Overview

An accommodating leisure centre when it comes to guests? I know it’s a first for me as other places were always more complex but here we go!
The Heights Leisure centre as the name suggests is a community leisure centre, I only paid for access to the gym area and as such wont be looking at the more "pool" based areas.

The gym itself is a single ground floor and is a bit light on the kit front. Boasting 3 distinct areas split between cardio, free weights and cable machines with a huge focus on the cardio equipment.

The cardio section had the normal selection of kit but the pickle for a guest was you needed some sort of digital sign in key USB thing to sign into the machine. Without it I was limited to only certain treadmills and bikes, none of which face a TV and as guests don’t get wifi I was very bored during my cardio - one point taken away right there.

The free weights area has a bench in a cage/rack, along with a couple of free benches. The dumbells did go up to 40kg which was impressive but given that there is a lack of plates or bars for other exercises you were pushed towards dumbell based exercises for most things.
There were infact a very limited number of plates over all, which does lead me on to gym behaviour/etiquette, it was terrible here. People were in my personal space, rude when asked if they were done using things, failed to wipe things down and I actually saw someone take a plate off a bar while someone was benching with it.. Mid rep!!!!

The range of cable machines was pretty basic as far as selection went but they were the sort that count your reps, sets and estimate calories for you which was a good bit of fun and the built in timer for rest was quite useful - I quite enjoyed this. Again it was asking me for my USB thing but didn't limit me using it.

The other kicker here was you have to pay for parking separately if you are a guest bumping the price up a bit, not sure how it worked for locals assuming there is some system to claim it back.

Final note - I object to them calling the gym area "The Tone Zone" -> toning is not a thing, call a shoe a shoe don’t go making up new names.

How busy?
I trained in the morning at early doors and it was actually pretty busy.
There were enough people in the small space to make it feel crowded I could imagine evenings or peak seasons guests making this quite a slow experience.

Equipment
Free weights area
Dumbbells up to 40kg
1 deadlift pad
1 cage/doubled up as bench & incline bench
1 smith machine
3 free benches
Limited plates
No plate loading machines
Cable machines  including
Chest press
Shoulder press


Facilities
Changing rooms are fine, clean and fresh
Toilets near gym which was useful
There was a lot more of the complex to explore but the limited access of my payment stopped me here
Spa
Steam room
Pool
2 studios
Cafe

Pricing
£8 for a single day guest access to try the place out!
£37.50 a month


Other bits
No other gyms with this much isolation kit in the immediate area that I could find
You have to pay for parking at £2 minimum (per hour)
Virtual tour: http://www.1leisure.co.uk/360/heights/heights-gym.html​

http://1leisure.co.uk/new/

https://www.iwight.com/Visitors/Where-to-go/Leisure-Centres1/Heights-Leisure-Centre/Abou11

Overview

Being part of the David Lloyd chain going into the club you tend to expect a high standard (especially given the prices), this particular David Lloyd picked up the refurb as did many others in 2016 giving it a range of new equipment and tidying up some of the other areas.

The gym itself is split out across 3 levels, on the ground floor you have the entrance along with the changing areas, café, one of the studios and the pool/Saunas.

The first floor has the other studio along with the spin area/studio, cardio area which is well equipped, synergy 360, a selection of cable machines and a very small boxing area (2 hung bags).

The top floor has the weights and free weights area, its well equipped with pretty much one of each thing you might need apart from squat racks where there are 3! This can be a pain if things get busy with mini ques of bros forming for the bench press.

Other bits to point out, there is a weighted sled a nice addition which I haven't seen at any other David Lloyds.
The gym is pretty well kept and clean, there are a few cleaners constantly moving through

The café is ok, quite pricey but pretty standard as far as a DL café goes.

The pool itself is a bit odd, with only one pool it gets uncovered in the summer so can be a bit nippy at times in the winter!

Changing rooms are pretty clean and big enough with plenty of showers, these have got some love in the refurb.

The downside as David Lloyds go are that there are NO tennis courts or squash courts, not an issue for me but for some if they are after that not great. Also the weights area is super light on mirrors.. I know I look at myself a lot but still a bit more would be good.

Overall a really solid well laid out gym, has the kit you need and lets you get on with it feeling clean and not too crowded.

How busy?
I have trained morning, lunch and evening.
Morning is pretty quiet and you have your choice of equipment.
Lunch you have a few more people especially on the cardio equipment
Evening is a bit like a jungle, the weights area just isn't big enough to support that many people and the split of cable machines between floors means people all end up in the free weights area drifting around - less than ideal.

Equipment
Free weights area
3 squat racks (2 with deadlift platforms)
1 flat bench, 1 incline, 1 decline
4 free benches
Dumbells up to 50kg
Set of plate machines including
Chest
Row
Shoulder press
Cable machines including
Low row
Cable cross over

Facilities
Parking
Café
Swimming pool
Steam room/sauna
Changing/showers
Studios (inc spin)
Free weights area
Weights machines
Cable machines
Cardio area
Synergy 360

Pricing:
Normal multi club - around £80
Single guest pass - £25


Other bits
Cark park can get pretty busy
Lights in car park are dubious and a bit dark

https://www.davidlloyd.co.uk/clubs/reading