some training sessions with Supry (A very successful bodybuilder in NZ - yeah I just wanted to say that to feel cool).

There'll be a few female only gyms, but from what I've heard, it's just a bunch of fat chicks who don't know what they're doing. Sorry, that's what I've heard, I don't actually know (mainly because I've never been able to train there).

Good luck finding the gym that you want

[thatwaslight]

welcome 8)

[Dinahlady]

Well I wanna find a good gym so I might have to go have a look around a couple when I get there, I've got a list that consists of

City fitness

Les mills

Bodyworks

Sportswide

Club phys

Exodus

Powerhouse

(I also have Worlds gym, pro fitness and contours gym but my cousin wasn't sure if those still existed anymore)

I'm basically looking for a gym with a good atmosphere where everyone isn't going to look at me weird cos I'm a girl if I start deadlifting noisily or going red and making grunting noises 8)

[Grover]

Well I wanna find a good gym so I might have to go have a look around a couple when I get there, I've got a list that consists of

City fitness

Les mills

Bodyworks

Sportswide

Club phys

Exodus

Powerhouse

(I also have Worlds gym, pro fitness and contours gym but my cousin wasn't sure if those still existed anymore)

I'm basically looking for a gym with a good atmosphere where everyone isn't going to look at me weird cos I'm a girl if I start deadlifting noisily or going red and making grunting noises 8)

Sounds like you will fit right in at Power house then!

[drizzt]

Welcome!

I'm basically looking for a gym with a good atmosphere where everyone isn't going to look at me weird cos I'm a girl if I start deadlifting noisily or going red and making grunting noises 8)

In that case... Powerhouse could be the go for you 8) I'm a member (along with a few others on this board), and love the gym... but I'm currently a powerlifter. However, will definitely be sticking around should I switch to the light side/back to rugby.

To be honest though, if you're looking for fellow figure/bodysculpters/bodybuilders to train alongside, you won't find too many currently at the House. A few that might fancy themselves as such, sure :pfft: But not many (if any?) that really do it at the moment. If this is a big must have for you, Les Mills will probably suit you better.

Great atmosphere at the House though, and friendly bunch of guys/girls who won't be offended should you bang a few weights around and/or want a chat. Contact Old Bull on these forums (the gym owner) if you'd like to hear more about it and/or stop in for a browse :nod:

[HarryB]

Where exactly is powerhouse in wgtn, just so I know when I am over so I can come and train!

[nate225]

Where exactly is powerhouse in wgtn, just so I know when I am over so I can come and train!

Up Taranaki Street across from Wellington High School.

Best strength facility in NZL in my humble opinion. Would be sweet for BBing if you had a like minded training partner, otherwise Les Mill Extreme is the best bet (tho its way too shiny & overpriced for me! :pfft: ).

[HarryB]

Where exactly is powerhouse in wgtn, just so I know when I am over so I can come and train!

Up Taranaki Street across from Wellington High School.

Best strength facility in NZL in my humble opinion. Would be sweet for BBing if you had a like minded training partner, otherwise Les Mill Extreme is the best bet (tho its way too shiny & overpriced for me! :pfft: ).

ok I know the area, lived just up near there for a while. Ummm as long as there is a free squat rack for my curls! (I'll bring my own mirror!)

[nate225]

ok I know the area, lived just up near there for a while. Ummm as long as there is a free squat rack for my curls! (I'll bring my own mirror!)

Picture is a row of 8 PowerStations.

The first 6 have 200kg in 20s plus 10s,5s,2.5s,1.25 each has their own bar.

The platforms have 36mm of chipboard with 18mm thick of rubber on each side and a 18mm center strip.

Squats, Deads, Bench, Cleans, Shoulders, everything you can do without leaving The Station. Each has its own Saftey's which are adjustable plus used for bands.

There 7 Normal width Stations 110mm between uprights and 3 Narrow width for the wide squatters and each has its own chin bar.

House Rule: If you can Squat or Pull more than 200kg then you are allowed on the 2 Stations where the photo is taken from. These have 280kg on them and off to the side in pts corner there are 2 more PowerStations with 340kg and pts 400kg.

The Boxes are Technique boxes used for pulls, Box Squats, etc, 12" (330mm), 6" (150mm), 3" 75mm.

[HarryB]

Trying to scare me cuzz??? It worked!!!!!!!! :shock:

[rovr4on]

i goto cityfitness thorndon, and do see a few ladies there during the day who are bbers, can hear them yelping during their snatches etc..I like the equipment there, seems solid, rather than many others gyms where it seems tacky...

[majorflavazz]

if you can get ahold or darren and jamie onekawa in wellington they will be very helpfull for you in the bodybuilding and competition side of things,dareens a ifbb pro and his mrs competes aswell i think they at les mills gym

[teamfatboy]

Well I wanna find a good gym so I might have to go have a look around a couple when I get there, I've got a list that consists of

City fitness

Les mills

Bodyworks

Sportswide

Club phys

Exodus

Powerhouse

(I also have Worlds gym, pro fitness and contours gym but my cousin wasn't sure if those still existed anymore)

I'm basically looking for a gym with a good atmosphere where everyone isn't going to look at me weird cos I'm a girl if I start deadlifting noisily or going red and making grunting noises 8)

Bodyworks is now part of the CityFitness chain - there's some good bodybuilders there, like Shutupandsquat says. Supry Sos, who's a trainer there, has a female client who was in the recent NZIFBB show in Novice Figure Tall, and there are a few other strong women there but few competitors.

You can make the noises and turn red or white at CityFitness, as Runveerun will attest from when we trained there together... You can lift heavy there, no worries - three squat racks, two smith machines, a good range of free weights, but if you're living 15min from LM Extreme...

Exodus in Tory Street - very mainstream, perhaps not as well equipped for Bodybuilding as either CityFatness Thorndon or LM Extreme, although it does have a good brand of group fitness. But still quite well equipped, for which you pay.

Not too sure what's happened to Club Phys and Sportswide - I've a feeling CityFatness gobbled them up into the chain, the word was they were buying up clubs to build a franchise.

When it comes to trainers for competitions, apart from Supry, at LM Extreme there's Philly Nuku, Hayley Freeman, Joe Ulberg, John Leonard or Des Foo - all of whom are currently training - in fact to my knowledge the first three are all competing at the moment.

Les Mills Extreme does tolerate noises, grunting and funny colours - I can attest to that from a hard back training hour with Hayley Freeman last summer :shifty: .

I like Powerhouse, just wish it was more convenient...

If you want to know what sort of prices to expect, have a look on the NZ online Auction site Trademe. In most cases, it should be possible to avoid paying transfer fees if you're buying someone else's membership - but the point is to give you a gauge on what to expect.

[drizzt]

I like Powerhouse, just wish it was more convenient...

I was the same at first, but wanted it bad enough, so I (and my TP) started travelling :grin: 35mins walk from work is a good warmup, and it is a fair drive on the weekends from home (or walk if we're feeling fit!), but the extra travel is a small price to pay for the awesome gym... I reckon anyway 8)

Anyway, I digress, good post TFB - if you're looking for trainers, Les Mills Extreme is probably your best bet IMHO :nod: Especially if Taranaki St is handy to you.

[teamfatboy]

I was the same at first, but wanted it bad enough, so I (and my TP) started travelling :grin:

Yep, good point, and it's not like Wellington's a big city. I was just spoiled with a decent membership rate at CityFatness which was practically outside my office door :?

You'll find a lot of good advice under the links at the top of the page, but for classes in the two main federations:

NABBA

NZIFBB.

In terms of working as a personal trainer, a search on here will throw up some advice and commentary in previous threads.

[Dinahlady]

I'm not bothered about the cost I got that covered, and I'm not bothered about travelling, here in the UK I go to two gyms, a convenience (shiny) leisure center for my cardio and some workouts which I still have to walk 25 mins to, and the bodybuilding one I go to which I have to walk 15 minutes take a 15 minute train then walk another 10 minutes!

I think Powerhouse sounds good and I would fit in there, I do want to have that contact with bodybuilders as well though because if I do want to compete in NZ I will need some help as I have never competed before I will need help with tanning, drying out and carb loading etcccc as I'd like to have contact with someone with experience for those things! I like doing things my own way and don't really want a "trainer" just people with experience to give me a hand!

I'm also not so sure about the categories in NZIFBB as its different to UKBFF, I'm pretty sure I'd be competing in Novice figure tall would that be right? as I'm 5ft7 and my first show.

Well I've looked up on googlemaps and I'll be living in brooklyn so powerhouse apparently is a 10 minute walk, exodus is close as well. but that might not matter depending on where I end up working, as you said wellingtons pretty small.

I think that cityfitness is like the other side of wellington though to Brooklyn so might be out of the question. I'll want to train as soon as I arrive so might end up joining powerhouse if its more convenient then after that think about Les mills extreme.

I'll be looking for a job as a PT as well so depends where that ends up being so I'll definitely be heading into probably all the gyms to scout out PT positions and places to train.

Sooo excited

[falla]

Go to Mils at the moment, it is an alright gym, good price with student rates but the pt's are shit (Like most gyms i guess).

Might move to power house when i go uni, or use uni gym.

*Edit*

I dont use pt's. I just see them doing stupid things with clients.