When did gyms become fancy? Not too long ago, we were content with our workout spaces smelling like old socks and residing in a leisure centre with a café that served egg and cress sandwiches on white bread.
Now, new gyms are built to look GOOD. Sure, they're still there to get you fit but chances are you're more likely to keep going back to a place that you feel good about walking into.
Nowhere is this more evident than London. And it makes sense – if your house is a dingy studio flat with no windows, why wouldn't you want your gym to look nice? Here, we round up some of the best looking places to work out.
BLOK Shoreditch
This brand new branch of BLOK (the other one's in Clapton) was built, like its predecessor, with design in mind and with a view to creating a space where people would want to hang out before and after class (hence the café that doubles up as a gallery and workspace).
BLOK offers 25 different classes, from barre to yoga to HIIT, which cost between £10-17.
Find out more information here.
Another Space
Anyone who's visited the Covent Garden branch of Another Space knows that it's worth forgoing a night out in order to book yourself a class as a treat at this luxury classes-only space.
Now, Another Space has opened another location in Bank, which has an even bigger changing room (plenty of showers and yes, Cowshed products everywhere). There's still HIIT, yoga and spin on offer and it's £20 a class (although buying in bulk does sweeten the deal.
Find out more information here.
Heartcore
Mainly based in west London, the nine studios of Heartcore grew out of their signature dynamic Pilates workout (they now also do barre and strength and conditioning training). All their studios are pretty swanky but it's the Notting Hill one we're partial to.
It's not cheap (£25 for a single class) but hey, if you're looking for a payday treat, a Heartcore session is probably going to be a lot more nourishing than a bottle of prosecco.
Find out more here.
Frame Fitzrovia
The newest addition to Frame's fast-growing collection of gyms is smack dab in the middle of Soho – very handy for plenty of people. As expected, it's bright, colourful and welcoming, and their biggest yet. They've even got a reformer Pilates studio and 17 whole showers! No more queuing.
Enter our competition below to win a membership.
To celebrate their studio openings in Fitzrovia and Hammersmith, we’ve teamed up with Frame plus a selection of fabulous partners to offer one lucky reader a wonderful start to the new year. We're giving away a Frame membership for you and your BFF PLUS £1,500 worth of prizes from our friends at Urban Massage, Heist Tights and Propercorn. To be in with a chance of winning, it's super simple: enter here before midnight on 11th February.
Equinox
Pretty much the fanciest of the fancy, Equinox's two London venues are naaat cheap. To become a member at their newest gym in St. James, it's £205 a month (and that's not even counting the initiation fee). It does come with the sort of perks you'd jolly well expect, though. Like Kiehl's products in the bathroom. An anti-gravity treadmill. A complimentary laundry valet. USB chargers in the locker.
And yeah, it looks really nice.
Find out more here
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