Hong Kong’s latest fitness trend: restaurants inside gyms

The first smell that hits you when you walk into The Warrior Academy is, surprisingly, not the familiar mixture of week-old sweaty socks and dead cow typical of a martial arts and strength training gym.

Instead, your nose is overcome first by the heady aromas of freshly ground coffee, and then the fiery and herbaceous fragrance of Thai food.

The smells come from The Elephas, a coffee and health food bar that leads into the Warrior Academy fitness training facility. Occupying 7,000 sq ft in a building in Sai Ying Pun, the newly opened space founded by former Hong Kong rugby player Ricky Cheuk is the latest in the trend of health and wellness clubs in the city offering on-site cafes.

It makes sense: exercise and diet are the pillars of health. “They go hand in hand,” says Cheuk, who owns several restaurants and Warrior, which has another training facility in North Point. “You work out seriously, and then you need to be fed well.”

The Pure Group, which has seven fitness and eight yoga centres in Hong Kong, was arguably the first in the city to marry fitness and health food in one convenient location when it started nood food in 2013. Pure founder and CEO Colin Grant sees this as the way forward.

“There is a continued growth in Asia for holistic wellness. It’s not just about working out to lose weight or practising yoga to be more flexible anymore, it’s now a complete lifestyle; people recognise the need to look after their bodies inside and out to lead happier and healthier lives,” says Grant. “We believe this is not just a trend, but a fundamental attitude change.”