Ottawa gyms or fitness centres?

[Blane]

Hey, any Ottawa folk able to recommend a gym that is pretty central and not full of meat heads and hyper competitive "gym freaks"? I like to do classes and stuff cause otherwise I'm super lazy, not into weight lifting or anything like that, and like a chilled out and friendly environment where weak skinny guys like me won't get mocked.

Anything you can think of that fits the bill?

Thanks!

[bouche]

try Goodlife fitness for Women.

[Davey Boy 2.0]

Plant Bath there Blaneypoo

http://ottawa.ca/en/rec_culture/park_facility/facilities/rec_centres/plant/index.html

[AD]

City gyms (of which Plant Bath is one) are good value and offer plenty of services. You can choose your membership level and your membership is valid at multiple facilities. Some have pools, arenas, classes, squash, curling etc included in price.

There are two YMCA locations downtown, although the Queen St. location has a 'premium' designation or something like that.

Goodlife is very overrated IMHO.

[bouche]

Anyone have a membership at the RA Centre?

[Blane]

try Goodlife fitness for Women.

Why, you need a spotter?

Thanks for the Plant Bath suggestion. Looks pretty close to what I'm shooting for! Next step, to find some living accomodation that isn't a crack den or a 20 story high-rise.

fun!

[bouche]

This is one way to get into Good life for women.

[Cosmic ChrisC]

Yep, I fully support city gyms. Cheap! And rarely overcrowded. No meat heads there at all. I've been going to a city gym near my work (central east end of the city) for years and have taken spinning, yoga, pilates, aerobics classes and liked them all. I was scared of the aerobics at first, imagining 1980s moves and attire but it has evolved since then and seems more manly now.

[Cosmic ChrisC]

Like, for example, don't expect aerobics classes to be like this! That's the chick from Frasier!

[Davey Boy 2.0]

...and yet another piece of the "What do Ollie and CCC do at home on a typical night in" puzzle falls into place

[Cosmic ChrisC]

Give the city gyms a try this week...for free:

City hopes free week at fitness centres boosts enrolment

By David Reevely, Ottawa Citizen

September 14, 2012

Less than five per cent of Ottawa residents are enrolled in a city recreation program.OTTAWA — In an effort to attract visitors to its underused gyms, the city’s offering a free week’s worth of workouts and classes at many (but not all) of Ottawa’s public fitness centres.

The free week runs from Sept. 17 to 23 and includes group classes in aquafitness, cycling and callisthenics, plus the use of solo fitness equipment.

Earlier this year, the parks and recreation department reported that it was having trouble keeping up with private gyms and recreation centres, which can adjust fees and offer incentives whenever their markets soften a bit or they want to attract more people — by offering discounts on membership renewals, for instance, or when a second and third child are registered for a summer activity. The city’s system was more rigid, with fees set by city council once a year in the budget.

In the private sector, the department said, it’s “common practice to offer promotional discounts to increase participation or facility use during non-prime hours and to encourage sampling of new services through complimentary passes,†which the city couldn’t do.

The most recent report on city recreation programs, which covered the first quarter of the year, found that registration shrank markedly from 2010 to 2011, and slipped again in 2012. Two years ago, about 5.5 per cent of the population was registered in a city recreation program; by this year, it was 4.8 per cent, and the public programs are only about two-thirds full. The department spends about $135 million a year and makes $60 million of that back in fees, so sliding enrolments are a serious problem.

So city council gave the department the go-ahead to try new things, such as the upcoming free week.

The fitness centres involved are:

Bob MacQuarrie Recreation Complex (Orléans)

Goulbourn Recreation Complex

Hunt Club-Riverside Park Community Centre

Kanata Leisure Centre

Nepean Sportsplex

Pinecrest Recreation Centre

Plant Recreation Centre

Ray Friel Recreation Complex

St-Laurent Complex

Splash Wave Pool

Walter Baker Sports Centre

[Blane]

d'oh. missing out. I'm closing in on an apartment in the Glebe, so hoping I'll narrow down teh final list of rec centres once that deal is sealed.

[weezy]

Try SNAP Fitness - they currently have a website offer for $9 you get the first 30 days to try it out. Then they have $30 memberships with a few up-front fees just like all of them. I just joined it in Orleans and should get my card in the mail tomorrow.

http://www.snapfitness.com/

Snap Fitness Glebe location

625 Bank Street, Ottawa, ON K1S 3T5

(613) 482-2845

Edited September 17, 2012 by Guest