Mecca Fitness

It’s appropriate that the slick yellow-and-black colour scheme inside Mecca Fitness mirrors that of a construction site. After all, visitors aboard the gym's cardio and resistance equipment are painstakingly building new physiques. That’s also a process that owner Grant Roberts has endured both by choice and by necessity. Roberts was a champion bodybuilder before a car accident left him severely debilitated. The medical community deemed him lucky to be alive, and wouldn't condone his efforts to rejoin the fitness scene. So, during a four-year stay in Costa Rica, he took charge of his own rehabilitation, and steadily became involved in seminars, exhibitions, and competitions once again. His expertise and devotion have since been affirmed by celebrities such as Clint Eastwood, who called on Roberts to train Hilary Swank for her role as a boxer in Eastwood's film, Million Dollar Baby. The secret of Roberts’ success might be his personal touch. As the owner of Mecca Fitness, he oversees 16,000 square feet of amenities that he says on his website comprise "the kind of gym I love to train in". He personally helped with the development of the Strive strength equipment in the resistance-training area. And to show he stands behind his products, he emblazons his name on every container of the gym's MVP nutrition supplements as well as each member's newly buff deltoids. By mapping specialized zones for stretching, abdominal work, weightlifting, and women-only workouts, he readies the gym to help guests with nearly any wellness goal.