A small gym trying to be everythingâŠ
A small gym trying to be everything ends up being mediocre and frustrating across the board.
I was a member for 3â4 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 youâre 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 thereâs 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 canât 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 youâre being watched rather than able to train properly.
Theyâre 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, Iâd be questioning my value to the gym and what that means long term.
Overall, the overcrowding doesnât feel like a space issue, but the result of the ownerâs decisions and lack of foresight. It used to be simple and effective, now itâs overcomplicated, overcrowded, and oddly restrictive.








