Founder Paul Whyatt opened a home-made gym consisting of derelict farm machinery in 1981 in a Three Holes barn, for the training interests of himself and friends.
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However, interest in the gym soon grew which encouraged Mr Whyatt to quit his job at the Metal Box factory and relocate to a larger premises, The Chicken Shed in Christchurch.
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Today, his gym now consists of cutting-edge strength training equipment including nautilus and hammer-strength machines at its North Street home — where it’s flourished since 1985.
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Shapers has evolved with the times but continued to operate like a true gym should.
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Shapers is a bit of a niche gym — it’s very hardcore and you get a strong flavour of that when you arrive. A lot of brand-new gyms are watered down places but we’ve continued to keep our strong brand identity despite installing the newest equipment on the market.
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A gym is a working environment and you can’t buy that ambience, you have to develop it over time, which we really have.
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