Club Physical Xpress - Downtown Auckland

[Pseudonym]

Having started a new job in town, I'm dismayed to find how many hours it takes up. I don't have time for this whole "work" business - there's far too many other things to do!

So I was pleased to discover Club Physical has a downtown gym. It's a huge time-saver to pop in during a lunch-break or straight after work. And they've picked a good spot for it - on the corner of Custom & Lower Albert Street, just one block over from Britomart. Very convenient.

The only problem is that "Club Physical Xpress" turns out to be a euphemism for "Club Physical Lite". They've got a little of everything, and not very much of anything.

I'm sorry, Mr Richards, but your gym needs more than just three 10kg plates and two 15's. It could probably due with some more 20's too. The plates you do have are nice, though. They're the rubber coated ones with handle holes cut out, and I like them a lot.

Come leg day, I found the squat rack jammed hard up against the mirror. I pulled it out just enough for me to squeeze under the bar, and left it there for future squatters, although I figured they might be rare in this gym. But obviously there’s one other squatter, and a very tidy PT, because the next day the rack was hard up against the mirror again, and there was a large greasy smear on the glass at nose height. :grin:

There's a reasonable selection of newish dumbells - up to about 40kg, and I don't think there are too many gaps along the way. There are two pairs of everything up to 10kg, but only single sets of dumbells after that. This causes congestion problems at rush-hour, as you can imagine.

There's a spin class, and enough treadmills, crosstrainers, and other cardio miscellanea to cope with peak traffic times.

The other weight machines are okay. There's something for every muscle group, even if there's not much choice about it (you've got one hamstring machine - take it or leave it). One thing I noticed was the cable crossover machine. It's an identical model to the one in another gym, but this one had significantly fewer plates in the weight stack, and needed supplementary dumbbells on top. Club Physical Lite, I guess.

The changing rooms (well, the male one, at least) are big and flash. Lots of massive showers with shampoo and conditioner dispensers. (Ooooh!) There does seem to be a lot of space allocated to the showers and comparatively little to the area where you actually get changed, but perhaps I’m being too picky. They do have nice big lockers, for which the receptionist gives you a key on the way in. Very cool, although I wonder how many keys they lose.

Haven’t really spoken to the PTs much, but they seem friendly enough. Certainly always busy with a client.

This really feels like a gym that needs to grow. At rush-hour it feels crammed and someone else is inevitably using the weights you want. Outside rush-hour, the range of equipment is still limited. Because of the convenience factor, I’ll probably use this gym for simple workouts – arms, shoulders, maybe chest. Anything more serious, and I’ll go elsewhere.

The biggest worry is the lack of iron. Ladies may find this gym adequate, but gentlemen should bring a plate.

[Android]

hahaha nice description, this is my gym for the last 4 years.

I used it for lunchtime workouts and then go to a real gym in the evenings. Just put my membership on hold a month ago but will be back closer to the Nationals for ab classes at 1pm.

Say hi to Dwayne the One to One PT, he'll know me as 'Diesel'. Steve is the chinese PT, and Linda the Boss is super nice!

I love this gym despite everything it lacks for the staff but then they changed staff around so it's lost appeal.

Enjoy!

[HumanPerformance]

Although Ive been a PT with club physical for 9 years (based at albany branch) I had never actually been to the xpress branch untill 2 weeks ago.

Your right Pseud its variety and amount of equipment is severly lacking.

As I was training a competitive bodybuilder at the time ( came 3rd at NABBA worlds) the limitations of the gym soon became apparent and I found myself having to awaken my creative side in order to challenge him.

But although this was not the perfect training enviroment for this particular individual, it definately serves those for whom the gym was designed. The busy executive, or weekend warrior who wants a quick basic workout during thier lunch hour or before work.

Club physical is particularly adept at this type niche fitness centre design.

Where as alot of other gym chains are merely a carbon copy of each other CP puts alot of thought into the demographics of each of its gyms which culminates in a refreshing diversity through the chain.

[Optimass]

Although Ive been a PT with club physical for 9 years (based at albany branch) I had never actually been to the xpress branch untill 2 weeks ago.

Your right Pseud its variety and amount of equipment is severly lacking.

As I was training a competitive bodybuilder at the time ( came 3rd at NABBA worlds) the limitations of the gym soon became apparent and I found myself having to awaken my creative side in order to challenge him.

But although this was not the perfect training enviroment for this particular individual, it definately serves those for whom the gym was designed. The busy executive, or weekend warrior who wants a quick basic workout during thier lunch hour or before work.

Club physical is particularly adept at this type niche fitness centre design.

Where as alot of other gym chains are merely a carbon copy of each other CP puts alot of thought into the demographics of each of its gyms which culminates in a refreshing diversity through the chain.

So is the "Salmon Shirted One" competing again this year .... or is he still "retired"? :wink:

[HumanPerformance]

Still retired at this stage, but you never know I think he will make a come back one day.