Calgary Gym Reviews: Gold's Gym

I was fortunate enough to live really close to the first Gold's Gym that opened in Calgary in the NE.  It's located where the original Calgary Ikea was before they relocated down south, just off 36 Street.

The Positives:
They offered a monthly 20/month fee with no signup fee to try to draw in new membership for the brand new store.  How could I say no to that and it was a definite upgrade from the Village Square facility.  However, I believe the price is about 50/month now.
The facility was beautiful, but I wouldn't expect less from a brand new facility.  Obviously all the equipment was top of the line and they even had a gym where you could play basketball. The staff were friendly and knowledgeable, plus they had an MMA cage (it's no longer there).  Tanning beds and a juice bar were also in the same building. 

The Negatives:
The brand attracts alot of bodybuilders, so if you get distracted by loud grunts and slamming weights, then either bring some earphones or go during non-peak times. 
Also, they claim that you can go to any Gold's Gym worldwide, but this is far from the truth.  Each gym is a privately owned franchise so it is up to each owner if they will let you in to use their facilities.  When I tried using the Northland location (owned by a different person), I was almost turned away, so take this "perk" with a grain of salt.

Overall, the Northland Gold's Gym is an awesome facility, so if you're in the NE or work close by, I would recommend that you sign up if you can.

Calgary Gym Reviews: Village Square Leisure Centre

After graduating from university and being in mountains of debt.  I wasn't yet able to afford the luxuries of training at a fancy gym, so I had to settle for something else.  As a child this place was a magical playground with it's awesome wavepool and slides, but the gym, was nothing to write home about.  This brings me to my next gym, in the heart of the NE, it's the Village Square Leisure Centre.

Honestly there isn't much good I can say about this gym other then the fact that it was close to home.  The gym itself is quite small and had a funny smell to it.  The equipment was in okay shape, but was abused by users who had no idea how to use the stuff.  Imagine a person yanking on a cable with all their might, and it was only a matter of time before he pulled a muscle he didn't know he had. 

The patrons were another story, half of them walked in from the street and trained in their street clothes which consisted of jeans and steel-toed boots, maybe they were afraid they'd drop the weight on their toes?  The other half were barely past puberty, trickling in from the high school across the street.  The best part was the pools of sweat left on the gym benches after use, at some points I thought somebody poured water on it, there was so much.  I probably stayed here for about a year, but the minute I heard that a Gold's Gym was opening up across the street from my house, I couldn't wait to leave this hell hole of a fitness centre. 

I had to make due since it was what was affordable at the time, but would I ever go back?  Probably not.
Hopefully the city put some money to renovate the facility, but I haven't been back to check.

Calgary Gym Reviews: University of Calgary

University of Calgary

The only reason why I decided to use this gym was the fact that I was a student there otherwise I would have went somewhere else. Since it was free and I could kill some time between classes, it worked at the time.

The facility was actually one of my favourites, it was huge, had a running track and lots of machines to choose from. As well as an auxillary gym and rooms for classes. It's also clean, well lit and the staff were quite friendly.

However, the reason why they had so much equipment was because of the amount of people coming through the gym. I wouldn't recommend going there after work as it is jam packed. If you step away from a machine for a sip of water, there's always somebody waiting to steal it away from you. Also, you now have to pay for parking 24/7, which is a huge drawback.

If you're a student there, you have no excuse to not be using it. So cancel that gym membership, if you're actually able to afford one, and use the institutions gym, you're paying for it anyways. I'd definitely recommend this facility for students who attend or even alumni as I know they give you a discount on fees. Though, for others it's a hard sell because of their new 24/7 parking fees.

Calgary Gym Reviews: Home Gyms

Having lived in Calgary my entire life, I've been around.....the gym world that is.  I've probably trained at almost all the facilities in the city's north-end from the Village Square Leisure Centre to the University of Calgary's gym.  They all have their advantages and drawbacks, so I thought I'd put together some posts in case some of you are looking for a gym to train at.  I initially wanted to just do one post on all of them, but that would be one super long article.  Instead of boring you, I decided to break them up and review a different gym each week.  They will be in chronological order from when I first started training, so what best place to start then my parent's basement. 

The transformer of universal machines

AKA:  The Home Gym

Most of us have more house then we can live in, and as a result, end up putting in some gym equipment to fill the void.  I had a small one, one York universal machine, a stepper and some free weights (the plastic ones filled with cement that slowly became lighter and lighter, not because I was getting stronger, but because the cement was slowly breaking down into powder).  It was nothing special but it did the job.

The Positives:
It was a great way for me to start training as I had a chance to learn the ropes, so to speak.  I was young, scrawny and too intimidated to go to a gym, so for me it was a good way to "practice" until I was ready for the big leagues.  It allowed me to try out different exercises without making a fool of myself in the privacy of my own home.  I didn't have to deal with other people's sweat, could train at my own pace and had plenty of food and fluids at my disposal.  Personally, I think it's a great first step for those who are just starting out and trying to get into shape.  Or for those with busy schedules and young kids because you can squeeze in a workout whenever time permits. 

The Negatives:
My parent's lived in a duplex (i.e. half a house), so it was small.  I had all my equipment cramped in a corner and I wasted alot of time adjusting the universal machine and attaching my weights instead of working out.  Also, being residential equipment, the stuff I had wasn't as sturdy as some commercial gear.  I learned first hand when one of those plastic clips slowly slid off and the cement disc landed on my toe.  Unfortunately, my strength and knowledge grew inversely to the use of the weights, I eventually grew bored with my starter set of equipment and was no longer getting a workout that I desired. 

Plastic clips and cement weights....the bane of my training

So all in all, I think home gyms have their purpose, they allow you the freedom and flexibility to exercise at your own convenience.  Or for those young kids too afraid to go to the gyms, they can be a a great starting point.  However, eventually they will be outgrown and boring like a favourite toy.  Besides, sometimes it just feels better to get out of your house and get some fresh air or be at a gym with other people.