Read about trainer Luke Parkinson ➔

I first picked up a barbell at high school in the 1970s. But I worked in disability support and hospitals and healthcare for over two decades, before moving into fitness over the last decade.

My family and I developed the Tortoise gym brand and concept as a response to the limitations of the gyms we experienced and worked in and owned and used. Tortoise leans into the reality that good things take time, that slow and steady gets there in the end, and that health and fitness is our journey as much as it is our goal. We thought gyms should be aesthetically pleasing, biophilic spaces that were as attractive as they were useful or utilitarian. We thought gyms should do a better job of guiding members as to what constitutes good exercise, a good workout.

That’s our direction of travel with Tortoise but, like all good things, it’ll take time for all those aspects to come to fruition.

• BA (Otago University)
• Certificate in Fitness Instructing (AUT)
• Certificate in Personal Training (AUT)