Completely unethical membership team…read more I originally signed a 3-month membership. At the end of this, I decided I might renew. The membership person told me I could transfer to their Diamond membership (1-year, rolling) and pay a transfer fee so that my 1-year membership would be effective from my original join date (on the 3-month membership). This sounded a good idea. Pay a £10 transfer fee so that I could be on a 1-year membership that would end (so long as I cancelled it in time) about the time I planned to move out of the area. The membership guy gave me the date I had to cancel by (25 August) if I didn't want to roll my membership onto another year (and, basically, have to pay for an entire new year's membership whether I liked it or not - something a lot of people get stuck with when they sign on to Virgin Active gym memberships, but I was sure I wasn't going to get duped by this, having been very careful with all the Ts and Cs, getting verbal confirmation of everything before I signed on the dotted line). I put this cancellation date in every calendar and diary I had just so that I wouldn't forget. I happily went about my business. 25 August approaches, and I fill out cancellation forms online. No one calls me. I call Wandsworth Virgin Active to cancel, and they tell me I should come in. I make the special trip out to Wandsworth - for I do not live there anymore - to cancel and I'm told my membership isn't due to expire until December and that no one can resolve my issue for me since the membership team all went home. Um, no. I call in the next day to speak to a membership person, Angelina. All she does is speak over me in a monotonous, bored tone of voice for 10 minutes, telling me that I was given the wrong information and that a verbal agreement isn't the same as a written agreement. I ask her to find my original signed agreement and see what's written on it when she says she's 'looking at my agreement' and I find she's really only looking at their electronic records. And she says she will. Yeah, fucking right, she will. She says I should just send in proof that I have moved out of the area and that they will forward it on to their head office to make a decision about the remainder of my agreement. I told her I'm cancelling my Direct Debit because I'm not paying them another dime, and I don't care if it goes to a debt collector because they are a completely shady, unethical company. I could send them proof of my address changing, but that is BESIDE THE POINT. It's shady, Richard. SHADY. Branston, I expected more of you.

I bought a trial pass for this gym at the weekend and will not be joining. I should start by…read moresaying that I am not a fan of gyms (or exercise) and mostly went to check out the pool. This will explain number 1 on my highly personal list of Reasons I Didn't Like Virgin Active, Wandsworth: 1) The gym area was full of rows and rows of smart looking exercise equipment, all arranged over one enormous hellish open-plan floor, with zones notionally marked out by paths which zigzagged around the space like a PE maze from my nightmares. It is like some mental workout factory full of sweating people jogging on machines, bending weirdly on mats and receiving shouty personal training. My eyes! My eyes! Too much to take in, and I think I'd prefer a more intimate little local gym with walls if I was to join one. I can see that it might be quite funky and motivating if you were that way inclined though. 2) The entrance is via a petrol-stinky multi story car park. 2) The staff when I visited were all incredibly rude and inefficient. 3) It all felt a bit cheap, corporate and impersonal. The pool was small but clean and pleasant enough. I appreciated the lounging chairs, sauna, steam room and jacuzzi. If you ring ahead it's £7.50 for a day pass, so with all the spa facilities, snazzy gym equipment and a cafe, this is a bargain worth trying. However, I didn't like the vibe of this place at all, so as they say on Dragon's Den, "I'm out".

It's a little hidden away, but once you find it you'll be greeted by super-friendly staff, and all…read morethe gym equipment you need for a regular workout. In terms of facilities it's probably a mid-range gym, but it's got clean change rooms with £1 refundable lockers (so you don't need a padlock) free towels and a nice big studio. There's also a sunbed and treatment room, but I haven't used either of those. Fun fact: UV rays are bad for you man! They've got a great range of classes, including all the basics you know and love; Body Pump, Yoga, Spin.

Energie Fulham is a really friendly club and part of the Energie franchaise group.The team are…read morethere to help you, whether it is weight loss, toning, improving strength, stamina, flexibility, body building, strongman training or sport specific performance, they will help you achieve your goals in a relaxed environment. Six free personal training sessions included in membership. This one of the better Energie clubs with the owner on site.

Earlsfield Boxing Club has a long and interesting history that dates back to 1946. Since then,…read moreseveral boxing champions have been produced under the guidance of a few well-chosen and passionate coaches. If you'd like to join the club, it's required that you phone in first to enquire about what training regime will suit you best. For the best intentions, an age limit of eleven has been placed on potential boxers, though there is a keep fit regime for those who prefer to keep themselves intact. Pugilism is sport not to be taken lightly, but if it ever became something you'd like to try on a regular basis there would be no better place to start than Earlsfield Boxing Club.

My father Fred Woodman was one of the Champion Boxers at Earlsfield boxing Club in the 1950s. You…read morecan see all about his boxing career here.... www.fredwoodman.co.uk

A colleague of mine recommended that I try this studio because it's really popular in the US. In…read morethe beginning, I really enjoyed the work outs. High intensity work out and it makes you feel like you are competing against yourself. I've worked out for years - primarily in the gym with various classes (Les Mills, yoga, pilates etc). I've had a few sores and aches but after a month of working out here - I developed plantar fascialitis for the first time. It's taken me 3 months of physio to slowly start to get to a point of walking without pain and I have tried multiple times to cancel my membership. Cem, the studio manager, tried to make me feel like a valued customer but giving me a longer freeze period to keep my founding membership rate. When I emailed to cancel my membership, I heard nothing back to then find out I was charged for a full month. I would've tried to go back eventually as a pay as you go customer but now I will avoid it at all cost. They clearly do not care about you - as he kept trying to get me to go in despite my physio telling me to stay away from this type of exercise for a while. It was my own fault that I pushed myself too hard to develop this injury but they do not care as they only want to take your money.

God council owned but privately run gym, with pool, split-level gym and squash courts. Also, low…read moremembership levels, so never gets too busy. However, they don't offer off-peak membership, and charge extra for squash courts even if you're already a member, so maybe it would be better if still a council gym. What's happened to those?

me and my partner recently went to the swimming pool with our 1 year old child we had a good time,…read morethe water was not too cold, it was cold but more than bearable. It was packed (maybe it was us going at the wrong time!) but the staff we good pleasant and helpful when needed. One criticism i do have is the lockers dont have a locks on them so you have to bring your own lock or buy one. This is slightly annoying! The changing rooms are clean and the booths are perfect for changing / getting babies sorted out! The price was a not too bad, for all three of us (2 adults 1 infant) it came to around £12 which i shouldn't complain at all in all not too bad

I have always been active and always a member of a gym, but I never quite achieved either the…read moreweight loss I was always striving for or the toned physic and was getting extremely de-motivated. A colleague of mine then recommended I visit The London Gym and see what I think so I went to take a look. My initial goal was to lose around two stone I had put on since turning 30 (a little while back now) and to coincide the weight loss with a holiday to South Africa. If I am honest, I didn't think it was a realistic goal as I had attempted it in the past and the weight simply didn't reduce to the extent I wanted which was really disappointing. I was working out, putting hours into my gym sessions but really poor results. I signed up and had to keep a food diary which was regularly reviewed via my own personal dietician who is amazing. The critique was tough but very fair and it became a learning experience / re-education to what I should eat and drink and when. It was a surprise to me how often I should eat and was strange to have the recommendation to eat more often but it allowed me to feel nourished and gave me the energy to rise to the challenging workouts that came alongside the dietary changes. It also reduced my snacking tendency and a cheat day was built in to keep me on track. A proper exercise program was then drawn up with a mixture of some personal training, gym work and an appropriate balance of rest. The PT sessions consisted of some tough cardio i.e. circuit style work with working for every muscle group. The range of equipment kept it interesting though and the fact that I could see the progression at regular intervals. I would be lying if I said my personal training sessions were a doddle far from it. I have never worked so hard before or felt so whacked at the end of the hour sessions. However, once my initial conditioning was out the way I was relatively pain-free as I was pushed to a limit but not to the extent that I couldn't walk. The constant changing of the exercises and the fact that I could see definite progression made it all motivational as did the great prompting and encouragement given by my trainer. I am so proud of having lost the weight and love all the compliments I get. Tough bit now is continuing to maintain it but I'm confident I can do it and think that training at The London Gym was one of my best decisions ever. Highly Recommend for people who are wanting a life-changing experience.

A week after completing my initial 4 months membership phase and the results are spectacular, so…read moremuch so that I have signed up for another 2 months! I feel more confident, I have lost weight and my body has started to become toned and defined. I was so apprehensive about this level of training as I have never been a 'gym' kinda person and I had never really lifted weights before. I decided to just go for it and nervous me walked into their private personal training facility and I have never looked back. I was greeted by smiling happy people and felt welcomed and at ease straight away. I met my trainer - Nick, and we just clicked straight away. It's been an amazing mix of laughter, sweat and the occasional happy tears! Nick has pushed me hard, listened, taught me the correct techniques and most importantly helped me shape my body, achieving results that in the past I thought were never achievable. As a first timer to training I am so happy to be paired with Nick, he is so understanding and helpful, especially how he patiently corrects my posture or techniques without ever sounding condescending or like he has told me 100 times before. Not forgetting the invaluable nutritional advice from Maria, I have been able to easily adapt my lifestyle to suit the training programme and not feel like I was ever on a 'diet' or 'meal plan'. She enabled me to have all the recipes and information on hand to help me achieve my goals. The London Gym has something special about them, they make you feel you are part of a club and go that extra mile for you. Amazing attention to client care. Here's to the next 2 months

Terrible gym. They don't do weekly passes here. Came from the US to work out. Asked how much the…read moremonthly passes are. They said $99.00 a month. Like for real? For this tiny gym? Back where I live it's $40.00 a month for a gym 5 times this size. How do you not offer weekly passes?

Clapham Junction Fitness First is my gym of choice for weekends, if I somehow muster the energy to…read morego. It is a decent size set over three floors, the bottom floor is devoted to cardio equipment but there are only three rowing machines (one usually broken) amongst the treadmills and cross trainers. The middle floor consists of changing rooms while the top floor is for the weights room and studio classes. I have never seen the place busy considering I only venture in on weekends but it is a whole lot better than the Fitness First in Balham.