DECIDING WHICH GYM you join can be a big decision.
It can become a significant part of your life and choosing the right one is as important as deciding to join one in the first place.
There are a number of key criteria you must consider before parting with your money because if you don’t find a gym which fits your needs then you could end up making a significant investment for something you never use.
With a wealth of options available to us, it can be difficult to differentiate one gym from the next and resist the persuasive membership packages being dangled before us.
As the co-author of Men’s Health Magazine, Myatt Murphy, once said: “Walking into a gym is like walking onto a car lot. You’re the center of attention until the ink is signed.”
So it’s important to step back and consider what you want from your gym. Location and price are two of the obvious factors in any decision but other considerations such as opening hours, facilities, staff and classes are equally important.
With that in mind, we’ve decided to take a closer look at as many gyms around the country as we can – what they offer, what makes them different and ultimately whether you should consider joining or not.
To get the ball rolling, FlyeFit are first up.
Over the last decade, we’ve seen the emergence of gym chains in Ireland and FlyeFit are the first low cost chain to open 24/7.
With four gyms in Dublin, FlyeFit have quickly become a leading player in the market and have tapped into the blossoming fitness industry in this country.
FlyeFit base their model on making the gym ‘experience’ as easy as possible for their members, primarily with a low cost pricing structure and central and convenient locations.
Price is invariably the first criteria anyone will look for when considering a gym and there’s little surprise FlyeFit are as popular with a number of attractive memberships options.
“We’re the only Irish gym to offer a fully automated online self service gym membership,” Jackie Skelly, Media & Marketing Director, explained to The42.
“You can join, pause your membership, cancel your membership, book programmes, classes and personal training all online.
“Our monthly rate of €29 gives us a competitive advantage while our annual package is just €254 and that includes all gym classes.”
What also differentiates Flyefit from their competitors is the roaming membership offer. For an extra €3 a month, you can use any of their gyms across the capital and the latest addition to the group opens its doors on Georges Street in a couple of weeks.
There are also big plans for 2016.
Although FlyeFit entered the market just four years ago with a flagship gym in Ranelagh, they are set to add three more locations in the first quarter of next year.
But what do you actually get for your money?
“Our gyms are stuffed to the rafters with the latest cardio equipment, strength training machines, huge free weights areas, functional training zones, astro turf, rigs, racks and Olympic lifting platforms.
“Each gym has a dedicated Real Ryder studio with spinning bikes that tilt and bank like real bikes and a fitness class “arena” where you can participate in free indoor bootcamp style classes like X-fit, boxercise, pump’n sculpt classes, kettlebells, TRX and trampolines.”
All you need to know:
Locations: Ranelagh, Baggot Street, Macken Street, Swords, Georges Street
Annual membership: €254
Day passes: €9
Free classes: Yes
Personal training: Yes, extra charge
Locker room and showers: Yes
Swimming pool, sauna etc: No
Free parking: No
For more information on FlyeFit gyms, their locations and memberships packages, click here.
If you think your gym would like to feature in our weekly series, you can email ryan@the42.ie.
Great idea,, much easier to walk out before the final whistle,,, à la last year…;)
@devils avacado: have you ever considered eating yourself, serious question?
It works very well on hill 16 except when the GAA over sell it . Keep the numbers right shouldn’t be a problem when social distancing regulations are relaxed
Has to be a safe option for this season anyway
Money money money
@The Irish Pain: more money where?
I suppose if the fans are standing up it’s harder for them to fall asleep watching a shite team .
@Ger Martin: great team at Anfield these days and its still ynwa for 2 mins at the start and 2 mins at the end and nothing in between. Yawn
@Ger Martin: Why do you devote so much energy into hating an English team that you have no geographical connection to?
@Mossy: relax lenny, don’t see anyone questioning your simpsons character/profile pic!
@Mossy: you know Ger personally do you ? It was a joke. Lighten up. It was of a better quality then the like of the ‘loserpool’ stuff on here. Nobody Monday a decent or semi decent joke.
@Brian Dunne: if you believe that then I guess you’re the type of fan who watches highlights on youtube and just reads the headlines to stay in the loop trying to be cool.
@King B: nah its common knowledge.
@Brian Dunne: oh right, well if that is truly the case then at least the fans are there for the last two minutes compared to other fair weather, submissive, prawn sandwich eating fans.
@King B: yeah yeah. Sorry, pool fans are the most sooper dooper fans in the world. Happy?
@Brian Dunne: not entirely, you forgot the part where you say man u fans are the worst.
@King B: correct,sorry. I forgot about that time united fans behaviour led to a European ban on all english teams. Oh wait….
@Brian Dunne: typical man u fan, always blowing on about history….
@King B: typical pool fan,try to rewrite history….
@Brian Dunne: now where did I suggest that?
Our future is positive, that’s the way I’m looking you can stay in the distant past if you’d like.
@King B: yeah the pool fans love forgetting certain things from the past when it suits them. Can’t be taking away from the “best fans in the world” image now can we?
@Brian Dunne: I wasn’t even born sham so how I could possibly remember it?
Let’s talk about the present and try and drag yourself out of the past.
your skummy fans singing songs about Hillsborough every chance they get?
Ever heard of Icj or the m58 firm?
Drug and people traffickers, armed robbers and they’re all hooligans involved in the ‘red army’. That’s what man u fans are up to today. Skum of the earth.
@King B: your lot were quite happy singing munich songs for years before Hillsborough. Some still sing about it. Robbing tickets off each other in athens. Heysel. Lovely lot.
@Brian Dunne: are you still talking about events in the past?
@King B: or we can talk about more recent behaviour like attacking opponents team busses. Throwing excrement in cups at old trafford. Damaging seats and toilets at old trafford. Lovely lot. Salt of the earth
@Brian Dunne: stuff was thrown at a bus, no fans no where have ever done that before. there’s books and newspaper articles to back up my point about your fans being criminals. Do you’ve any for your claims?
@King B: everything i mentioned was documented either online or in newspapers. Every club has a bad elememt following them. But liverpool fans like to put themselves on a pedestal and think they are better than everyone else when the truth is very different
@Brian Dunne: I googled searched and searched and found nothing to those claims. I’ve nothing better to be doing so it was a solid search.
No we don’t, just because you say we do doesn’t make it true.
Nice sly dig about Hillsborough there too, see skum.. We know the truth.
@King B: what sly dig about Hillsborough you absolute melt??
Have the local council nothing better to be doing at the moment!!??