Check those guns ladies (Cannons Health Club (Northampton))

Member Name: freediveheaven

Product:	Cannons Health Club (Northampton)
Date:	09/02/06 (2815 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Body beautiful

Disadvantages: Hard work

When I was made redundant last year it meant that not only did I have my days to myself but I needed to find myself a new gym as I no longer had access to the one at work which was free.

Now I have always had the body of an athlete, in my teens and twenties this was the body of a swimmer and hockey player however following a disastrous (for my waistline) marriage and focus on a career I retained my athletic body however now the sportsman I resembled was a darts player. The gym regime had worked whilst in employment as I was back to the Adonis of old so I did not want to lapse when a diet of cakes and Tricia beckoned. After a brief survey of the local gyms in Northampton I decided upon Cannons as it seemed to offer the best deal for off peak membership.

Location

Located on the Sixfields entertainment park close to the football ground it is easy to get to and there is ample free parking. The only time that parking is a problem is if either the towns’ football or rugby teams are playing as fans will park in the car parks all over Sixfields. The gym is located above the ten pin bowling centre and I does have a rather evil entrance as you have to walk between an Old Orleans and Pizza Hut and your nose is assailed by the smell of garlic bread on the way in and out.

Temptation does not end there as the gym is on the first floor so you are faced with the choice of using the lift or the stairs. If you opt for the lift you will have to suffer the contemptuous stares of other members and if you use the stairs you will probably arrive out of breath and ready to call it a day.

Membership

There are a number of membership options and also couple of choices of how you pay. To start off there is a £25 administration fee which I always think is a bit of a cheek and this raises to £35 if two people join and pay by the same direct debit. There is a monthly membership option and an annual membership where you pay for 11 months and get one month free.

The opening times of the club are 6.30 to 22.00 on weekdays and 8.00 to 20.00 on weekends and bank holidays. Whatever type of membership you have last entry to the club is an hour before that membership ends.

What I do like about the club is the flexibility with the packages available and it is possible to switch between options if your circumstances change.

Premier membership is £40 per month (£440.00 annual) and entitles use of the club at anytime that it is open. Off peak membership is £30.00 a month (£330.00 annual) and allows use of the club between 6.30 to 17.00 and all day at weekends which I think is very generous and ideal for those on shifts, homemakers or self employed and can be flexible. There is also an over 50’s membership at £25 per month (£275 annual) which allows entry weekdays only between 8.00 and 16.00.

All of the memberships allow access to all of the facilities including classes during the relevant time frame.

Fitness Facilities

These are the main reason for joining for the majority of people and at Cannons they are pretty good. When you join you will have a fitness assessment and be shown how to use the equipment. The instructor will also put together a fitness regime for you if you want and you can review this with them whenever you want. You can also book a personal trainer should you need the extra motivation.

The main fitness area is a huge floor space reminiscent of a DIY superstore floor with high ceilings and exposed pipe work. Bright lights dominate and one side of the room provides views of the town dump which is not very appealing whilst plenty of mirrors exist for you to admire yourself in or provide the inspiration to work harder.

At one end there are banks of cardio machines which are four deep; these consist of two rows of running machines and one row of cross trainers. Each row has about 10 machines in total. The front row consists of some further cross trainers although these are slightly different design and hence a different workout and rather disappointingly only two step machines however these do not often get used so two is probably about right. All of these machines face a bank of four TV’s which show a mix of sport, music and news and can be tuned into via a socket in each machine providing you brig your own headphones. There are also a number of radio stations to listen to and music is piped into the area however this is not very loud.

Against one of the side walls there are six rowing machines that face a mirrored wall so you only have yourself to stare at while you imagine you are winning the boat race single handedly. There are then two rows of bikes, one row of each type which provides about 18 bikes in total and these face a further two TV screens.

There is a matted warm up area which is used for stomach crunches and balance ball work or if you just want to lie down and pass out. In the centre of the gym there are numerous weight machines that can pump, stretch and develop pretty much every muscle the body has and a few that you did not know about. There is also a free weights area, or steroid central, as I call it however to be fair the gym does not suffer from to many muscle bound self loving people during the times that I use it. It does annoy me though when they stand in front of the mirror preening and I can’t admire my own rippling rack.

Water fountains and paper towel dispensers are scattered around the gym area.

There is a separate fitness room where the majority of the fitness classes take place. There is a really good timetable of classes with these either taking place in the morning between 9.30 and 12.30 and during the evening and weekends. There are the usual aerobics, body combat and body pump for high intensity work out and also the yoga and Pilates classes for conditioning and relaxation. All classes usually last for about 55 minutes, are free and can be booked six days in advance however they are very popular and get booked up quickly. There are also spin classes and these take place in the entrance foyer where there are a further group of bikes arranged in a circle. I do the body pump class and it is a good workout and the routines are changed every four months or so. Each of the classes are colour coded to show the type of workout they provide and who they are suitable for and on the whole the instructors are very helpful when you first start a class.

The final fitness facility is the pool which is 20m long and is no more than 1.2m deep so it is ideal for swimming or running in the pool and it is also used for aqua aerobics classes. It is split into two sections dependant on speed with one half for those who are running or the dolly dry hairs and the other side for more energetic swimming. In the afternoons between 14.00 and 17.00 children are allowed to use one side of the pool at a cost of £2 for over 5’s free for under 5’s. The pool is also used for swimming lessons during this time and can become crowded and noisy.

Within the pool area there is a Jacuzzi, steam room and sauna each of which will comfortably accommodate 8 people or more.

Other Facilities

The rest of the facilities are pretty good. The changing area has recently been renovated with new lockers and showers and generally it is big enough to cope with the numbers.

In the reception area there is a café serving hot drinks and light snacks and there is a selection of papers to read, this are also provides a view of the pool. For the early risers there is free tea and coffee before 8.30 and they even provide free cornflakes as well.

The gym has a crèche for children aged between 3 months and 4 years between 9.30 and 11.30 and costs £3.50 per hour and is bookable seven days in advance.

There is also a beauty suite however I have little need of this but it does have sun beds and massage facilities as well as a sports injury clinic which can be booked.

There is access for disabled members with a lift up to reception and no steps within the rest of the gym however none of the doors have been fitted with automatic opening which is one negative.. The one thing I have not seen is a lift into the pool however that does not mean that one is not stored somewhere in the pool area.





Conclusion

On the whole this is a pretty good gym and provided you make your visit you will get your money worth. You can bring guests usually at a cost of £10 however there are various schemes run during the year to encourage new joiners.

It is certainly not perfect; the quality of the cleaning could be improved especially in the sauna and changing areas. They do seem to be quite cost conscious and there is not a full time cleaning staff which to be honest it could probably do with as they only seem to appear in the evening. Also for some reason the only time maintenance work gets done is on a Wednesday so if something goes wrong the next day there is a week’s wait.

My other main gripe would be that they are more focused on attracting new members rather than keeping existing ones and in particular there is no real communication between the management and the members, a lot of members left recently when the times children were allowed in the pool were extended which annoyed a lot of the off peak members some of whom left. The main problem was that management refused o listen to an alternative proposal from the members which left a bad taste in the mouth.

Other than that the basic fitness facilities are very good and having a pool to relax in is really nice, in fact that is where is will be sending my afternoon.


For more information check out www.cannons.co.uk

Thanks for reading and rating my review.

Summary: Cannons Gym