Overview

Set quite randomly as are the other businesses on the edge of a round about just off the end of the A329 is Anytime Fitness Woodley. It is a small but very complete little  gym which I was really pleased and welcomed into on my visit!

The gym itself is not huge, spread out over one floor the main space is split out with changing/reception at one end, the cardio style equipment in the middle and then working through cable machines to the functional equipment and free weights. Again this place is not huge but it really does try to have one of everything which I really appreciated and they have (at least when its not busy) made it feel quite open for all the equipment they have in there.

Given that this is a 24 hour gym and a low cost one we are not looking at somewhere that has a café or has a swimming pool, the caveat you have to remember with the 24 hour gyms is the healthy and safety to allow that all night workout does limit some equipment and facilities.

The weights area is nestled in the back of the gym, with dumbbells going up to 40kg and 3 free weight benches it has enough equipment for the quiet times but the space itself is small so I wouldn’t like it during peak. There are an annoying lack of mirrors beyond the major one opposite the free weights area.
The main kicker with the facility is that it only has 1 cage which must act as squat rack, bench, incline bench and decline bench for all barbell activities. If you are anything like me and want at least one of these in a workout you could find a long wait, especially as there is only 1 smith machine. This did feel like the main let down here as they could have squeezed another in and really boosted the facility for at least what I needed.

There was a surprising amount of plate loaded equipment which was nice to see with chest press, leg press and even a leg extension plate load which I haven't seen in any other chain gym yet! Along with these you also had a range of cable equipment which all did the job, there are only a couple of cable cross over machines and they are not the wider apart ones so chest fly's need to be tight.


The cardio equipment is actually not that numerous, they have a few cross trainers and running machines along with rowers and bikes but again I could imagine at peak time this being heavily used and hard to get on if you want one thing in particular. The kit itself was good and felt very clean which was a nice change from some other places.

All of the equipment felt fantastically new and clean, I have to say a couple of bits felt a little.. Cheap? The calf raise I used was a little bit wobbly but I think I am just trying to find faults.
The one annoyance I did have is that the speaker they had doing occasional… frequent announcements was damned loud and right next to me and occasionally appeared to just ping for no reason.

The rest of the facilities as I have said were pretty light, there is no "changing room" instead there are shower/toilet pod things which I think there were 4? In a rush this could be annoying but given the size of the gym probably not too bad.
One downside though is that the lockers are tiny!! This is not a gym where they are expecting you to setup camp, train, shower, eat, live etc. This is a transactional and cheap gym to get you in and out with training done, I don't object at all to that you just need to be aware that a big bag may need to be hauled around with you.


All in I have to say I was impressed what they have done with the space and how new it feels. I will re-visit at some point and see if it still feels as fresh!

How busy?

I went totally out of peak this time, it was dead quiet.
I would guess that even a few more people could make this place feel horrific so I would check it out first if I were you. 

Equipment
Free weights area
1 squat racks
4 free benches
Dumbells up to 40kg
Set of plate machines including
Chest
Row
Shoulder press
Cable machines including
Standard isolation/chest etc
Cable cross over



Facilities
Changing/showers
1 studio with spin bikes
Free weights area
Weights machines
Cable machines
Cardio area
Boxing bag (singular)


Pricing
About £35 a month plus a sign up fee. You can get discount codes but I havent found one yet
They do a 3 day free pass, strong recommendation to use it though its only during staffed hours so checking out for an early morning or late night session for how busy will be tough


Other bits
The parking is really odd and also kind of limited I would imagine it could be tricky if the restaurant next door was busy!
There is no wifi I could find which was sad
It is a 24 hour gym which isn't to be sniffed at if your schedule is odd! This is small and perfectly formed and getting access to that any time is awesome
https://www.anytimefitness.co.uk/gyms/uk-0187/woodley-south-east-rg6-1fe/
https://www.facebook.com/AnytimeFitnessWoodley/?fref=ts 

Overview

On the "Bas-Vegas" retail park tucked away behind the fitness first (reviewed another time) is the Basildon David Lloyd, a pretty good standard example of what to expect from a David Lloyd with facilities going from the gym through t multiple pools and racket sports.

The facility is split over 2 levels, downstairs housing a lot of the rackets and pools while the majority of the gym like facilities are upstairs spread over one large floor. Along with this the ground floor has a restaurant and other use facilities that David Lloyds tend to offer including hair dresser etc.

The gym itself is spread out over one large area, the cardio equipment is bunched in the middle on one half the gym floor and on the other half is pushed over to the wall and window allowing for a Synergy to sit in the middle area and have enough room around it to exercise.
There is also a tiny stretching area poked to one side of the floor which is just some matts stuck together which was quite odd.

The weights area is laid out as a large L shape, with plate machines and benches down one side of the L and the other having the free weights and squat racks. There are a couple of high/low cable machines at this end with this kit but the majority of the cable machines sit at the other end of the floor which for doing legs if you want to move between isolation and something else involves a lot of walking (quite brutal).

The equipment here appears to have almost entirely been replaced with the recent round of refurbishments aside from the plate loading machines which are still hammer strength. There are two cages with deadlift pads, a separate squat rack and a good set of benches to make use of with duplicates of some dumbbell weights to minimize congestion.

The cable kit at the other end is all at least grouped in one place which is better in my opinion than having to quest to find where your particular machine is, having a good range of equipment and probably one of the more varied sets of cable kit I was very happy and found this area much quieter and was able to get along here quite nicely.

The cardio equipment is quite a standard set aside from a couple of seated cross trainers and the TV with a full race bike setup for up to 4 bikes to compete (this is quite fun and I think is used for classes).

The changing area didn’t see much of the refurbishment but isn't as worn as it could be from this and is reasonably well kept and the showers are still quite nice.

The wider facilities here are again a selling point with squash, tennis, indoor and outdoor pools this has the full set and having been in the summer they tend to get busy but not too bad.

As a summary it’s a really solid David Lloyd with a full set of facilities which did well from the refurbishment and has a good set of staff taking care of it. It’s location is easy to get too but can get busy if you are headed back towards Basildon after.

How busy?
Can vary quiet a lot, having only trained in the mornings I don’t know about later but certainly there are times when equipment is heavily occupied.
I also encountered someone doing a 1.5 hour set on the shoulder press… I wasn’t amused.

Equipment
Free weights area
3 squat racks (2 with deadlift platforms)
2 flat bench, 1 incline, 1 decline
4 free benches
Dumbells up to 50kg
Set of plate machines including  (older hammer strength machines)
Chest
Row
Shoulder press
Cable machines including
Standard isolation/chest etc
Cable cross over


Facilities
Indoor Tennis courts
Outdoor Tennis courts
Badminton courts
Squash courts
Indoor Pool
Heated Outdoor Pool
Café
Steam room/sauna
Changing/showers
Studios (inc spin)
Free weights area
Weights machines
Cable machines
Cardio area
Synergy 360



Pricing
As ever David Lloyd can vary by location on where your base is, recently talking to a friend they got a starting rate of
£90 for standard
£70 per person for couples
I have as other reviews had between £60-90 as the range and worth a haggle
Remember there is a premium over this for tennis/squash etc


Other bits
Car park can get busy but not too bad
There is a car washing service here I have been recommended before as quite good for while you train

again it has wifi which is starting to be a bug of mine for TV while doing cardio - so quite happy here



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