Terrence Leung enjoys working out five times a week, but as a freelance stage actor and producer in Hong Kong – whose day may start, or end, in the early hours of the morning anywhere in the city – joining a regular gym was never an option.
That is why the 30-year-old has been a member of the 24-hour gym Anytime Fitness since 2018.
“I can plan my workouts in the early mornings to fit my work schedule,” says Leung.
Similarly, 29-year-old Cindy, who works in banking and declines to give her full name, goes to an around-the-clock gym because she sometimes leaves the office late.
“Many other gyms close at around 10pm,” she says, which she finds too early for the times she wants to work out.
Physical well-being among Hongkongers has been on the upswing in the past decade and, with that, the city has witnessed growth in its fitness industry. But Hong Kong is a relative latecomer when it comes to embracing the 24-hour gym. In the United States, one of the earliest 24-hour gyms opened in 1983.
