The ever-increasing threat of the beer belly (prompted by the Adidas adverts) made me join a gym, but wait so many gyms so little time. Who to join?
Well after numerous short trips to the various gyms in my local area, I decided I liked the new Livingwell leisure gym in Luton. It is located just at the bottom of Farley hill and Chapel Street built just inside the new Multi-story car park. There is a hotel type style to the main entrance with a revolving door and a seated area next to the reception. Once you have swiped your membership card you can get through the barriers to the relaxing area – a group of sofas with a TV, coffee machine, newspaper stand and numerous Livingwell magazines sited around on the tables. You also have access the gym shop where you can buy clothes, swimming costumes and goggles etc and the varied display of munchies and alcohol for sale as well (HOW good is this gym already, it sells alcohol as well as keeping you fit!).
So anyway, a short walk away is the towel drop where you place your free, complimentary towel for every visit after you have finished with it thus saving the need for large bags of kit (I bring a small bag with my top, shorts and trainers). – Luxury means no need for toiletries or towels as this is all provided at no extra cost, more on these later.
Just down the corridor is a small seating area giving you a view of the pool and poolside recliners, where you can watch the swimming classes go on and dotted around this area are numerous energy drinks machines. Further down the corridor is offices and the male and female changing rooms. Right at the end are the two studios for the classes (Pilates, yoga, spin, circuit training etc) and the last thing on the ground floor is the sensory – a place of calm which offers hair and beauty treatment, massage and sun tans (for the ladies more than others I think)
Once you have got changed in the very posh changing area (I can only speak for the male room as I have not had the pleasure of the ladies, yet!) a many wooden benched Multi section room with only one family changing room with a door. I don’t mind I’m sure we are all mature and comfortable enough to get changed in the presence of others. And anyway there are more TV’s dotting around to keep you occupied. Also in the changing area are the standard wash basins, mirrors, hair dryers (yes we are still in the male room), toilets and showers. The added extras that I particularly like are the scales, hair gel, face wash, drinking fountain, swimsuit dryer and shaving facilities. The only thing you need apart from your kit is a pound for the lockers of which there are loads of different sizes and shapes.
Once you are changed into whatever you feel comfortable in you can either exit back the way you came to go to the gym or go through the side exit by the showers to the pool and Jacuzzi etc area. I tend to go to the gym first then back and get changed for a nice relaxing sauna and swim after. Once you get back to reception you can either take the stairs or if you are feeling particularly weak the lift to the gym. You enter to see rows and rows of treadmills, cross trainers, bikes and rowing machines at the front, followed by yet more TV’s all with different channels on (I think they are trying to get the point across you can just as easily sit on a bike and watch EastEnders instead of on the sofa). Behind the row of TV’s are the resistance machines. I won’t go into too much detail, as I don’t know what half of them are called, but there are about 25 different machines for each muscle type. Finally at the very back is the sit-up cradles and the free weights section, dumbbells, barbells, benches etc, but wait the fun doesn’t end here, there are more extras up here as well to make you fell even more pampered. You can pick up one of the hi-tech pocket TV devices, which you have to plug your own set of earphones into, as the gym doesn’t supply them as standard. You can then listen to a choice of all the TV selections on the screens, a few radio stations or the club CD that is always playing on the speakers anyway and there are the normal drinks fountains and paper towel dispensers knocking about as well. The most useful section of the gym is the kick-start area. It is a desk and filing cabinet, which contains every member’s personal fitness plan. You need to have a meeting with one of the fitness trainers before they work out your regime. Once you have done this you get a plan to follow for a few months. This advises what machines to use and how long for depending on what you want to get out of going to the gym, then you have a review and if you need to can change your plan.
Once you have sweated out all your cholesterol in the gym like me you can go the pool and relax in any of the many saunas, steam rooms, Jacuzzi’s, recliners or you can go for a swim.
At the end of your trip you return the complimentary towel and of you parked your car in the multi-storey car park the staff at the reception deck will give you a parking voucher which I believe gives you an hour and a half discount on the parking fee.
Joining fees are between £30 approx (for peak times per month) to £47 a month for gold membership, although Livingwell have many corporate schemes like my company, which gets me a discount of £5 per month. I go for the gold membership because I get a corporate discount and it enables me to go anytime I want whereas the peak membership is only during certain time periods (9-5 weekdays) I apologise but I am not aware of the limits for weekend visits on the peak membership.
And finally to top it off it would not be rare to see some celebrities wandering about either, for example a few weeks ago Ian Wright was chilling in the Jacuzzi as he is friends with the manager.
For more information you can go the Livingwell website:
http://www.livingwell.co.uk/
More details
Price
£30-£47
Size
Big
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