Work out in style The Third Space is the Lanesborough of London gyms, so to speak, as this uber stylish venue has all the amenities a well-heeled gym bunny about town could ever dream of. There are two branches in central London, with the larger branch in Soho boasting a swimming pool, climbing wall with skylight and boxing ring, as well as a “hypoxic” chamber, which simulates oxygen levels at 8,500 feet. If you’re not training to scale the Andes you can instead play a gentler game of table tennis, partake in yoga, Pilates or sample the Fresh & Wild Juice Bar. Other quintessentials include a gym laundry service, wireless internet and a complementary therapy medical centre.
Details: There are two branches, one in Soho and one in Marylebone. Treatments include acupuncture, colonic hydrotherapy and chiropractic. Personal trainers are available from £40 for 30 min. Pros: Book a free tour of the gym before joining to see if it’s for you. Upon joining you get £180 to spend as you wish in the two centres. Wireless internet is free. The cost of most classes is included in the membership fee. Both centres open from 6:30 to 23:00 during the week. Cons: The annual membership fee is a whopping £1,290, however this can be paid in monthly instalments of £129. Locker rental starts from £195 a year, but short term hire is also available, additionally you can take our own.
Facilities There are dozens of Nuffield Fitness & Wellbeing centres dotted all over central London and the suburbs, and they are one of the best in terms of the range of facilities they have available. To join, you will have to work or live near a centre. They will usually have one or more swimming pools, a sauna, spin studios, heaps of cardio equipment, and in some cases a squash court. Classes include body attack, yoga, zuma and body pump.
Details: Nuffield Centres offer a membership fee for £38 a month based on a year’s membership, however if you find it’s not to your liking you can break this after three months (as long as you give a month’s notice). Pros: A one day pass is free, enabling you to try before you pay anything. Membership enables you to use any of their 51 gyms. Cons: Lockers need to be paid for on each visit. A cheaper alternative are leisure centres, governed by each individual borough of London. Membership will be a lot cheaper than at a private gym, but if you don’t want to commit to a monthly fee you may be able to turn up and pay for the specific facility you’re after (i.e. a swimming session) as long as you have a valid membership card. You’ll need to take proof of address to join.
Adventurous classes Not for the shy, Gymbox has themed classes like Madonna-inspired lessons or seventies-tastic Jane Fonda workouts. With classes like pole dancing and aerial hooping it’s little wonder they managed to squeeze a Lady Gaga one in there too. That aside, there’s plenty of cardio equipment, bicycles and weights. Despite the large boxing ring in the centre of the gym and its male gay-friendly reputation (mostly at the St. Martin’s Lane centre), more than half the members of Gymbox are women.
Details: There are branches of Gymbox at Bank, Covent Garden, Farringdon, Holborn and Westfield. Membership varies between £63 and £84 a month depending on your payment plan, and covers access to all centres. Pros: Non-members can book a day pass for £20 to check out the facilities. You can freeze your monthly membership if you’re going away or get ill, however you need to give a month’s notice. Otherwise a reduced rate of £20 a month is applicable. A month’s notice is also needed to cancel membership. Cons: Lockers have to be paid for unless you supply our own. Towels also need to be rented at a cost of £1 per visit, however tagging on an extra £10 a month gets you a free towel per visit. Yay!
Just dance As featured on the Sky 1 reality show, Pineapple Dance Studios is where “everyone is fabulous”. Whether everyone who passes through their doors is may be subject to debate, but they do have one of the most varied programmes of any dance school in the city, encompassing ballet, tap dancing, hip hop, tango and bhangra among many others. There are classes for all ages, from 4 year olds to octogenarians. Treatments like acupuncture and sports massage are on offer too, and then you can stroll over the road and splash out on one of their fetching tracksuits.
Details: Membership starts from £28 a month rising to £160 for a year. Alternatively day passes are £2 during the week and on Sundays and £4 for week nights and Saturdays. Pros: There are concessionary rates for students, and all members get £15 off Pineapple clothing. The best thing about Pineapple Dance Studios is that you can just turn up for a class without booking in advance. Also, studios are available for hire from as little as £28 an hour.
Yoga Triyoga is London’s biggest yoga centre. It opened its doors in 2000 in Primrose Hill, offering free classes to the first people who walked in. The neat tactic worked, and now there are three other branches, all offering various levels of yoga, Pilates, pregnancy and postnatal classes, as well as treatments. (If you’re after niche techniques, there’s the Ashtanga Centre for the hardcore among you - Madonna’s training of choice, the equally intense Bikram Centre, or the Jivamukti Centre, where equal emphasis is placed on the spiritual and physical aspects of yoga).
Details: Triyoga now has branches in Covent Garden, Soho and Chelsea. You can pay for individual classes, or buy passes for specific classes or centres. For example a 10 class pass for Soho and Primrose Hill is £110, to be used over a period of 3 months. Pros: The centre has cemented its reputation as one of London’s best, and renowned guest teachers are invited from time to time.
