Max Health Club is a living room for the whole family
Late September, Monday morning, six o'clock. With a refreshing swim, mayor Jan van Zanen and political reporter Frits Wester opened the big draw of Max Health Club's location on the Vliet: the brand new and crystal-clear 25-metre pool. "An out of hand joke by Frits; Van Zanen normally swims every morning at our Klein Zwitserland location," laughs owner Jacco Helmink.
DATE
27 May 2024
TEXT
Jasper Gramsma
IMAGE
Brian Mul
Max Health Club is a living room for the whole family
Late September, Monday morning, six o'clock. With a refreshing swim, mayor Jan van Zanen and political reporter Frits Wester opened the big draw of Max Health Club's location on the Vliet: the brand new and crystal-clear 25-metre pool. "An out of hand joke by Frits; Van Zanen normally swims every morning at our Klein Zwitserland location," laughs owner Jacco Helmink.
Hij and his associate Niels Renes transformed Westvliet's indoor tennis courts into their second high-end fitness club. Besides this swimming pool, "unique in the region", the hall with its impressive arched ceiling includes wellness facilities, a yoga room, a cardio unit and an aerobics room. "With only the best equipment you don't stand out," Helmink explains. "That's why we focus on group classes, swimming and a feeling of coming home: an 'extended living room' for the whole family."
'Just having the best equipment won't set you apart'
Swimming lessons
The location on Westvlietweg is therefore well-considered. "In this area - the Binckhorst, Leidschendam-Voorburg, Zoetermeer, Rijswijk, Pijnacker-Nootdorp - more and more two-earning families are moving in, but a level fitness club was lacking. And there is a chronic shortage of places for swimming lessons. Here, we have room for about 300 children. Outside swimming lesson times, members can swim freely or join aquarobics and aquashape classes."
The 'old' Westvliet might have been a household name with its international tennis tournaments, live NOS broadcasts and the best squash players in the Netherlands, but the fitness & racquet club, opened in 1978, did show some traces of past glory. Of that, the bar is still a tangible reminder. "Are we tackling it in the next phase," Helmink promises. "That's important, because for the club feel you need to be in the bar. We will continue the 'look and feel' of Klein Zwitserland, just as we have already done in the hall."
The deeper you go into the hall, the more intense it gets'
To illustrate, the sportsman leads us to the changing rooms. On the way, he points to a partially open room overlooking the bar. "This is where you can go as a novice athlete or athlete of age to get used to it. The suspended ceiling and herringbone floor make it a bit cosy. You can do circuit training here with machines that are easy to operate. The deeper you go into the hall, the more intense it gets with sleds, squat racks and dumbells. But we take the stairs up here."
Jacco Helmink and his associate Niels Renes at Max Health Club's new pool on the Vliet.
Connect
Indeed, the changing room by the pool is one with allure. The fine wooden lockers are arranged spatially and, thanks to the sofa and TV screen, the whole place feels like the lobby of an upmarket hotel. "Golf is my biggest hobby, and there are clubs where they tap beers in the locker room," Helmink says. "The nice thing about it is that you meet people you don't normally talk to. We want to achieve that connect in this space too." With a wink: "Only we don't tap beer here, we tap water."
Health is paramount at Max Health Club, and that includes nature and fellow human beings. Helmink: "We are now the first fitness club in Europe to go for B Corp certification. A fine thread that helps us to be socially responsible in all areas. Whether it's the building materials, employment, products in the bar or our contribution to charity. There is a plan for a thousand solar panels. Once those are in place, we will also be completely self-sufficient."
text Jasper Gramsma image Brian Mul
Hij and his associate Niels Renes transformed Westvliet's indoor tennis courts into their second high-end fitness club. Besides this swimming pool, "unique in the region", the hall with its impressive arched ceiling includes wellness facilities, a yoga room, a cardio unit and an aerobics room. "With only the best equipment you don't stand out," Helmink explains. "That's why we focus on group classes, swimming and a feeling of coming home: an 'extended living room' for the whole family."
'Just having the best equipment won't set you apart'
Swimming lessons
The location on Westvlietweg is therefore well-considered. "In this area - the Binckhorst, Leidschendam-Voorburg, Zoetermeer, Rijswijk, Pijnacker-Nootdorp - more and more two-earning families are moving in, but a level fitness club was lacking. And there is a chronic shortage of places for swimming lessons. Here, we have room for about 300 children. Outside swimming lesson times, members can swim freely or join aquarobics and aquashape classes."
The 'old' Westvliet might have been a household name with its international tennis tournaments, live NOS broadcasts and the best squash players in the Netherlands, but the fitness & racquet club, opened in 1978, did show some traces of past glory. Of that, the bar is still a tangible reminder. "Are we tackling it in the next phase," Helmink promises. "That's important, because for the club feel you need to be in the bar. We will continue the 'look and feel' of Klein Zwitserland, just as we have already done in the hall."
The deeper you go into the hall, the more intense it gets'
To illustrate, the sportsman leads us to the changing rooms. On the way, he points to a partially open room overlooking the bar. "This is where you can go as a novice athlete or athlete of age to get used to it. The suspended ceiling and herringbone floor make it a bit cosy. You can do circuit training here with machines that are easy to operate. The deeper you go into the hall, the more intense it gets with sleds, squat racks and dumbells. But we take the stairs up here."
Jacco Helmink and his associate Niels Renes at Max Health Club's new pool on the Vliet.
Connect
Indeed, the changing room by the pool is one with allure. The fine wooden lockers are arranged spatially and, thanks to the sofa and TV screen, the whole place feels like the lobby of an upmarket hotel. "Golf is my biggest hobby, and there are clubs where they tap beers in the locker room," Helmink says. "The nice thing about it is that you meet people you don't normally talk to. We want to achieve that connect in this space too." With a wink: "Only we don't tap beer here, we tap water."
Health is paramount at Max Health Club, and that includes nature and fellow human beings. Helmink: "We are now the first fitness club in Europe to go for B Corp certification. A fine thread that helps us to be socially responsible in all areas. Whether it's the building materials, employment, products in the bar or our contribution to charity. There is a plan for a thousand solar panels. Once those are in place, we will also be completely self-sufficient."
