Scirocco Central

I'm pondering shedding some lard

Not much but enough.

I drive right past a David Lloyd on the way to/from work. It's a bit pricey (I think it's around £80/month) but it might motivate me to go.

Does anyone go to one of them? If so, what are they like?

funny you should mention that - i'm thinking of joining up to David Lloyd, but i'll be damned if i can find any pricing :|

I just went for a look. They really push the hard sell. I only went in to ask for the price and ended up being shown round by the sales manager!
It's £75/m for 12 months peak time (slightly cheaper cos I kind of work for the NHS). You can do a 3 month rolling deal (which she didn't seem to want to tell me about but which I knew existed). That's £92/m.

Constantly pushed the extra facilities and trainers even though I said at least 3 times I was only interested in the gym. Bit pricey but nice facilities.

She finished off by saying Ok then shall I call you tomorrow to sort out your membership? Erm... no. I'll get back to you thanks.

£75 per month?!?!?!

Shocking.


No thanks...

I pay £45 a month with VirginActive. David Lloyd is horribly over priced... avoid!!

Maybe I'm in the minority but I just don't get Gym's

Rowing machines: Wouldn't it be more fun to get a boat?
Running machines: Wouldn't it be more fun to go for a run?

As for trainers, if I want to enter the Olympics maybe that would be useful but if I wanted to loose a bit of lard (and I should) do I need someone with a degree in physical training to help me do that.

Maybe some people just like being in a room full of sweaty bodies but that ain't me either!

OK fitness freaks, go on then, flame me

i'm with you spiney - why pay money to use a treadmill when you can jog around your park for free?

however, it really is a motivation thing i think... i took up running at the end of summer, but since the weather has been sh*t of late, i find myself staying in more than going out for a jog

I'm not a runner and I don't fancy joining a rowing club. I'd rather sit in the warm on a machine watching MTV

I thought I'd be opening a can of worms with that one

Doesn't the same logic mean that you might as well sit indoors and play driving games rather than taking the Scirocco out for a spin! Think of all that fuel you'd save.

You still get out of breath though.

Driving is a different sensation

I'm with Spiney as well although I guess it depending on what type of fitness you want to achieve.

If you just want to loose weight then the gym probably isn't such a bad idea however, at the tail end of last year I was training to climb Kilimanjaro (which I did at the start of this year). Running and training indoors is rubbish for things like this, it's far too controlled and artificial. The comment you made about the weather is the sort of thing I mean. Just because you can run 10 miles in a gym does not mean you can run 10 miles outside. Conclusion: Outside = fun and better. Inside = boring and expensive. Just my $0.02!

I'm a bit of a fair weather cyclist, so as last year was so wet meant I couldn't go out much. So over autumn 08 I decided to paint my garage floor and walls and stick a turbo trainer in it (~£100) and a cross trainer (~£300). now I dont feel so bad when it rains. It also means I can look at the back of the Rocco with the garage door open (as an alternative to MTV for entertainment ). it also saves on gym membership.

Some over the neighbours give funny looks when they walk past, but who cares.

I know not everybody has the space, I was just luckly that I dont need the garage for storage or anything else really.

Yeah space is a problem otherwise I'd just go and buy a rowing machine. But I don't have 6-8ft of flat space where I could put it, living in an apartment.

might see you this weekend in the poor mans alternative to DL

My uni gym is only £35 / year

And there are alot of benefits to having a gym, for starters if you lift weights then you need to go to a gym. You can't go into the forest and bench press logs and stuff lol, it isn't going to work. Also with stuff like running instead of treadmill, rowing instead of the rowing machine, give people the option of going on a rowing machine or whatever with their training partners or friends in a 20 degree room with loads of televisions and loud music as opposed to rowing in the snow or jogging in the dark with 1 inch puddles deep puddles, i know which one the majority of people would take.

IF you intend on running or rowing competitiviely then yes you would choose the second, but as a means of simply getting in shape? No contest.

Kev wrote:It's £75/m for 12 months peak time (slightly cheaper cos I kind of work for the NHS). You can do a 3 month rolling deal (which she didn't seem to want to tell me about but which I knew existed). That's £92/m.

I'm quite a keen cyclist but I'll be honest I've not been much out in the last few months because of the weather and the fact it's pitch black by the time i finish work. These last 2 weeks the snow/ice has pretty much prevented me from going at all much recently. I quite like going swimming aswell but usually just head down to the local council pools (£3.50 a time ). Was contemplating joining a gym but there's no way I'd pay more than £50 a month!
I really hate how they try and get you to sign up for a 12 month membership. Thing is like yourself i only really want to join one for 3-4 months over the winter when i cant go out cycling. I've got a flat so dont really have the room to devote to buying exercise equipment though I'm halfway contemplating buying an exercise bike just to try and maintain my fitess!

Kev try fitness first. I used to be a member and it looks like they are way cheaper than DL and have some good incentives from time to time. I was paying £54 per months at a central london gym so you definitely shouldn't be paying more than that.

Gyms are good for motivation and avoiding injuries (particularly in winter). If you don't really know what you are doing it is worth investing in a personal trainer for a few sessions in order to get a good idea how to use the equipment properly. It's often the case of how you do things in the gym rather than how much you do of them that produces the best results technique is all important. You don't just have to do cardio to loose weight, free weights will get good results combined with controlling your diet. Depends what you want to achieve.

Have been a member at

David Lloyd
Virgin Active
Esporta
Total Fitness
Fitness First

DL knocks them all into a cocked hat for quality

Have a look round at different times of the day, in my experience David Lloyds are a tarts gym, a place to be seen rather than work out.

Have a look at the state of the kit (how many pieces are out of order) and check the state of the showers. Both very important!

I would also wait until after the new year rush when people have realised that working out is hard work and have given up!

I have a friend who works as a Personal Trainer in a David Lloyd gym and I have to admit the place is stunning! However, if you are simply looking to lose some weight I don't think it's worth the money. I had the same goal last year, within 5 months I had lost 2.5 stone and am now down to my ideal weight without spending a penny! Just go running everyday, sorted out my diet, drink lots of water and the weight was falling off!

Of course if you want the use of a swimming pool, sauna, gym to tone up, classes etc. then there are far cheaper ways of doing this. But then if you have the money and are going to get good use out of it, then why the hell not?! Say £80 p/m, if you go 3 times a week it will cost around £7 per visit - not bad if you spend a good couple of hours there!