Going to gym

Patmanuk

I wondered if anybody knew if there are any vouchers etc to get cheaper gym membership, especially Virgin Active as they have just opened a new one near me and it looks amazing!!

Cheers for your help.

itsbeef

Why not just use a local gym as opposed to one of the big guys like Virgin, Fitness First etc etc.......

They have exactly the same equipment but not half as stuck up and only half the price!!!

budda

Aren't the local gyms full of steroid-pumped nut cases ready to break peoples arms in the car park - aka - bouncers from town.

katskorner

Use your Tesco Clubcard vouchers to exchange for gym memberships.

You can buy an annual membership with Clubcard vouchers for LAFitness, Holmes Place and Fitness First.

http://www.tesco.com/clubcard Under the Magazines and Lifestyle section of clubcard deals.

Also with Nectar Vouchers you can get guest passes for Cannons health clubs.

weedav

Virgin Active does look OK and the facilities are excellent, but when I was a member I found it to be the most impersonal gym ever. It's all a bit corporate - and kind of looks like a big kiddies soft play centre. I joined Fitness First just down the road, where membership is roughly the same as the council gym, and it is so much more friendlier.

serene_2

Well this is my first LONG post so here it goes (and don't kill me if you think it should have been posted somewhere else!!).

First of all I was told today that this only holds true for most Londoners so sorry for those not eligible unless you have one of the participating gyms in your area. Not absolutely so sure about this so please make sure.

Secondly this post is more of an indirect reply to PatmanUK and is not intended as a fast track solution for you. Sorry!!

In February this year my wife and I joined Holmes Place but at a fraction of the price. Our membership would have been £66*2=£132 a month as a couple or a rate of £75 for a single person. But then we joined via PruHealth. They had an advert in "The Times" with voucher codes GYM043, GYM044, GYM045 etc. for joining with these offers. But just this week I saw on TV that they now just advertise these as is.

It works something like this. You join PruHealth by either website at: https://www.pruhealth.co.uk but best is by phoning them (for free) on 0800 092 6666 and ask them for this product feature. Then signup for the cheapest medical policy (ours was £56.95 a month for two people) and then you may join any gym (which participates in the scheme) which would be £25 a month for each person. The last time I heard you could join Holmes Place , Cannons and soon JJB Fitness gyms.

Additional NOTES:
Please check for updates at all times as PruHealth apparently is administered by Discovery in South Africa which runs the same scheme (they started this) and it does very well and one of their participating gyms is Virgin Active. So I can foresee that Virgin Active will someday (hopefully soon) be on this list. Also I think Other Medical Policy/Insurance companies will start joining this bandwagon soon as it now seems to be a business model that works well as the healthier you are/become the less likely a policy holder will claim and BINGO more bugs for the companies. One of those few situations where both consumer and "Profit Hungry" Companies wins.

So the financial summary stands like this. (per month figure)

PruHealth Policy: £56.95
2 Gym Memberships: 2*£25=£50
Total: £106.95

So you now have gym membership as well as medical coverage plus you save money. But the best is the additional online feature they have that kicks in immediately. They reward you with points
the more you gym and get involved in the managing of your health. You can save up to 100% of the medical policy premium (excluding the inflation increase) after a year so effectively you just pay the gym membership monthly fee after a year but have to make sure you keep doing this and look after you health. It works great and so far we have almost saved 50% of the premium of the medical policy. So next year we pay half the current monthly premium. And we hardly at the moment go to the gym as we are just to busy but hoping to get at it again soon.

I hope this helps someone to save money but more importantly to be able to look after your health as I personally believe you must never try to compromise but must INVEST aggressively in your health.

And in todays economic climate I myself can already start to feel the pinch and can WORRY so easily about the economy and how it will effect me and my family. So I for one try to exercise to get stress and worry off my back. Happy Gym Sessions to you ALL!!

Searcher2

itsbeef wrote:

Why not just use a local gym as opposed to one of the big guys like Virgin, Fitness First etc etc.......

They have exactly the same equipment but not half as stuck up and only half the price!!!

I don't know if you call JJB Fitness Centres a local gym or a big guy.... but membership is £25 per month off peak, £35 peak... includes 20m pool, fully equipped gym, 2 jacuzzis and a steam room. I am moving onto a water meter now as I don't use much water as I have a shower at the gym every day so the saving on that will pay most of my £25 per month membership. I haven't noticed too many stuck up people either. But then again I'm not in London. :-)