A great place for a workout (Fitness First in General)

Member Name: B_O_M_B_A_

Product:	Fitness First in General
Date:	21/07/08 (79 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: great facilities and staff

Disadvantages: Pricey, average of £45 / month

When I was at university I had to find a way to burn off all the fatty foods that i found myself consuming. My metabolism has always been fairly good so never found myself putting on any weight; I have always been athletic and enjoyed getting out and doing sports. When I started the university life I found myself sitting around a lot, drinking far more than I had ever done before and generally being quite lazy. I Joined Top Notch in Northampton which I was very please with, I paid around £30 as a student and had a good experience. Great pool, they had a climbing wall that went round and round and was excellent. The machines were also all hooked up to a central system that told you how much you should do on each in relation to your weight and strength etc.

Therefore I was expecting a lot from Fitness first having quite a good experience at other gyms. I managed to join Bedford Fitness First, now one of their platinum gyms (means I can use any of their gyms in the country) for only £20/ month on a family and friends discount. The gym had only recently opened and they were looking to increase the numbers and get publicity.

I turned up and was warmly welcomed by the staff who introduced me to all the machines and facilities and told me how to use them all properly, very good if I were a new member and didn't know how to. The facilities themselves are very good, the latest weight machinery (two of each so there is always one available), a pool, sauna, steam room, aerobic centre which has both free and pay for fitness workouts that are very good and get you in the mood for exercise, changing rooms, showers, a lounging area with complimentary soft drinks and a free DVD rental service.

All the facilities are well looked after and always clean which is very important to me, the pool is spotless, although I was quite disgusted and still am to see no lifeguard by the pool. They have a camera I assume that links to reception but by the time someone has run around the person could very well be dead, that's if they are even seen by the camera...quite a bad point in my eyes. I am not sure if this is the same policy in all the gyms but it needs to be changed.

There are both machine and free weights meaning there is a workout for everyone with every level of weight you could need, regardless of whether your a weaker or stronger person. They are all in good condition and have instructions of how to use them on each machine, very handy if you haven't use the machine before.

There is a large cardio area with around 10 bikes, treadmills, cross trainers and 5 rowing machines, all with a speaker socket so you can hook yourself up to one of the 9 screens showing various cable channels, this takes your mind off your workout and means you get through the pain without really thinking about it.

I personally like the chilling area which has sofas, magazines, papers and free drinks such as orange, coke and water to refresh yourself, there is also a collection of the latest DVDs that you ca easily rent as long as you return it the next day. You do this by booking it out on your membership card.

The membership card is the size of a credit card and has a picture of you on it so no-one can get away with using yours. You can use it to lock and unlock your locker by a chip in the card which is much easier than having a key. However, if you happen to lose your card you will have to pay a fine of £10 for a new one, a bit steep in my eyes.

I now pay £23.75 a month, still good but the price has gone up twice now in 4 months...by around 15% far exceeding inflation, so I am a bit annoyed, if I was paying the full £45 I wouldn't still be there! I also find that the gym simply wants to get as many people as they can and now there is sometimes a struggle to find a free weight or cardio machine. Top Notch didn't seem to do this, it had a fairly high price to ensure only a specific group of people joined, which seemed to be 18-35 year olds, which I found better because there were free machines, however I understand people of all ages like to go to the gym and I am more than happy for them to be there.

All this aside if you have the spare money it is a great gym and they are always sending free things through the post to entice you, I recently got a free two week pass for a friend, free £20, not bad.

Summary: Expensive but just worth it