Find out which gym was voted the best in Leeds in Yorkshire Evening Post Gym of the Year competition

It is a place to push your body to the limit, indulge in some quiet well-being time for yourself or put yourself up against a class full of fitness fanatics.
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And with gyms just re-opening after a government lockdown, they are once again helping people get fighting fit and back in shape.

It is has also been a tough time for gyms as they have had to adapt to new rules and regulations but the numbers of votes cast in the Yorkshire Evening Post gym of the year competition means even more this year to your favourite gyms in the city.

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And today we can reveal, out of the hundreds of spin classes, weight training gyms, yoga sessions, HIIT classes and boot camps that operate across the city, which ones are your top five.

Fin Pattison, Duggie Notley, Luke Pattison, and Meg Pattison from Workhouse Gym, Farsley which is the Yorkshire Evening Post's Gym of the Year 2020.Fin Pattison, Duggie Notley, Luke Pattison, and Meg Pattison from Workhouse Gym, Farsley which is the Yorkshire Evening Post's Gym of the Year 2020.
Fin Pattison, Duggie Notley, Luke Pattison, and Meg Pattison from Workhouse Gym, Farsley which is the Yorkshire Evening Post's Gym of the Year 2020.

The winner of this year’s Gym of the Year competition is no stranger to this title having picked it up in 2016.

Workhouse in Farsley takes the top spot and owner, Duggie Notley said the gym is even better now than it was back in 2016.

Duggie runs the gym with the help of his team Fin Pattison, Luke Pattison, Meg Pattison, Andy Pattison and Helen Notley.

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He said: “We were as confident as we can be but you never know the competition. We are better than we were in 2016. We have done lots of work to create more space, done a refurb, have had a local artist to do some art work to break it up and done an awful lot of work to improve for when we re-opened.

Mike Motanov (pictured right) and Charlie Mardon (pictured left) owners of Ultra Flex Leeds which was second in the Gym of the Year competition.Mike Motanov (pictured right) and Charlie Mardon (pictured left) owners of Ultra Flex Leeds which was second in the Gym of the Year competition.
Mike Motanov (pictured right) and Charlie Mardon (pictured left) owners of Ultra Flex Leeds which was second in the Gym of the Year competition.

“We are really proud of what we have achieved and how the gym is and how happy our members are - they obviously voted.”

The second place gym was Ultra Flex just up the road at Cape Mills which is especially popular among pro body-builders.

In third place was the Feel Good Health Club within the Mecure Leeds Parkway Hotel which features a gym, spa, pool and treatments.

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Hannah Bullock is the leisure club manager. She said: “We were pleasantly surprised by it. I think we were popular because we are a club rather than just a gym. It is a friendly club, it is more like a community club than going to a gym, working out and leaving.”

Sassi Kilani and Vikki Oxley from The Gym Health and Fitness, Cowper Road.Sassi Kilani and Vikki Oxley from The Gym Health and Fitness, Cowper Road.
Sassi Kilani and Vikki Oxley from The Gym Health and Fitness, Cowper Road.

Two gyms placed joint fourth in this year’s competition and they were Slim Fit Life at Horsforth and The Gym Health & Fitness Ltd at Harehills.

Tricia Jephcott is the owner of Slim Fit and said: “A lot of our members bought the papers and got their neighbours to vote. Some of the gyms we were up against have a thousand or more members so we were absolutely thrilled to bits.”

Sassi Kilani did a victory lap around the gym she took over two years ago when she heard the news.

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The Gym Health and Fitness has been going more than 20 years but Sassi has ripped it out and started it again.

The team at Slim Fit Life, Horsforth - Tricia Jephcott and Lynn Moorhouse.The team at Slim Fit Life, Horsforth - Tricia Jephcott and Lynn Moorhouse.
The team at Slim Fit Life, Horsforth - Tricia Jephcott and Lynn Moorhouse.

She said: “When I got the phone call I did a lap of the gym, that is how excited I was. It is fantastic news. The fitness industry has got it really, really hard. There was a worry that people might not come back. However, coming out of it (lockdown) for us has been great.”

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Thank you

Laura Collins