Three hundred metres of rowing, 10 glute bridges, eight tricep push-ups. Repeat, until the 12-minute circuit is over. There’s nothing gentle about this so-called warm-up set at Strong Pilates, one of Australia’s fastest-growing boutique fitness franchises eyeing a global empire of 300 studios in four years.

There’s also nothing especially girly or feminine about the studio – which is black and white and sleekly backlit by LED lights – nor its founders, Michael Ramsey and Mark Armstrong.

Early adopters of F45, the fitness centre franchises, the duo decided to sell their six thriving, profitable Melbourne studios in 2019 , just as the hype around the functional training brand was reaching fever pitch .

“It was highly, highly, highly competitive, and we were like, we don’t want to play

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