A great simple gym with lots of space and everything that you can need. It's excellent for working…read moreout with lots of benches for free weights and new machines to work out with. There is only one machine for each exercise, but there are plenty of other options to work with while you wait.

The teachers here can be very good if you get the right one. They have a nice space that is always…read morevery clean and well kept. It is filled with high quality equipment. Some teachers I found a tad bit lazy though always nice and conscientious of safety and comfort. My major issues were with the front desk staff. I found them very fake. They were very nonchalant about rescheduling my classes when I had to travel for work. They also believe it is your job to reschedule all classes yourself even though they do not provide online scheduling tools so basically you have to bother them repeatedly and threaten not to pay to get anything done. In the end I stopped taking classes here because I found them to be quite disrespectful and unhelpful for people who have less standardized schedules, especially considering the high price that you pay here. Premium pricing should mean premium service not just from the teachers.

Walking down Fradique Coutinho, Gam Yoga is a storefront you might easily pass by without noticing…read more Out front, there's just a small window with a logo and palms and trees slightly blocking the path towards the back of this yoga shelter. But, if you tread up the pressed dirt steps, you'll find a humble retreat where city-dwellers escape the noise for a few hours of body-bending heaven. The rustic, but perfectly clean, respite offers a host of different yoga classes (from ashtanga to vinyasa to a newer concept called free yoga) and they even have capoeira, massage therapy and other body healing practices. We stepped in for the Sunday 12pm ashtanga class with Miguel (a calm and talented yogi hailing from Mozambique). With about 6 other people in the room, we set up our mats and began Mysore. Unfortunately for me, this wasn't a lead class and Miguel had to spend a little more time with me showing me how to properly perform certain poses. Meanwhile, the rest of the class went on with the series unaided by Miguel (until he stepped in to help them with adjustments). Portuguese was spoken the whole class, but Miguel speaks perfect English and Spanish too (in case that might be a concern). If you're looking for a lead ashtanga class, André might be a better option, since Miguel mostly does Mysore. The center also does something called Yoga Surf Camp (lead by André) where you spend the weekend at a nearby beach practicing your poses and hang-ten ability. I'll certainly return to Miguel's class (perhaps while mixing in some of André's lead classes to better improve my knowledge of the poses). A great refuge overall.