Healthy option for family fitness
Shaun Baxter at his new gym with Myles Gilmore, Brady Gilmore, Zophia Mtonga-Dunkley, Zahara Mtonga-Dunkley, Tyler Baxter and Billy Baxter. Picture: Nic Ellis/The West Australian
A new gym in Perth's south is offering workouts for children as young as four to encourage families to exercise together and lead healthy lifestyles.
Epic Lifestyle is a family health club in Success run by former AFL player Shaun Baxter and his wife Carmen.
Resembling an amusement park, the club offers members traditional gym equipment as well as rock climbing, Brazilian jujitsu, a trampoline, a foam pit and an indoor Parkour area.
Baxter said he wanted the club to appeal to all ages to allow families to sign up as a group and make positive changes to their lives together.
"If a parent is coming in to drop off their child for a class, we want to give them the opportunity to go and exercise themselves," he said.
"To me that's more important than just changing one person's life in a family.
"I think it's really important to change the whole family's lifestyle."
Baxter played for the Western Bulldogs from 1995 to 1998 before moving to Geelong.
He was diagnosed with nasopharyngeal carcinoma - a rare cancer which affected his ears, nose and throat - during his second year with the Bulldogs.
Baxter said his views on life and the way he thought about his health changed dramatically after a doctor told him he had just three months to live.
"If you're overweight, if you've been diagnosed with cancer or a disease, if you have a broken bone, one thing you should always think of is that there is always someone worse off in this world," he said.
"You've got to look ahead, believe you will always be fit and healthy and find a way to get there."
