A small gym trying to be everything…
A small gym trying to be everything ends up being mediocre and frustrating across the board.
I was a member for 3–4 years and, while the staff are great, the recent renovations have made the gym much harder to actually use.
The old functional area is now a classroom with a £10k floor (which you’re not really allowed to train on), and the smaller studio, previously used for stretching and skipping, is now filled with Pilates machines that often sit empty.
Meanwhile, the main floor, where most people train, is more cramped than ever, especially at peak times, as equipment from the old functional area has been pushed into it, and there’s now a small Hyrox section that realistically only fits one person at a time.
The owner is so protective of the new flooring that you can’t properly train on it, no skipping, no heavier weights (past 7.5 kg), which makes you wonder why invest in it at all. It starts to feel like the gym is being preserved rather than actually used.
There are also signs everywhere telling you what not to do, at this point the warm-up is reading the rules. The owner also regularly pulls people up for small, minor things, which just adds to the feeling that you’re being watched rather than able to train properly.
They’re now pushing an AI personal trainer online (limited to 50 people), which feels like a strange shift. It also seems at odds with their claims of having 10+ expert trainers and a strong focus on community. If I were a PT there, I’d be questioning my value to the gym and what that means long term.
Overall, the overcrowding doesn’t feel like a space issue, but the result of the owner’s decisions and lack of foresight. It used to be simple and effective, now it’s overcomplicated, overcrowded, and oddly restrictive.