A gym that's properly part of Hackney

Fit This sits in the heart of Hackney Central, E8, a few minutes' walk from Mare Street and the Narrow Way. We are not a chain that landed here last week. We train alongside our neighbours: the shopkeepers, the market traders, the office workers from the Town Hall, and the people who have called Hackney home for years. This guide is our way of showing what makes this corner of East London worth living, working and training in.

The civic heart: Town Hall, the Empire and the library

Hackney Central is the borough's civic centre, and the buildings around Mare Street tell that story. Hackney Town Hall, the handsome Art Deco building opened in 1937, has been the home of the local council for decades and still anchors the Town Hall Square. Next door stands the Hackney Empire, one of the country's finest surviving variety theatres, which opened in 1901 and today hosts everything from pantomime to live music and comedy.

Just behind the Town Hall on Reading Lane you will find Hackney Central Library, which shares its home with Hackney Museum in the Technology and Learning Centre. Between them, these few streets hold much of the borough's history, culture and day-to-day life, all within walking distance of the gym.

London Fields and Broadway Market

A short walk south brings you to London Fields, one of East London's best-loved green spaces. In summer the park fills with picnics, table tennis and the heated open-air London Fields Lido. On its edge runs Broadway Market, the Saturday street market that draws people from across the city for its food stalls, independent traders and the cafés and pubs that line the street down towards Regent's Canal. It is one of the reasons so many people fall for this part of Hackney in the first place.

Eating, drinking and shopping around Mare Street

You are never far from somewhere good to eat in Hackney Central. Mare Street Market has become a local favourite for coffee, lunch and a drink, and the streets around it are dotted with independent restaurants, cafés and pubs. For shopping, Morning Lane and the surrounding designer outlets have earned the area a reputation as "Hackney's Bond Street", while the Narrow Way keeps the everyday high street close at hand. It all adds up to a neighbourhood where you can train, eat well and run your errands without ever leaving the postcode.

The wider Hackney community

Step a little further out and the area keeps giving. Hackney Downs offers open green space to the north, St John-at-Hackney's churchyard gardens sit quietly off the Narrow Way, and Victoria Park, Clapton and Dalston are all a short journey away. This is a community built on independent businesses, local markets and people who look out for one another, and that spirit is exactly what Fit This was built around.

Part of the neighbourhood

We think the best gyms belong to their area rather than just sitting in it. Fit This is proud to be part of Hackney Central, alongside the Town Hall, the Empire, the library, the markets and the many local businesses that make this place what it is. If you live or work nearby, come and find us. We would love to show you around.

Getting here: Hackney Central Overground

Hackney Central Overground station puts most of the capital within easy reach. It sits on the Mildmay line, running west towards Dalston, Highbury and Islington, Camden Road and on to Richmond and Clapham Junction, and east towards Homerton and Stratford. A covered walkway links it directly to Hackney Downs station on the Weaver line, so a change of platform takes you straight into Liverpool Street. Whether you are coming from the City, North London or further out, Fit This is a short stroll from the station exit.