January gym-goers hoping to fight festive fat welcomed with open arms at Bilston gym

Though the bane of some serious fitness fanatics who now have to queue for their favourite piece of equipment, one gym in Bilston is welcoming them with open arms.

Iron Masters is offering 20 per cent discounts to anyone who signs up this month and has confidence in his members to make anyone feel welcome.

Co-owner Santino Sellick told the Express & Star: "We have seen a rise in numbers of people coming into the gym for the first time, or the first time for a while since New Year's Day.

"It takes a lot of guts to walk into any gym, whatever shape you are in, so I know at Iron Masters we are a community and we support each other."

He said: "We have all been over-indulging over the Christmas period, us gym owners too - we like our Christmas dinners too. You only live once, enjoy yourself and then work it off.

"So there is no way any of our community would take the mick out of anyone who is trying to get fit. What I love about Iron Masters is when one of our members beat his personal dead lift best the whole gym stopped and gave him a round of applause."

He added: "Anyone who walks in here will get one-to-one support, nutritional advice and the chance to use a personal trainer."

One of the latest popular fitness trends this year is women who want to emulate female fighters who have been successful in the boxing ring and MMA octagon.

Santino said: "We helped Katie Healy with her strength and conditioning before she became the new WBF Super Bantamweight champion after beating Matshidiso Mokebisi in South Africa in January.

"And Katie's success has really inspired a lot of women come into the gym, in the past many females have been reluctant to get involved with weights in case they end up looking too masculine. However, thanks to Katie's success and her being a champion but still looking so feminine we are getting a lot more new members wanting to follow our strength and conditioning programmes."

Iron Masters was set up by brothers Santino and Carlo Sellick in 2018 and has become a magnet for everyone from professional fighters and people just wanting to feel better about themselves.

As well as seeing an increase in female members Iron Masters is seeing more children coming through the doors, having slashed £10 off the membership for youngsters.

Santino said: "We know there is a cost of living crisis, so we know parents will be worrying about the cost of sending three children to the gym so we cut our prices.

"We do a bit of mentoring as well to keep the kids on the straight and narrow, and fitness is a great way of keeping our children healthy."

He added: "Whether new January members are men, women or youngsters we all ensure there is social interaction between everyone in the gym. It is great to see members become friends over the year."