Club Active: New Sydney gym bans Millennials from working out

The owner of a gym chain for people born before 1970 has said he’s copping backlash after banning young people from his fitness centres.

A new gym set up by Chris Hemsworth’s exercise physiologist has opened its doors in Sydney – but not everyone is welcome inside.

Jonathan Freeman owns Club Active, an Australian gym chain for the over 50s that has a blanket ban on Gen Xers born after 1970, Millennials and Gen Zs from its training facilities.

His most recent facility just opened in Castle Hill that unlike mainstream gyms he says, is a “safe space for Boomers”.

“Mainstream gyms are certainly not designed to support this age group, nor are they overly welcoming, which often impacts their motivation for and ability to exercise comfortably and regularly,” Jonathan told news.com.au.

Jonathan Freeman owns Club Active, a gym chain for the over 50s only. Picture: Studio 10

“The truth is, the traditional gym environment can often be intimidating for the ageing population which is why I set out to create a space that was welcoming, supportive and fun and catered specifically to their needs.

“Having parents in the active Baby Boomer space, it was important for me to ensure that they could change the way they exercise – and that they had a space where they felt comfortable to do so.”

In order to achieve his goal of “reinventing retirement” Jonathan had to tackle “gym-timidation” and made the decision to ban younger gym-goers from his space.

“I wanted to create a space where the over 50s age group felt completely comfortable to exercise safely and at their own pace,” he said.

Jonathan is responsible for keeping Chris Hemsworth in shape when filming – but the star can’t attend his gym. Picture: Instagram

Club Active has seven gyms in locations across NSW and Queensland all of which cater to those born before 1970.

During an interview on Studio 10 recently discussing the ban – which also applies to posers and gym junkies – Jonathan said he had experienced “push back” from Millennials, stating: “I’m okay with that.”

Boomers on Facebook greeted the news with similar gusto, with one declaring “this is my kind of gym”.

The exercise physiologist is ‘okay’ with the criticism. Picture: Instagram

Jonathan was the trainer responsible for keeping actor Chris Hemsworth’s body in peak condition when filming Thor.

“The big thing with Chris is ensuring he was distributing forces evenly throughout to avoid unnecessary loads on the joints that were giving him grief,” he toldMen’s Health recently.

“Together with some hands-on physio, exercise rehabilitation and his personal training [with celebrity trainer Luke Zocchi], as everyone can see, we had him looking and moving incredibly well.”