Taking into account the following which is the best you've been to and why?

1. Good selection of venues
2. Variety of classes
3. Swim pools, sauna's, gym & classes.
4. Parking.
5. Childrens activities.
6. Helpful Staff, customer care.
7. Price / Value.

I have been a member of Esporta for a while and as im sure its not the best package for value/venues/classes and such, it does feel the business and quality :thumbsup:

Originally posted by Lestat


1. Good selection of venues
2. Variety of classes
3. Swim pools, sauna's, gym & classes.
4. Parking.
5. Childrens activities.
6. Helpful Staff, customer care.
7. Price / Value.

HLC, FITNESS UNLIMITED:£28mth: Im a member at hillsbrough and the staff and everything about the place has helped me lose loads of weight, very helpful + support, lots of different classes and i have the choice of going to hillsbrough/concord/pondsforge, my kids get a membership for £9.99 mth, and within that theres unlimited swimming, 2 free coached classes (footie), kids groups at the weekend, best value all round!:thumbsup:
GYM/SWIM/STEAM ROOM/SAUNA/CLASSES :thumbsup:

Originally posted by Lestat
Taking into account the following which is the best you've been to and why?

1. Good selection of venues
2. Variety of classes
3. Swim pools, sauna's, gym & classes.
4. Parking.
5. Childrens activities.
6. Helpful Staff, customer care.
7. Price / Value.

I am a member at Fitness First....

1) the selection of venues is good...I can go with my sister to the one in Stockton when visiting Teesside and have the choice of Chesterfield, Millhouses and Hillsborough etc when at home in Sheffield.

2) Classes are a good mix for all levels of fitness.

3) No swimming pool :( but nice sauna...and nice gym!

4) Excellent parking at all venues.

5) No kids activities so I don't feel guilty excluding them from my visits but free DVD/video library!

6) Staff very friendly and helpful.

7) I only pay £20 a month as an associate member. :)

Plus...there always seems a good mix of people...age...size and gender!!

:clap:

Thinking of changing from Livingwell (Hilton gym) to Bannertynes at Bramley in Rotherham. Know this is Sheffield forum but anyone a member there? Tried to get them to give me a free week's membership as a taster but they were not playing ball.

I'm now working in Donny so easier to get there and on way home from work (no excuses) plus better choice of classes. I'm a member of Barnsley livingwell as I used to work in Barnsley but its now a 40 mile round trip to the gym which is a bind after work. And you can only use Sheff Hilton four times a month. (plus that's still 7 miles from my house)

BUT... I do like the atmosphere at living well , you don't have to be size 6 to fit in, exercise is fun rather than a religion and there's a mix of ages. Plus it is £18 cheaper than Bannertynes. (Get cheaper rate there through work)

Would appreciate some feedback from Bannertyne members.

Originally posted by adaline
I have been a member of Esporta for a while and as im sure its not the best package for value/venues/classes and such, it does feel the business and quality :thumbsup:

How many Esporta's are there in Sheffield? - I can only think of the one just off Abbeydale Road.:confused:

I'm a member of Ponds Forge but I'd say the best were Greens and Goodwin (Sheffield Uni)

I thought Ponds Forge was a great venue - don't you get something like 3 gyms, swimming pools including diving pool, jacuzzis etc . . .

With Fitness Unlimited you also get your programmes done for you at Hillsborough and they've just expanded the free weights area.:thumbsup:

if you wanna train hard get down to Lloydies on carlisle street just off the Wicker

im having to look for a new gym as im moving, used to go to goodwing(uni) and it was great!
the nearest one to me is greens now but at £42 a month ill go elsewhere! iv heard fitness unlimited is good plus at £26.99 .. bargain! he he!
any new starters at fitness unlimited want to go together after work on here?

Originally posted by Lestat
How many Esporta's are there in Sheffield? - I can only think of the one just off Abbeydale Road.:confused:
I only know of one, the one on u mentioned just off Abbydale Road.

Originally posted by Lestat
Taking into account the following which is the best you've been to and why?

1. Good selection of venues
2. Variety of classes
3. Swim pools, sauna's, gym & classes.
4. Parking.
5. Childrens activities.
6. Helpful Staff, customer care.
7. Price / Value.

id have to say Fitness First, even if they have been a little pants lately with lack of communication between staff. cheap prices thou and cross country. classes are good but there is no creche anymore. parking can be pants, but thats just rubbush drivers who dont use the spaces and park up on kerb.
ponds forge doesn have the best oestopath thou

Originally posted by NatalieSheff
id have to say Fitness First, even if they have been a little pants lately with lack of communication between staff. cheap prices thou and cross country. classes are good but there is no creche anymore. parking can be pants, but thats just rubbush drivers who dont use the spaces and park up on kerb.
ponds forge doesn have the best oestopath thou

So what your saying Nat is that at Fitness first:

Rubbish parking, :gag:
lack of communication between staff, :gag:
No creche. :gag:

It all sounds pants to me . . . Fitness Unlimited is the best of the four for me. Cheap, cheerful, no hassle and friendly staff. :thumbsup:

u forgot greens- thats ace there!!!

I am a member at fitness first, hillsborough. I never have a problem parking. I must admit I do find the instructors ignorrant. one of them is friendly. but generally a bit intimidating. I do keep saying I will have a look roung Hilllsborough Leisure center.

Originally posted by Charlie01
im having to look for a new gym as im moving, used to go to goodwing(uni) and it was great!
the nearest one to me is greens now but at £42 a month ill go elsewhere! iv heard fitness unlimited is good plus at £26.99 .. bargain! he he!
any new starters at fitness unlimited want to go together after work on here?

I quit that gym its too small, you can never get on the equipment and there isn't any floor area to speak of.

Sorry guys, just voted for fitness first by mistake, what I wanted to vote for was Fit unlim. Sorry to cock vote up!!!
By the way top venues.

wow, my first post on the forum, prob first of many!

due to a fluctuating beer belly I have been a member of many many gyms over the years:

Esporta - quite an upper class feel to it and the jacuzzi is brilliant, especially after a work out. I liked the laid back atmosphere, feels like you're going to a health spa to work out.

Virgin Active - fitness machines and facilities top notch. Only down point in my view was the kids club, seemed to be too many kids too few staff.

Fitness Unlimited - for all the venues and facilities this is superb. It all the facilities were in one venue on one site it would be the ultimate club (track, pool, sauna, gym).

Fitness First - no frills, good machines and nice little cafe area to chill out in and the DVD rental was cool as well.

Which one did you vote for though go4it? . . . by the way, welcome to the forum:thumbsup:

Hi, sorry I was too busy rambling on about my gym escapades! I voted for Fitness Unlimited as the facilities are world class, Esporta's jacuzzi came a close second though!

The virgin active gym seems to be ok depending on what time and what day you go. It can be annoying though paying £45 per month and when you go and it's packed to the point where you are queuing to get on most machines..

have they dun ponds forge up wi a new gym?, cos it was closed down 4 a bit..

I had atrial @ virgin and thought the staff wre too pushy, they were reallyt annoying. every2 minutes it was like can we do anything for u sir, we only cost x amount a month sir. I was like [SIZE=4]W[SIZE=1]hatever luv

Ive only ever been to the Sheffield Hallam Gym, but will be loking for somewhere else Which one would you suggest?

i've been told by a m8 the fitness unlimited thing is good at ponds forge and all the other places sounds like good value for money. don't know much about it myself

Originally posted by BorisMarakas
i've been told by a m8 the fitness unlimited thing is good at ponds forge and all the other places sounds like good value for money. don't know much about it myself

Boris, Give them a ring on 231 8142. They will give you a free tour at any of the venues and you can join up there and then if you want to - all you need is some form of I.D and first months payment.

The latest prices ( I think ) are £27.99 peak membership and £19.99 off peak membership. There isn't any join up fee either.

i know this thread hasnt had a post for over a yr, but i dont care :)

I actually worked for fitness first and left a few weeks ago.

In terms of equipment, if you dont want to pay a rediculose price, i would say that they are almost the best in sheffield.

however the gym overall is genrally a **** hole as they are greatly understaffed. so if u do need regular assistance whilst using a gym due to your fitness knowladge, i wouldnt recomend this gym.

it always takes FF a very long time to fix equipment, wich is a real pain in the ass - i also wored out there aswell.

I would say the SIV venues are OK for GENERAL fitness, as you have a greater variety of activites etc, although hillborough leisure centre does genrally lack size in the gym, and u do have to wait a bit for resistance machines.
Siv venues are always very nice n clean thugh - £22.95 a month at min wich is ace for gym, pool, steam/sauna.

iv personally never used living well or greens. i have been in greens and its top customer service, very clean and quite a big gym.

www.gymvisit.com/findagym.htm?loc=europe/united_kingdom/yorkshire/southyorkshire/sheffield[/url]

This is a great listing of gyms

I find Esporta good, and their staff are always happy to give extras when asked.

id have to say Fitness First, even if they have been a little pants lately with lack of communication between staff. cheap prices thou and cross country. classes are good but there is no creche anymore. parking can be pants, but thats just rubbush drivers who dont use the spaces and park up on kerb.
ponds forge doesn have the best oestopath thou

The added bonus of Fitness First is if you happen to travel alot around the country (or even the World - Oz, Germany, Netherlands, Phillipines, Singapore, Spain and a few other countries), you can use any of their clubs (the international ones for an added guest fee). Really useful if you are away and fancy a Body Combat class anywhere from Newcastle to Norwich, from Northampton to Newport. And of course Sheffield (2 clubs), Doncaster, Rotherham, Chesterfield, Mansfield, Wakefield. There is one in almost every town. Sometimes two!:)

Fitness Unlimited is also a very good deal and have multiple locations in Sheffield for added convenience!

Esporta, i was going to join before i was offered a job there, now i get free membership! :D, they are deff the best in terms of range and condition of equipment, also all the staff are actually good at what they do and don't just stand there having a chat, like some other gyms i have had the misfortune of visiting.

Also they cater for everyone, if you have kids there is a great creche and kids club, and it isn't just a babysitting service like some others sites that i have come across, also there are gym sessions and classes for teens, as well as the daily activity classes for tots and the evening club for 4-10's!

Well worth the membership fees!

Esporta by far the best except for the awesome 50 meter swimming at ponds forge.

However they (esporta) aint cheap.

I think everyone has their own preference with gyms(depending what you want)
For me Virgin is the best, I know its quite expensive, but we go regularly so get our monies worth.
It has all the facilities I need and more on top, the kids love it and go swimming several times a week, me and oh go training, running and climbing.
Its always clean, staff are excellent and facilities are great!