Your bid to get fit in the New Year can be stifled by gym chain employees and their annoying habit of being coy about their pricing structures over the phone.They will duck, dive and dodge the simple ‘how much?’ question with an evasiveness that would put some sort of evasive animal, possibly an eel or a mongoose, to shame. As evasive as spy-plane, or a submarine, maybe.
Anyway, they will attempt to tie you in to a visit before giving you the bottom line. So, we’ve screamed “Just tell me how much for Jaysus sake!†down the phone for the necessary 15 minutes per gym so you don’t have to. Here’s where to shop for your New Year gym membership. (Prices correct at time of writing, but you may be able to barter.)
Westwood
Branch locations: Westwood is a pretty much a Dublin affair with branches in Leopardstown, on Clontarf Road, in Sandymout and bizarrely, Sarajevo.
Pool: All Westwood branches have a pool.
Price: Annual packages range from €44 to €75 per month. The cheapest package is for students and off-peak times. However, if you want to be free to go at any time then you’re looking at the €60-€75 price range.
Plus points: Also, membership of any Westwood gym means you can go to all of them. You can go to any of the classes with the basic packages, you get a stint with a personal trainer when you start and another every ten visits.
More info: Click here.
Ben Dunne
Branch Locations: Ben Dunne likes the east coast – branches are in Carlisle/Northwood, Lucan, Jervis St and Westpoint.
Pool: Carlisle, Westwood and Northwood all have 25-metre pools. Lucan and Jervis St, meanwhile, are pool-free.
Prices: There isn’t a single pricing structure for all of Ben Dunne’s gyms. In Carlisle/Northwood you’re looking at €290 for the year, Lucan is from €150 per year, Westpoint is €250 for the year and Jervis comes in at €195 per annum.
Plus points: One of the key advantages of running with a Ben Dunne gym is the price. There are some cracking deals to be had if you drag a mate or two along when you sign up for the year. In Westpoint, for example, it’s €250 for one person but this goes to €425 for two memberships. Bring along two of your mates and it drops again to €550.
More info: Click here.
Total Fitness
Branch Locations: Total Fitness currently has three gyms, all of which are in Dublin. They are situated in Castleknock, Malahide and Sandyford.
Pool: All three branches have pools.
Plus points: You membership gets you in to any of the three Dublin branches as well as its 21 UK locations.
Price: We were eventually quoted €400 per year for the basic package.
More info: Click here.
Fitness First
Branch locations: Fitness First may be the world’s largest gym chain, but they haven’t got any branches open in the Republic. That said, they have got five in the North, namely, Bangor, Coleraine, Ballymena, Newtownabbey and Belfast Connswater.
Pool: While the gyms all have saunas and steamrooms, none have a pool unfortunately.
Plus points: They have a transparent, up-front pricing structure – they don’t attempt to drag you in for a consultation telling you the price range.
Price: Fitness First have a handy price calculator on their website which allows you to enter your requirements. If you only want to use one club, you don’t need an induction and you’re going to pay for 12 months in advance, then the price works out at £35.95 (plus an initial admin fee of £15).
More info: Click here.
Énergie Fitness
Locations: Énergie Fitness is a massive international gym chain with some 80 clubs worldwide – nine of them are in Ireland. Énergie Fitness bought out all the Jackie Skelly Fitness outlets and after updating their branches with new equipment, is now also open for business from the former Jackie Skelly Fitness centres. They have branches in Ashbourne, Ballsbridge, Drogheda, Rathfarnham, Clarendon Street, Parkwest, Navan, Newbridge and Swords.
Pool: All of Énergie Fitness’ gyms have a pool.
Plus points: A big strike in favour of Énergie Fitness its empower programme. You get an assessment from a personal trainer who puts together a schedule for you. But rather than forgetting about you like the fickle-hearted trainers in many other gyms, you get another session every week for six weeks. He (or she if you’re lucky) will also get you to keep a diet diary which you will be given nutrition advice on. The price of the membership also covers all classes. Another plus point is the fact that they were happy to quote prices without the badgering necessary elsewhere.
Price: Énergie Fitness is running an attractive little offer at the moment – if you join now you can pay €29 and get access between now and the end of the year. We called up for a quote that will take us from now until the end of next year, and it came in at €407 for both the gym and the pool.
More info: Click here.
LA Fitness
Locations: LA Fitness has outlets in Armagh, Dartry in Dublin and one each on Adelaide Street and Shawsbridge in Belfast.
Pool: All LA Fitness outlets in Ireland have a pool, although the two in Belfast have particularly nice ones.
Plus points: There’s a three-day trial membership on offer on their website and you get your first month’s membership for free. You also get a session with a personal trainer initially and every six weeks for the period of your membership for no charge.
Price: Dublin Dartry will set you back €56 per month with an initial admin fee of €12.
More info: Click here.
YMCA
Locations: More than just a village people song, the YMCA has a couple of gyms in Ireland. Its branches are on Claremount Road in Sandymount and on Aungier Street in Dublin City Centre.
Pool: Not just yet.
Plus points: The YMCA gyms have a pay-as-you-go option – a real rarity these days. It’ll set you back a fiver a pop.
Price: €40 per month or €250 for the year. If you’re a student or OAP then this is cut to just €180.
More info: Click here.
Kingfisher
Locations: Although many of the gym chains focus on the Pale, Kingfisher has chosen not to mess with the capital. Instead, their branches are located primarily in the west and south of the country. Kingfisher has branches in NUI Galway Sports Centre, Renmore in Galway, Newmarket-on-Fergus in Clare, Ballinasloe Leisure Centre, Castlebar, Ennis, Tuam and Waterford City. They have a lot of outlets, but sadly, membership is not transferable.
Pool: All Kingfisher gyms have a swimming pool.
Plus points: It goes back to the pools again – a number of the branches have cracking 25 metre lap pools.
Price: €499 for the year.
More info: Click here.
LeisureWorld
Locations: LeisureWorld is very much a Cork outfit, with branches in Bishopstown and Churchfield.
Pool: Both outlets have a pool.
Plus points: Like the YMCA, LeisureWorld has both a membership and a pay-as-you-go option. It will cost an adult €6.90 off-peak and €8.65 at peak times for a gym visit. One-off pool visits are charged separately, coming in at €6.90 off-peak and €7.50 at peak times.
Price: Membership comes in at €535 for a peak-time membership and €475 for off-peak.
More info: Click here.
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