The Den Canberra

Strength and conditioning built around community

The Den sits beneath EQ Café on Kent Street in Deakin, close to the centre of Canberra and easy to get to from most suburbs.

Founded in January 2016 by Mick Mackell, The Den has built a loyal following over nearly a decade by doing one thing particularly well: creating an environment where people actually push themselves, and actually enjoy it.

The training

The Den’s flagship session is the 20/10 interval, a tabata-style format where members work hard for 20 seconds and rest for 10, cycling through a series of stations that mix strength and conditioning work.

Beyond the 20/10 sessions, The Den offers metabolic conditioning, aerobic and anaerobic conditioning, and pure strength sessions. At least five different session types are available at each time slot, so there is genuine variety without the feeling of a gym trying to be everything to everyone. Sessions can also be modified for injury, illness or lower fitness levels, which matters more than most gyms acknowledge.

The person behind it

Mick Mackell brings more than 25 years of experience as a strength, conditioning and rehabilitation coach. His background includes a decade as head trainer and rehabilitation officer for the Canberra Raiders, along with work with the Brumbies, the Vikings Rugby Club and Australian representative rugby league teams. That level of expertise shows in how sessions are structured and how coaches interact with members.

He is not the type of coach who shouts or hovers. The focus is on form, safety and progress, and that approach has shaped the culture of the whole gym.

A community worth being part of

Members consistently describe The Den as something different from a standard gym. People encourage each other, long-term members stay because the programming keeps evolving, and new members find it easier to settle in than they expect.

The Den is accessible to all fitness levels and does not discriminate between beginners and experienced athletes. A 7-day free trial is available for those who want to see what it is about before committing.