Tortoise Gym Auckland CBD is a family-built gym in the lower lobby of the Vero Centre at 48 Shortland Street — a space its founders describe as 'a new species of gym'. The idea behind the name is simple: good things take time. Rather than quick fixes and unrealistic goals, Tortoise offers a thoughtful, science-based approach to training, where modest goals are set and achieved in a calm, focused way, and progress is noted step by committed step.
The gym was designed to feel good as well as work well. Instead of the dark, industrial or nightclub-loud environments common in fitness, Tortoise uses biophilic materials throughout — timber, plants and natural light — with storage designed so everything has its place. The training floor is laid out by how you move rather than by equipment type, with six zones covering cardio, core, hip hinge, knee dominant, upper pull and upper push, each with its own instruction boards offering real guidance on how to train.
Behind it all is a family project. Founder Anthony Cooke picked up his first barbell in the 1970s and spent more than two decades working in disability support, hospitals and healthcare before moving into fitness. With Maddy and Jesse Cooke — who shaped the brand, zone layout and instruction boards — he built Tortoise as a response to the limitations of the gyms they had experienced, worked in and owned.
Members can train from 4am to 11pm, seven days a week with an access card, unwind in the saunas, and add personal training with coaches Luke Parkinson, Jamie Gordon or Allen Francis. It's a welcoming place by design: no elitism, no intimidation, and no one-size approach — all shapes, sizes and starting points belong here.
Tucked into the lower lobby of the Vero Centre at 48 Shortland Street, Tortoise Gym Auckland CBD calls itself 'a new species of gym' — and it earns the phrase. Where so many city gyms lean dark, industrial and nightclub-loud, Tortoise is bright and calm, with timber racks, plants and natural light. More unusual still, the floor is organised around how humans move, and the whole place was built by one family who remain hands-on to this day.
Most gyms group equipment by type. Tortoise groups it by movement pattern, and the difference shapes every session. There are six zones: **Cardio** for purposefully elevating your heart rate, **Core** as the foundation of every movement, **Hip Hinge** for deadlifts, kettlebell work and the posterior chain, **Knee Dominant** for squats, lunges and quad and glute strength, **Upper Pull** for rows, pull-downs and back and bicep work, and **Upper Push** for press movements, chest, shoulders and triceps.
Each zone carries its own instruction boards — real guidance on how to train, not just a list of what equipment is available. The family themselves feature in the instruction photography. Storage is designed so everything has a place, and the biophilic fitout is a deliberate stance that exercise is fundamental to being human, and worth doing somewhere that feels good.
The philosophy is in the name. Tortoise is 'in it for the long haul': genuine fitness built over months and years, modest goals set and achieved, eccentric control and full range of motion, and progress noted step by committed step. The only competition is yesterday's version of yourself.
Founder Anthony Cooke first picked up a barbell in the 1970s and spent more than two decades in disability support, hospitals and healthcare before moving into fitness. With Maddy and Jesse Cooke — who shaped the brand, the zone layout and the instruction boards — he built Tortoise as a response to the limitations of the gyms they had experienced, worked in, owned and used. It shows in the details, and in the welcome: no elitism, no intimidation, no one-size approach that sets people up to fail.
Membership is straightforward, with initial terms of twelve months, six months, one month, or a fully flexible option. When an initial term ends, membership simply continues on a flexible basis at the rate you started on. Access cards, available from the gym for a one-off key fee, let members train from 4am to 11pm, seven days a week — and Vero Centre tenants may already be covered for the card.
Personal training at Tortoise is genuinely personal: no standard programme, no one-size approach. Coaches bring distinct specialties — Luke Parkinson in biomechanics and natural movement, Jamie Gordon in strength, consistency and sustainable progress, and Allen Francis in fat loss, mobility and movement quality. After a session, members can wind down in the saunas.
The gym sits in the Vero Centre's lower lobby, reachable from both Shortland Street and Fort Street — look for the Tortoise signage. Members with an access card can enter from 4am to 11pm daily; anyone is welcome to visit and ask questions from 7am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays. Members describe it as a hidden gem of the CBD: recently renovated, clean and well equipped, with a floor that rarely feels busy even during peak hours. Reach the team at [email protected] or on 027 945 5005.