The Third Space - get fit in luxury surroundings (Gyms in General)

Member Name: Leolover

Product:	Gyms in General
Date:	07/01/02 (694 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fantastic layout, good range of equipment, variety of classes/equipment available

Disadvantages: Cost

The Third Space gym is situated in Sherwood Street, approximately one minutes walk from Piccadilly Circus Tube Station. It's easy to get to either on the tube, via the Piccadilly Line, or using local bus routes. I've been attending this gym regularly since the middle of last year. The company I work for organised a corporate membership for us, and now all employees who want to can sign up as a member.

**** Layout

The Third Space has been designed with no expense spared and it does look very impressive compared to some of the standard gyms I've been to. It's built over three levels. The first floor encompasses the pool, changing rooms, steam room and sauna and the studio where classes are held. The free weights are also situated on this floor, in a smaller room tucked around the back of the changing rooms. On the second floor you'll find equipment for resistance work and offices where the Personal Training Instructors (PTI's) can be found if you need some advice or help with equipment. The medical centre can also be found here. The third floor houses the cardio equipment and areas where you can rest and read a magazine before continuing your workout. There's also a 'hypoxic chamber' where the super fit (not me, in other words!) can test their endurance at an altered altitude. There's a climbing wall which stretches up from the first floor to the third; you can learn to climb during specially arranged classes.

**** Cardio Room

This is the area of the gym I frequent the most, as I'm trying to lose some weight and increase my stamina. The Cardio Room has a good selection of the standard cardio machines; cross trainers, bikes, rowing machines, treadmills and step machines. There are enough machines so that no-one has to queue, even during the busiest periods. The cardio room is well air conditioned, bright and spacious, utilising glass roof panels to make the most of the natural lig
ht that is available. They've recently installed a small warm up and stretching area in the corner of the room so that you don't have to travel downstairs to use the one in the resistance area. Clean towels are always available and there's a water machine offering chilled and unchilled water.


**** Resistance Room and Free Weights

The Resistance equipment is located on the second floor of the gym, and there's also a large area set aside for warming up and stretching. There's a good range of resistance equipment, but there is only one of each machine, which can mean that you end up queueing for the most popular ones. The warm up area can also get quite crowded - although the small warm up area they?ve recently established in the cardio section has meant a significant improvement.

I don't use the free weights room, but colleagues have assured me that it offers a perfectly adequate range of weights and bars, and that help is available for members who encounter problems while exercising.


**** Classes

The Third Space offers an excellent selection of classes during the day and in the evening. Currently, you can sign up for classes in Yoga, aerobics, step, spinning, SCS (exercise with free weights to music) and various other toning and stamina building classes. Martial Arts, Boxing and Pilates classes cost extra - around £5 a session if you're a gym member, but there is a specially designed room for both with top of the range equipment and the instructors are renowned in their fields.


**** Support and Training

The support I received when I first joined the gym was exceptional - three free sessions with a Personal Training Instructor, explicit, detailed instructions on how to use the equipment, and a fitness review which was used to provide me with a detailed workout plan. Since then, the number of PTI's available for advice seems to have dwindled somewhat
, and sometimes it's almost impossible to find someone to ask for advice. To be fair, when you do manage to track someone down, they're always really helpful and clearly know what they're talking about. You can hire the PTI's for personal training, but at around £40 a session, it's not a cheap option.


**** Pool

The heated swimming pool is situated on the ground floor of the gym, it's an olympic sized heated pool surrounded by jacuzzi pools where you can chill out with your friends, even enjoy some TV at the same time, as there are TV's suspended over the jacuzzi's! You can step straight out of the pool into the changing rooms via the steam room or sauna, so there's no need to wander around shivering, looking for somewhere to change.


**** Sauna & Steam Rooms

The sauna and steam rooms are free to members. There are seperate rooms for men and women, situated in the changing areas. The steam room in the ladies changing rooms is spacious, relaxing and pine scented, and the sauna, although fairly small, is clean, well equipped and brightly lit. You can spend as long as you like in either room, although instructions on the wall do advise that you don't stay longer than ten minutes at a time.


**** Changing Rooms

The changing rooms - and I can only speak for the ladies, but I presume the men's are fairly similar -are luxurious to say the least. The rooms have been decorated in red, with red lockers encircling the rooms, full length mirrors surrounded by lights, and an area where you can dry your hair and apply makeup, perching comfortably on soft leather stools. The showers are clean and warm, and the water temperature is easy to adjust. Soap, shampoo, conditioner and body lotions are all provided free of charge.


**** Medical Centre

The Third Space Medical Centre is located on the third floor of the gym. There you can sample stan
dard treatments such as physiotherapy, osteopathy and massage, or more alternative treatments such as Cranio-Sacral Therapy, Reflexology and Reiki. I have sampled one Reflexology treatment, and it was of a good standard, but I would not recommend the centre because the prices are simply too high - £60 to £80 per 50 minute treatment. The prices are the same whether you are a member of the gym or not. I have regular Reflexology treatments for £25 an hour elsewhere in London, and consider the Third Space treatments to be overpriced.


**** Fresh and Wild Organic Café Bar

This café bar is attached to the centre, and offers high quality organic produce, meals, drinks and snacks at reasonable prices. It's good to have somewhere close by the gym where it's possible to purchase healthy, filling snacks, otherwise I'd probably end up heading for Mcdonalds after every workout!


**** Problems

Considering that the gym has been open for less than a year, they have encountered relatively few problems and as a consequence, I have relatively few criticisms of the place. On a few occasions classes have been cancelled and I have turned up only to find that my journey has been wasted, which is annoying. We have to register for each class and they have all member's contact details on their computer system, so it would surely not be too much of an effort to call round to inform us of the cancellation. They have also had some problems with the sound system, which means that the use of music in the cardio and resistance areas is inconsistent - sometimes you'll be working out to music, other times in dead silence.

My main criticism would be the fees they charge for membership and regular use. At nearly £1185 for a years membership it's a lot more expensive than many other gyms in the area. If my company weren't paying for me to go to this gym, I very much doubt that I'd be willing to fork out that
much money on my own. But then, the gym is targeted at corporate membership and is marketed as a high class, upmarket establishment, so I suppose the extra cost is inevitable.

To conclude, if you?re staggeringly rich or lucky enough to work for a company who are willing to fork out for corporate membership, The Third Space is a wonderful place to work out. Whenever I've joined gyms or started an exercise program in the past, I've never lasted beyond about three or four months. I really enjoy my trips to The Third Space, because it's an attractive and comfortable place to exercise. It feels more like an indulgence than a chore, and another bonus is that it's right in the heart of the west end, so I can work out and then meet friends for drinks afterwards in one of the many bars in the area.

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