Galway gym - the planet

Chancer3001

I'm in Galway for a while so I joined up "the planet", the one in tesco shopping centre.

I can't believe it's not more popular, the space has doubled since I was there a year ago. It's class now.
If you're looking for a gym in Galway go there, it's better than nuig now imo.

It's so poorly advertised though. I asked why they didn't do more offers and stuff and yerman said they "don't want to get too busy ". I suspect he's not the owner.

JJayoo

The only problem with NUIG is the students and the woeful staff and the annoying opening hours on Sundays and the students mostly the students.

I have heard rumours that the Planet gym might be extending their floor space in the not to distant future.

Alf Veedersane

Gonna be trying The Warehouse later. Looks pretty class inallinanywayas

Chancer3001

Jayoo it's expanded already. It's pretty big now.

The warehouse has a great reputation around town too. And they do weekly memberships too for people who are visiting

JJayoo

But I have heard that it's going to expand again.

Alf Veedersane

Might try Planet Fitness another time. Sounds pretty good.

I did like The Warehouse. A lot of the things I would change, bar mats in the racks, were personal preference.

Chancer3001

Oh right, expanding again might be a bit too much. It's got a lot of free space as it is now

nice_guy80

Well the NUIG gym is in the university.... You'd be worried if students weren't using it.

For the amount of money spent on that building it has very poor sports facilities

JJayoo

nice_guy80 wrote: »

Well the NUIG gym is in the university.... You'd be worried if students weren't using it.

I'd be happy

Chancer3001

I agree about nuig.

Terrible return on facilities for the investment.

Also, it only allows allows non members in for 2 hours a day.

JJayoo

Perfect example how not to run a business. I enquired about a part time position there and they told me to drop in my spin/aqua aerobics/exercise to music/zumba and body pump certs. While at the same time they have no actual staff in the gym section.

But if you go at the right time it's still a good gym.

Sardino

Anyone go to Planet Fitness around 8am or 5:30-7pm? How busy is it? Thinking of changing gyms and it looks like good value.

Chancer3001

Yeah I've been both those times.

It's always quiet.

JJayoo

JJayoo wrote: »

But I have heard that it's going to expand again.

Actually from looking at their new pics on facebook I think the recent expansion was the one I was thinking about. Place looks class now.

backslapper

Yep great place

dastardly00

I gave them a call about their free trial so I'm looking forward to trying it out!

Chancer3001

dastardly00 wrote: »

I gave them a call about their free trial so I'm looking forward to trying it out!

Post what you think.

I was seriously impressed by it and I've been in gyms all over the world.

JJayoo

I used it on the open day and was very impressed by the size of the new area and the amount of equipment they have.

Now all they have to do is link up with Tescos so you can have your shopping waiting for you as you leave the gym

Chancer3001

I'd be interested to see if anybody ever uses that ninja warrior climbing wall thingy they have down near the trx stuff

Sardino

Went to the open day and was blown away by the gym tbh. Extension is class, provides so much space and I love having options to mix up training with likes of trx, monkey bars, sprint track, box jump, etc. Machines/cardio equipment in the other room are pretty dated so without the extension it would be a pretty **** gym (presuming that free weights room is all new) but now it's definitely the best I've been in in Galway (Warehouse, both NRGs, NUIG). And I got a year's membership for €200 on the day which is crazy.

Sardino

Chancer3001 wrote: »

I'd be interested to see if anybody ever uses that ninja warrior climbing wall thingy they have down near the trx stuff

Spotted that and wondered what it was. Does it work like a rock climbing scenario ie. take one out and place up a level and so on? Might give it a look tomorrow.

Chancer3001

Yeah I'd say that's exactly what it was.

Glad I created this thread now

JJayoo

Hope they move the platforms to a different area, can't imagine anyone would like to be doing snatches with someone doing squats a few feet in front of you and someone training a few feet behind you. They also need some new barbells as the ones they have are failry beat up and feel thicker than the regular barbell, and I don't like the free weight benches, I am 5 foot 10 and find them way too high, just can't get my feet on the ground to get some leg drive.

This is just me nit picking, overall it's an exceptional facility.

Chancer3001

+1 on the free weights.

They need to put labels on them as to what weight they are also, it's worn off on a lot of them.

What the REALLY need to do is advertise more. They've got a great facility and free parking but a lot of people don't even know it exists.

dastardly00

dastardly00 wrote: »

I gave them a call about their free trial so I'm looking forward to trying it out!

Chancer3001 wrote: »

Post what you think.

I was seriously impressed by it and I've been in gyms all over the world.

So I was in there the other night around 6-7.30pm. It was a lot busier than I thought it would be based on people's comments in this thread. It wasn't that busy that you couldn't get a bench etc.

Positives: The places is MASSIVE, and membership is very cheap. The new extension that they built is very impressive, size wise. There were 3 bench press benches I think, maybe 3 squat racks, and around 10 normal flat benches. Then you have a big room with cardio machines/treadmills/rowing machines, a small core room/studio with wooden floors, and then another room with weights machines.

Negatives: The overall look of the place is very dated and most of the cardio machines are quite old. The men's dressing room was dirty. The carpet was fairly mank, and it looked like it hadn't been cleaned in a long while. Now maybe I am being harsh given the volume of guys that were there when I was as well, I reckon about 50. But, I got the impression it was like that most days. Also, there are very few lockers that you could actually put a lock on because they were broken. There were a good few gear bags thrown under seats etc.
As others have mentioned, the free weights are well-worn and on some of them you can't figure out what weight they are.
There were a good few groups of students there. This annoys me as in my own personal experience they tend to end up chatting and taking up weights/benches rather than actually using them :pac:
There was the guy working at the desk, but no sign of any instructors/other staff.

Overall: I would advise anyone who is thinking of joining a gym, to go and have a look at the place. There is a free trial so why not. The place is massive and membership is cheap, but it comes at the price of not being that clean and having old machines and furnishings.

I'm a fussy kinda guy (:D) so that's why I'm not going to join, but I'd say many Boardsies would be very happy with this gym

Sardino

dastardly00 wrote: »

Also, there are very few lockers that you could actually put a lock on because they were broken

Ya I was a bit pissed off after purchasing a lock to find most of them are broken.