The Lill Gym: Redefining Boutique Fitness in Rolleston
03 June 2026
03 June 2026
It’s part of The Lill Gym, the unique and boutique health and wellness studio that Ben Lill opened with his fiancée Lee last October. The name is a play on Ben's surname—a nod to the gym’s svelte 144-square-metre footprint.
It’s about a lot more than square footage, however: HIIT, strength training, infrared yoga, Pilates, altitude room spin classes, and that salt cave—all sit under one roof.
"Our dream was to build the gym we'd actually want to train in,” says Ben. “We’re just hoping that everyone else feels the same way."
Building a business around your own personal training wishlist? Bold move, but seven months in, it’s an approach that seems to be paying off.
The Himalayan salt cave is the headline act. It's a hand-built chamber where a halo generator grinds medical-grade salt into fine particles you breathe in over a 45-minute session—offering potential benefits for respiratory health, skin conditions, and sleep quality.
"You know that feeling when you go to the beach, that healthy feeling of the salt air?" Ben says. "People say it's like that on steroids."
Then there's the altitude room. Spin classes simulate conditions at over 4,000 metres above sea level, using the most advanced altitude system in New Zealand—technology that until recently you'd only find in the training programmes of Olympic athletes and high-performance sports teams.
"To be able to offer that to everyone— the weekend warriors, or just mum and dad who want to keep up with their kids—that's a huge motivation for us. We also get many people from other gyms using the altitude room just as a sophisticated addition to their training."
The infrared yoga studio is another first for the district. Unlike Bikram-style heated air, infrared heaters warm the body directly rather than the room—a distinction that sounds minor until you're actually in it.
"It's not a punishing heat," Ben says. "It's more like a cuddle."
From the start, Ben and Lee were determined to do something unique.
"We didn't want to compete with the other gyms—we wanted to be in our own lane, completely different,” says Ben.
“We went through a lot of research, a lot of emails back and forward, a lot of head-scratching. But we knew we could make it work."
Their search ended at a site overlooking the Wool Shed playground, with the reserve alongside and around 2,500 new homes planned nearby.
"As soon as I saw it I knew it had to be in that spot," Ben says. "That was the final missing piece. This location is just the perfect place for a business like ours."
The membership model is built around value rather than volume. Instead of paying separately for a gym, a yoga studio and a wellness centre, members get everything under one roof for a single weekly fee.
"You don't need three separate memberships," Ben says. "For people who are splitting their time and money across a commercial gym, a Pilates class and a yoga studio, that all adds up. It's all in one, one price—and the price is competitive with what you'd pay across those memberships separately."
Since opening in October, The Lill Gym has drawn a membership as varied as its offer—from people recovering from injury or illness to young athletes training at a competitive level.
"We get a lot of people who've been to big commercial gyms, felt uncomfortable, and now they come to us,” says Ben.
Looking ahead, the ultimate goal might be to franchise the model, but for now, the focus is Rolleston: the growing district and the growing community of health-conscious locals looking for something different.
"There are so many things we can explore in this space and I feel like we've only just scratched the surface," says Ben.
"This is just the beginning."
