She once competed in the Miss Universe pageants, now she uses her charms to seduce exciting men into an interview for MASTERS. This time, Irene van de Laar sets her sights on television presenter, fashion model and gym owner Arie Boomsma.
Text: Irene van de Laar | Online Editor: Natasha Hendriks
Image: Karoly Effenberger
Arie Boomsma was born as the second son in a pastor's family on Marken. He is owner of the Vondelgym sports schools, fitness & health specialist with RTL Boulevard, much sought-after speaker on fitness and vitality, and wrote among others the books De man en zijn lichaam, Beweeg and the bestseller Fit, in kleine stappen naar een gezonder leven. His latest book, Volhard, was recently published. I meet Arie in the creative environment of Spaces Zuidas in Amsterdam.
"There's a big difference from how they were and how they are now. If I have an ideal situation, I get up at six o'clock, well after a good night's sleep. Ideally, in the summer, I would walk outside first. Sunlight in my face, barefoot in the grass moving around a bit and then go inside with the newspaper. Then I eat dinner and take a cold shower. That's actually my ideal start to the day. It should include meditation, and I don't mean sitting still for half an hour, but just five minutes of breathing and a little observation outside. Quiet start, no phone. The situation is very different now, my three children are under five. The oldest is four, the youngest six months. So yes, that's really early up. Often they are already awake at 5:30 after a broken night. Then I'm with them first and that's nice too, it's a different routine than before: my own day doesn't start until about 9:30. But I enjoy that morning with the kids immensely."
"I love the morning, always have. When I used to play basketball, we had these crazy times where you had a practice at 4:30 in the morning, feeling like it was the middle of the night. Then I discovered the romance of that isolation in the morning. No one is active then, so you feel like you have some kind of advantage over everyone you're in competition with when it comes to sports. That romance appealed to me because it feels like discipline and good structure."
"Yes, I still read from the Bible, but now usually once or twice a week, previously it was every day."
"Sometimes I argue with myself. That belief is still important to me. That hasn't actually changed, but faith itself has changed. The interpretation should always be in motion, and with me that means I keep asking questions about everything. Sometimes I read something I just love, especially those books from the Old Testament: beautiful images, beautiful language. Sometimes it's purely meditative and I read in stories certain examples of how to deal with people. Then I find those beautiful thoughts, which I try to translate to life now, to social media for example. How do I treat others? How do I want to be treated myself?"
"Yes, but that also makes it kind of relevant. Especially now you sense a harshness in society and the economy that causes - partly because of the whole corona situation - that people are even more pent up, angry, suspicious of everything. That's what a Bible like this can also be about, that you put things in perspective, that you keep looking for what's really important, that you keep treating people a little bit normally or even lovingly."
"The funny thing is: one of my brothers, who is almost the same age as me, so had more or less the same upbringing, the same childhood, is of the opinion that we were raised strictly. Going to church every week, going to church twice every two weeks, reading the Bible at dinner every day, praying. Then at some point when you were sixteen, seventeen, if you stayed down once after going out, my father was disappointed. He experienced all that as very strict and I, on the other hand, experienced it as extremely open, because I saw that my parents also had Gerard Reve or Jan Wolkers on their bookshelves, or a certain philosopher. My mother sometimes took in a vagrant for two weeks or a boy who had just come out of juvenile detention, who would live with us for a few months. So I saw those thoughts and that openness, the beautiful sides. My brother thought it was very bad that it was more or less imposed in the upbringing anyway. We differed in that. But the practicality of praying, reading the Bible and going to church and all that, that was all there. My parents did emphasize: we believe this, but there are lots of people who think and believe differently, you have to deal with that just the same. They did that themselves."
"Exciting though, because there was so much unclear. We are really building sports clubs with Vondelgym. The community is very close, but the location is also very important. We do a lot on social media and online, only that's an extra. We do have a lot more followers on social media than we have members, so that's definitely an important branch, but it really happens in those gyms. When it became clear that they had to close, I was shocked though. I thought it was an energizing period, because every government decision had so many consequences. It all felt very urgent. When there was another announcement, I usually went for a walk first. Get everything straight. What exactly was said? What does it mean for us? One of the most important decisions for us was to fully engage with members and followers and risk having no income for four months, or indeed, we didn't know how long. I was still thinking at the time: three, maybe four weeks. We did stop all subscriptions and chose to continue serving the customer, because it was also a struggle to stay healthy during that period. We provided free workouts, recipes and yoga flows."
"Fortunately, we got out with the landlords, and our members stayed with us, by pausing subscriptions. While they were flying out elsewhere in the country. I was really proud of that. Then I was asked by the big chains if I wanted to do the lobbying for the gyms, so the visibility became huge, even though I never talked about Vondelgym. It became clear what we, the sports sector, stand for. We got through that crisis very well."
"I greatly admire the way our government is handling it. You just have to stand there and make those trade-offs every time. I will never attack the policy. I don't think that's appropriate, nor necessary. At the same time, I do feel: guys, there is one thing: what you have to keep doing now is to keep moving well. That can all be done safely and cleanly if everyone takes responsibility in it. I would like to see the government focus on encouraging and inviting health right now. Education, and also making healthy eating more affordable."
"Previously I wrote the book Fit, in small steps to a healthier life - on sleep, nutrition and exercise. A timeless book with lots of information, tips and trics. I wanted to follow that up. That resulted in Volhard. Here the focus is more on keeping up your good intentions, so you don't fall back into old patterns. What is discipline? And how do you keep having fun in your new, healthy way of life. The book is packed with thoughts and snippets about what persistence is, and how to organize it Small steps, big changes in your lifestyle. I enjoyed working on it."
"We are just continuing to build and the current three gyms are doing well, so we are thinking about a fourth branch, possibly also outside Amsterdam. If one day I could have about ten branches in the Netherlands, I would love that."
"I feel successful the moment the things I do contribute to something, that they matter. Of course, I also look at it from a business perspective. That I am successful with things that I enjoy. That I can make a good living from what I'm building and that more and more is always emerging. I think in perspectives. Part of what makes it successful for me is that it gives me space and invites creativity."
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