6A St George Wharf
London
SW8 2LE
Date of visit: September 2010
After hearing so much talk of no-frills gyms and where the industry was heading, I thought I’d head down to my nearest no-frills club.
The Gym Group’s Vauxhall site gave a really good insight into where the industry is going. The gym is spacious (20,000 sq. ft of open plan space), has lots of natural light and lots of mirrors to accentuate both of these qualities (although I would have put even more mirrors in.) The equipment is new and includes about 37 running machines plus a least the same number of climbers and other cardiovascular equipment. It’s a bargain at £15 per month. I paid £5 for one session, which was all done on the Internet. The entry system is fantastic. It’s just like getting into a bank.
The changing rooms are done out with low cost materials, but they are nice. There are no tiles in the showers, just vinyl and they do seem clean. The lockers, however, are flimsy and some are broken, so when I put my padlock on you could still open it.
I would have liked to have seen their one staff member show more presents. He should be looking to know everyone by name and do his utmost to give the gym a face. I did feel that the gym was faceless. It was almost like walking into an airport or train station. You just felt like you were in a public space. Although the other members seemed nice and there was a mix of backgrounds, you could see that the £15 price tag attracted people from the lower classes (sorry, I know this isn’t PC).
Unfortunately for me the battery had run out on my ipod, so I was reliant on the gym sound system. The music that was playing was so quiet that all you could hear was the sound of the air-conditioning and cardiovascular equipment. It just made the ambience a bit eerie. I would have had the music up a bit louder, but not blasting.
These guys obviously don't want to push the free weights side too much. The free weights area is very small and at the back of the gym. You can't find the dumbbells you want and I’d say they need more equipment. I saw a lot of biggish guys who wanted to do free weights for £15 per month, but felt that there was a restriction there.
In all, if you are just after weights and cardio (no pool, no classes, no sauna), this is a bargain and is where a large section of the market is shifting.
Monday, 7 March 2011
Tuesday, 1 March 2011
LA Fitness, London Wall
48 London Wall
London
EC2M 5QB
Date of visit: September 2010
They were doing three free sessions on the Internet. I filled in my details, got a missed call from a man, called back and got rebooked with Nadia. Nadia seemed like a good sales person: professional, well presented, not pushy, she seemed to know all the different schemes, but didn't know about other clubs and didn't seem to be that knowledgeable about fitness. I trained for free in an unventilated basement (when I was there the air conditioning had been shut down for works!). Nadia offered me £55 per month for 12 months or £66 for 4 months with a joining fee of £60.
Good Points: The reception area was pleasant enough - but who cares? - I don't go to the gym to drink coffee. The sales person was nice. At midday, when I went, it was full of people, atmosphere was good, people looked like they were there to work out. They had lots of cardiovascular equipment and a fair amount of free weights and machines. They also had two studios for classes, a spinning room, and a pool.
Bad points: The ceiling was low, they had no natural light and the place felt dark. They did have mirrors, but not by the machines - I would have liked to have seen myself when I was on the machines and cable crossover! Because the air conditioning was broken/off there was sweat everywhere – literally dripping from the ceiling and on the floor. The whole place felt sticky and dirty. The changing area just felt dirty. The walls were dirty and needed painting. The flooring was some kind of wood laminate - see Soho Gyms Waterloo for great flooring! I had to search for the handle for the cable crossover and it felt like they should have duplicated on such things. The dumbbells were a mess and I couldn't find the ones that I wanted. There seemed to be enough staff on the floor, but they weren't keeping things organised!
Conclusion: These guys cater for the mass market, members were paying about £40 per month, their gym is old, and they are more sales focussed. They have enough staff on the floor, but they need more cleaning/tidying staff - having the aircon break is one thing, but this shouldn't affect how organised/available your dumbbells are! As their rep said - They are Fitness First with a swimming pool.
London
EC2M 5QB
Date of visit: September 2010
They were doing three free sessions on the Internet. I filled in my details, got a missed call from a man, called back and got rebooked with Nadia. Nadia seemed like a good sales person: professional, well presented, not pushy, she seemed to know all the different schemes, but didn't know about other clubs and didn't seem to be that knowledgeable about fitness. I trained for free in an unventilated basement (when I was there the air conditioning had been shut down for works!). Nadia offered me £55 per month for 12 months or £66 for 4 months with a joining fee of £60.
Good Points: The reception area was pleasant enough - but who cares? - I don't go to the gym to drink coffee. The sales person was nice. At midday, when I went, it was full of people, atmosphere was good, people looked like they were there to work out. They had lots of cardiovascular equipment and a fair amount of free weights and machines. They also had two studios for classes, a spinning room, and a pool.
Bad points: The ceiling was low, they had no natural light and the place felt dark. They did have mirrors, but not by the machines - I would have liked to have seen myself when I was on the machines and cable crossover! Because the air conditioning was broken/off there was sweat everywhere – literally dripping from the ceiling and on the floor. The whole place felt sticky and dirty. The changing area just felt dirty. The walls were dirty and needed painting. The flooring was some kind of wood laminate - see Soho Gyms Waterloo for great flooring! I had to search for the handle for the cable crossover and it felt like they should have duplicated on such things. The dumbbells were a mess and I couldn't find the ones that I wanted. There seemed to be enough staff on the floor, but they weren't keeping things organised!
Conclusion: These guys cater for the mass market, members were paying about £40 per month, their gym is old, and they are more sales focussed. They have enough staff on the floor, but they need more cleaning/tidying staff - having the aircon break is one thing, but this shouldn't affect how organised/available your dumbbells are! As their rep said - They are Fitness First with a swimming pool.
Saturday, 26 February 2011
Soho Gyms - Waterloo
Soho Gyms Waterloo
11-15 Brad Street
London
SE1 8TG
020 7793 4238
Date of visit: August 2010
I called the gym at 1pm and was greeted by an enthusiastic sales rep. He started to explain the club and then told me to go over and have a trial session. I was in the gym by 3pm on the same day. The Soho people were a massive contrast to the used car salesman like Graham of 37Degrees. The warm and relaxed Khan from New Zealand showed me the gym and gave me the options.
I was offered a number of deals, which included pay as you go direct debit. There is a £50 deposit, which you lose if you cancel before the end of your term. There are also some cash deals, e.g. at the moment they have and £89 for 6 weeks deal.
The gym is 15,000 sq. feet and has free weights, lots of cardiovascular equipment, two rooms for classes and a boxing ring. They seemed to use a mix of suppliers. I saw a lot of stuff from Technogym and Escape. They also have some cross trainers by PRECOR.
Architecturally it has to be the nicest gym that I've seen in London. It's built in 3 arches, which sit under a train track running to Waterloo Station. If you like architecture or interior design, please have a look at this place. It is a piece of art. There is also so much natural light flooding through the enormous windows.
GOOD STUFF: I went at about 3pm, but there were still people training and the atmosphere was good, there are mirrors everywhere (10/10); The venue is outstanding and the finish is to a very high standard. They had mats and rubber flooring everywhere - none of this laminate floor.
BAD STUFF: The only thing I noted was that it was male dominated. I don't think that there was one girl training. I am told that the girls do more classes and that 30% of their members are girls.
CHANGING: Lots of locker (you need a padlock), 14 showers and a sauna in the changing rooms, which seemed clean.
OTHER STUFF: Khan says that they have about 2,000 members and retention is high (looking at the kind of people in there, I believe this). Once a member you can use all of the gyms in London. They give £3 off per month, if you don't use their towels.
Final Note: I have been to all Soho Gyms in London and they do not all come up to this standard. Look out on my blog for more reviews coming soon.
11-15 Brad Street
London
SE1 8TG
020 7793 4238
Date of visit: August 2010
I called the gym at 1pm and was greeted by an enthusiastic sales rep. He started to explain the club and then told me to go over and have a trial session. I was in the gym by 3pm on the same day. The Soho people were a massive contrast to the used car salesman like Graham of 37Degrees. The warm and relaxed Khan from New Zealand showed me the gym and gave me the options.
I was offered a number of deals, which included pay as you go direct debit. There is a £50 deposit, which you lose if you cancel before the end of your term. There are also some cash deals, e.g. at the moment they have and £89 for 6 weeks deal.
The gym is 15,000 sq. feet and has free weights, lots of cardiovascular equipment, two rooms for classes and a boxing ring. They seemed to use a mix of suppliers. I saw a lot of stuff from Technogym and Escape. They also have some cross trainers by PRECOR.
Architecturally it has to be the nicest gym that I've seen in London. It's built in 3 arches, which sit under a train track running to Waterloo Station. If you like architecture or interior design, please have a look at this place. It is a piece of art. There is also so much natural light flooding through the enormous windows.
GOOD STUFF: I went at about 3pm, but there were still people training and the atmosphere was good, there are mirrors everywhere (10/10); The venue is outstanding and the finish is to a very high standard. They had mats and rubber flooring everywhere - none of this laminate floor.
BAD STUFF: The only thing I noted was that it was male dominated. I don't think that there was one girl training. I am told that the girls do more classes and that 30% of their members are girls.
CHANGING: Lots of locker (you need a padlock), 14 showers and a sauna in the changing rooms, which seemed clean.
OTHER STUFF: Khan says that they have about 2,000 members and retention is high (looking at the kind of people in there, I believe this). Once a member you can use all of the gyms in London. They give £3 off per month, if you don't use their towels.
Final Note: I have been to all Soho Gyms in London and they do not all come up to this standard. Look out on my blog for more reviews coming soon.
Friday, 25 February 2011
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?)
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?)
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