Former Sport and Exercise student Beth opens Lift Club gym at age of 25!

Beth, who attended College from 2017 to 2019, is the proud owner of Lift Club with a mission to make gym training inclusive, enjoyable, progressive and empowering. 

She is part of a passionate eight-strong workforce at the Thirkill Park premises in Pannal and, at the moment, delivers almost half of the 60 weekly classes the gym offers herself.

Lift Club’s Fuel and Recover Bar also produces and sells healthy food and drink options, including protein shakes, bars, yoghurt, granola, coffee, different types of herbal tea and pre-cooked meals made by Beth, who admits that her passion for nutrition and performance was first fuelled by her time studying at Sim Balk Lane.

Further eye-catching features include what is believed to be the first ice bath in a Harrogate gym and an attractive £30 First Timer offer, which allows purchasers to try out an unlimited number of classes within a one-week period.

Just like York College’s newly launched Ladies Who Lift classes, Beth wants women to feel as comfortable as men in a weight-training environment and also seeks to offer workout programmes matched to all ability levels.

Reflecting on her first month of business, Beth said: “The clients have been absolutely wonderful. I enjoy helping people focus on different aspects of their life and we offer personal adaptations and one-to-one service within small groups. We put together programmes to help people recover from injuries and look to provide a service for anybody of any ability. 

“We have also given a lot of thought to how we can make our membership options flexible, including class credits, because we want something that might fit with everybody’s time and budget constraints. 

“I really enjoy supporting different people and everyone has their own reasons for coming to the gym. Some want to be healthier and fitter just so they can play more with their kids and enjoy a long, happy life.” 

There is also a double meaning behind the name Beth has chosen for her gym. 

“Lifting weights is what we do and we look to make people stronger, but we also look to lift each other as a community,” she explained.

After leaving College, Beth studied Sport and Exercise Nutrition at Leeds Beckett University for three years and qualified as a Personal Trainer, before going on to work at a number of gyms and became an Area Manager across a number of different sites.

She opened her first Lift Club at Harrogate West Business Park in 2023 but has invested £250,000 in the move to bigger premises and admits that she has always been entrepreneurial and is putting her “heart and soul” into the new venture.

On how York College was responsible for igniting her interest in pursuing a fitness and well-being career pathway, Beth added: “When I left school, I didn’t feel that I was built for the traditional A Level route. I didn’t have a real enthusiasm for any of the subjects and my biggest passion was always sport and exercise.

“I also had really supportive parents who were happy for me to follow that path. York College offered me what I wanted to do and, living in Leeds, wasn’t too far away.

“I really enjoyed the breadth of what was on offer on the course and the subjects that were covered. There were so many different aspects to it and it was so varied.

“It wasn’t too niche and that helped me discover that my passion was nutrition and performance and the course allowed me to specialise on that afterwards at university.”

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