Jackson and Bonnie McGregor take over Crossfit 4740 gym at Mackay showgrounds
A self confessed former ‘gym bro’ has turned his dreams into a reality by taking over a Crossfit gym alongside his high school sweetheart.
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For Jackson McGregor his love for the gym began when he was about 15 years old, watching his dad work out in the shed.
“Being the competitive person I am, I used to try and compete with him and never succeeded,” he said.
But he started to take his workouts more seriously when as an apprentice on the draglines at the mines he was unable to lift equipment weighing 40-50kg.
“I was only 54 kgs … the boys just pretty much told me, get strong or this job isn’t going to be for you,” he said.
“I started back at the gym everyday and haven’t stopped since.”
The 27-year-old and his wife Bonnie McGregor, 25, who were high school sweethearts, been together 11 years and married since 2021, have taken over ownership of Mackay’s only crossfit affiliate CrossFit 4740.
A self-confessed former “gym bro”, Jackson said he was introduced to crossfit about three and a half years ago when he came across a “random Mat Fraser video” on Facebook.
For the uninitiated Fraser, who has a shorter more solid physique, is considered one of the most dominant male crossfit athletes worldwide.
“I was also a pretty short, stocky fella and (I) started watching some of his videos and looked up CrossFit 4740 and came down for a session,” Jackson said.
And that was it.
“Quit my gym membership immediately and never looked back,” he said.
The competitiveness and camaraderie was what he loved most about the sport.
“My whole life I’ve been pretty competitive … as soon as the workout goes, you’re trying to compete … with someone else, with yourself,” he said.
“And the community too … everyone around you, giving you tips and tricks to get better.”
When it came to buying the gym, located at the Mackay showgrounds, Jackson said Bonnie needed “very little convincing”.
“We’ve always said if it came up for sale we’d buy it,” she said.
“It was Jackson’s dream and we just made it happen.”
Jackson said he hit up the previous owner Kurt Brunker expressing their interest in December 2023 – the business was not for sale at the time – and by February 2024 an agreement was in place with the couple officially taking ownership in at the start of May.
And it’s a dream they achieve around both working full time – Jackson is an electrician at the mines and Bonnie is an accountant – and being parents to two little girls, six-year-old Delilah and three-year-old Havanna McGregor.
“We’re putting everything we’ve got back into Crossfit 4740 … I wouldn’t say it’s scary but it’s definitely been a big change,” Bonnie said.
“We wanted to do it so in our heads we were going to make it work.”
The move has also allowed her regularly go to classes with the flexibility around bringing her children.
“That was the biggest thing for me, finding a gym where you can bring your kids,” she said.
Two months in and the family unit was loving it.
“The transition has been super smooth,” Jackson said, giving a shout out to the supportive community and new members who have since come on board.
Apart from a bit of a layout change up, that Bonnie said took a few people by surprise, there were no major changes in store for the business.
“We just want to keep that community spirit... good energy going,” she said.
And when Jackson isn’t there leading the classes on his days off he has a team of qualified coaches to call on. He also gave a shout out to Bonnie.
“I just stand up and coach, she does absolutely everything else,” he said.
“I’m just here with a smile on my face.”
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