It can be a difficult balance fitting in work, fitness, education and life in general. On Mondays and Wednesdays I currently work from 9am to 5pm and then attend a course from 6pm to 9pm. Making it rather difficult to fit in my strength exercises which are very important for me at the moment to get my leg strength back up for running.

I had been attending Melbourne City Baths on a casual basis which is $22.60 per session. Not too bad for a session once very so often, but if I need to get a session in once or twice per week it starts getting a little pricey. So I decided to research and try out pretty much every gym close to work, in the northern corner of Melbourne CBD.

Zap Fitness

There is a Zap Fitness a 5 minute walk from work so it was high on my list to check out. Zap are a 24/7 gym chain that you can access any time with a swipe key and only staffed during peak hours. They have locations across Victoria, South Australia and Tassie and your swipe key gets you into any location. Unfortunately there aren’t any located in Werribee to increase the usefulness, the closest to home would be Braybrook or Williamstown.

The Carlton gym has your typical range of cardio and strength equipment. Looked like most of the cardio equipment was life fitness which is the same as what I’ve been using at Melbourne City Baths. They also have a stretch/rehab area with bands, swiss balls, skipping rope and foam rollers which I like to see. I went at lunch time which is generally a busy period with office workers heading to gym on their lunch break, and there was maybe 10 people in the gym, not too bad at all.

Also thumbs up for the guy letting me try out the gym for free. I did 20 minutes on the exercise bike, rehab exercises (which requires a barbell, dumbbell and band), skipping, and upper body exercises using barbells and the power rack.

Price is $14.95 a week (no contract) or $12.95 a week if you commit to 12 months. There is also a one off $69.90 fee for the “zapper key”.

Location: 28 Victoria Street, Carlton

Cost: $12.95 per week, $69.90 joining fee (12 month contract)

Good:

• Cost – cheapest in the area
• If you live near a Zap Fitness – you can make use of any Zap Fitness location
• 24/7 access
• Fairly quiet

Not so good:

• No group classes
• No personal training
• Basic gym with no extras
• Limited barbell set up (one power rack)
• Change room very small/basic and no lockers
• Not a particularly interesting place to train (one big room, with no real view outside)

Genesis Fitness Lonsdale

Genesis Fitness is right next to work so very convenient for me. I used to have a membership at this gym many years ago so I was interested to see how it had changed. The cardio room is a little on the small side actually, they used to have a much bigger cardio area but seem to have lost some space to offices. But in saying that it had everything you expect and wasn’t too busy.

The weights room I was happy to see this had improved, I actually left this gym because they had a really poor barbell setup, while a gym next door had a great range of barbell equipment. Sadly that gym closed not too long after I transferred so I went with the home gym setup after that instead. Anyway Genesis now has a big rack which was great for doing my barbell OHP and chin ups, they also have a separate bench press which is nice. I’m a believer that the big compound barbell exercises are the best way to improve strength in a low rep range with heavy weight, that’s squats, deadlits, rows, overhead press, bench press. So a gym needs to have a good barbell setup to interest me which Genesis now does!

They also had a little area with foam rollers, swiss balls, etc. and they run classes which isn’t a big selling point for me but I might consider trying a yoga class or something.

There is a room set aside for “Coaching Zone”. My impression is that Genesis have brought this in to compete with F45 training. It’s small group coached training with heart rate monitors that show your HR up on the screen. This is an additional cost on top of the standard membership which they will try to up sell you. While I think it is cheaper than F45 personally I think Fitness First which includes small group fitness classes or Virgin Active with a huge range of classes is better value.

Location: 2/50 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne

Cost: $16.95 per week, $55 joining fee (Tip: negotiate for a better deal)

Good:

• Cost – good value for what you get
• Good weights room with large power rack (about 3 people can use at once) and separate bench press
• Group classes

Not so good:

• Cardio area on the small side – however haven’t had any issues
• Coaching Zone changes membership cost to $49.95 per week

Melbourne City Baths

Things I like about Melbourne City Baths are the dedicated stretch/rehab training area. This is a room with bands, skipping rope, dumbbells, foam rollers and other body weight equipment. It’s always quiet with the exception that it can sometimes be used for classes but so far that hasn’t impacted me. It’s a great area to get my skipping and rehab exercises done.

There is an outdoor rooftop training area with pull up and dip bars, I like to go out there to my chin ups. The weights room is where I’d say the gym is lacking, another gym with only one power rack. The cardio room is good with plenty of machines.

They run quite a few different group fitness classes. I’ve often come and down the RPM spin classes when on a break from running and I would consider trying some of the other classes like yoga and pilates.

Probably the biggest bonus of Melbourne City Baths is you also get access to the pool, spa and sauna. The pool is quite interesting with a lot of history to the pool and building – there were originally two entrances, one for men, one for women, also the baths were first opened in 1860 to provide an alternative to swimming in the yarra. The pool is an older style roughly 30m length and 4 lanes, while it’s only 4 lanes I haven’t seen it particular busy, likely you would share with one other person.

As a member you also get access to North Melbourne Recreation Centre, Carlton Baths and Kensington Community Recreation Centre. Carlton Baths in-particular looks pretty impressive with a large heated outdoor 25m pool and also a gym. It’s a 25 minute walk from work, so I probably wouldn’t go to Carlton during lunch but could be a decent after work alternative.

Location: 420 Swanston Street, Melbourne

Cost: $25.30 per week, $69 joining fee

Good:

• Good rehab/stretch area
• Lap pool – good for swimmers
• Option to access Carlton Baths and two other recreation centres
• Interesting place to train
• Group classes

Not so good:

• Weights room could be better, only one power rack
• Price more expensive than some but reasonable for what you get

Fitness First QV

Fitness First QV was one of my favourite options that I tried. If you want the best gym for barbells and free weights this is it. Big area with multiple olympic barbell lifting racks, dead lifting platforms, etc. The membership also allows you to access other Fitness First platinum or passport gyms, if there was one out near Werribee I would have considered joining. Downside of Fitness First is it’s on the more expensive end, $27 per week is the cheapest price, and to get that price you have to sign up for 18 months. It’s also missing a couple of things that other gyms in this price range have, no pool and class timetable is a little limited, no spin bike studio/classes.

Location: Corner Russel St & Lonsdale St, Melbourne

Cost: $27 per week, $85 joining fee (18 month contract)

Good:

• Olympic barbell and free weight set up is very good
• 24/7 access available
• Access to other Platinum and Passport clubs Australia wide
• Steam room
• Group classes

Not so good:

• Cost – is on the higher side
• No cycle studio or cycle classes
• No pool – other gyms in the higher price range have a pool

Virgin Active Bourke Street

Virgin Active is an impressive gym, multiple levels with a rock climbing wall through the middle, lap pool, spa and sauna, and great weights and cardio areas. I think the main selling point of Virgin is the very extensive class timetable, looking at Monday they have 35 classes listed which is huge, I don’t think any other gym comes close to that. Price wise however it’s the most expensive at $34.95 per week and just to try the gym it’s $45, no free trials here however you get the $45 towards your membership fee if you decide to join.

Location: 138 Bourke St, Melbourne

Cost: $34.95 per week, no joining fee (12 month contract)

Good:

• Huge number of classes – if you want classes galore join Virgin Active
• 25m lap pool, spa and sauna
• Rock climbing wall
• Large gym floor with high end gym equipment, everything you need plus more

Not so good:

• Cost – fairly sure it’s the most expensive gym in the CBD but you get what you pay for
• Sleep pods – I thought these would be cool to try but a bit overrated
• Very trendy/fashion gym – as you’d expect at an expensive gym

Summary

I don’t think there is one best gym choice here. I liked every gym I tried for different reasons. In the end choosing a gym depends on what factors are most important to you.

• If you want a budget option and don’t care about classes or personal training – choose Zap Fitness.
• If you want a gym that includes a pool – choose City Baths or Virgin Active.
• If you love gym classes – choose Virgin Active for a huge range.
• If you need 24/7 access – choose Zap Fitness or Fitness First QV.
• If you want the best olympic barbell and free weights – choose Fitness First QV.

In the end I personally ended up back at Genesis Fitness. It’s not really the best or worst at anything but a good value middle of the range option.

I was certainly tempted by some of the other gym options, if City Baths had a better weights setup I might have joined. Or if I had a Zap Fitness or Fitness First club near home that might have swayed me. The higher end clubs were certainly tempting but when Genesis offered me a discounted price on a short term 3 month commitment it was hard to say no to the value!