Educogym-Any good?

Martian Martin

There are near my new place of work and was gonna check them out. Besides them trying to hard sell you supplements etc Are they any good??

girvtheswerve

Good few threads on this in the past I think so maybe try the search function.

General consensus seems to be thats its an expensive fad. Wont get anything from it that you wouldnt get with a good work ethic and decent diet

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

I wouldn't go near it, crazy expensive for what it is. Spend your money on a good gym and get advice from a personal trainer. Most gyms give great advice free of charge too.

Doug Cartel

girvtheswerve wrote: »

General consensus seems to be thats its an expensive fad. Wont get anything from it that you wouldnt get with a good work ethic and decent diet

This seems to be their biggest strength - that they basically make you stick to your routine and do your work. Thing is, if you're looking at getting fit as a lifestyle choice and not a quick fix, then you're going to have to develop a good work ethic and discipline yourself at some stage.

barryd09

friend of mine used them to get in shape for his wedding,worked,temporarily.
he never was in a gym before.
they ask you do drink pints of full fat cream and wash the sauce off baked beans and eat them with porridge.
if i am not mistaken its something in the region of €250 a MONTH.
they claim to have THEE best piece of equipment too,they have some sort of mad name on it too.

tony quinn is an absolute scam artist from what i know of him.the sunday world(i know,i know) have done plenty of stories on him,one bodybuilder from dublin they interviewed went for a job interview with them and was literally on a plane to barbados in no time to one of tony quinns seminars.
he(the bodybuilder) said it was "cult like" with people lying down on the floor and quinn shouting "goals" into their ears....

just doing a quick search turns up threads like this one
http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=125705

Khannie

girvtheswerve wrote: »

Good few threads on this in the past I think so maybe try the search function.

They have all been deleted. Too many first time posters bumping them to say how awesome they were (subtle! :rolleyes:) so we had to put a stop to it.

Eircom_Sucks

barryd09 wrote: »

friend of mine used them to get in shape for his wedding,worked,temporarily.
he never was in a gym before.
they ask you do drink pints of full fat cream and wash the sauce off baked beans and eat them with porridge.
if i am not mistaken its something in the region of €250 a MONTH.
they claim to have THEE best piece of equipment too,they have some sort of mad name on it too.

tony quinn is an absolute scam artist from what i know of him.the sunday world(i know,i know) have done plenty of stories on him,one bodybuilder from dublin they interviewed went for a job interview with them and was literally on a plane to barbados in no time to one of tony quinns seminars.
he(the bodybuilder) said it was "cult like" with people lying down on the floor and quinn shouting "goals" into their ears....

just doing a quick search turns up threads like this one
http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=125705

think its called " The Time Machine " no joke

my cousin was in it and spent a fortune and looks no diff , still fat and unfit

while im no poster child for healthy eating myself , i am trying and have given up the idea of the quick fix which i always used to look for

now i dont mind the gym 4 days a week , u feel good and lots more energy

Red Alert

Have you any experience with a gym before OP? I've heard only bad stories about Educo, for the price they're charging it's not worth the money. Any "normal"/non-Quinn gym instructor will be more than enough to get you going. I went from being barely fit to achieving a healthy level of fitness and strength in just under 18 months just by getting advice from the gym staff.

sfag31

Worked for my sis in law but she wanted to lose weight - not get fit.
She spends €700 on a single pair of shoes and will pay for motivation.
The obvious downside is the huge price thye charge.
.
They sell - "their way is the only way" which their customers need to hear after spending all that money.
Cant see that much wrong with their advice or w/o out routines but of course when it comes to losing fat all diets and w/o routines will work if stuck to rigidely.

TommyKnocker

sfag31 wrote: »

She spends €700 on a single pair of shoes and will pay for motivation.

:eek: That's a power cage and a set of Oly weights


M

sfag31

Yes - and she has never even wore them - they're horrible.

The educogym attracts people who want to lose weight, not get fit.
They like weights and dislike cardio, but mostly it's about diet adjustment ... and the magic 'powder' they sell.

1ceman

I do not have personal experience with these guys but from all the stories and testimonials about how they operate that have been posted on here I would stay away.

I would strongly suggest taking whatever you would have spent on Educo and getting a personal trainer who'll properly teach you about training and nutrition so that you can make a lasting change in your lifestyle as opposed to some 6 week fad diet that has no long term results.

I do have experience with Transform and the knowledge and motivation I get from working with him is worth every penny so he would be my recommendation obviously.

Martian Martin

Thanks to all for replying. They really do not sound too good judging by those comments. Just to answer some of the questions above - I am already in a Gym but it's nowhere near my work wheeras this Educogym is the only Gym in a close enough distance to use on my Lunch Break. Shame.

I was just gonna try running at lunch but my knees are fecked enough already and any kinda running especially on concrete just leaves me clicking and clacking joints for days.

flywheel

Khannie wrote: »

They have all been deleted. Too many first time posters bumping them to say how awesome they were (subtle! :rolleyes:) so we had to put a stop to it.

why not just close / lock the threads? no bumping and archive kept in place

myerscoj

Hi Martin

I own two of the franchises. I originally got involved in educogym because it was the same type of training that I have been doing for the last 10 years. It really works great and I got brilliant results and totally changed my shape, my health and my energy. We have lots of Clients who get amazing results and of course have the pictures and testimonials to prove it! Typically if someone is prepared to do what we tell them and they just drop their opinions and trust us they get on great. A lot of what you read on boards.ie is unfortunately based on the opinions of others and not actual experience - but I'm sure there are people who haven't found it good - same as anything. Quite simply we educate people on nutrition, exercise and supplements. Despite what you read here it's a natural low glycemic diet that we advocate (low in processed foods and sugars). That stops the body storing fat and promotes growth hormone (the body's natural muscle building hormone). We advocate weight training because we are trying to increase the body's metabolism (90% of calories are burnt by muscle tissue). Supplements can be a great way of getting extra protein. We don't offer anything that you can't get in other health food stores or supplement stores however our supplements are free of unnecessary sugars etc as we don't want to promote insulin (fat storing hormone) and from looking at what other companies offer ours are very pure and are often pharmaceutical grade. You don't have to take supplements but if you are trying to gain muscle they are helpful (save you having to stuff yourself all day). We have an holistic approach to supplements - ie we try to get people to eat well first and get everything they need through their diet. Mainly all we do is recommend amino acids (building blocks of protein).

If you want to find out more just let me know

Thanks

J

123easy

Not need to spend loads of money in the educogym.

Just eat the right foods and exercise!

myerscoj

Lol - if only it was that easy

dave80

myerscoj wrote: »

Lol - if only it was that easy

tats all it takes, the problem that some people on here have is the price you guys charge.. cant remember how much it is fill us in?

myerscoj

It's bout 50 per week. You're always with a trainer and you can train as much as you like. So it's the price of 1 personal training session but also includes the gym.

COH

So... 2500+ euro a year

Bargain alert :pac:

myerscoj

Lol - that assumes the person trains for the year. How much would a gym + personal trainer (at 50 per session) 3 times per week cost for the year - 8,000? I think you're right.

Transform

Martian Martin wrote: »

There are near my new place of work and was gonna check them out. Besides them trying to hard sell you supplements etc Are they any good??

did you not stick to the home workouts you asked about before??

Transform

myerscoj wrote: »

Hi Martin

I own two of the franchises. I originally got involved in educogym because it was the same type of training that I have been doing for the last 10 years. It really works great and I got brilliant results and totally changed my shape, my health and my energy. We have lots of Clients who get amazing results and of course have the pictures and testimonials to prove it! Typically if someone is prepared to do what we tell them and they just drop their opinions and trust us they get on great. A lot of what you read on boards.ie is unfortunately based on the opinions of others and not actual experience - but I'm sure there are people who haven't found it good - same as anything. Quite simply we educate people on nutrition, exercise and supplements. Despite what you read here it's a natural low glycemic diet that we advocate (low in processed foods and sugars). That stops the body storing fat and promotes growth hormone (the body's natural muscle building hormone). We advocate weight training because we are trying to increase the body's metabolism (90% of calories are burnt by muscle tissue). Supplements can be a great way of getting extra protein. We don't offer anything that you can't get in other health food stores or supplement stores however our supplements are free of unnecessary sugars etc as we don't want to promote insulin (fat storing hormone) and from looking at what other companies offer ours are very pure and are often pharmaceutical grade. You don't have to take supplements but if you are trying to gain muscle they are helpful (save you having to stuff yourself all day). We have an holistic approach to supplements - ie we try to get people to eat well first and get everything they need through their diet. Mainly all we do is recommend amino acids (building blocks of protein).

If you want to find out more just let me know

Thanks

J

Nice to see somone who actually owns one post and a good post at that.

I am all for ANY system that is going to get people up off their arse and moving as long as thats done by qualified pros.

Transform

myerscoj wrote: »

Lol - that assumes the person trains for the year. How much would a gym + personal trainer (at 50 per session) 3 times per week cost for the year - 8,000? I think you're right.

Coming from a personal trainer - in fairness mate where is your functional movement screening - whats in and out of alignment? stretching/foam rolling empsasis? Cardio? Free weights? Hell where is a few deadlifts, core work, variety in the workouts (a multistation machine is not going to cut it), I could mention a few other things but just will say etc

I only mention this as one of my clients went to an educo in blackrock recently when i could not fit her in for a session and these are all the things she mentioned.

Its not a bad system but it just seems soooooo out of date to be honest and ANY half decent trainer would cover all of the above.

Again i will say I am a fan of any type of exercise that helps people get healthy and have defended Educo on boards on a number of occasions with that exact reply.

G86

myerscoj wrote: »

Lol - if only it was that easy

It is:D

Transform

G86 wrote: »

It is:D

and she is a clear living proof of that.

COH

Transform wrote: »

I am all for ANY system that is going to get people up off their arse and moving as long as thats done by qualified pros.

Absolutely agree.

I just think that anyone that is led to believe that they need PT that often clearly isn't being taught the fundamentals that you mentioned, and that annoys me.

The greatest success stories I've seen in the gym are from people that have been taught the basics to the point of being able to train themselves and understand the reasoning behind their approach as opposed to being put on a multigym and left confused as to the reason behind their lack of results over a period of months/years as opposed to days/weeks

Transform

COH wrote: »

Absolutely agree.

I just think that anyone that is led to believe that they need PT that often clearly isn't being taught the fundamentals that you mentioned, and that annoys me.

The greatest success stories I've seen in the gym are from people that have been taught the basics to the point of being able to train themselves and understand the reasoning behind their approach as opposed to being put on a multigym and left confused as to the reason behind their lack of results over a period of months/years as opposed to days/weeks

I agree and disagree as i have clients that come to me 3-4 days a week and its not like i am not teaching them to be independent its just that they come with the expectation that those 3-4 sessions is ALL and i mean ALL they are prepared to do in a week training wise.

Plus some people need someone to kick their butt every single time.

some people come in and ask the questions and go for it (and come back a few weeks/days later to be brought up another level) others need more hand holding.

myerscoj

whats in and out of alignment? stretching/foam rolling empsasis? Cardio? Free weights? Hell where is a few deadlifts, core work, variety in the workouts (a multistation machine is not going to cut it), I could mention a few other things but just will say etc

I was only comparing prices to balance the previous post. I didn't say that personal trainers weren't good value. I like training with another trainer. I don't find it as good training by myself.In fairness people come to us because they aren't expert trainers. Initially most people are looking to lose weight (although we do weight gain programmes - of course . It's just not as common) and the movements they do are very basicand are designed to promote growth hormone. We do both compound and isolation exercises and initially it's to target the major muscles. We do routines that balance out the body - a lot of people who train seem to over emphasize some muscle groups and forget the opposing muscles (which gives them terrible posture just look at their back and the way their arms hang at the front - I'm sure you'll agree). When we screen we look for injuries, restrictions etc. and the weights and exercises in the initial sessions tend to highlight what's in and out of alignment. We get people to perform exercises from full stretch to full contraction - I found from doing weights that I became more flexible where as I find cardio does the opposite - particularly running. Since as you've correctly pointed out we don't do cardio - that solves that one.

We do do deadlifts, we don't have free weights because the majority of people don't perform the exercises correctly and they do more damage than good when not performed correctly. We do lots of core work and as you know you're core is constantly being used when you do weights. We promote heavy heavy training which I know some of you agree with. You'd be shocked at how many exercises the machine does - it is honestly unlike anything you will have seen. I was amazed at what it can do and I am a huge fan of free weights - I absolutely love trying to do exercises perfectly but honestly I find you can get into great shape without them.

When ever I travel though I love using the free weights - it's frustrating though when someone else has those dumbbells you need! I totally agree that most multi station machines just don't cut it. Just go to virtually any hotel and you find they are missing something that leaves you frustrated. Normally when a person has achieved their initial weight loss goals we find it's necessary to address their posture, alignment etc and then stretching is very necessary particularly with areas such as the hamstrings.

As for variety - that's not true we have endless exercises! Really it's not like regular multi station machines I promise.

It is old fashioned - but very few gyms combine all the elements that it takes to get a person into great shape. People have been training like this since the 40's and 50's but it works - no need to make it complicated.

I like the foam rolling stretching by the way - but your right we don't do it. I like to get massages though!

myerscoj

I just think that anyone that is led to believe that they need PT that often clearly isn't being taught the fundamentals that you mentioned, and that annoys me.

The greatest success stories I've seen in the gym are from people that have been taught the basics to the point of being able to train themselves and understand the reasoning behind their approach as opposed to being put on a multigym and left confused as to the reason behind their lack of results over a period of months/years as opposed to days/weeks

I think people should always be supervised - I realised from other sports that you often think your body is doing something when infact it isn't! It's always good to have a personal trainer or training partner to make sure you are doing the exercises perfectly. Although I think imparting an understanding to people is vital otherwise they won't continue to do it long term.

G86

myerscoj wrote: »

we don't have free weights because the majority of people don't perform the exercises correctly and they do more damage than good when not performed correctly.

In all fairness, at 50 Eur a week I'd think it's your job to teach people to perform them correctly.

myerscoj

G86 wrote: »

In all fairness, at 50 Eur a week I'd think it's your job to teach people to perform them correctly.

LOL I never said we don't teach people to do the exercises correctly. Luckily with a machine it's very difficult to exercise incorrectly which suits the majority. With regards to free weights some people aren't naturals and others don't have great athletic ability and others just don't have the time to spend learning the exercises perfectly. They can either struggle with the exercises or spend that time getting into great shape. From experience I think it's naive to expect everybody to train perfectly. I think with coaching and time most people will get close but certainly not everybody. At lot of people don't have the patience I've noticed.

G86

myerscoj wrote: »

LOL I never said we don't teach people to do the exercises correctly. Luckily with a machine it's very difficult to exercise incorrectly which suits the majority. With regards to free weights some people aren't naturals and others don't have great athletic ability and others just don't have the time to spend learning the exercises perfectly. They can either struggle with the exercises or spend that time getting into great shape. From experience I think it's naive to expect everybody to train perfectly. I think with coaching and time most people will get close but certainly not everybody. At lot of people don't have the patience I've noticed.

You can't teach people to do the exercises correctly if you don't have the correct equipment.

As for people who aren't 'naturals' - it's your job to teach them, not make excuses for not doing so. It would be far more worth their while to spend a while 'struggling' with deadlifts and squats til they got them right, rather than learning to rely on machines.

As for patience, is it your clients that don't have it, or you?

myerscoj

G86 wrote: »

You can't teach people to do the exercises correctly if you don't have the correct equipment.

As for people who aren't 'naturals' - it's your job to teach them, not make excuses for not doing so. It would be far more worth their while to spend a while 'struggling' with deadlifts and squats til they got them right, rather than learning to rely on machines.

As for patience, is it your clients that don't have it, or you?

We do have the right equipment - it's ideal for the beginner right up to advanced. We do teach people the correct form and most get it great.

Why not have an environment where everybody can train correctly without having to be a natural.

I wouldn't like anybody to struggle with deadlifts or squats as they will be prone to injury with both those movements.

There is nothing wrong with relying on machines.

I have endless patience - just look how I'm demonstrating it now!

barryd09

what is "the time machine"...?im intrigued.

Doug Cartel

You should just take the plunge and learn to to use free weights. It'll be worth it in the long run.

JayRoc

myerscoj wrote: »

I wouldn't like anybody to struggle with deadlifts or squats as they will be prone to injury with both those movements.

I'm not looking to jump on your case because while I think there are better things people could do than join Educogym, there are also worse things...like doing nothing.


But that last statement is flat-out incorrect.

COH

myerscoj wrote: »

There is nothing wrong with relying on machines.

I'll get banned from the fitness forum if I respond to this the way I want to

Doug Cartel

myerscoj, what are your qualifications?

Doug Cartel

myerscoj wrote: »

We don't offer anything that you can't get in other health food stores or supplement stores however our supplements are free of unnecessary sugars etc

OK, are any independent studies to show your products contain less sugars than equivalent supplements - eg your whey vs. myprotein (or whatever) whey?

Transform

Doug Cartel wrote: »

myerscoj, what are your qualifications?

myerscoj you are digging so many holes here so be really careful where you are threading.

Take the squat and deadlift - sitting into and out of a chair. What could be easier to teach.

yes and post up the qualifications of your staff also when you get a minute.

Transform

Transform wrote: »

myerscoj you are digging so many holes here so be really careful where you are threading.

Take the squat and deadlift - sitting into and out of a chair. What could be easier to teach.

yes and post up the qualifications of your staff also when you get a minute.

One other point - you think its more important to get people to drop weight than it is to sort out basic alignment issues that would help them move and prevent injury daily?

Plus my client was taken through NONE of this screening that you spoke about, no warm up no stretching at the end - yes this my have been overlooked in this session i grant you that but you say you offer a good product and in reality i would argue that it is completely out of date

Zamboni

I have a slight phobia of Educogym in the same way I have a slight phobia of the Dianetics place on Abbey St.
I feel that if I ever go in, I won't come out the 'same' anymore.

What any potential customer really needs to know is that Educogym offer absolutely nothing that is not freely available on the stickies on this board.

myerscoj

Transform wrote: »

myerscoj you are digging so many holes here so be really careful where you are threading.

Take the squat and deadlift - sitting into and out of a chair. What could be easier to teach.

yes and post up the qualifications of your staff also when you get a minute.

Lol - I think so. Hard to communicate everything perfectly in text.

Sorry I apologise. I misunderstood the post about struggling with deadlifts and squats. I meant struggle with weight rather than form -sorry again G8R.

With regards to supplements - the label has to specify how much sugar is in the products so it's simple to ascertain -Doug Cartel.

If we take in full trainers we look for personal training qualifications - which vary hugely from country to country, and then in addition we certify them ourselves - which takes at least 3 months. We also train them in nutrition specifically for what we do. We also employ assistant instructors, and look for a background in or passion for fitness and sport. Again we certify ourselves before they become full instructors. We are always looking for excellent well qualified passionate trainers (particularly those interested in other people) and maybe someone reading this post might be interested. We have a job posted on jobs.ie - we are hiring at the moment...I have to say the team in the two franchises I have is made up of great people, passionate about helping others and they get great results with people.

We certainly aren't all perfect - Transform - and I appreciate the feedback in relation to Blackrock. We offer a trial to people who enquire and it's mainly teaching them the exercises and it's with light weights so maybe that's what your client was doing but we are always looking to improve.

I think this web page summarizes my personal opinion on free weights vs machine weights. You have to remember most people who come to us just want to get results and aren't passionate trainers like most of you seem to be - I mean that genuinely.

http://exercise.about.com/cs/weightlifting/a/freeweights.htm

The machine design though is very clever and overcomes the general short comings of most machines. We also have cable stations which I find are good substitutes for dumbbells.

I personally love free weights but I find I get great results using our machine (I am biased though). There are pros and cons to both though.

Obviously we are all going to disagree about lots of elements of any system for getting into shape as there are so many ways.

We simply focus on helping a person to understand what it takes. Most people do need motiviation, encouragement and an understanding - I certainly did. Educogym is about good nutrition (which is vital and which surprisingly very few people understand) and resistance exercise to help build up their metabolism.

Zamboni - really it's just a gym!

myerscoj

Zamboni wrote: »

I have a slight phobia of Educogym in the same way I have a slight phobia of the Dianetics place on Abbey St.
I feel that if I ever go in, I won't come out the 'same' anymore.

What any potential customer really needs to know is that Educogym offer absolutely nothing that is not freely available on the stickies on this board.

Really it's just a gym but most of our clients hope that after they come out they aren't the 'same' anymore!

Zamboni

myerscoj wrote: »

Really it's just a gym but most of our clients hope that after they come out they aren't the 'same' anymore!

Ah fair enough. I've no particular issues with Educo.
Obviously becoming more successful which can be seen by recent expansion over the past few years.

barryd09

again...what is the "time machine"?

timetogetfit

Myerscoji

Ouestion for you

What do you think of Tony Quinn?

TommyKnocker

Myerscoji please do not answer that question!!!

This thread is discussing the Educo Gym and trainig methods.

It is not and will not descend into a Tony Quinn bashing thread!!!


M

d-gal

Have been into 2 educo gyms, and both had the 'time machine', it's a all in one gym machine that is a load of crap to be honest, it's around as smooth as one you would get in argos. I questioned two instructors about their qualifications and the reasoning behind just machine weights; they were qualified by educo and had no previous experience. Regarding squats and deadlifts, they are too dangerous in their opinions. The time machine is largely upper body dominated and the main exercise for legs was the leg extension :rolleyes:

I have said before a million times Educo are simply overpriced for what u get, €50 a week for a few 20 minute sessions on a bad piece of machinery, supervised by underqualified 'trainers' (it's not personal training, pt is 1-2-1, not 1-2-5).

But like always people love a quick fix and when you see statements like
'Before and after in 12 days Lost 4lbs of fat Gained 6lbs of muscle Lost 2 inches from waist'

Can you explain how that is possible?
How do you measure to the pound how much muscle a person gains and how much fat they lose?

cmyk

Glad you stepped into that one B-Builder.

Having read through this thread a couple of times I really don't understand the animosity towards educogym. I'll admit to not knowing anything about it before this thread, but respect the fact that myerscoj has come on to give his/her side of the story.

There is clearly a market for this sort of setup here. To add some perspective, the majority of people posting here on a regular basis are gym go-ers/regular trainers/fitness professionals, all of which actually enjoy training and generally living healthy lifestyles. Not everyone does...I've been doing a lot of research of my own accord about how the fitness industry is portrayed here, intimidation seems to be a massive issue.

People will stick with doing things they enjoy, if educogym provides a safe environment to do it in so be it. (Questions maybe over that, as the qualification answer was a bit wooly) Is it the most optimal plan for fat loss/weight gain: possibly not, is it missing fundamentals of a well rounded plan: yes, Is everyone going to enjoy squatting and deadlifting though: no.

If anything they are offering a far better/more responsible service than most of the 'big box' gyms I've been in. You pay your money, you're shepherded to a cardio machine and that's it. I'm glad to see people getting results in a safe/healthy manner that they enjoy with some education on healthy eating.

*I'll add a caveat to all this as I'm taking Myerscoji's answers at face value. I'm also dubious about any place that produces or brands supplements as their own.