crunch fitness - DL?

eclectichoney

hi guys
thinking of joining here as its the nearest gym to me (i live in sandycove) checked the reviews thread but there's nothing any comments?

JayRoc

I checked it out a few years ago and was fairly appalled, frankly.
Loads and loads of stupid gimmicky machines that probably cost an absolute fortune but the free weights room was tiny and had feck all in it.
Real style over substance stuff.

It may well have improved since though, so maybe just drop in and have a goo...

maxi-twist

JayRoc wrote:

It may well have improved since though, so maybe just drop in and have a goo...

Hasnt really,weights room is about 5x13 metres.If u just wanna do cardio its pretty good,nice enough pool.

eth0_

JayRoc wrote:

I checked it out a few years ago and was fairly appalled, frankly.
Loads and loads of stupid gimmicky machines that probably cost an absolute fortune but the free weights room was tiny and had feck all in it.
Real style over substance stuff.

Oh, so a gym is automatically sh*t because it doesn't have acres of weights? Not all gyms are about body building :rolleyes:

olaola

Any gym is better than no gym. The most important thing (IMO) is - is it convenient? Will you be able to go when you want and is it easy for you to drop down there? If it is a hassle, or out of the way - it is easier to make excuses not to go.

Dragan

eth0_ wrote:

Oh, so a gym is automatically sh*t because it doesn't have acres of weights? Not all gyms are about body building :rolleyes:

To be honest a gym is **** if it does not have a decent selection for free weights. In fact, i would say you can't call it a gym and should call it a "wellness center".

Free weights excercises have been shown time and again to be far superior to machine variants when it comes to improving muscular strenght, action and shape. A compund free weights workout is also vastly superior to machines when it comes to improving Metabolic Rate both during and after workouts.

Finally, not a single decent PT that i know does not have clients doing a serious amount of freeweights, with certain machines being used to supplement the workout, not make up the most of it.

Transform

In defence to crunch i think its an excellent gym as long as you do not intend on bench pressing more that about 20kg dumbbells - so more than adequate for 95% of all trainees (esp female)

I have 4 clients who train there and all get in a good workout and love it even if instruction is not great

eclectichoney

thanks for that guys - i am a girl so wouldnt be using ridiculously heavy weights but i do like to use the free weights alright so i think it might suit - its always great to get a few comments from fitness-types who know what they're talking about, so thanks again.

Diamondmaker

Waaayyyy over priced!

You pay for all the nice hard wood foyer, aqarium built into the recpetion desk, dim lighting and canldes and the projector over the (paddling best thing ot describe it) pool with pictures of Wales mating!:D

No parking apart from pay on street.........

What you dont get is feck all value with regrads to an actual gym!

wellness centre seems best to describe it all right.

LegacyUser

I am a member of Crunch gym and I think it is great. I go 4/5 days a week and do weights each of these days. It all depends what time you go at. You have free parking in Dun Laoghaire from 7pm across the road from the gym, and from 8pm in the yacht clubs, parking in the shopping centre is free on sundays all day so you can park there too. It suits me as I go to the gym at 7'ish every evening anyway, during the day it's not busy either.

I paid 517 for the year which is around 43 euro a month which is perfect considering how much use I get out of it and I am also a student. Upstairs dumbells go to 18kg's which is fine in most cases and you have barbells going up to 46kg's too which is grand. Downstairs in the small free weights room, you have from 20kg's up to 30+kg's. The only way I see it being a problem is if you can't talk, when I go to the free weights room and the bench is in use, I just ask how many sets u have left, and either wait a few minutes or else do something else quick and go back...not really a problem, most i have waited is about 5 minutes for a bench which isn't a problem if you keep your heart beating...

But hey that's just me...

JayRoc

eth0_ wrote:

Oh, so a gym is automatically sh*t because it doesn't have acres of weights? Not all gyms are about body building :rolleyes:

I think I'd have to get a fair bit bigger before I could classify myself as a bodybuilder . Thanks though
(To clarify, in case there was any confusion about what I wrote, I was talking specifically about their resistance machines, NOT treadmills or cardio equipment- the gym's cardio section was fine when I visited it, although, again, too many things that look good to the uninitiated but in reality don't come close to something as simple as the good old treadmill)

My objection to the gym was that when I visited it, they had obviously spent vast amounts of money on something that, while very shiny and impressive to the eye, is not very conducive to an effective workout (machines) and not nearly enough on something that IS (free weights). I have an issue with any gym (hello Jackie Skelly) that deliberately panders to ignorance, instead of attempting to educate their members in what is beneficial and what isn't. It's their customers who get a less effective workout as a result and ultimately, sub-optimal results from going to the gym.

The vast, vast majority of the people I know that train extensively with free weights are not bodybuilders.
Without meaning to sound condescending, it's a common misconception among those inexperienced in the field that weights are solely the domain of the juiced-up musclefreak, when in reality nothing could be further from the truth.

Best of luck.

Hanley

JayRoc wrote:

I think I'd have to get a fair bit bigger before I could classify myself as a bodybuilder . Thanks though
(To clarify, in case there was any confusion about what I wrote, I was talking specifically about their resistance machines, NOT treadmills or cardio equipment- the gym's cardio section was fine when I visited it, although, again, too many things that look good to the uninitiated but in reality don't come close to something as simple as the good old treadmill)

My objection to the gym was that when I visited it, they had obviously spent vast amounts of money on something that, while very shiny and impressive to the eye, is not very conducive to an effective workout (machines) and not nearly enough on something that IS (free weights). I have an issue with any gym (hello Jackie Skelly) that deliberately panders to ignorance, instead of attempting to educate their members in what is beneficial and what isn't. It's their customers who get a less effective workout as a result and ultimately, sub-optimal results from going to the gym.

The vast, vast majority of the people I know that train extensively with free weights are not bodybuilders.
Without meaning to sound condescending, it's a common misconception among those inexperienced in the field that weights are solely the domain of the juiced-up musclefreak, when in reality nothing could be further from the truth.

Best of luck.

Extremely well said. I wanted to say something but I would have just got on another rant and probably pissed D off even more!

g'em

JayRoc wrote:

Without meaning to sound condescending, it's a common misconception among those inexperienced in the field that weights are solely the domain of the juiced-up musclefreak, when in reality nothing could be further from the truth..

You mean I'm not a juiced-up musclefreak?? awww...

Dragan

g'em wrote:

You mean I'm not a juiced-up musclefreak?? awww...

I am SORELY tempted to do some piss-take photo's in Pinnacle over the weekend, me and G'em and a carton of Tropicana......"juiced up muscle freaks!"

g'em

Dragan wrote:

I am SORELY tempted to do some piss-take photo's in Pinnacle over the weekend, me and G'em and a carton of Tropicana......"juiced up muscle freaks!"

LOL, classic!!! Featuring the obligatory squat-rack bicep curls naturally

Sleepy

Transform wrote:

In defence to crunch i think its an excellent gym as long as you do not intend on bench pressing more that about 20kg dumbbells - so more than adequate for 95% of all trainees (esp female)

I'm not a big guy, I'm only training for about 2 months and even at that I'm far from serious about my training and I'm already benching 20kg dumbbells. Surely that means the gym isn't much use for guys (or girls who aren't afraid of proper lifting)?

Transform

Its pretty simple guys - work and train people for 10 years and you will discover that as i have already stated how many people who go to the gym (not who weight train) use dumbbells above 20kg?

Yes i would like them to be lifting more and have directed clients to pinacle for bigger lifting but most people just want to use the gym for a light session.
Finally i have no female clients lifting beyond 15kg dumbbells so the gym is more than enough - oh and i was the fitness director there for its initial 4 years so i know its ok for most

maxi-twist

eclectichoney wrote:

thanks for that guys - i am a girl so wouldnt be using ridiculously heavy weights but i do like to use the free weights alright so i think it might suit - its always great to get a few comments from fitness-types who know what they're talking about, so thanks again.

Go get a free tour of the place.The sauna,jaccuzzi,steam rooms are real nice aswell. Its a pity bout the weights room as it'd be a quality gym if it was bigger...