Photo: Neil Jones
It really is the end of an era in Revelstoke.
For the past 41 years Neil Jones has been operating Trans Canada Fitness, but the time has come for him to step back and enjoy semi-retirement.
Jones opened the gym in the early 1980s and admitted it was “a little bit ahead of its time for Revelstoke.”
They say timing is everything and when he opened the gym exercise and weight lifting was just starting to become trendy thanks to movie stars like Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
But with a population of around 6,000, Jones admits it was a bit of a struggle to keep the doors open.
However, he persevered and built a successful business.
Now at 64 years old, and with a physique that could rival any action star, Jones has sold the fitness centre.
Throughout his tenure, Jones said he was, and still is, a staunch anti-steroid advocate and a firm believer in promoting natural fitness.
“That’s one of the things I really stood up for. Maybe at times to my own detriment because I wouldn’t get along with some people,” Jones said. “But I have always made that message very clear about the health aspect of it. I have always stood up for that.”
Jones is also proud of the fact he had the chance to mentor high school students and young people who attended his gym and impressed upon them the importance of healthy standards.
Despite selling the business, Jones is not walking away from his passion for fitness.
“I have a little spot with my daughter and I will still keep my toes in the water, but the main part of it is done,” Jones said. “There was a lot of history.”
Over the last four decades Jones has seen a lot of the changes in the industry.
He said pumping iron has “come out of the basement” and into mainstream society, again thanks in part to buff movie stars gracing the silver screen.
When he opened the business in 1983, he said it “kind of unknown and misunderstood about what it was and what it did.”
Now, of course, there are gyms everywhere with people of all ages working out.
“People have gotten smarter and have a better understanding how to take care of their body,” he said.
And hitting the gym is not for just for younger people. Over the years, Jones has seen an increase in seniors hitting the gym, with his oldest current member being 93 years old.
Another big change he as seen is people using Youtube tutorial videos to help them with their workouts, but that might not always be the best course to take.
“Being shown how to lift properly is key. Not lifting properly can lead to injury as well as lost time in the gym. Nobody likes to get hurt and time spent with a trainer initially will prevent that. Lifting properly is the concrete foundation for everything you do in the gym. If you don’t lay down the foundation, the rest will crumble,” he said, adding some of the most common mistakes people make would be, “not speaking to a professional, relying on friends for information, following instructions found on the internet and buying into the latest marketing trends.”
A physiotherapy group has purchased the gym and will add another dimension of getting healthy and staying in shape to its clients.
Jones has long been a proponent of the medical benefits to working out from dealing with an injury to the physical and mental health aspects of exercise.