Safe Sweat, a new hybrid club concept offering members a private workout experience inside a 2,700sq ft public gym space has launched in British Columbia, Canada.

This first site is the first of several openings planned for Canada and the US over the next twelve months. The new chain will also operate a franchise.

Offering eight private “Fit Suites”, ranging from 150-250sq ft (six regular and two “luxe”), each location provides 'premium' equipment to members for 50 minutes at a time.

The business was founded by Emre Ozgur – formerly area COO and president of Crunch Fitness – and Andrea Kloegman – ex senior director of operations at Steve Nash Fitness World and Sports Club, who are also co-owners of Fit Bench Canada.

Ozgur and Kloegman decided to bridge the gap between the standard gym and at-home fitness to forge a different way of working out which removed gym goers from the judgement, anxiety and harassment that can arise when attending a traditional gym.

“Gymtimidation” has made global media headlines in recent years, with industry bodies such as IHRSA and NASM highlighting the problem.

“Millions of people suffer from gym anxiety, but not enough people talk about it and we wanted to not only normalise the conversation but provide a solution,” said Ozgur. “By removing outside distractions, the need to wait for or wipe down equipment, and the stressors of working out in a busy public gym, the focus shifts back to the only person that matters: the person in the mirror.”

Each suite contains a squat rack, multi-functional bench, cardio equipment, dumbbells and kettlebells, suspension training, endless rope trainer and fitness accessories. A digital screen can broadcast sessions from the Safe Sweat fitness library which categorises workouts by body part, type and fitness level. Each suite is sanitised between bookings so members don't have to factor time wiping down equipment into their schedule.

“We designed Safe Sweat for physical and mental empowerment and optimal workout efficiency,” said Kloegman.

Memberships are contract-free and paid monthly with three tiers available: Sweat Lite (CAN$165/£107), Sweat (CAN$195/£127) and Sweat Max (CAN$275/£179). Personal training can be added, as can body composition analysis.

A startup package of one 50-min consultation (including body composition) and two 50-minute personal training sessions can be purchased for CAN$275 (£179). Five personal training sessions cost CAN$600 (£392).

Bookings are made through the Safe Sweat app.