As Good As It Gets (Bannatyne's Health Club)

Member Name: tommy7

Product:	Bannatyne's Health Club
Date:	08/09/01 (9945 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great Facilities, Wide variety of exercise available

Disadvantages: Is Getting Busier

“Bannatynes” is one of the many new gyms that are popping up all over the place. The bad old days of a gym only having a variety of weights have thankfully gone. The new style of gym has everything from Sky TV to fitness programmes. The Falkirk branch is excellent and is what the area has been crying out for a long time.

Situation
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The Gym is located in the retail park beside Cineworld and has the benefit of a massive car parking facility, which is free. The retail park is a minute’s walk from the centre of town and the railway station is even closer which makes it a very accessible site.

Facilities
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The facilities are excellent, with the Gym being open less than a year they are all very new. Looking at the main facilities in turn

Fitness Part of Gym – The cardio vascular part of the gym has about 70 machines. There is a stepper, numerous Nordic cross training machines, exercise bikes and running/jogging/walking machines. Each machine has a headphone point where you can listen to one of 4 radio stations (usually Beat 106, Radio One, Radio Clyde and one other) or one of the 4 TV stations which are projected on to the wall. This is a massive bonus as it causes a distraction which can mean a more productive workout. There is nothing worse than exercising and watching numbers progress slowly to your target so a bit of MTV can help a lot. All machines have a variety of programs (fat burn, cardio, random, hill etc) which can be tailored to your needs. You also tell the machine your age and weight so that it can produce a target heart rate. The handles have heart rate monitors on them.

There are also 4 rowing machines which have inbuilt fans. These machines are fairly basic in that there is no display to row against but I have often wondered the value of racing against Steven Redgrave and beating him as you can in some simulations!

Finally there are 6
stomach crunch machines which you can use to do sit ups. These machines are very handy for using when you are taking a break between weights.

Body building Part of Gym – The thing that put me off old style Gyms was the monsters that lift tonnes and look down on us lesser mortals that can only lift x kgs. Bannatynes has been very clever here in amalgamating the weights with the fitness equipment. It can be a bit intimidating walking into a weights room but with everything contained in the one room this is not a problem.

Membership
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The gym is still taking on new members until it reaches its capacity of 3000. The membership is in the region of 2400 at the moment so there are a few space left but with 3 or 4 people joining everyday they won’t last for long.

Cost
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The gym is not cheap. There is a joining fee which is currently £70. This is a discounted rate, the normal joining fee is £200 so there is a 65% discount at the moment. I think that the discounted rate will disappear as soon as the membership reaches capacity. The capacity we were told was 3000 members, I don’t know if this is a definite figure or if it is an estimate.

Leisure Facilities
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Sauna/Jacuzzi/Pool/Steam room

The leisure facilities are contained at the opposite end of the changing rooms. The Sauna probably has the capacity for about 8-10 people but it has never been that busy that I have not been able to get in it. The heat is consistent and there is a sand timer so you know exactly how long you have been in it. The Jacuzzi could probably cope with about 15 people and is very relaxing. It is probably the most popular for its size. The temperature can vary but it is always warm. The steam room is similar to the sauna except it is wet heat instead of dry heat. There is also a menthol addition to the room which is pleasant.

Showers/Changing Facilities <
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The showers are excellent, they are all power showers with temperature gauges. There is free shower gel and the individual cubicles all have locks on them. When you leave the pool there is a machine which can dry your swimming outfit which is very handy. The lockers are made from a light wood and the place has an attractive lock. They are coin operated and secure. There are hair dryers readily available if you feel the need!


Other Facilities
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In addition to the above there are Sunbeds (paid for separately), over 50 free classes a week. I have not taken part in any of the classes but they are very popular. They include Spinning, Thai Bo, Boxercise and all the usual culprits. There is a £3 charge for failure to appear for a class. The classes take place in one of the two dedicated rooms or in a third specially designed spinning room.

Bar
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The bar is reasonably priced and provides hot meals, snacks and alcoholic and soft drinks. It is a pleasant environment with a large TV and complimentary newspapers.

General
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As with all gyms you need to have the motivation to keep going when the initial novelty wears of. I think it is a very good idea to join with as many friends as you can so that you are more likely to go. As the minimum contract is 12 months you are looking at a minimum outlay of £550 so a rash decision to join will be an expensive one.

Every member is given a membership card which activates the security gate. This helps with security and no doubt gives the gym a lot of valuable information about the members’ patters of usage. The card also gets you a £1.50 discount at Cineworld across the road.

In summing up this is an excellent gym and one that I would recommend 100% but with the above warning about not making a rash decision.

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