It’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly 10 years since the doors of MSC Performance opened for the first time! It’s been incredible to look back at all of the transformations that members have made during that time and the progress in which we have made as a business, which has made what we hope has been a positive influence on the local community. This has led me to think back to why I started MSC in the first place!
The plans for MSC started sometime in early 2013. I wish finishing of my MSc in Strength and Conditioning, and whilst doing that, was working two jobs. One of these jobs was working for KBT Education, which involved delivering strength and conditioning and weightlifting courses for personal trainers and for the British Military, where I would work on military basis around the country up-skilling PTI’s (physical training instructors) with the aim of changing the mindset towards training soldiers as professional athletes, with a bias towards performance and recovery. My other job was working as a Personal Trainer at a local commercial gym. The two jobs were very different, but I learned a lot from both.
Growing up, I was sports mad! And I still am. My background was primarily in Rugby and Cricket, but I played football, Tennis and other sports to a pretty decent level. When I left university, I always knew I wanted to be involved in physical exercise / sport, and when I was finishing my masters and doing the work with KBT, strength and conditioning was on the rise in the public sector, and facilities were starting to pop up that were catering for the general population, and giving these people the chance to train for health and performance, rather than just bodybuilding or doing aerobics. Naturally, with my sporting background, I found this very interesting and decided this is what I wanted to do.
However, working in a commercial gym, I noticed that something was missing. In fact, I would bring this down to three main points.
- The equipment wasn’t really favourable for training for performance, with a lack of barbells, floor space and tools such as kettlebells or sledges.
- There were so many members, but hardly any of them were following any sort of structure or seemed to be confident in what they were doing. The technique you would see would often be pretty shocking and more often than not, there was never anyone around to help. Even the members who seems confident in what they were doing, wouldn’t have the help to organise their training by manipulating volume/intensity/exercise selection to continue to improve. Basically, there was a severe lack of coaching!
- I felt there was a lack of community. I’ve always found training fun, and I think I found it a little strange that most people wouldn’t talk to or help each other, and even worse, a lot of the staff wouldn’t either. I felt the atmosphere was a little moody at times, and lacked the togetherness and atmosphere that I felt a gym should have. Maybe it’s my background in team sports that made me feel like that!
I guess a fourth point could be in regards to staff. I always felt that being a personal trainer / strength and conditioning coach, or any sort of fitness professional should be seen as an important job, and therefore I wanted to build a business where coaches would be respected, well paid, and have chances to develop so that they can deliver the best possible service, which would in-turn yield more positive results with more people.
Therefore, due to these points, and probably also due a complete naivety towards the challenges to come, which I guess comes with a dangerous mix of youth and excitement, I decided to put pen and paper together to start the MSC journey. After around 2 years after writing those first notes, MSC opened its doors. It took developing a business plan, speaking to various banks / private investment companies to raise funds, and a lot of help from friends to paint the walls and get the building ready to be able to open on that first day. The first few years were incredibly tough, working 16 hour days and learning how to run a business on the go and scrambling financially at the end of every month, but it’s been worth it all to see where it is now. Even during those tough first few years, there were a lot of amazing laughs to go along with the hard times. Now, the business still has its challenges, as we continue to grow and to try and get better every day. However, it’s great to see us marching forward, expanding our services and continuing to make the people of Birmingham fitter and happier, as well as being a part of a thriving, growing community.
Thanks to everyone involved up until this point. There’s too many people to name, but you know who you are. I would like to give Mr Luke Rogers a shout out though, who has been with MSC every step of the way with me since day 1.
Let’s continue to build the orange army! #wegoagain