A FORMER Blues favourite has moved onto the next stage of his career by launching a unique gym in the heart of Southend “promoting togetherness”.

Simon Cox, 36, played as a striker for Southend United for four seasons before leaving for Western Sydney Wanderers in Australia in 2020.

During his time in Australia, Simon came across F45 fitness, a type of training that incorporates HIIT – circuit and resistance exercises based on timers as opposed to sets and reps.

Simon officially opened his F45 gym in Warrior Square two months ago and it is already proving a huge success.

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Reflecting on his time at Southend, he said: “I just enjoyed playing again. We had a good time under Phil Brown, who sold the club to m,e and what he wanted to achieve as a team.

“We did a lot of good things and only missed out on the playoffs by one point to Milwall in my first season. I was glad to be playing because I wasn’t on the pitch much at Reading.”

As Simon approached his final seasons for Southend he was in his early thirties which he termed as “getting on” in football years.

He started to think about life after football and his original idea was to get into coaching.

The former Republic of Ireland international added: “I completed my UEFA A licence but found it difficult to get opportunities after coming back from Australia.

“I guess it’s an ‘out of sight out of mind’ situation as I came back during the pandemic, so people probably didn’t know I was back.”

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During his time Down Under Simon came across F45 fitness and was drawn to the atmosphere of intense work, a community feel and loud vibrant music.

On returning to Southend, he completed a level two personal training course and started looking for a space to build the gym before settling on a spot in Warrior Square Simon said: “Most of the time I’m actually sat at my computer dealing with emails, working on outreach to clients and creating videos.

“We’ve been open for eight weeks and our members have been smashing their goals so far – long may it continue.”

For more information on F45 Fitness Southend visit bit.ly/3WAkm4Q.