A new gym will fill Warrnambool’s last video outlet in Henna Street next month as fitness businesses continue to sprout up around the city.

Ben Dalton will open F45 on June 16, in the iconic shop which has been vacant for almost two years.

The operation will be the city’s 14^th gym, but it isn’t your normal weights-based centre.

Mr Dalton, a university qualified sports scientist, will combine high-intensity circuit-training workouts in a funky class environment  – complete with loud music and the latest tech gadgets.

“It’s personal training in a group environment,” Mr Dalton said. 

“The sense is that there is nothing like this in Warrnambool – which is why it’s so successful (worldwide). It turns into a culture and a family – a bit of a community.” 

Warrnambool City Council’s Active Warrnambool guidelines listed 45.4 per cent of local adults as taking part in insufficient amounts of physical activity. Mr Dalton hopes the success of F45 around the globe will provide the same results in the south-west. 

“I’ve had a lot of success with my own fitness and with clients (at F45) and was really excited to bring it back to Warrnambool,” he said.

Fitness initiatives have grown considerably in recent years.

The Active Warrnambool draft strategy listed personal fitness and gym as the third-most popular means of exercise (32.7 per cent) in April 2017, compared with 12 per cent in 2007.

In 2015 The Standard reported there were 10 gyms in the Warrnambool region, excluding personal trainers operating from home. 

At least two of the current gyms are open 24 hours and one is female-only, encouraging a different demographic of clients. 

Warrnambool is above the national average (28.7 per cent) for participation in organised fitness, with 32.8 per cent of residents opting for such types.

Warrnambool City Council’s Kim White said the demand for fitness ensured the industry continued to thrive.

But it’s the new wave of personal trainers and home studios that are popping up every day. 

Warrnambool resident and Rudy’s Boxing owner Rodney Ryan has had a full-time home business for almost six years. 

He said clients enjoyed the flexibility and personal aspect of home fitness.

“I think the fact is that I’m a local, people know me and I’m the one always there – not an employee,” he said.

“My clients are all pretty regular – we specialise in boxing and cater for a specific type of people.

“We’ve been really lucky in that people have moved to Warrnambool just to train at our gym.”

But is their room for 14 gyms and a plethora of personal trainers in Warrnambool?

“We’ll probably all plateau a little at some stage but at the end of the day, as long as people are getting active in some way, somewhere, I’m happy,” Mr Ryan said.

The range of different gyms cover personal preferences, with several having niche markets.

With an already above-average focus on organised or club sports (17 per cent versus the state average of 9.8 per cent), the shift now is to include individuals and those outside the playing demographic in fitness classes or gym use. 

Iron Force Gym manager Hope Town said their specific focus is on non-commercial weightlifting and strength training, which is what keeps clients coming back. 

“We definitely target the minority. We cater for a small niche and we know who we want to target,” Ms Town said.

And Curves, the long-running female-friendly franchise, prides itself on offering a safe environment for women to train.