Lee Mullins loves fitness, he also loves health and wellness. And so, Lee along with Hani Farsi, who is a philanthropist and successful entrepreneur in the entertainment and hospitality industries, have seamlessly combined their expertise and know-how to offer Workshop.
Lee Mullins, Workshop Gymnasium
So much more than a gym, Workshop is a 360 degree lifestyle brand and one of the fastest growing luxury health and lifestyle companies. And guess what? You and your needs and goals are placed at the very heart of it.
Workshop Gymnasium, London
Lee and his group of experts specialize in personalized fitness regimes to suit the individual needs and goals of their clients, and it’s taken to the next level with thorough and extensive assessments. From metabolic to allergy testing, the results are compiled to allow for data-driven workouts, leaving out the guesswork. As a result, it’s significantly more efficient, not to mention effective, when it comes to achieving goals.
It all began when Lee and Hani first began training together in 2010, and in 2014 they combined forces to mix up the fitness landscape. Where can we find these gyms? Well, this is where it gets a little bit fancy, as you’ll find them nestled in the 5-star Bulgari Hotels around the world.
Their debut outpost in London launched that year and can be found at the edge of Hyde Park, housed within the spa of the Bulgari in Knightsbridge. It soon attracted the distinguished, the discerning and celebrities alike, all visiting for the fitness expertise as well as the calm space that elevates the workout experience.
Workshop quickly grew due to its London success, along with demand from their traveling clients, and as such the pair opened their second location in the Bulgari Hotel, Milan in 2016. Since then, we can now find the Workshop in Bali, Beijing, Dubai, and Shanghai hotels, and excitingly Paris is launching next year.
I love the set up of the gyms, designing and bringing it to life - going into the hotels they have a countdown period to the opening so getting it ready is really exciting. You're surrounded by incredible people and everyone's working together, it's a great experience.
Of course there is a undeniable glamorous and luxe element to Workshop gyms, but Lee realizes for some, a gym may be a little daunting so a balance is struck where they’re also approachable and welcoming - something that is rare to find in the industry.
It’s all about living a healthy lifestyle where workouts and health go hand-in-hand, and really there are no gimmicks, it’s an integral part of looking after yourself. Plus, Lee and his team look at other elements such as breathing and stretching to ensure clients get the most out of their session, and allows for a quick recovery.
With the fitness down, the next step was tackling the supplement market, and that came about in 2017 when they partnered with Designs for Health. The result? Their very own their range of all-natural, science-based Workshop Nutritional Supplements consisting of Gut Cleansing Formula, Multi-Vitamin Formula, Essential Greens, Organic Vanilla Pea Protein Formula, Organic Chocolate Pea Protein Formula, Essential BCAA Powder and Probiotic + Prebiotic.
They've been specially designed to be adapted to different lifestyles - they’re vegan and vegetarian-friendly. They are also free from gluten, artificial sweeteners and GMO ingredients to broaden the appeal.
Felicity Carter: How did it all start for you? Have you always loved wellness and fitness?
Lee Mullins: Yes, I always played football growing up and I played to a pretty decent level when I was a kid, I used to play for Fulham and Crystal Palace for a period of time - I loved being active.
In my teens I got injured and tore my ankle ligaments and during the rehab of that, I really got into strength training. I loved it so much that I went onto get my gym and personal training qualifications when I left high school. I took a gap year working in gyms and training people, and it was during this time that I found what I wanted to do.
From there, I enrolled at university to study science of sports and nutrition, and I was still training people alongside university work. I loved the idea of health being a byproduct of the job as well as the gym-based training element.
FC: What do you look for in a trainer?
LM: I look for trainers who inherently care about people, trainers who want to go above and beyond for their clients. That's incredibly important to me as it is a 24/7 job communicating with clients.
Personality and charisma are important too, our trainers are in the people business and therefore they need to be able to connect with their clients to get the most out of them. Ultimately people go to a gym to make a change, whatever that change may be, and that combined with the fact that gyms, on the whole, tend to be intimidating adds to the pressure. We work hard to ensure that our clients are comfortable from the get-go.
Our trainers also have to have the skillset to ensure the client reaches their goal, whether it's to move better, become leaner, stronger and it's the connection that helps them to push on to achieve that goal. And if they visit us 4 times a week, they're probably spending more time with the trainers than their families so it's important our coaches are able to quickly connect with people to ensure clients are responsive.
FC: What is the USP of Workshop?
LM: We offer tailored and bespoke training and lifestyle programs that we put together based on the series of body assessments that we take every client through. And we have a range of tests depending on the client and their ultimate goal.
For example, everyone will go through the body composition assessment, through the movement screen, and then depending on the person, we can look at nutrition, genetics, food allergies, metabolic rate, and hormones. We offer tests in every one of our outposts, with London having the most on offer.
Essentially the data drives the program. From all the assessments that we do, we then take that data and we are in a strong position to create a completely personalized program that enables the client to achieve their aim.
FC: So next up is your Paris outpost in 2020...
LM: Yes, and we'll be opening it towards the end of the year. It's an exciting one for us. A large proportion of our clients here in London are French, perhaps a third who spend their time between the two cities, so we already have a client base there.
Each city is uniquely different and complex with different elements at play; there's no one template that can be rolled out for all of our outposts and we embrace that. It does take time to build a business in each city but with Paris, we're lucky to have a client crossover and we'll build on that to make it even stronger. Also, the team on the Paris project is the same team we initially worked together with in London 5 years ago, so they know exactly what we do and what we stand for.
FC: What are your favorite aspects of the job?
LM: I love training people. As Workshop has expanded globally, I've realized this even more as I get pulled into the role of running a business. I have to say training, being with the clients and being in the gym with the team is the best part 100%.
I also love learning, it's great being in an environment where I'm able to learn from others. I took a couple of the team members to L.A. on a four-day course earlier in the year and that was fun. It's important to continue to upskill and to bring back that knowledge in-house and to apply, and grow on that expertise.
I've also found that now what's become really enjoyable is working on the other parts of the business that Workshop can venture into such as the products and getting into the merchandising. I find it really fun and it's so creative.
We also get requests to travel with clients from all over the world; they put a huge value on training in their downtime, looking after themselves, and it is a huge honor that people will bring you into their fold.
FC: Tell us about the products...
LM: Our products are essentially apart of the Workshop service; we use them authentically during and at the end of sessions. We have a collection of seven products at the moment, and we're looking at expanding the line to provide a wide range of nutrition solutions to support clients health.
We realize that for some people, sometimes it's easier to use a powder and make a drink whether it's to enhance your health or enhance your recovery, and so we wanted to offer quality products.
Something further down the line will be a digital platform, which will further the Workshop experience. Here we'll be looking at and tracking training programs, sleep, nutrition and breathing, no matter which outpost you are at in the world you'll have simple and quick access to our coaches too.
Workshop Gymnasium, Bulgari Hotel, 171 Knightsbridge, London, SW7 1DW, UK
https://www.forbes.com/sites/felicitycarter/2019/12/17/the-rise-of-the-workshop-gymnasium-a-new-global-health-experience/
2019-12-17 10:03:15Z
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