I am going to this class for about 3 months now. Laura is fantastic! I needed something radical for…read moremy neck and back and it helps a lot. Highly recommended.

Lancashire Health and Racquet club is located about a 5 minute drive off the Middleton exit of the…read moreM60. Open from 6.30am if you fancy an early morning swim or workout until 11.pm if a late evening badminton match is more your thing. A humongous gym with a plethora of cardio machines, weight machines and free weights is on offer, plus a cool stretch area too, god forbid you forget your cool down! Need some motivation, then there are personal training sessions available as well. The club says its offers the largest range of exercise classes in the North, I have no actual hard data on this, but I do know classes on offer include Body Pump, Body Attack, Body Balance, Body Combat, Group Cycle, Yoga, Pilates, Legs Bums and Tums . . just reading the list of classes tires me out. Once you have buffed and puffed it out in the gym, there are saunas and steam rooms to unwind and relax in, as well as a tranquillity spa offering such delights as a stress buster stone massage or a muscle relaxer body wrap. As hints in the name, this is also the place to visit for all kinds of racquet sports, offering lessons in tennis, squash, badminton, as well as casual matches with friends; you can get professional coaching and even join the league. There is a crèche for children and they also offer facilities for a range of themed birthday parties all with the expertise of an on-site children's co-ordinator. On Wednesdays there is a Wii night and Thursdays is children's film night, so any parents out there, may never find an excuse not to visit the gym again, as their children will practically be encouraging them to go! There is a fully licensed bar for adults and a restaurant which does Sunday roasts and every Thursday they offer a themed menu night, you may even find yourself visiting without even feeling the need to pop on your trainers. Its expensive of course and completely out of my price range as facilities and service like this doesn't come cheap. There is currently a 'free guest pass' offer available via their website should you fancy a taster, but the reason I visit weekly . . . Roller Derby practice 6.30-8.30 £6 a session every Monday night *insert smiley face*.

If you want a swimming session on the cheap, Castle Leisure Centre is a good bet. It is only a…read morecouple of pounds (although the last time I went I was a student) and a quick swim here in their standard 25m pool and there is easy enough to fit into your schedule whilst not requiring some direct debit out of the your account each month.. But if guilting yourself into exercise is more your thing they have a fitness suite too, membership to which starts at £18 a month. Then again those who like me are more into team and racket sports are served by badminton, netball, squash and basketball courts plus two football pitches. No frills leisure centre in a good central location and low prices.

This is the winner of the linked gyms, just because of the spin classes. Debbie makes everyone feel…read moremore than welcome and once you have been a couple of times she uses your name, although when you get to this stage you are prime target for ribbing! The pool opening hours are not great- but you can always use radcliffe which has better opening times. Staff are always friendly and helpful

Pool has grit and debris in the bottomand has done for a while. When I complained i was told their…read morevacuum for the pool has been broken for a while. Apparently they've borrowed the one from Ramsbottom once! There are doors hanging off lockers right next to the pool, hooks missing from changing rooms and showers that have dodgy thermostats! I feel sorry for the embarrassed staff who work there. It's a hazard!!!

At £29.99 per month to include the other leisure centres in the area the price is fab. Gym, swim…read moreand classes included. Although £2.50 supplement required if you want to go to Boogie Bounce... which is the best class available here... even for someone like me who has absolutely no rhythm. Gym and pool open through the week at 7am apart from mondays and wednesdays when it is 6.30... could do with longer opening hours, especially at weekends. Really accomodating (said i could have my own lane in the pool for tri training) They just need to ensure they open the gate for walkers and not everyone drives there and most days they forget!!

It's not you Bodybarre, it's me... kinda…read more This place honestly has the best set up I've seen for pole dancing and that is primarily its main specialism. I walked in the first time and there must've been at least 15 people strutting their stuff in unison on the poles. It was really impressive. However I like aerial acrobatics and as you may see from my previous reviews I've tried a fair few places. I booked onto both the four week trapeze and four week aerial hoop lessons. Both the owner and the teacher were really helpful, as I specifically emailed beforehand to make sure I would 'fit'. Sounds silly, but being almost 6 foot tall kind of works against gravity and I've found both aerial artists and your generic kit (hoops and trapezes) to generally be on the petite side (makes sense really). Which in my experience makes for a not only painful, but embarrassing and also futile workout for me. So after some reassurance I signed up and sadly this only confirmed my fears. The studio is on the top floor of a building in the Northern Quarter - which is brilliantly located - but I'm not sure the ceilings are much higher than my flat. Meaning that for me there was only enough space to sit once on the trapeze and I was very nearly scraping my head on the floor when hanging under the hoop. In my opinion if you cant stand up on a trapeze, it's basically half a lesson. Lack of space meant I didn't feel comfortable, as I was too busy worried about hitting things than actually getting into the classes and the movements. In all honesty I got bored, I felt the teaching was more focused on flair than developing strength and aerial conditioning. One reason behind this could be that a lot of class members seemed to be from the pole dancing school, in which case I'm sure they already have fantastic upper body strength. But I did book onto a beginners class and I think if I had been a genuine beginner I would have felt totally lost. Its a difficult thing to review an aerial class, because everyone has their own needs and requirements. In Bodybarre's defence they did offer me a trial half-price lesson to judge whether classes were suitable and I chose to continue and sign up for the courses after having had that trial. I guess I was just overly enthusiastic about finding somewhere for aerial in Manchester and sadly Bodybarre just isn't what I am personally looking for in a studio. However don't let me put you off, I recommend you drop them an email if you have any inkling of an interest, they have a very experienced team and were very helpful.

I had my first aerial yoga session yesterday with Penny..it was amazing.I felt great after,so…read morerelaxed and stretched from head to toe.Penny is so friendly and cheerful and a very good instructor.She also gave lots of additional information that I found interesting and helpful.The Bodybarre studio has a lovely feeling about it and there seem to be lots of fun exercise choices.I shall look forward to doing it again very soon.Thank you again.Diane Faulkner.