Total Fitness vs Carlisle?

MrMan

I've been a member of TF Sandyford for three years and my membership is up in a couple of months and I'm wondering if I should switch to the Carlisle.

It is as handy for me as TF and from what I hear it is cheaper but is it better?

My aims are weight loss/maintainence(!!) and general fitness. I workout 4/5 times a week for an hour each time. Two of those days are full body free weight sessions and the rest are cardio; treadmill and cross-trainer.

Fairly basic requirements so I would imagine that Carlisle would suit but what is the atmosphere like?

I heard a while ago that there is music blaring out and TVs all over the place. Is it still like that?

davyjose

The two major issues I have with Carlisle are that it can get ABSOLUTELY jammers at peak times, and that they play crappy radio stations, rather than a) silence, or b) upbeat "workout" music.
Trust me, this might not sound like much, but when you forget your ipod and are left working out to a Coldplay Ballad, or the News, it can be soul-destroying.

Having said that, you have almost everything you need there for a solid workout. And there's plenty of equipment. They have TV's too, onalmost every piece of cardio equipment (minus the rower) which I only watch when there's Sport on. I would definitely recommend it for 99% of the population.

Can't say much about TF - never been - but unless there's something special about the place you won't get much better bang for your buck than at Carlisle.

KERPAL

ye cant complain with carlisle, have been to TF a few times and its nothing special really, there isnt the same workout buzz as carlisle imo.
I know it can get packed but im never waiting to use any free weights,machines,cardio machines etc. plus if u go down at non peak time(peake time being 8-9) you will never have a problem. also sound staff and they giv u a hand with a workout plan if needed.
One bad thing i would say is the ramps on the way in, abosolute killers, but if u can get over them, 260 a year is dirt cheap.

Mickk

It really depends on what type of training you do, carlisle only has light dumbells so if you are a seasoned trainer it wont really work for you. There are also not alot of oly bars and it gets really crowded. I think total fitness used to blow it out of the water but with the new layout in TF it brings it down a bit I think. If TF do get rid of the heavy dumbells like they have done in malahide then Westwood in leopardstown will be the best gym that side of dublin.

KERPAL

ye MICKK, the lack of dumbell weight in carlisle is a pain in the ass- i mean 30kg is pretty abysmal, but im pretty sure a few requests and they sort you out.

They had no medecine balls and apparently a few people asked and there were about 12 balls out the next week.

another negative i overlooked, opening times on weekends arent the best, Dunner obviously doesnt like dishing out the overtime:D

MrMan

I normally train first thing in the morning so TF's opening time of 6am suits me. Am I right in saying that Carlisle don't open until 6.30 mon-thurs and 7 on fri?

KERPAL

Im afraid so, and not till 9 and 9.30 on sat and sun respectively.
Traffic around that area at 7.30-8am is madness sometimes so id imagine that wud be a problem for you also?

WHIP IT!

Mickk wrote: »

It really depends on what type of training you do, carlisle only has light dumbells so if you are a seasoned trainer it wont really work for you. There are also not alot of oly bars and it gets really crowded. I think total fitness used to blow it out of the water but with the new layout in TF it brings it down a bit I think. If TF do get rid of the heavy dumbells like they have done in malahide then Westwood in leopardstown will be the best gym that side of dublin.

Why did they get rid of their heavuier dumbbells??

Hanley

WHIP IT! wrote: »

Why did they get rid of their heavuier dumbbells??

They tied them to the heavier lifters and fcuked them out the door to get rid of them...

Mickk

KERPAL wrote: »

ye MICKK, the lack of dumbell weight in carlisle is a pain in the ass- i mean 30kg is pretty abysmal, but im pretty sure a few requests and they sort you out.

They had no medecine balls and apparently a few people asked and there were about 12 balls out the next week.

another negative i overlooked, opening times on weekends arent the best, Dunner obviously doesnt like dishing out the overtime:D

No its a decision they made, the type of members who want heavier dumbells are not the type they want in their gym. Numerous people I know have even been told as much by staff there, even told that total fitness is more suited for bodybuilders (in westpoint not carlisle this happened). Think about it, someone who needs dumbells that go heavier than 30kg is likely to train much more often. So they could basically take in 3 newbie members for every bodybuilder and also the fact that big bodybuilders can put off the middle aged housewifes who are the bread and butter of the business. Join for a year in jan and never come back...

They wont ever get heavy dumbells, infact they have them and they wont put them out, when westpoint first opened they had them out and they saw the kind of people they were attracting so they took them away. The excuses ranged from, people wern't putting them away, staff couldn't lift them to the insurance wouldn't cover them!

KERPAL

thats ridiculous tho really, i mean 30kg+ weights are hardly bodybuilder standards are dey, thats really pissed me off!! maybe they should have a special room for them or somethin but that would prob increase overheads.

MrMan

KERPAL wrote: »

Im afraid so, and not till 9 and 9.30 on sat and sun respectively.
Traffic around that area at 7.30-8am is madness sometimes so id imagine that wud be a problem for you also?

You're right, that rules the Carlisle out for me!

Thanks for the replies.

KERPAL

I would apologise to Ben Dunne, but the fact that he apparently has 12,000 members up there when he should only have 8.000 helps me forgive myself:D