I started Original bootcamp over a year ago with the intentions of only staying for a month or so…read more My first session was fun, and being already relatively fit I didn't find it too challenging. The next day however I was in a word of pain, every inch of me ached and groaned- and I thought I was fit! It's been a year of doing bootcamp twice a week for me, and even now- out of 5 sessions, 3 of them cause me to wake up with sore achy muscles. Bootcamp is a fantastic community, I train with Sarge Dave, Corporal Jono and Corporal steph and they are absolutely wonderful people. They know their stuff and are very motivational to be around. Every session at bootcamp is different; I have yet to repeat a single session out of my 100+ sessions. Bootcamp is held at either 6am or 6pm outdoors, rain, hail or shine. Although if it's bucketing down we usually go undercover and continue our workout there. Bootcamp is a community to me, it has been the best investment on my life. I have gained an immense amount of fitness, developed and toned muscles and made some great friends. I definitely recommend bootcamp to anyone looking to get their life back on track.

An American gym chain, this branch opened last year along with the influx of many other inner-city…read moregyms in Melbourne. Great facilities, quite cheap, 24/7 and hardly anyone there most of the time. Told them I was a student, was switching from an old gym, and they gave me the first month free and no sign-up fees. Dumbells go up to 50kg or so, plenty of plates for the barbells. You can do pretty much any excercise, except there is no squat rack (I was told for safety reasons). They were even cool enough to tell me that during manned hours (till 6:30pm) I am allowed to bring a friend along to work out with. Very convenient location, would reccomend to others working or living in the area.

Having been a 'gym junkie' and instructor for more years than I'm prepared to admit; I have seen a…read morelot of gyms. Re-Creation is a fairly large facility with three studios, spin room, stretch room, cardio area, weights area and creche. The equipment and layout is updated regularly. It can get fairly busy at peak times but there seems to be plenty of equipment to go round. There are lots of steppers and treadmills - which have a view out the window. Staff are friendly and not 'meat heads' like some places. Recently converted to 24/7 operation with members able to access the facilities outside of staffed times using a keyfob (available at additional cost).

The South Melbourne branch of Re-Creation Health Clubs is a moderately sized gym catering to both…read moremen and woman of all ages. Complete with three separate studio rooms used mainly for classes as well as a dedicated weights area and cardio centre the health club has some good equipment and great group classes. The layout of he gym seems to be a poor use of the space. The weights area is right in the middle of the club and is quite large, with the cardio machines being up the stairs and off to the side making them all a little too squashed together. They do however offer a very large range of classes and with three studio rooms there is always something on from beginners pilates to advanced spin cycle classes. Re-Creation also have personal training available, both male and female trainers at varying packages depending on session length and frequency.

Since my accommodation in Melbourne didn't have a gym I hopped on Yelp in search of nearby exercise…read moreoptions and found Barre Body. The studio's wide timetable coupled with the fact that it was literally steps away from my hotel made it an easy choice for me. I took advantage of the $50 unlimited two week class pass. During my four night stay I made it to six classes at Barre Body. Each visit I found the studio to be clean and inviting, the instructors warm, friendly and competent and the other students to be of varying ages and abilities. (Note to men: I never saw another guy at Barre Body except the one I brought with me on my first visit. This is a very female centric studio.) I sampled all of Barre Body's barre classes during my stay. Each is a bit different but all include a bit of a yoga/pilates mat aspect. Here's a more simplified breakdown of each: Barre Moves = more dance focused than the other classes, a good one if you like/miss ballet Barre Body = weights + yoga Barre Tone = weights + pilates Barre Cardio = weights + faster movements than any of the other class. expect to sweat more too. You need not bring anything with you to Barre Body, except maybe a water bottle. All mats, weights and balls are provided and in good condition. The two week pass is great value and definitely a good option to sample this studio.

I'm always keen to try new things so when I heard about this class that is a mix of yoga and barre…read moretraining I was certain I had to give it a go. The studio is at the back of Endota spa on Flinders Lane and is beautifully clean and serene. I attended a lunchtime class which was taught by the owner (Emma) and it was lucky I got a spot, as the class was full. The barre body class uses weights and mixes yoga with it. I'm not going to lie, it was a hard class, especially because I've never been to a gym before. My body is so sore now, but the sorer the better right?! I must say I'm looking forward to going back and trying the other types of classes. They also support One Girl (a charity dedicated to providing education scholarships to girls in Sierra Leone). I have signed up for the 2 week unlimited pass for $50. What can I say I'm a sucker for punishment.

I'll start by saying that I really like the concept of barre body & it's a great workout. The…read morereason for the lackluster score is twofold- 1. I think the price is utterly ridiculous & 2. There's no good 'beginner class' options which means people are more prone to injuring themselves due to lack of knowledge or technique. I did about 3 weeks of classes (and intro 2 week deal and a week afterwards) and went probably 9 times so I got a great overall view of the classes. The teachers were really lovely but a few moved far too quickly through the yoga components of the classes & I could see people struggling to keep up & rushing their poses to do so (which will lead to injury eventually). There was no explanation to newbies about the poses and no real extra attention paid to them. For those in the know the workout is excellent - it's quite lower limb heavy but different classes are varied and it is hard work- my butt & legs were killing me for days after each class!! The price. Woah. It's so expensive. Over $200 a month for unlimited classes! That's too much by anyone's standards. Their overheads are not that excessive. So what's my summary - eh, if you can afford it, do some yoga classes somewhere else first so you get to know the poses and then go nuts. You'll get a great workout with lovely teachers in a truly gorgeous space.

I admit I was pretty intimidated about the idea of doing a Barre class. I always thought it would…read morebe some kind of ballet show-off session with super toned chicks in impossibly skimpy outfits making me feel fat and frumpy. After some friends and my Pilates teacher filled me in on what REALLY goes on here, I thought I'd bite the bullet and give it a try with the two week $50 pass as a way to shake up my exercise regime. I'm really glad I did and can confirm a few things for anyone else wondering if they should take the plunge. 1) There's women of all shapes and sizes here. I once also saw a guy, but usually it's a women only affair. 2) Apart from the Barre that you use for some exercises and a couple of ballet terms, it's not very ballet/dancy at all. 3) The teachers are very kind and super lovely. There's none of that "look at me I'm so great" attitude you might get elsewhere. 4) The Barre Tone classes will make you sweat and work muscles in small but excruciating ways. 5) Your arms, legs and bum will look and feel better in just a month! I'm now attending two or three classes a week (mostly Barre Tone and Barre Body ones) and really love how it has improved my fitness, flexibility and strength in just a couple of months. The online booking system is very easy to use, though I wish you could book more than a week in advance as I like having my schedule organised a fortnight at a time. I also really like that I can use class credits in any of the Barre Body studios around Melbourne and Sydney as this gives me more flexibility when travelling.

Great club, top line equipment, friendly social interactions, recommend if you are local or passing…read morethrough.

Full disclosure: I'm approaching 40 years old and haven't been a member of a gym in my life…read more That's a lie. I was a member of a rival gym a couple of years ago. When I joined up I was given an introductory personal training session in which I was reminded how unfit I was and sent packing with a detailed report on my woeful state of health. Or that's how it felt. Totally demoralising and I never went back. That was the background to my contact with Virgin Active (Bourke St.), following a new determination to get fit. It loomed in the background as I perused their site and filled in the contact form. So much so that I shared it with them when they called me back the same day. And again when I had a tour. But my experience with Virgin was nothing like what I experienced elsewhere. It was positive, inclusive, accommodating. They looked to take their cues from me and support my goals rather than impose their own standards. I could talk about the equipment (loads of it), the space (masses of it), or the range of activities (pool/spa/sauna? Check. Indoor rock climbing? Check.) I could mention the cleanliness of the venue or friendliness of the staff. But what it comes down to here is care. Is this a warehouse full of keep fit stuff or does it house a culture of care? It's the latter. Virgin Active have my ongoing business because at each stage they have proven themselves to care about who I am, where I'm at and what I'm aiming for. And that's valuable.

I like working out here as it's cheap, not intimidatng and you can go any time of the day. It's…read morebasic, but that's all I nedd. Beacuse it's cheap, if you skip a week you don't feek so bad about losing lots of $

The relationship with my sessions at Fitlife was definitely a love/hate kind of a thing. I'd hate…read morethe night before each 6am session and dream about the pain I was going to endure. Upon waking up I would lecture myself about the benefits of bootcamp and nine times out of ten I would roll out of bed and somehow manage to drive my way there. After the session was over however, my feelings changed dramatically. The moment Tommy gave the sign to get a drink a smile the size of the equator would break out on my face. Who knew I was such an amazing athlete? The feeling of satisfaction at my efforts always tended to end up with some arrogant over-praise in my mind. But who really cares, right?! I got up at 6am and made it through an hour of exercise hell and I deserve to smile, dammit! I have done so many classes with Tommy that it's hard to remember them all. But I can definitely recommend his boxing sessions if you want to get trim, fast. He is a slave-driver but he gets results. I've also done his bootcamp program, which was just as hard, if not harder. This involved a variety of activities including running across the oval near the small training room. A rather difficult variation on this run was dragging a massive chain with us as a group - now that is something I never want to do again! At only $15 a session it is great value!