Sep 26, 2005 04:06 PM
31261 Views
(Updated Sep 26, 2005 04:29 PM)
If watching a Hrithik Roshan or Jennifer Lopez on screen gives you pangs of jealousy and / or momentary impulses to do something about it (the inch, I mean) , this is one place that can help you. Well, it may not really make you a Hrithik or a J Lo, but working out systematically in a gym like this should give you enough second glances and that should be motivation enough to stay put.
As with all things in this world, there are good things and bad things about Talwalkars, Jayanagar. I will try to enlist everything so that it is helpful for those who seeking information on this gym.
Infrastructure: As far as the gym equipments are concerned, the gym has enough to help you in your cause. In the cardio section, they have 7-8 treadmills (the machine on which you walk, jog or run), 4 cycles and 3 machines for cross-cycling. On Monday to Wednesday in the evenings, you may have to wait up to 10 minutes max to use any of these equipments. But other days and times at least one of the machines will be free and you will not have to wait.
In the workout section, they have at least one equipment for each of the basic exercises. So that should be enough for any beginner. The dumbbells and barbells area is limited and it can be a problem to do your exercises uninterruptedly. You almost always has to wait for someone to finish.
In short, it has enough, but definitely can do with more!
Space: One of the most important things for me in a gym is the breathing space. You do not want to bump in to a person every time you turn. This is one area where this gym scores low. If you planning to visit the gym during non peak hours (peak hours would be the mornings and evenings, say 7 to 8.30pm) , then this not a problem.
Talwalkars will be the preferred choice for most, till someone comes up with a more spacious gym!
Physiotherapist: Talwalkars claim that theirs is the only gym with a full time physio. He is the person who finalises your exercise schedule based on what you want to achieve and tracks your progress on a monthly basis. The schedule they recommend is a standard one followed in most of the gyms. They normally change your schedule once every 4 weeks. So if you are a newcomer, you don’t have to worry about what to do.
Trainers: These are the people who help you to follow through your exercise schedule. It seems, Talwalkars philosophy is that they will guide you through the initial few days of a new routine and then you will have to manage on your own. On busy days, it maybe difficult to get the attention of your trainer as one trainer attends to several people at a time. But once you approach them, most of them are always courteous and helpful. They have a mix of girls and boys as trainers, and normally assign women trainers to women and men to men.
Cost: Till August, they were running a special discount scheme. The cost of an yearly membership for general fitness was pegged at Rs. 14,500. Before the discount, the cost for an yearly membership was pegged at 24K or so. With the type of infrastructure they are having and the service you get, it is definitely on the costlier side. I believe, it is a question of competition and once competition picks up, they will be forced to bring down their prices further. (this discount scheme seemed to be in response to the Reebok fitness center coming up in the locality)
But if you ask me, there is no value you can really attach to your fitness and it’s worth going for it if you can be regular (regular, in my book would be at least 4 days in a week). To rephrase the now famous question Anil Ambani had been asked, “If you cannot take out 6 hours out of your weekly schedule to take care of YOUR health, then who will do it?”
Crowd: This is important for some, not so much for others. Some people come, do their exercises and leave without giving a damn about the people who are around. If you that type, you can skip this section. The crowd is a mix of both sexes. There are middle aged people trying to get back to shape, 20-somethings trying to impress their fiancée or whoever (out of gym, of course), college going people trying to see how much they can bridge the gap with their role models, extremely fit people trying to further improve their curves, few couples who keep the motivation going for one another, some Salman Khans who do everything from lifting ‘unliftable’ weights to flexing their muscles to try to give you an inferiority complex, one man who spends more time trying to strike up a conversation with the females than doing his workout and another woman who wears lipstick to the gym! (Now you can imagine, with all these people around, it will be really a crowded place!)
Workout schedule: I mentioned this earlier. The physio creates one for you and the trainers are there to help. So you do not have to rack your brains trying to figure this one out.
Music: Some are very particular about this. I have seem one customer walking out because he did not like the music being played. They play a mix of Hindi and English, normally chartbusters, both old and new. You will be happy if do not have any strict preference.
Ambience: It does look like a serious workplace with everyone putting their bodies under some stress or the other! So if you are serious about your workout, this place will not take any of that away.
Reception: This counter will not be important for most. They say the good mornings , the good evenings, the good byes and the good nights. But they do not say that to everyone. That is something they can improve on.
Change rooms: The lockers are limited. So rest assured you will not get one. This is normally a crowded and congested place to change to your gym wear and back. (I am yet to figure out how it takes such a long time for someone to change their clothes and that too, for most of the people when it is just the shoes!). I must admit that this comment is restricted to the males’ changing rooms (based on my experience), but going by conventional wisdom, it should be much worse in the ladies’ changing rooms!
Timings: They are open from 6am to 10pm with 10am to 4pm exclusively for ladies
Location: 4th T Block, Ashwatlaxmi Mansion, Jayanagar, Bangalore
