Review of 37 Degrees, More London

37 Degrees
2b More London Riverside
London
SE1 2AP
020 7940 4937
Date of visit: August 2010

After being assured that I would have a free trial of the gym, I got my gym kit together and went to see Graham (from Romford in Essex). He must have spent an hour trying to hard sell me. He was very pushy and if he hadn't told me that his last sales post was in Fitness First in Romford, I would have assumed that he'd come straight from a used car dealership. Anyway, how could I make a decision without trying the product first? He sold it to me as a luxury joint, where I'd never need to wait for any equipment - very dangerous!

There is no atmosphere in there. Very few people are passionate! I looked at one of the personal trainers (a girl with short peroxide hair) training a lady. Where was the inspiration? Motivation? Later on the same trainer came back for a workout. She hogged about 3 sets of dumbbell and wouldn't let me use the 4kgs. They need to duplicate their dumbbells. I wouldn't have minded, but they sold me a certain idea that they couldn't deliver - I had to wait for a piece of equipment and worse of all it was because of a member of staff/personal trainer.

This gym (more of a spa with gym equipment) is for local office workers, who pay corporate rates of about £65 (£80 joining fee). The pool (20M) looked very nice and the sauna and steam room were great! Graham offered me £85 per month for a year’s contract with £80 joining fee or £95 per month rolling. Graham was very busy showing potential new member and I know that a lot of office workers really rate the place. However, I believe that this type of gym is fashionable and gives some symbol of status, but doesn’t appear to have that much to do with athleticism/sport.

The gym is big (Graham said 15,000 sq. ft), and he said that they have 3000 members (this may have just been part of his "we're not a packed out gym" sale).

It has given me a very valuable lesson in what a large (lazy to some extent and not athletic) portion of the public want. 37Degrees have just one other site in Olympia in Kensington.

Machines/Cardio: They use PRECOR USA - which are said to be a top quality brand.

GOOD STUFF: Towels, Locker Room, Shower, Equipment, Clean

BAD STUFF: No Ambient/Passion, No Mirrors (Isn't 95% of going to the gym about vanity?)