A mum-of-two has spoken about her business success after leaving her job and relaunching a unique fitness class in Prestwich.
Jenny Walker, 35, brought fitness brand RockFit to the North West back in 2020 after falling in love with the concept at a festival.
The gym alternative combines a workout with rock and metal music aiming to give people a safe, judgement-free space to "rock out" and stay healthy and strong.
Jenny said she enjoyed it so much that she decided to become a full-time instructor.
She said: “I have fallen in and out of love with exercise my whole life and shortly after I had my first child, I went to Download Festival where I discovered RockFit.
“I got excited and wanted to try it out back home but there were no classes in Greater Manchester so I decided I would set it up myself.”
Around six weeks after launching the classes in 2020, coronavirus lockdown restrictions were rolled out and it wasn’t until May 2022 that Jenny was able to pick up where she left off.
She said: “I was working for the NHS so I started the classes as a hobby in the evening and while I was on maternity leave.
“I didn't fancy the idea of doing pandemic classes via Zoom because the whole benefit of RockFit is that you get face-to-face contact and create a little community.
“I then had my second child which pushed things back again, but by May this year we were back up and running with a lot more people than in 2020.”
After seeing how popular her classes had become, Jenny made the “terrifying” decision to leave her job to become a full-time instructor.
She said: “I love it that much, it's easy, fun and I meet such a wide range of people.
“We don't take ourselves too seriously and I am not a super fit size eight instructor, I'm a mum doing something to get everyone together to be happy, healthy and strong with a good soundtrack.”
Suitable for all ages, levels of fitness and genders, Jenny added that not everyone coming is a "metal head" but many just enjoy the thrill and feeling of working out to heavy rock music.
With extra weekend and toddler classes also being considered, the group’s popularity has given Jenny a number of ideas for future plans, some of which include training more instructors who can set up branches in Bolton and Salford.
The RockFit classes take place at The Heys School on Mondays from 7.30pm as well as Wednesdays at 7.30pm in Heaton Park Methodist Church.
Despite having only re-launched the unique group in May, Jenny has been making a name for Rockfit in the community.
She added: “Last year we did Festwich, a big Halloween and Christmas special as well as raising some money for Bury Hospice.”
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