Going to the gym, what makes you cringe??

Ginny

Deffo need showers at the gym, half the week I go straight from work, so if there were no gyms I'd either have to wear my stinky clothes home or put my work clothes back on my sweaty self.
One thing I like at my gym (and its stupidly simple) the lockers are coin operated, you put a euro in to lock it and get the euro back when you unlock it, it might be a pain to have a euro but for me (who always misplaces locks) its great...:D.
The Tv's are a big deal, please have a range of channels, not just Rte1 and 2 as during peak gym times 6-8 they have news/soaps, some music channels or even E4 would be great, and maintain the tvs so they all work, I'm sick of going to a gym and having to select the individual machines that have the Tvs running properly.
Having a big range of classes really help, make sure the instructors change up their routines regularly, stops them and the classes becoming bored.
As for water fountains essential as they are can you also check the taste of the water produced make sure its chilled and palatable, the last gym I went to have a measly trickle of water that was lukewarm and tasted like Iron.
If you have a gym membership make sure everything is included, again the last gym I went to started down the road of doing pole dancing/yoga/self defence/kickboxing classes during the evening from outside contractors who then wanted the regular gym members to pay an additional supplement to take part.

itsallaboutheL

rainbow kirby wrote: »

Possibly a womens free weights workshop? Take in a small group (4-8) once a week for an hour and teach good form, and help to reduce the intimidation a little?

That is genius!! im robbing it!

gabgab

Thanks a million guys,

Every one of our classes is a workshop and we teach form and instruct at every class. People are not allowed to train on their own,

We feel that fitness should be fun, that it should have a social element to it and that we all need instruction no matter how good we are. To draw the analogy, Tiger Woods ois the greatest golfer the world has ever seen. He constantly works with golf and athletic coaches on a daily basis.

Good man its all about the L,

We have a womans workshop coming up, I am unsure as to whether we are allowed advertise so I wont but it will be great fun and full of friendly helpful people.

Exercise should not be a chore :D

Xiney

gabgab wrote: »

People are not allowed to train on their own,

what? what if they know what they're doing?

gabgab wrote: »

We have a womans workshop coming up, I am unsure as to whether we are allowed advertise so I wont but it will be great fun and full of friendly helpful people.

No, you're not allowed to advertise, but if people are interested they can pm you.

gabgab

Xiney wrote: »

what? what if they know what they're doing?


No, you're not allowed to advertise, but if people are interested they can pm you.

Even highly experienced athletes with excellent form will break down in terms of technique when they are put under pressure and exerting themselves.

A quick and easy example of this is videoing somebody doing air squats for high repetitions, say 25. The first air squat will look very different in a inexperienced and experienced person when they are working hard. Very subtle differences that make all the difference in both short term and long term,


Great, I didnt want to upset anyone or break any rules.

NewFrockTuesday

Gabgab, you have no pm? Where is your gym? Can you pm me the details please? Thanks.

Totally agree with the weights points. Id love to try them but its too intimidating to go over to what appears to be the mens section and I havent a breeze how to use them anyway, so id just be making an eejit of myself.

gabgab

Thanks for your kind PM Deepsense, we will get something worked out for you and get you started lifting weights and not feeling intimidated by silly boys

karma403

I'm a member in a hotel gym and the staff have really annoyed me. I would really appreciate if somebody would come to me and ask how I'm getting on. On my initial induction I wasn't shown how to use the weighted machines as the person giving the induction felt I should wait a while (which I agreed with) but she has never come back to find out if I ever learned how to use that equipment. I also have never seen the inital work out plan that was made up for me last August. They all just sit out at the front desk and never come near the gym.. Yes I could ask for more help but they clearly have no interest in offering any sort of personal training service so I just can't be bothered with them.

So I would say staff that offer to help/talk to people about their training regimes would be a great reputation builder for a gym.

Victor

I'm a man, but I'll post my opinion anyway.

Keep your t-shirt on in the gym, this applies especially to women. The last thing I want to see in the gym is intimate crevices. :eek: I've seen more of this in my two visits to the gym than my 8 or so visits to the pool.

Another bugbear is constantly wet floors - install underfloor heating and proper drainage falls.

In TCD, in the new sports centre, there are two sets of changing rooms, one for the pool and one for the gym. Never the twain shall meet.

Pool (25m) changing area. Outdoor shoes must be removed before entering the pool changing area. One way to "enforce" this might be to put a line of fixed, individual seats across the entrance way, thereby avoiding an overlap area. In TCD it’s just a bench to one side, which isn't as good. Changing: Separate "team style" changing areas for male/female and several dozen individual changing cubicles in the shared area, which is laid out as cubicles-lockers-lockers-cubicles-cubicles-lockers-lockers-cubicles, etc. Showers: limited number (3?) of individual cubicles in the shared area, several communal (4-6?) in each of the male/female (I'm presuming here) changing rooms. Also about 10 showers in the pool area to rinse off between changing/pool/sauna/steam rooms. Toilets: all individual rooms, fully wheelchair accessible, with baby changing facilities, in the shared area.

The gym changing areas are more conventional, with the exception of a drying area between the showers and changing area.

Xiney wrote: »

I'd also love a free weights section for women. And I don't want it to be full of pink 1 lb crappy **** things either - although maybe the weight bench could be pink to keep the men off it.

Odd, but it seems green is a good colour to discourage people from loitering in a particular area.

cuckoo wrote: »

Clean showers are vital.

Whatever about the showers, can we not have water dragged everywhere? How about a drying area between the showers and changing area?

Also, hooks outside the shower cubicle to hang your towel(s) on.

While people tend to forget things that they left on hooks, yes, hooks are necessary whether in cubicles, shower or changing areas. More than one hook is useful, so you can hang up your coat, bag, clothes, etc.

I think it's also important that the womens changing area feels safe, if you know what i mean? Double doors into it, so that people walking by aren't going to get an inadvertent flash of everyone getting changed when the door opens, well lit,

This is generally a paranoia issue rather than an actual problem, but yes, lots of toilets, showers and changing rooms suffer from this. Double doors aren't the solution (it can cause an unsupervised space), changes in direction are.

no big cupboards that boogie monsters can jump out of...

Exaggeration?

It can also be nice if there's a radio station piped into the changing rooms

I'm not so sure, by the time they reach the changing rooms, many people want to switch off.

A coat rack inside the door to the changing room is good in winter, so you don't have to stuff your coat and scarf into the locker.

Security issue.

Ginny wrote: »

One thing I like at my gym (and its stupidly simple) the lockers are coin operated, you put a euro in to lock it and get the euro back when you unlock it, it might be a pain to have a euro but for me (who always misplaces locks) its great...:D.

These do work well in the Markievicz.

As for water fountains essential as they are can you also check the taste of the water produced make sure its chilled and palatable, the last gym I went to have a measly trickle of water that was lukewarm and tasted like Iron.

One should be able to get equipment for filtered, chilled water for a few hundred euros. Make sure the water font is suitable for refilling bottles. Add a water font in the pool area.

If you have a gym membership make sure everything is included, again the last gym I went to started down the road of doing pole dancing/yoga/self defence/kickboxing classes during the evening from outside contractors who then wanted the regular gym members to pay an additional supplement to take part.

I think this will depend on the price the gym is pitched at. I pay €75/year, so including everything might be a bit much, but yes why do courses cost so much? It should be cheaper to hire someone to run a course than to have someone run a course in your gym. Of course, as the cost of running a course is fixed, the number of participants will dictate price.

WhiteWashMan

Mu biggest issue is needing to go and puke before the end of the warm up session whenever I go and do step aerobics with all the 50+ old dears.

They look after me afterwards with tea and cake and gossip though, so thats nice.

WhiteWashMan

WhiteWashMan wrote: »

Mu biggest issue is needing to go and puke before the end of the warm up session whenever I go and do step aerobics with all the 50+ old dears.

They look after me afterwards with tea and cake and gossip though, so thats nice.

Mwhahaha!

A well staffed gym is important to me. I want too see that someone is cleaning fulltime. I want staff who look like they are making sure you are training properly. Most gyms I have been to are woefully understaffed.

I don't want to talk when I'm working out.

My gym has unisex showers. Worst idea ever! All showers should be in individual stalls.

I hate the people who suckling on the water fountain. Water cooler please.

Classes are probably the biggest attraction to a gym for me and my lady friends.

NewFrockTuesday

I hate the people who suckling on the water fountain. Water cooler please

Too funny!

Xiney

Moonbaby wrote: »

My gym has unisex showers. Worst idea ever! All showers should be in individual stalls.

WAT?!!?

Assets Model

Xiney wrote: »

WAT?!!?

Surely moonbaby means communal :eek:

gabgab

So if I was to try and get a few key points from this would these be the most important:

• Cleanliness, absolutely spotless clean everywhere you look and touch with a clean scent also.
• Trainers that actually care and are looking to see you reach your goals
• Weight training and instruction
• A pay as you go option

@ Victor

You mean dudes strutting around wearing no top, indoors, soaked in sweat is not a good idea for a gym?? :D I hear you and thanks so much for all the other points, you are right on the money

The coin operated lockers is a great idea also, we have shelving where people can put there stuff and everybody knows one another so nothing has ever gone missing. Its great in one way but not ideal in another

Assets Model

Assets Model wrote: »

Surely moonbaby means communal :eek:

Communal and unisex. :eek:

Had a heated whinging session with this fella in the Sauna about it once.
His heart was broke, that he couldn't even have a decent wash.

Ended up in the shower with him on the way out.

And I am scarred for life considering how much more rooting and fiddling must be involved, to make a "decent wash".

Cubicles please. A thousand times cubicles!

ciagr297

Moonbaby wrote: »

Communal and unisex. :eek:

Had a heated whinging session with this fella in the Sauna about it once.
His heart was broke, that he couldn't even have a decent wash.

Ended up in the shower with him on the way out.

And I am scarred for life considering how much more rooting and fiddling must be involved, to make a "decent wash".

Cubicles please. A thousand times cubicles!

sounds like a very interesting showering experience:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

+1 on the cubicles

Ginny

Moonbaby wrote: »

Communal and unisex. :eek:

Had a heated whinging session with this fella in the Sauna about it once.
His heart was broke, that he couldn't even have a decent wash.

Ended up in the shower with him on the way out.

And I am scarred for life considering how much more rooting and fiddling must be involved, to make a "decent wash".

Cubicles please. A thousand times cubicles!

I'm sure this isn't allowed is it?
It's bizarre and I'm surprised the gym has any members at all because of this..

Ginny

Ginny wrote: »

I'm sure this isn't allowed is it?
It's bizarre and I'm surprised the gym has any members at all because of this..

His throughness. To be fair he intentions were completely genuine.
It is just some behaviours should stay behind closed doors.

People only use the showers to rinse off after the pool. They keep their togs on. They'd save the proper shower until they got home.

There isnt that much choice locally.

I can't understand the idiocy of the architects involved though.

Stheno

Moonbaby wrote: »

His throughness. To be fair he intentions were completely genuine.
It is just some behaviours should stay behind closed doors.

People only use the showers to rinse off after the pool. They keep their togs on. They'd save the proper shower until they got home.

There isnt that much choice locally.

I can't understand the idiocy of the architects involved though.

The gym that I occassionally use has two lots of dressing rooms.

There are communal changing rooms with cubicles for the swimming pool, with communcal and individual showers.

then there are womens and mens individual changing rooms for the gym

Terri26

I have been wondering lately why no gym seems to have machines similar to curves etc. i assume there is some sort of patent but there are other curve like franchises such as contours who do teh same thing. i was deciding between curves and a gym. i like tehfcat curves have machines that tone certain parts of the body. the half an hour work out etc but know i will never get fit using it. ideally a gym that offers both or at least some of the machines, stomach etc would be great. the gym i was in had some toning machines but nothing on par with the curves machines.
would be great to have both options!!!
T

nouggatti

nouggatti wrote: »

The gym that I occassionally use has two lots of dressing rooms.

There are communal changing rooms with cubicles for the swimming pool, with communcal and individual showers.

then there are womens and mens individual changing rooms for the gym

I think this is how it should be.

I sometimes use another gym. And there is only one set of changing rooms.
So inevitably you get wet changing.

sunnydelight

No sweet or soft drink machines at the entrance of the gym

disposable disinfect clothes to wipe down machines after use.

water fountains which dont take forever to fill your bottle.

Jamie-b

Every one of our classes is a workshop and we teach form and instruct at every class. People are not allowed to train on their own,

We feel that fitness should be fun, that it should have a social element to it and that we all need instruction no matter how good we are. To draw the analogy, Tiger Woods ois the greatest golfer the world has ever seen. He constantly works with golf and athletic coaches on a daily basis.

Good man its all about the L,

We have a womans workshop coming up, I am unsure as to whether we are allowed advertise so I wont but it will be great fun and full of friendly helpful people.

Exercise should not be a chore

That sound great! I have never been to a gym (cept when I was 16 with school-doesnt really count), and I am too terrified to go. My other half keeps saying I should just try it but I have visions of myself walking in and everyone staring and not knowing how to turn on the stuff, how it works... cringing already...

LouOB

Terri26 wrote: »

I have been wondering lately why no gym seems to have machines similar to curves etc. i assume there is some sort of patent but there are other curve like franchises such as contours who do teh same thing. i was deciding between curves and a gym. i like tehfcat curves have machines that tone certain parts of the body. the half an hour work out etc but know i will never get fit using it. ideally a gym that offers both or at least some of the machines, stomach etc would be great. the gym i was in had some toning machines but nothing on par with the curves machines.
would be great to have both options!!!
T

Most of the gyms I have been to have all the 'Curves' machines
Only most people
dont know they are there
dont know what they are for
were not shown how to work them

This leads me to the point, if a member asks for certain machines or why you dont have them. Make sure you get back to them with an answer i.e. no room, no funds, or will look into it etc. DOnt ignore them as they will leave. I did in (do you hear me) Jackie Skelly's

My pointers from years in numerous gyms
-cleanliness
-no 'man' smells (blugh)
-clean machines
-proper professional hair dryer in ladies changing rooms only ones with 2600wats or more. We will love you for life
-try to get in a hair straightner machine - seen in boomerangs night club. Again we will love you for life
-Toliet paper ALWAYS available
-working machines none of that 'oh yeah that one was acting up. I was meant to ring someone'
-friendly, approachable and knowledgable employees. Know your local services ie weightwatchers, other gyms, climbing clubs, hiking teams etc
-CUBICLES in ladies (even just one of them would help)
-proper lockers
-information on classes delayed and accessable
-BIG IDEA - kettle bell classes. All the rage in LA and from 'Biggest Loser' show, would love to have them in any of the gyms I recommended them to but nooo:mad:
-Pay as you go system
-Local gym is doing june/july/august special for 150. Good idea for the swimsuit season


Jaysus I should be charging you

RacoonQueen

Terri26 wrote: »

I have been wondering lately why no gym seems to have machines similar to curves etc. i assume there is some sort of patent but there are other curve like franchises such as contours who do teh same thing. i was deciding between curves and a gym. i like tehfcat curves have machines that tone certain parts of the body. the half an hour work out etc but know i will never get fit using it. ideally a gym that offers both or at least some of the machines, stomach etc would be great. the gym i was in had some toning machines but nothing on par with the curves machines.
would be great to have both options!!!
T

A good gym will have all these machines.
Leg press
Leg extension
Leg curl
Shoulder press
Chest press
Squat rack/free weight squats
Abduction
Adduction

You can also get machines that do the same as the 'obilque machine' , and machines for shoulder shrugs and dips that would do the same as that stupid machine where you lean from side to side.

Why do you want to use machine weights anyway, they're rubbish, OK for starting off on and getting used to lifting some weight but after 3 months MAX you should have moved on to free weights.

gabgab

Again thanks a million for all the replies guys, it seems to be the same stuff coming up over and over.

We dont use machines, the reason being that your body is not designed to use a muscle in isolation, it is full of interconnecting parts and they all work together to perform a movement. The coaches in our gym show you how to perform the movement and the benefits are endless over machines,

We find some people are a little nervous at first but once they get going they are flying and would not do it any other way. My dad is 61 and quiete overweight but he comes up and has great craic and loves meeting all the "characters"

What do you think of a nutrition workshop? One where someone can give you advice on what to do based on what you currently eat and are trying to achieve. We appreciate that we all have different goals,

cuckoo

gabgab wrote: »

What do you think of a nutrition workshop? One where someone can give you advice on what to do based on what you currently eat and are trying to achieve. We appreciate that we all have different goals,

Posters with that info could be handy - tbh, don't know if i'd go to a nutrition workshop but i know i always stop to look at any signs up in the gym. If they're by the water fountain it gives me something to look at as i'm filling up my bottle.

Victor

Honestly folks, relax about the communal showers, we're all adults, aren't we?

LouOB wrote: »

-proper professional hair dryer in ladies changing rooms only ones with 2600wats or more. We will love you for life
-try to get in a hair straightner machine - seen in boomerangs night club. Again we will love you for life

Be careful with this as **cough** people **cough** may spend an excessive amount of time doing their hair, thereby alienating other paying customers.

Put the vanity mirrors, etc. in a common area. Nobody hogs the dryer / mirror.

-proper lockers

TCD goes with two sizes - normal and tall, if you have sport or work equipment with you.

g'em

gabgab wrote: »

I run agym

Is this the gym I think it is?? If so, WOOO!! And does this mean that as a paid employee you're not eligible to partake in deathmatches anymore? :pac:

It's only reading this thread that I realise just how much my "must haves" for a gym are different to the norm:

1. Two ladies' Eleiko bars (Werksan is tolerable as a second choice)
2. 200kg+ of bumper plates with a good range of shrapnel (.5 - 2kg cookies)
3. A solid platform with non-slip wood and a decent wire brush to clean up the chalk
4. A loo