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“I started Forge Life after I watched strength training change my parents’ quality of life in their late 60s. But they’d only train with me or their physio.

I believe training in a group is what keeps people coming back for years. Yet everything I found for them was either too gentle or too unsafe and intimidating. So I built a programme designed for the second half of life: small classes, and a programme that covers strength, balance, mobility, stability and a bit of cardio. Everyone starts with a one-hour assessment, so we can find the right level for you and take any condition or pain into account.

It started with my parents. But I want to make it available to more people, one neighbourhood at a time.”

— Ines, founder

Why we exist

Add life to your years.

Modern medicine has helped us live longer than ever, but too many of those extra years are lived in poor health.

The best way to protect the quality of those years is to take a preventative approach, and we believe the best medicine for that is exercise. But not just any exercise: the kind that pushes you, done alongside others.

Gyms were built for looks.

The fitness industry was born long before research showed how much exercise does for our health. So it was designed around how you look, how you perform and what the scale says.

That’s why it mostly speaks to people who are already fit, and leaves most of us intimidated by the place, the machines and the culture.

We exercise for life.

We believe exercise is the most powerful way to live a full life, whatever your age, whatever your level, and whatever that means to you:

  • The energy to be the heart of the party at your kids’ wedding
  • The strength to play tennis for decades to come
  • The mobility and stability to spend a full day in the garden without a sore back
  • The stamina to keep up with your grandkids
  • The clear head to enjoy your favourite novels

We exercise for health.

Exercise protects the three things that make all of that possible:

  • Your independence. Strength, balance and mobility naturally decline over the years. That’s not a bad thing in itself, but we don’t want them to drop so far that you lose your independence. Well-targeted exercise can delay that decline.
  • Your physical health. Regular exercise is linked with a lower risk of many chronic diseases, such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and bone loss.
  • Your mind. Exercise lifts your mood and keeps your thinking sharp. Research links it with fewer symptoms of depression and a lower risk of dementia.

It shouldn’t get gentler with age.

We’ve been taught that after a certain age, you should slow down and stick to gentle exercise. That’s a myth.

In fact, to keep building muscle, bone and mobility over the years, exercise needs to challenge your body beyond what it’s used to in daily life. This is how you remind it to hold on to what it has.

It means lifting heavy, getting out of breath and even jumping around!

Pushing yourself isn’t reckless.

It’s about starting at the right level for you, taking any condition you have into account, and building up slowly from there. Your body still adapts over the years, but it takes longer.

Movement is better together.

Knowing exercise is good for you is the easy part. What makes the difference is making it part of your life.

Moving with others makes it easier to stick to, and something to look forward to. It stops feeling like an effort and becomes second nature.