Gym is Hodgson’s new force
Claire Tyrrell
Friday, 21 July 2017 12:15AM
If there’s anyone who knows about using the gym to come back from injury, it’s Matt Hodgson.
The former Western Force captain said injury prevention and rehabilitation would be a big part of his new F45 gym in Subiaco.
For Hodgson, 36, this would be his third F45 gym but one he can devote a lot more attention to since retiring from rugby this month.
“We get a lot of people coming back from injury,” he said.
“Because I’ve had pretty much every injury there is, I can help people with their rehabilitation sessions and can do things outside of classes to build their strength.”
F45 combines cardio and resistance training in 45-minute group classes with 3000 combinations to provide a huge variation of classes.
The discipline has taken off since Hodgson brought the training method to WA three years ago, opening gyms in West Leederville and Perth Airport. He said people were drawn to F45 for its convenience and group approach.
“It’s great for time-poor people and we work around communities rather than individuals — people often come in not knowing anyone and end up making friends,” he said.
Matt and his wife Jodie Hodgson, who will run the gym together, are focusing on mental health as well through the gym’s support of charity Livin, which raises awareness of suicide and mental health issues.
“A lot of people think of fitness to get physically better but we’re trying to improve their long-term mental health too,” he said.
Hodgson can attest to the success of F45 — he used it in the later years of his rugby career to get into shape in the pre-season. “I had a pre-season off and did six weeks of F45 and got the same results as a 12-week (rugby training) program,” he said. Hodgson’s wife Jodie said the gym helped with Matt’s mental health, giving him an outlet after rugby.
“When athletes retire they can often feel lost because they’ve lost that connection. I think Matt will miss that locker room banter,” she said.
The new F45 Subiaco Gym opens on August 19.
https://thewest.com.au/news/wa/gym-i...-ng-b88541481z
