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Looking for a gym in Berlin can be a daunting and trying experience if you want to have all the amenities and conveniences to which you were accustomed back home. Depending upon what you are searching for in a gym, the typical expat will find that the facilities are sub-standard, the service is minimal at best, and convenience ( locations and opening times ) are severely lacking in comparison to American gyms.
Gyms in Berlin offering modern equipment as well as amenities are scarce, with most of them offering facilities which were modern back when Schwarzenegger was still Mr. Olympia. In the few cases where modern equipment is available, there is usually a queue to use it - a frustrating experience.
Selecting the right gym is not as easy as opening the Yellow Pages and selecting a sport studio in your neighborhood. First of all, you must decide what services suit your needs. Do you want to have a gym with free-weights or machines, or both? Do you want a gym that offers alternative classes such as aerobics, martial arts lessons, step classes, etc. ? Do you want a gym that has swimming, sauna, and jacuzzi facilities? Do you want a single-sex or mixed gym environment? Do you want a gym with fancy decor and beautiful people parading around in their Prada sport workout outfits checking each other out, or do you want a dark and damp sweat-filled hall of grunting working class people actually working out?
Whatever your "bag" or "cup of tea", you must decide which properties suit you best and then look at the price factor because gyms here in Berlin are exceedingly expensive for what you get. Another difficulty is the German fondness for contracts and rules. You usually have to sign binding contracts for either 6, 12, or 24-month periods on top of a one-off membership fee. Limited contracts do exist, but expect to pay double or more. However, most studios will offer a test training session or a day pass for twenty or thirty marks.
Healthland - Fitness International
Behrenstr. 48, 10117 Berlin - Mitte | Tel: 20 63 53 00, Fax: no fax | U6 Französische Str. |
Big, Bigger, Healthland. Their flagship studio in Mitte with its approx. 2500 square metres is one of the larger studios in the city, and a study in superlatives. The cardio training area is a veritable forest of bikes, Concept II rowing machines and steppers. The free-weight area alone is as big as some other studios in the west with similar prices. The place is expensive, no doubt, and gets more expensive if you choose to use all of their four addresses in Berlin, but it is at least an attempt at the kind of full, all round service people might be missing in the City. Healthland also has a claim to fame as the place for star sightings in the capital Ð high security and special blinders accompanied a recent visit by pop-star Janet Jackson and some of the leading lights of the German screen can be seen here sweating away those long hours in front of the camera.
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Swiss Training
www.swiss-training.com
Immanuelkirchstr. 14, 10405 Berlin - Prenzlauer Berg | Tel: 443 58 344, Fax: no fax | Tram 1, 2, 3,4 | Open: Mon-Fri 10:00-22:00 , Saturday 10:00-17:00
map:
For Nautilus fans Swiss Training is an alternative to a lot of the smaller, more expensive studios. They have five locations in Berlin, including one in the Salzufer 13 not far from the Technical University. If you can do without free-weights and want to take advantage of a full schedule of aerobics classes (up to eight sessions a day) then Swiss Training is the value choice. They don´t require a fee to join, the monthly rate is less than half of what other studios charge and you can cancel the contract at any time. To get the rate, you do have to sign up for a years membership, but it is still one of the cheapest offers on the Berlin Market. It is also a member of a chain with studios in several German cities including two each in Munich and Hamburg in case you might find yourself commuting and can´t do without the daily dose of sweat.
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Fit Sportstudio
Richard-Wagner-Platz 5, 10585 Berlin - Charlottenburg | Tel: 342 65 02, Fax: no fax | U7 Richard Wagner Platz | Membership:€ 69 - 89/month Opening times: Mon - Fri 10:00 - 22:00, Sat & Sun 10:00 - 18:00
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With 4 locations throughout the city where your membership is accepted, Fit Sportstudio is certainly convenient if you normally go to the Mitte location but would like to squeeze in a quick session somewhere else between work and dinner. Machines are older but well-maintained, and ergonomically correct for the most part. The staff is friendly, speak German and English, and won't hesitate to run all the way across the gym to advise you ( for free ) that your posture is incorrect and instruct you how to do it properly.
One for the working-class joes and janes who still remember that a gym is about developing your physical appearance, not your social standing. Best feature: the price. Fit Sportstudio is the most affordable facility in Berlin, and the best all-round value. Highly recommended.
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Gold's Gym
www.goldsgym.com
Immanuelkirchstr. 3, 10405 Berlin | Tel: 442 82 94 , Fax: no fax | U2 Senefelderstrasse, Tram 1 Knaackstrasse |
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Part of the American chain Gold's, this branch in Berlin offers an impressive array of amenities and facilities, but, then again, you get what you pay for, and Gold's does not come cheap.
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