His gym — based upstairs in Queenstown Central — has just celebrated its third birthday.
Monaghan’s also pumped it’s been nominated for New Zealand’s no.1 health club, in next month’s Exercise Industry Awards, and personal trainer Paddy Turnhout’s been nominated for PT of the year.
He says OC originally stood for ‘optimum condition’, but it’s now morphed into ‘our community’.
"Members become known to each other, so we’ve got people [pursuing] business opportunities together, we’ve got people who have formed relationships, we’ve got people who have moved into flats with each other."
Monaghan believes their success comes from bridging the gap between personal training and group classes, meaning their group classes — capped at 27 members, with two PTs — feel like personal training because of the one-on-one attention clients get.
Typically, members attend three to four group sessions a week, Monaghan says.
Where in other gyms about 30% of members might turn up regularly, "we have a 92% attendance rate three times a week, it’s the highest in the country".
"We’ve got [about] 200 five-star reviews, which is the most in terms of five-star reviews for gyms in Queenstown."
Away from the gym, Monaghan says there’s also an OC social club where members dine together and go on hikes.
