SHE SPENT EIGHT MONTHS IN BED AFTER A BRUTAL INJURY. NOW SHE'S BUILT A GYM WITH NO MIRRORS

After Jess Curl's second Achilles operation, she spent eight months flat on her back and faced the hardest question of her life: who was she if she couldn't train?

For a lifelong athlete, it was a crushing blow. A decade on, that injury has shaped one of Melbourne's most talked-about gyms, and it's about to open its doors on the south side of the river.

Project Better, the gym Jess co-founded in 2017, opens its fifth venue in Prahran on 28 November. There are no mirrors, no lock-in contracts and no pressure to look a certain way. You can even bring your dog.

From Strongman to bed rest

Jess grew up in the United States, played a range of sports, and earned a soccer scholarship at a Division 2 university. After moving to Australia, she played in the Women's Premier League for South Melbourne, and by 2016 she was training to compete as a Strongman athlete at the Arnold Sports Festival.

Then she ruptured her Achilles tendon. After surgery, she ruptured it again just a month into rehabilitation. The second operation involved rebuilding the tendon using tissue from her big toe, followed by eight months of bed rest.

“It was a complete identity crisis,” Jess recalls.

Without training and competition, she had to rethink what fitness really meant. Progress, she realised, wasn't always about personal bests. Sometimes it meant starting again. Sometimes it meant accepting what your body could manage that day.

A gym that feels like your local café

While she recovered, Jess began training clients from her garage. Conversations with her business partner, Tristan, soon turned to what traditional gyms were missing. Why could walking through the door feel so intimidating? Why did people feel they had to be fit before they could fit in?

Their answer was a gym designed to feel more like a welcoming neighbourhood café than a fitness factory. Think softer lighting, warm interiors, no mirrors, no joining fees and no lock-in contracts, with infrared saunas and ice showers included in membership. The gyms are open 24/7 and dog-friendly.

“We're not interested in creating another gym where people feel like they need to look a certain way, train a certain way or prove themselves in front of the mirrors,” Jess says. “A workout doesn't have to be intense to count, and progress doesn't always mean lifting heavier, running faster or pushing harder.”

Why small steps beat big promises

Since her injury, Jess has run marathons and ultramarathons, crossed the Larapinta Trail in 2024 and taken up surfing at 36. Yet she's the first to say that being fit doesn't mean constantly pushing through, and that rest matters just as much as effort.

Her advice for anyone starting out is refreshingly realistic. Rather than signing up for five hour-long workouts a week and giving up when life gets busy, try committing to 20 minutes of movement twice a week, and build from there.

“The best exercise is the exercise you'll do,” she says. “You only have 100 per cent effort to give in a day. You can't always do it all, and you definitely can't pour from an empty cup.”

The members who wouldn't let go

For Jess, community comes down to small things: knowing people's names, saying hello when they walk in, celebrating their wins and noticing when someone hasn't been in for a while.

That was put to the test during the COVID-19 lockdowns, when gyms were forced to close and the future of the business looked shaky. Almost 200 members chose to keep paying their memberships simply to help Project Better survive.

“You can't teach kindness and manners,” Jess says.

What's opening in Prahran

The new gym is Project Better's first south of the Yarra, joining Collingwood, Brunswick East, East Brunswick Village and West Melbourne, with two more locations planned.

“Prahran felt like a natural fit for Project Better. With the revitalisation of Chapel Street and precincts like Cecil Place bringing fresh energy to the neighbourhood, it's an exciting time to be part of the local community,” Jess says. “We're looking forward to giving locals a different kind of gym experience, where fitness fits into their lives rather than taking them over.”

Project Better Prahran opens on 28 November 2026. For more information or to sign up, visit projectbetter.com.au.

As Jess puts it: “Perfection is not the goal, progress is.”