Take the test

CEO and founder of Who Dares Gyms Leo Walker trains people in military-style workouts at his gym on Bournemouth Beach, which he co-runs with Jason Fox (star of Channel 4’s Who Dares Wins) and Tom Beaver.

Drawing on his background as a former Royal Marines Commando Training Instructor and Special Forces Instructor, Leo helps people of all ages and walks of life to experience military-style workouts.

In a career spanning 20 years in the armed forces, Leo has had to be fit in order to carry out missions in all kinds of outdoor environments – from mountains and deserts to jungles and the Arctic. The workouts he creates focus on functional fitness rather than conventional gym-based exercise.

‘Functional fitness is a life skill,’ he explains. ‘It’s about your body being at the absolute maximum peak of functioning. If military personnel aren’t at peak fitness it can be catastrophic and compromise the mission.’

Being at peak functional fitness means having enough strength, mobility and power to deal with any situation that might arise.

‘We’ve got weights, bars, dumbbells and cardio machines at our beach gym but we also focus on climbing over wooden walls, pushing tyres and crawling under cargo nets,’ says Leo.

‘Functional fitness is all about preparing yourself physically and mentally so you can perform effectively and with confidence in any surroundings and situation (including emergencies). You won’t achieve that simply by doing a generic weight session at the gym.’

Leo also runs Op Commando Weekends, which are open to those who want to join the forces as well as curious civilians keen to find out more about what military training really entails.

‘All kinds of people attend those weekends because they get to experience what real-life physical training is like for members of the armed forces. Some participants are cadets or those intending to join the military, but we also get people who have been prohibited from signing up because of their age or medical conditions.’

Leo and the Who Dares Gyms team have chosen ACCT UK as their newest charity partner.

‘We wanted to support Army Cadets because it teaches young people to have confidence and show respect for others. That’s something being in the Marines taught me: show respect to people because everyone has something to contribute.’