This review is specially based on my experiences at Talwalkars Andheri branch, am not aware about how the other branches are, but this one is definately not happening......
What comes to your mind when you hear a brand name Talwalkar, in the world of fitness it surely means a lot, leave your worries to us, we'll take care of the rest. This is what a fitness freak like me will usually think. But when you come to the Andheri branch I'm sure that facts you heard about talwalkars will shatter.
I had joined this gym in september, since it was very near to my place, at that time it had opened up recently and were giving discounts, what else do u need, brand name that too at a discount. My experiences after entering the gym were somthing else. I would mention the IMPORTANT flaws of this gym pointwise,
1) TIMINGS:-First this gym does not have 16 hour unisex timings, the timings for unisex are 6:30am -10:00am & 5:00am to 10:00 pm, so this gym is a let down for teenagers who want to come down in the afternoon, and I presume timings like these are only at Andheri Talwalkars, rest all have unisex timings and u can hop in anytime.
2) AREA:-This is the smallest gym of talwalkars u might have seen, and u really dont feel like working out when its crowded, some of the equipments were sent back due to lack of space, the gym is divided into two parts thats gym and cardio, the cardio section is fine has plasma AC fitted, second is the weights section which is very small and and does has have space to place the equipment properly. You have to carry your abs workout here, which is not possible for more than 3 people at a time, and the mens changing room is tooo small, it does not have a sauna just steam, and believe me you might find the changing room smaller than your bathroom.
3) EQUIPMENTS:The equiments are of some local brandmake, you can make that out by looking at them,you can literally hear the squeaking sound comming out, and they are not at all properly maintained, the free weights are ok, the cardio equipments are imported from precor, which are ok.but there are some instruments that are not properly calibrated, and shows randon reading,for instance if you are running on a treadmill, your heart rate display is not displayed correctly it will sometimes show 71 and even sometimes more than 200, if that was really the case, I wouldnt have been living now to type this review.
4) TRAINERS:-there are two kinds of categories good trainers bad trainers, well the ratio of good to bad trainers out here is 1:10, some trainsers are good, some just do not know anything, for instance you shouldnt run on treadmill, cause since most of the time your feet are in here and not touching ground, so the effect wont be that much, walk instead of that, if a trainer has this kinda knowledge believe me you will never loose weight. Some are really helpfull, they themselves want to help you out, but as per the ratio you can catch them free all the time.You will find the female trainers gigling all the time, which really creates a bad impression.
5) MANAGEMNT:-well the management here is not worth mentioning, they come out with new things which are really going to shock you, initially the manager prepares the workout chart for you, she herself is 4''11'', trainers say that she is experienced, well but you will be disappointed on the first day,the exercise schedule is same for all the members, now I do believe, every body mass is different, and one should proceedin that way, in this gym you wont find anrthing like that.and you will be doing cardio alternate days same goes for weights, it means on monday wednesday & friday it will be cardio,and for tuesday wednesday thursday it will be weights. For a well tonned body u need cardio everyday.
6) SCHEMES:-You will find new schemes coming every week, names like you havent heard before, pathetic schemes, which will provoke you to leave this gym at once, like they have come out with a program of PEP(personalised training), in this they will teach you new exercises and a trainer will be with a member at this time, they are already charging a heavy amout and more 7,500 rs extra for PEP, the trainer will prepare the workout chart, and then the normal member has nothing left, and since you have paid a hefty amount initially, you should also get these workouts for free.
7) PRICES:-the prices are 15,000/- for a year, and 7,500 rs extra for PEP, that too three days a week(as I mentioned that weights are only 3 days a week), and this is just for 6 days a week, if you want to work out on sunday, u'll have to pay 2000 rs extraa, then you have a new thing that has come up Abs PEP, for 4,000 rs.the price list is endless, you also have a special list for weight loss, won't mention that here though.
SO this gym has all the bad points one can think of, lack of good trainers, good equipments, good managemnet, everything that makes up a good gym.
Some of my gym mates are really bugged up, I am just waiting for three months so that I can change my gym as soon as possible. For people who really want to join this gym, the andheri branch, kindly read this review and then make a decision.
