Gyms near DCU/Leixlip

CarPark

Hi Everyone.
i am living in Leixlip, and commuting in on the train to work in DCU every day. I am looking for a gym within a short distance of DCU, or within reasonable driving distance of Leixlip.

In the Gym i am looking for:
Free Weights (bench, squat rack, olympic bars etc.)
Cardio equipment (mainly threadmill)
A pool would be nice, but not essential.

I know DCU have a gym, but the free weights are almost non-existant. There is no bench and no squat rack. They have a separate free weights room, but its only for elite athletes (national/international standard).

I am not mad into weights, I am pretty light (6"3' height, 83 kg), but i train for triathlon, so muscle is important, and with all the cardio i do, i need the weights or i would end up paper thin! I say this, because although i want decent free weights section, i would feel out of place in a body-builders gym.

I would really appreciate any advice.

BTW, i looked in the sticky above on gym reviews, but none were in the right area.

Thanks in advance

dodgey69

Northwood gym in santry is only around the corner, has pool, sauans/steamrooms etc, loads of machines and free weights.

CarPark

Thanks dodgey
I can't find anything about it online, do you have an address (online or street) for it.

connundrum

Finglas Leisure centre is roughly the same distance from DCU as the Northwood complex.

I use Finglas the whole time. Its decent compact gym with everything I need, although at peak times it can be a bitch to get near the free weights section. You pay as you go so no membership required (although membership is available). It also has a decent 25m pool!

6ix

http://www.northwoodpark.ie/amenities_leisure.html should help a little.

It's just near Santry Avenue, not far from DCU by bike/car/bus but it'd be a fair walk. It's in northwood park, which straddles the distance between Ballymun Road and Swords Road.

Nice gym, it's only open six months so all the equipment is top notch, and there's plenty to go around for now at least.

daymobrew

CarPark wrote:

I am not mad into weights, I am pretty light (6"3' height, 83 kg), but i train for triathlon, so muscle is important, and with all the cardio i do, i need the weights or i would end up paper thin! I say this, because although i want decent free weights section, i would feel out of place in a body-builders gym.

Is muscle really that important in triathlons? I run and do duathlons (I don't like to get wet ) and just do a few basic free weights at home. I find sport-specific training more useful (i.e. putting the miles in on the bike or running). I'm paper thin (6", 70kg) - less weight to carry when running.
Maybe join a triathlon club and ask their advice wrt weight training.

Aside: I sometimes get the train to work, often getting off at Broombridge and jogging the 3.5 miles to East Point Business Park. It's like free exercise. Other days I cycle the 9 miles. This might work for you - you could jog to DCU in the morning and shower there (I did that when I cycled to NIHE/DCU back in early 90's, to the prefab gym/shower setup).

CarPark

Thanks for the replies.

I checked out Northwood, its a brilliant gym, loads and loads of equipment, and not so many people there. I think you would never have to que. In every way its like a gym designed by people who use gyms! But I don't have a car or bike at work, and as 6ix mentioned its a long walk (well not that long, 20 minutes each way, but i already have a fairly sizeable commute every day, and adding 40 minutes to that isn't ideal).

I'll check ouut finglas Connundrum, but from what you say it sounds to be the same distance, and more busy.


Does anyone know of good gyms near leixlip??

At the moment i have joined DCU gym, purely for convenience, as i can take a slightly extended lunch break and do some training. But its pretty poor. If northwood is like a gym designed by people who use gyms, DCU is like a gym designed by someone who has never used one. There is one squat rack (one of the ones where the bar is locked into the frame, kind of machine-meets squat rack), but it isn't in front of a mirror. Then there are leg curl machines and the like in front of the mirror.

Daymobrew, my understanding is that a bit of muscle training is important for all sport, even endurance sports. I don't ever plan or expect to look like Arnie, but i guess you are using all those muscles to move you, and it should pay off to do a bit of individual work on them. But i take your point that it would be good to get info from the experts in a club.

If i'm honest, apart from sporting reasons, my ego doesn't want to see me get any thinner, and it would be good to have a bit of muscle to show off to my lady!

As regards the cycle/jog to work, i have an office job, so i have to turn up in an ironed shirt, and its not very easy to store an ironed shirt in a back-pack!

the_syco

CarPark wrote: »

but it isn't in front of a mirror

Lol @ the poser:p

Try Leixlip Amenities Centre, phone number: 01 6243050 If you look here, it'll be located just under where it says "Maynooth Road" in the fellow line. From memory (been a while since I've been there), it has two cycle machines, two threadmills, a free weights part, some weight machines, etc.

scoey

the_syco: I reckon the OP will be pretty pleased to hear that, over a year after he last posted in this thread.

Since this thread was made, DCU gym opened a free weights room which is decent enough in my opinion..

Leon11

Confey GAA club have a gym open to the public. Few lads I know use it, it'd be decent enough I'd imagine.

edit: just realised the thread is a year old! ffs!