Before I moved back to NS, I used to visit this gym each time I came to town. I really enjoyed the size of the gym - it is open and spacious and has an adequate equipment inventory. There are times when the gym is really busy, which may prevent you from being able to work a specific routine, without long waits. There are other times when the gym is not so busy and you can get your workout done without delay.
When it comes to the Personal Trainers - I made the mistake of purchasing sessions, even though I have always been an avid gym goer. I had an injury, and wanted some advice about 'specific' exercises that I could do without adding any further complications to my recovery time while I healed from the surgery. Because of the surgery, I have some long term mechanical and nerve related issues that have limited my mobility and caused other concerns. Before signing up for the sessions, I asked specifically if the Personal Trainer who would be assigned to me would be able to help in this regard (ie. provide me with customized training related to suggesting exercises that could be done without causing further damage to my injury, and without delaying recovery time). I was told that it wouldn't be a problem - they were capable and used to customizing the training sessions, based on my needs.
However, what happened, is that I spent almost 2 full hours being 'interviewed' and 'questioned' as they had to follow their regular questionnaire and process. They asked everything from what made me decide to go to the gym (not applicable), who was going to support me through my 'new lifestyle' etc. even though many of the questions were not relevant to what I needed or relevant to my personal experience. It was nothing less than painstaking.
I asked repeatedly to skip this process, but was forced to endure the gruelling 2 hours of irrelevant questions. I made it through the interrogation, figuring that if I withstood the questions, I would eventually get to the place where I would finally get what I paid for. But I was mistaken.
At my next session, the Trainer asked about my injury and as I started to identify that I had surgery - I had to listen to the Trainer's personal experience about the injuries that he had gone through. This took the majority of our next session. I was merely looking for advice about exercises to do in order to not aggravate my neck surgery, but that would strengthen the muscles around the neck and back. Keep in mind - I have been working out at a gym for in excess of 20+ years.
Needless to say, by the end of my third session, I had wasted 4 hours with no reward and no good advice.
Do I like this gym? Yes! Do I like the environment and the workspace and reliability of the staff? For the most part, yes. It could use a slight facelift or freshening up, but it's a solid gym with an open concept environment and has pretty friendly staff. Save your money on the Personal Trainers though! (unless you are brand new to the gym life and want to be treated like a child)
I am not denying that this process may be effective for newcomers or for those who really need to be motivated to keep going, or need encouragement. But for me, it was frustrating to have to spend countless hours following 'their' process with little regard for my needs or the money that I had spent to get 'personalized' training.
