Verkstadsgymmet was started in Petalax by the founders Isa and Nico. Why we chose to start a gym was because we felt it was too far to commute to Vaasa to work out at the gym.

We decided to invest in our own small gym in our shed next to our house that was just empty and collected rubbish. The first thought was that it would be opened for ourselves and to some of our friends, but the petalax residents got invested so we changed our minds. Of course, Petalax will have its own gym, so we started a company and opened the gym in 2017.
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The name comes from the fact that Isa's mother had a furniture workshop in the outbuilding earlier hence the name Verkstadsgymmet.
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Well-being and people are something we are both passionate about and we are both trained in rehabilitation. Nico still works today with home rehabilitation and Isa works as a foreman in a more efficient service housing. Between work and family, we also study a little now and then!

Who is our family then? We have three wonderful daughters at the moment who are 4, 11 and 16 years old. Sometimes you can see our girls hanging out at the gym with us sometimes happy and sometimes sour, you can even see our oldest cleaning and tidying up to earn a penny or two. Since our children end up coming to the gym, it is important for us that our gyms are child-friendly and it should feel okay to bring their children to the gym.
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When the covid-19 pandemic broke out and all the children's hobbies were put on pause, we suddenly got a lot of extra time we are not used to. Then we finally had time to start dreaming and planning for the future. The idea of opening another gym was born, in a few months it was no longer an idea, we decided to go all in in the middle of the pandemic. In September 2020, the doors to the gym in Malax were opened.
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During these months we also managed to start a podcast together with Nico's brother Jakke, who Nico has been dreaming about for a while in secret. The podcast is released both as film and audio, this is because some like to listen but some have difficulty just listening but need a picture in front of them. The purpose of the podcast is to be able to pass on information about health and well-being in sports and exercise.