“The first step is always the hardest, walking through those doors of a gym for the first time can be dauntiing but we are here with a friendly face and no egos”
17:13, 28 Nov 2025Updated 17:46, 28 Nov 2025
Cryo Fitness Hub on 367 Antrim Road
The road to fitness can be a daunting one but the wise words from a North Belfast gym and fitness centre co-owner could be the gentle nudge we all need to hear.
“The first step is always the hardest, stepping through those doors of a gym for the first time. People normally take around nine months from thinking about joining a gym to gathering the courage to walk through the doors. And we want to make that journey a little bit easier here at Cryo Fitness Hub as we know how tough it can be.”
So says Kevin Johnston from Cryo Fitness Hub on 367 Antrim Road. Kev, Cliodhna and the team have built up a real community gym with wrap around care where the focus is not just on physical health but good mental well-being.
Recovery from exercise or injury is also a key element of Cryo Fitness Hub’s personal touch philosophy, whether it’s the exertions of the weekly Park Run or sitting at the office desk for eight hours a day.
The Cryo crew
Kevin explained: “We’ve been operating since February 2019 and pride ourselves on small, intimate, classes – including circuits, pilates, spin and boxing. It’s a family feeling here, we are relaxed, there are no egos and people come here for many reasons – even just socially. I think this is reflected in our retention numbers, people have stuck with us and come every week. It’s not like the big gyms where people come in and go straight to the treadmill because they don’t know what to do. We try and get rid of the fear factor, we don’t take ourselves too seriously and have people of all ages as members.
“We like to keep our members to the fore and we know people have suffered – and are suffering often in silence – so we are keen to keep mental health to the fore as well. It’s a challenge for us all to help each other.
“That community spirit is behind Cryo Fitness organising marathon relay teams for charity, step challenge, coffee mornings and a Santa walk as well as sponsoring local sports clubs.”
Santa Walk in nearby Alexandra Park
“Here at Cryo Fitness Hub we have wrap around care, everything from the Ice Bath – which is used by people right up to their 70s to help ease aliments such as sciatica – to the infra red sauna which is an enormous endorphin boost on these cold winter days.
“These also help with injury prevention and we even have runners and running clubs coming from far and wide to use our up-to-date facilities. There’s sports massages, reflexology and a resident physio all here to avail of.”
And Kevin and Cryo Fitness Hub have faced their own challenges after a nearby building collapse in March 2022 forced it to close for a short time before it was temporarily made safe. But even that short-term fix has caused its own issues.
A large metal fence has been erected around the exposed building and this, says Kevin, is not only an eyesore in the area but also a real headache for traders and the public in the area having to navigate around it.
Sauna can help ease recovery
He said: “We’d like to see it gone, its obstructing the view of the road and part of the footpath. It’s a blight that would not be tolerated in other areas of the city. There’s no sign of it going and there’s supposed to be a big plan to connect he nearby Waterworks Park with Alexandra Park, but this is slam bang in the middle. We need it resolved as soon as possible as youths are accessing it and its potentially a danger.”
But despite the set-back, Kevin, Cliodhna and the folks at Cryo Fitness Hub are going from strength to strength with their community focused approach to health, recovery and performance, it just takes that first step to get started.
For more information on small group training visit Cryo Fitness Hub’s Facebook page
For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.