Brilliant Gym... No Complaints! (Greens Health and Fitness Club)

Member Name: Scrypt

Product:	Greens Health and Fitness Club
Date:	10/09/01 (3466 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great atmosphere, Excellent machines, Friendly staff

Disadvantages: Expensive, Not everywhere

Greens Gym is by far the best gym ive ever seen, let alone been to.

The branch I attend is in Croydon and was only opened a year ago. Part of the De Vere's group, the gyms are designed like the hotels, very upper class and everything is first rate.

Memberships for the gym are fairly expensive, ranging from £35 to £55 a month, with corporate memberships available.

So what do you get for £55 a month? It's a lot of money granted but what you get is a full lifestyle system. Now before you press the back button ill explain further.

With most gyms you go in, fool around for an hour and the head off home with a 'thank god that's over' feeling. 3 months down the line the good intentions have all but disappeared, and 6 months down the line you have no idea what that direct debit is for.


With Greens it's different.

The first time you attend you are given a full tour of the building. In my case this was of the pool areas, restaurants, 2 gyms and the various workout and class studios.

Before you go to the gym your given a full assessment where you are kept relaxed, rather then being made to feel uncomfortable and out of place. Blood pressure, weight, pulse, height etc are measured in order to keep a record of your progress (note: I have a feeling height is just for completeness rather then them measuring your growth!)

Following a sit-down and chat with an instructor (who by the way are all excellent and extremely friendly - but not in a fake way), you play an active part in setting a programme to follow. This is brilliant. In many cases, and gyms ive been to, you are merely told 'here's your programme'. With Greens they ask you what you want to do, e.g. build muscle, increase cardio vascular ability, lose weight. Then they design a programme while you sit there and talk each exercise through with you. If there's an exercise you don't like they do
n't include it in your programme - its that simple. Each exercise is explained, and they tell you what each one aims to do.

Next it's the gym. The gym is huge ... with lots of every type of machine. Ive been going regularly for 4 months and there's always at least 2 of each machine free. The worst thing about exercising is that it can get boring, not at Greens. Here are 6 54inch TV's set in the main wall which you can hear through headphones which you plug into each machine you are on. If the TV isn't your thing then you can choose form 12 radio stations instead -they really have thought of everything,

Possibly the best thing about the gym is that you can't exercise wrong. Your entire programme is on a key, and all you have to do is put your key into each machine and it sets your time, level difficulty etc. This means you don't overwork yourself. As well as this the machines stores data onto the key, so at the end of the session you simply put the key into a reader and it downloads all the info about your session onto your personal profile. This is brilliant. Not only does it show you how you performed that session; it keeps a permanent record to show you how you are progressing. All the machines are brand new and state-of-the-art. They were the first machines of their type in the UK last year.

As the months go by you can really see the progress. The machine shows the amount of calories burnt that session, distance travelled and which muscles have been worked.

This information is then used as an integral part of your next assessment to set your new challenges to ensure that your programme doesn't get too easy and stays challenging - a sure way to keep people motivates to attend.

As well as all the usual running, rowing, cycling and resistance machines, there are the usual free weight areas for people to work out, as well as a large area set aside for ab machines.

La
dies are made to feel particularly welcome, as there is a smaller gym to one side that at certain times is for ladies only. So there's no reason not to go down now is here ladies?

Though the gym is the focal point of any health club, Greens is so much more. There's a full 25m pool downstairs, and it's never packed! Kids aren't allowed in the pool between 12-2, and from 530 onwards during weekdays. This means you can actually swim without kids messing about and being obnoxious.

As well as the pool, there r 3 Jacuzzi's and a cold plunge ? if you're brave enough. These are accompanied by a sauna and steam room.

Once the work out is over there's also a very smart restaurant/café which serve's excellent food as very reasonable prices.

There are also lots of events on a regular basis, e.g. James Bond Nite, Pasta nites etc to maintain the atmosphere of the club.

If you would rather attend a class then go to the gym there are lots to choose from, from spinning, Tai Bo, kick boxing yoga etc. Something to suit everyone.

I know that this all sounds like a proper marketing brochure for the company but I assure you I don't work for them. The place is fabulous and you are always made to feel welcome and comfortable. There's always staff about to help - and their willing to help, you don't feel as if you are irritating them.

Apart form your monthly fee, the only thing you pay for is the extras such as tanning booths and massages - everything else is included in the price. It may seem a lot but it's worth very penny, plus as it's a fair bit you are even more inclined to attend in order to justify the cost.

It's a great gym, the staff are brilliant and it has an excellent atmosphere ? what more could u want?

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