University of Auckland Gym, The Olympic, Les Mills Britomart

The University of Auckland Gym is great for students on a budget! at only $250 per year this gym is a practical way to keep fit whilst fitting in around uni timetables. The gym is located in the Rec centre which means you are close to the basketball courts, big rooms where classes are held and just down the road from the AUT facility where further classes such as the spin calss are held along with the AUT gym itself. The class timetable at the uni gym is extensive in terms of both quantity and range of classes. Pump, spin, Zumba and the core classes are all highly rated by those of us who have attended them. The gym itself is no frills funtional. There is a room full of cardio equipment which is plently except in the peak times when lines can form and there is a 20min maximum time limit for the machines. The weights room is large with an area reserved for 'lightweights' so us girls don't get in the way of the testosterone. There is a boxing room, rock climbing wall, and racket sports room all in the same building along with a circuit room and two stretching/core rooms. There are lockers for those who get in quick and buy at the beginning of the year, or temporary lockers in the changing rooms-you need to bring your own locks. The changing room is again merely functional with showers and toilets. If you're not at uni already parking may be an issue, there are usually parks on Princes street but this costs and has a time limit of around 90minutes depending where you park. Other than this there is parking in the domain (if you're lucky) or on the city streets-can be a bit stressful at times. There is also a physio office on site at the Rec centre for those woeful ones like myself who require it!
The Olympic in newmarket was a thoroughly pleasant experience. The upstairs level is reserved for the gym and class facilities-I was only on a 2 day trial here so did not have time to test out the classes. The gym itself again used LifeFitness equipment (refer to my Anytime Fitness Hamilton post on why this is my fave), with television screens on all equipent and the option of plugging in your ipod. I exercise with the 'Walkman' brand MP3 which is a headset only so there are no wires and all buttons are on the earpiece itself. You sync the MP3 by plugging it into a computer and that's that! One looks a little like something out of Star Wars when wearing it but its all about practical functionality for me :)
The gym had an extensive amount of cardio equipment which caters to its VERY busy peak spells, and all equipment has a 20min max function on it, this is not enforced unless it is being used during peak times. The weights section is large and open plan so as not to feel cluttered and the streching/swiss ball end looks out over the street. The rest of the gym overlooks the pool facility-there is a lane pool with a deep end for both diving and AQUAJOGGING (brilliant rehab for runners-you can hire or buy belts on site), a spa, a childs pool, sauna and steam rooms and on site cafe and apparel shop. The staff were friendly and again non-intrusive. The changing rooms are large with showers, toilets, large mirrors and hairdryers which adds convenience. Parking was a little less than ideal with on-street parking which of course is metered surrounding the gym, plus Wilson parking accross the road at the Warehouse which is metered but with 30min free. Peak times are very busy and there are often swimming lessons being taken in the pool-if you don't like being around a lot of parents and children this can get irritating. The pool has slow, medium and fast lanes which is helpful, and the aquajogging section of the pool is reserved for just this unless the divers are pottering around below you...all other facilities are fairly standard. Memberships for students are around the $995 mark for 12 months and opening hours are good-mon-thurs 5.30am-9.30pm, fri 5.30am-9pm weekends and public holidays 7am-8pm.
Les Mills Britomart were the most generous in terms of trial length-I spent 8 days using this gym most recently! As can be expected from all Les Mills the facility is modern, clean and upbeat. Parking at this location however is somewhat of a nightmare...the parking building next door is $4 per half hour and on-street is stressfully sparse, countdown down the way has a 90min limit and you need to be a shopper there to use it. However if you can get around this the gym itself is nice and the air con sufficient. The machines they use are 'Technogym' brand-no my favourite. The crosstrainers are different to regular crosstrainers and seem to be more of an integrated step machine with less range of motion than the usual cross trainer setup. The bikes are pretty standard and there are some novel pieces of equipment such as a variation on a treadmill where the band does not move automatically without your effort, and a crosstrainer-come-treadmill machine with hanging foot holders on elastic which require force to push both forward and down-they take a bit of getting used to and seems almost impossible to manage a fast SPM value but seems to simulate the most natural movement of all of the pieces of cardio equipment. There are plently of cardio machines and the weights room down the stairs is sufficient for a larger gym. The classes room is nicely laid out with a good view of the stage but gets incredibly full at peak times. The range of classes at Les Mills are fairly renowned for being challenging and effective. I noticed people were employed throughout the day to keep the equipment in the gym clean which was a reassuring touch. The trainers interacted wtih members the most I have seen during workouts-this was not so appreciated by me when my heart rate was hovering around 200 and I could barely breathe let alone respond to idle chat. However the staff are very friendly and reliable in terms of their follow up and tracking of your progress and future plans for the gym. The music was one down side to the gym atmosphere-personally I am a bit of a bogan but with an appreciation for modern pop/mainstream radio music, my appreciation for such music did not quite extend to the domination of eastern-european type techno/poppy/boppy music with garishly cleche music videos which seemed to play throughout the day-lucky I have my MP3. All equipment had televisions again with regular T.V channels along with music and sports.
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