So WeekOne is officially over and it’s time to sweat out the alcohol and get your body back into that temple-form! Having another pyjama day, being hungover, doing house crawls or ‘getting lost’ on campus is in the past; and with a range of fitness centres in Nottingham, you’ll soon be pulled to one of the entrances.
If you’re like me, being a third year suddenly means tighter budgets and a lot more decision-making – I’m envious of all the first years having University Park fitness centre just around the corner. A gold membership, although £199, is definitely worth it for the swimming pool, the gym, which includes weights, the usual equipment and machines, and having a range of classes thrown in. Try spinning, bootcamp and zumba (it was so intense the mirror steamed up and our instructor slipped over on sweat). Even if you live in Lenton, the Jubilee Campus gym is included in the price and is right next door to a Starbucks: post-workout mocha and cinnamon swirl? I rest my case.
To all the newbies in Lenton, I’ll take you on a trip around the neighbourhood to help you choose your perfect location and get your blood pumping. For starters, without sounding sexist, I would send boys in the direction of ‘Raw;’ a protein-shake, dumbbell, weight and muscle building filled testosterone space: safe to say I walked in, and instantly back out. Warning to the girls – maybe avoid joining unless you want to look like this…
Other gyms in Nottingham include ‘The Lenton Centre,’ ‘The Gym’ and, from opening only a couple of weeks ago, ‘Xercise4Less.’ To sum these up, ‘The Lenton Centre’ is also known as a community centre, which I realised when children started running around me; and I can’t say my experience got much better. I was shown the ‘fitness room,’ which consisted of about five equipment pieces and even standing in the tight proximity felt like a work out. There is a bonus of a swimming pool but, after learning the public swimming time was 8am, I was halfway down the road.
‘The Gym’ is based in town and if you have the energy to walk 20 minutes to get there (I shamefully didn’t), or have a bus pass, it is definitely worth £10.99 a month; there’s an avid amount of standard equipment and offers floor-based classes.
Finally, ‘Xercise4Less’ is officially my new best friend and, after caving in last year and joining the University gym, this year I decided to venture out and save money. It’s based near Raleigh Park – don’t worry, I googled the location too – only 10 minutes away from Lenton Boulevard. Students pay £9.99 a month which allows you to enjoy all their gym equipment and their classes, from toning in body pump to crawling jelly legs in spinning. If this hasn’t tempted you, you can even train in a boxing and cage-fighting ring (let’s hope your boyfriends don’t get on the wrong side of you)!
The start of term is always boggling with the multiple to-do lists and organising, but hopefully you can take one step (or lunge) in the right direction to find a gym that suits you. If you need more motivation, influence your friends to get a membership too – you won’t be able to make a U-turn back to the comfort of your bed if it jeopardizes somebody else’s workout – remember, a lazy workout is better than no workout.
So grab your Nike Airs, throw on your gym wear and find your inner power. Burn off the post-alcohol calories and sneak in that extra brownie at lunch. You know you want to…
Photo credits
http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/perfect-muscle-man-isolated-white-15182578.jpg
Edited by Ili Mustafa