TWO new super gyms are to be created next year prior to sports venues closing to the public so that they can be prepared for the Commonwealth Games.

One will be launched at the Glasgow Club Gorbals in January with a second at Bellahouston in June.

The outdoor tennis courts and all weather pitches at Scotstoun Sports Campus will be the first venues to shut on May 13.

They will be followed by Glasgow Green national hockey and football centres, the Emirates Arena and Tollcross Leisure Centre, Ibrox Stadium, the remainder of the Scotstoun campus, Kelvingrove tennis courts and lawn bowls greens and Toryglen Regional Football Centre.

Despite the closures, people will still be able to access 19 gyms across the city.

And the two new super gyms will help everyone remain fit and active while the Glasgow Life sports venues are handed over to the Commonwealth Games.

Fitness classes will be moved to locations close to the facilities most affected, allowing customers to continue with the exercise regimes and their regular instructors.

As a result of the Games, the Glasgow Club has benefitted from £200m of investment in new and refurbished facilities.

These include the £113m Emirates Arena and Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, the Glasgow National Hockey Centre and a major refurbishment of Tollcross International Swimming Centre.Other centres, including Scotstoun sports campus, have benefitted from new gym facilities and six new squash courts.

And in each of the Glasgow Club's network of 25 facilities, investment has been made in the latest gym equipment and fitness classes.

For the first time in any Commonwealth or Olympic Games, the venues have been opened and used by local people long before they are handed over to the elite athletes.

Glasgow Life chairman Archie Graham said: "The Glasgow Club is Scotland's biggest and best health and fitness network and right across the city we have seen huge levels of investment across all of our facilities.

"There has already been a lasting legacy from the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games in that the people of Glasgow have been able to enjoy new and refurbished facilities long before the elite athletes arrive.

"We have put in place an extensive programme that means for the period some of our facilities are handed over to the Games, our customers will still be able to locally access gym facilities and all of their favourite fitness classes.

"In the last four years, attendances across our sports facilities has increased by around 40% and that is in no small measure thanks to the significant investment not only in our buildings but right across the Glasgow Club offer."

The Glasgow Club has a record 32,000 members and there were a record 6.3 million attendances across its facilities last year.

Full details of the programmes which will be in place during the Commonwealth Games will be available at the venues and on line and there will be direct communication with members.

Arrangements will be in place for sports classes, coaching programmes and for those with regular lets.

Mr Graham said: "The Games really will put the city on the map and our fantastic facilities, owned and used by local people, will be in the spotlight on a global scale."

During the Games, the facilities will be operated by Glasgow 2014 and manned by staff from Glasgow Life.

vivienne.nicoll@ eveningtimes.co.uk