Sydney must be one of the most health conscious cities in the world. It’s quite an eye opener for the average Brit arriving pasty faced and flabby in town. I live opposite a local park and I find it almost offensive when I stumble out of bed bleary eyed to be greeted by the sight of various local boot camps where groups of fit people get together to sweat and jump around at a thoroughly stupid time of the morning. I resent even being up at that time so the thought of dragging myself along to one of these groups is something I view with a mixture of bemusement and wonder.
Fitness First
To fit in with this health conscious, workout crazed land of beautiful people Sydney has a thriving gym culture with workout spots scattered liberally around the city. The most ubiquitous by far is Fitness First. They seem to cover about 70% of the market. It’s hard to walk for five minutes in the city centre without spotting someone touting the Fitness First backpack that they give away free for joining. They are fairly pricy at 100 dollars a month but rumour has it that this can be haggled down. The big advantage of Fitness First is that, depending on which plan you choose (and pay for), you can use any of their facilities. So if it will be handy for you to use the gym in different locations they can be a great choice. For instance, they have locations near my flat, my work and my girlfriends place so it’s easy to fit in a workout. Also if you do a lot of travel membership includes access to Fitness First worldwide.
Other Gym Chains
There are also other smaller gym chains in Sydney to consider. Virgin Active is often well talked about – their place in Pitt St mall is renowned as being the best kitted out in the whole of Sydney. Anytime Fitness has a reputation for beingest the cheapest gym in Sydney and is open 24 hours. I have also heard good reviews about the gym in the Ian Thorpe Aquatic centre. If you’re in to celebrity spotting then City Gym on Crown St has been known to be a good place to spot the famous getting sweaty.
Non Gym Options
Crossfit Sydney has a very good reputation for a non-conventional take on getting fit in Sydney and of course you can always sign up for one of the many in park fitness bootcamps which tend to be advertised on the flyers tied to lamposts near the parks.