Anytime Fitness Woonona

Small anytime fitness space but still gets the job done. Not too crowded but also small on atmosphere

Awesome gym good vibes

need to upgrade the building and get more equipment

One experience with this place was enough to convince me not to bother with them.

Note how there are no membership rates on the web site? There's a reason for that, I think. When I FINALLY got to see them (on a piece of laminate that couldn't leave the gym, not a handout; couldn't have people leaving to consider their options, could we?) they were about double what Plus Fitness at Corrimal had quoted.

Is it because it was double the value of the Corrimal place? I'll never really know, because I went in to look around on a Saturday morning when the place was staffed by one single person. One single person who said that she would be with me in a few minutes. 20 minutes later, after another person who also wanted to look around came in behind me, waited around with me and finally got bored and left, she got back to me.

I said that I wanted to look around, and was told "Sure, just fill in all of your details on this form."
Hang on... I just want to see what the facilities are like. You want all of my details for THAT?

"It's just in case anything happens", I was told.

No doubt. Anything like, oh, say, them wanting to spam the living crud out of me for the rest of eternity, I suspect. Seriously, have you EVER encountered a gym, ANY gym, ANYWHERE, that demanded that you waste time (in addition to the 20 minutes that you've already wasted waiting around) writing out all of your details just so that you can see whether they have a decent set of equipment? Since I wasn't prepared to do that unless the rates were decent, I asked to be told what they were, and was shown the aforementioned laminate. The rates decreased the longer you sign up for. Ah. The longer you sign up for, yes, of course. I should have seen that one coming.

What's the one thing that is detested by most gym users? Google it, and it's not hard to find. Yes, it's lock in contracts. Of course there was a generous waiver of the joining fee "for this month only". Has anyone ever paid a joining fee? Ever? They're ALWAYS "waived for this month/week only" to make the mug punters feel like they're getting a bargain, aqnd as a subtle technique to sign now, now before it's Too! Late! It's almost a cliché in the "Parting Gym Members From Their Money 101 Handbook".

However this waiver does come with a couple of catches. First, you make a compulsory donation to a particular children's charity because hey, who could be curmudgeonly enough to criticise that? Me, apparently. I choose the charities that I donate to. The donations come from me. My choice of recipient, from my wallet. They do not consist of me being tapped for 20 bucks by a supplier so that it makes the supplier look like a "good corporate citizen" by way of their customers' wallets. And then of course there's the fee for the access key. I can't recall the exact cost but it was well north of $50 for something that probably cost $2.50 off the boat from China.

The equipment that I could see from the waiting area appeared to be in decent condition and was relatively new. There were a few cross trainers, rowing machines and treadmills. Beyond that I can't tell what they had because frankly after all of the above I had no interest at all in pursuing the matter with them. With the exception of the "all over you, high pressure" sales tactics that Fitness First was notorious for (I'm an ex member there, and remember those well) this place seems to be the spiritual heir of Fitness First. It's all about the money, honey. There were surprisingly few people there for a Saturday morning, which I would have imagined to be a peak period. Considering all of the above, I think I know why.

Pass.

I LOVE working out (and working!) at Anytime Fitness Woonona. Our members are always courteous to each other which truly helps create a great atmosphere in the club. The friendly vibe between members and their peers, plus staff keeps a smile on my face all day :) Thanks for being Awesome Woonona! I will miss you all while I'm on maternity leave.