Raw Strength gym owner Matthew McKay recognised for inspiring community work

Matthew McKay has a heavy load with his business Raw Strength and philanthropic work but it’s a weight he’s happy to bear.

Matthew McKay, personal trainer and owner of gym Raw Strength, was recently recognised with a St Lukes Health Community Award. Picture: MIREILLE MERLET

Self-described as “a pretty big, gruff guy” who is covered in tattoos and drives a V8 Commodore, Matthew McKay is at once an unlikely philanthropist and also exactly what his community needs.

The owner of Raw Strength Tasmania in Moonah – which provides affordable and unpretentious fitness and strength training with a special focus on supporting the aged, disabled and disadvantaged – McKay has recently launched a new endeavour for those who need it most.

Early this year he started a low-cost gym in the Clarendon Vale Neighbourhood Centre where he helps locals who may not otherwise be able to afford to access a gym to meet their goals, and through this challenges the reality for many that “health and fitness is a luxury”.

Rough-appearing on the outside, with a heart of gold on the inside and having grown up in Rokeby and other low socio-economic areas himself, Mr McKay is in a unique position of truly understanding his clientele and being able to help them.

“I grew up in similar government housing, low-income position with a single parent,” he says.

“It means when I say ‘I understand’ or I give advice that it’s coming from a place of true sympathy and that I understand their challenges.

“I am that … gruff looking guy that they have seen at the shops or driving around for years, I am not some stranger from the outside that does not really care.

“Now I am in a position to do something positive and help people, and when I was younger and starting out in my own fitness journey I know it may have been a lot easier if I had access to this.”

Matthew McKay, personal trainer and owner of gym Raw Strength, was recently recognised with a St Lukes Health Community Award. Picture: MIREILLE MERLET

The Clarendon Vale gym is McKay’s philanthropic endeavour, and while it loses him money to run it keeps him grounded in his core purpose of truly wanting to help the disadvantaged.

“At the end of the day I am not wealthy but I am not poor and I always said if I was in a position to help people I would be a bit of a d--- if I didn’t,” he says.

McKay’s clients pay a $5 weekly fee on a needs-basis, and he foots the bill for the cost of operation himself through his Moonah commercial gym, but he says it is all worth it to encourage better health outcomes in the community.

“You can’t give away a service for free or people won’t respect it, it is about finding that sweet spot with what you know they can afford,” he says.

“The people are using the gym fairly regularly now, which is great; two people have also given up cigarettes and some are using it for weight loss.”

The ultimate goal would be to use the Clarendon Vale gym as a prototype to take to other neighbourhood centres across the state, then nationally, to get a wider initiative happening.

“The gym is starting to bring in enough data that we can package up a ‘how-to’ and take it to other vulnerable communities,” he says.

But before this can happen McKay needs more people to sign up to this low-cost gym and also to participate in his main gym at Moonah, which ultimately bankrolls the entire project and has copped a battering due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“We would ideally like some more people to step into our facility and experience what we offer,” he says.

“Post Covid-19 it has been very challenging to recuperate lost financials, and even one or two more people would make a world of difference.”

Phil Menzie (above), who is visually impaired and attends the Raw Strength gym with his labrador Yoda, gets a lot out of training with Matthew McKay. Picture: Mireille Merlet

Mental health was at the forefront of McKay’s concerns during last year’s pandemic lockdowns, so he created opportunities for members to keep connected and training, as well as providing free at-home training programs for the elderly and vulnerable people.

“We also made it our mission to check in with every member once a week to make sure they were dealing with the pandemic as best they could,” he says.

When Mr McKay is not in the gym he continues his years of work in the mental health and disability sectors for his “day job”, which inspires him to create gym programs that really help people.

With a Certificate 4 in Disability Care, Certificate 3 in Aged Care, a Level 1 Strength and Conditioning Accreditation, and being an affiliated and accredited Powerlifting Australia Coach, he has a unique expertise in helping the elderly in injury prevention and disability pain management.

Raw Strength is also a Special Olympics state-affiliated gym helping those with intellectual disabilities. It offers para-lifting training and is the only para-lifting competition in Tasmanian history for those with physical disabilities.

“(Working in the sectors) drew my attention to the struggles for sport and health within that area, so after we got the ball rolling in our gym I reached out to organisations and individuals and invited them for come-and-try days and it just sort of clicked,” McKay says.

“Our members today range from middle-aged women with back and neck injuries to the elderly to teenage football stars, and we design the right program for the right person to create the best results.

“There are so many other stories I could share, too, about helping people with visual impairments and veterans to those with eating disorders.”

McKay has received acclaim for his honourable initiatives since starting Raw Strength in 2016, having received a St Lukes’ Health Healthier Communities Award in 2021, a Tasmanian Young Achiever Award in 2020, and a Motors Homeground Advantage Award grant in 2018.

His journey began with a comment made many years ago by McKay’s mother when training for his earlier sporting interests which included soccer, martial arts and bench-pressing.

“I was pursuing my sport at the time and I suggested she come train with me to help her health and to spend time together, and she said ‘No I am too fat for the gym’,” he says.

“It got me thinking about how few places there were for fragile people to work on their health.

“I wanted somewhere without mirrors and exposing lights drawing attention to faults, and to create a place that does not ask you ‘how much weight do you want to lose?’ but rather ‘what do you want?’ ”

A successful powerlifter himself, McKay has event-managed several national powerlifting competitions in Tasmania.

“This includes hosting powerlifting at the Australian Masters Games and at the Festival of Strength, and we also manage the entirety of the Schools Bench Press Championships and manage all youth inquiries,” he says.

These competitions are all subject to ASI testing under Sports Australia, with drug-free strength being another key driver for McKay.

“Everything we have ever done has been drug-free, we have pushed that from day one. The only pathway for sport is a truly fair pathway,” he says.

With a dynamic, multifaceted gym on his hands, a fledgling philanthropic adventure under way and ideas aplenty about how better to serve his community, McKay is moving forward in his mission while staying true to his core values.

“Hopefully, the next step is another one or two small gyms in rural communities and many more success stories from our members,” he says.●