Gym Membership Dublin: What to Look For Before You Sign Up

You can pay €20 a month for a gym in Dublin, or €200. You can sign up for one month or be tied in for twelve. And you can get anything from a room full of equipment to a coach who knows your name.

It's a lot to compare. Here's what actually matters before you join.

Work out which type of gym you want

There are three main types in Dublin.

Budget gyms give you equipment and long opening hours, and not much else. Health clubs add a pool, sauna and classes for a higher monthly fee. Coached gyms cost more again and include the programming and the coaching.

None of them is better than the others. They answer different questions. The mistake is paying for one when what you wanted was another.

Check how easy it is to get there

How easy a gym is to get to decides how often you'll actually go. Somewhere on your commute, or ten minutes from your front door, gets used. Somewhere that needs a special trip usually doesn't.

If you're deciding between two, the closer one is often worth paying a bit more for.

Read the contract

Worth asking before you sign anything:

• Is it rolling monthly, or a fixed twelve-month term?
• How much notice do you need to give to cancel, and does it have to be in writing?
• Is there a joining fee on top of the monthly price?
• Can you freeze it if you're away or injured?
• Does the price go up after the first few months?

Rolling monthly usually costs more, and it's usually worth it. A twelve-month rate is only cheaper if you actually go for twelve months.

Ask what's included

Classes are the usual catch. Plenty of gyms include them, then cap how many you can book or charge extra for the popular ones. Personal training is nearly always separate, and so is anything like a body composition scan or a nutrition consultation.

Ask for the full price list rather than the headline figure.

Decide what you're really paying for

This is the question underneath all the others.

If you have a plan and you'll stick to it on your own, buy access as cheaply as you can. If you've joined a gym before and stopped going, the equipment wasn't the problem, and paying less for something you don't use isn't saving you anything.

Membership at Perpetua

We have two gyms in Dublin: Windmill Lane and Lennox Street. With a third location on the way.

• JUSTGYM is our full gym floor membership, for anyone who'd rather train on their own. 
• Class memberships cover HYROX, spin, boxing and Tread & Shred, with a coach in every session. 
• Small Group PT and Personal Training are there if you want a programme built around you.

Not sure which one suits you? Try our 3 classes for €33, no contract.