I'm quite new to Switzerland and have just moved to Bern (fairly central). Am looking for a gym/fitnesspark or something similar which is A) not too expensive and B) I won't need a lengthy contract for, as I may only be here for 2-3 months.
Although a sauna/wellness area would be nice, in reality I would never use it, and already get my CV work in from running and swimming outdoors, so am just looking for somewhere to hit the weights 3 times a week.
if anybody has any suggestions, or perhaps a gym membership they aren't currently using and would like to 'sublet' for a few months, then I would be very grateful for the input!
Welcome to Bern lewibrfc, I am also looking for a cheapish gym in the area. I'm looking for something more free-weight oriented, but everything I've seen so far is cable machine based. If you find anything, let me know, and I'll do the same. Thanks!
my husband was looking at gyms - have you looked at city fit? it's near the monbijoux bridge. there's also airportfitness near the belp airport - he liked airportfitness better - more modern... not sure about the facilities in either.
There's a Keiser very close to Hirschengraben, strength training only accompanied by a trainer for something like 95 CHF/month-to-month... Couldn't exactly call it cheap but supposed to be excellent.
Check out the FIT-MADE gym in the lorraine area - pretty good rates and they have a decent selection on free weights. Only downside is no squat cage (which I didnt check on before joining but no real biggie).Prices are decent enough considering Swiss prices - their year abo is 400 CHF, but they offer a monthly abo of 80CHF too, so might suit your needs there.
An update on the Fit-Made in Bern. As I noted before, I was a little cheesed to discover that they didn't have a squat cage. My own silly fault as I hadn't checked around properly before signing up, so lesson learned for the future.
Anyhoo, the update is that they have just added a 'kind of' squat cage. It's got most of the functionality of one - i.e. free barbell with mounting and safety racks, as well as a neat pull-up bar attachment, which is much better than those pull up bar 'machines'. After a decidedly shitty day I was surprised to see how such a little thing as this perked me up. I'm bopping to the gym much more now
P.S. Thanks for the reminder Ittigen - they pointed out to me when signing up that they require a letter of notice 3 months in advance for cancellation - they are indeed wily! But that's the modern gym industry. If I had my way, I'd turf out all those essentially useless machines, fill it up with free weights, cages etc. change the music and let rip. But that's probably why I'm not in the gym business
It's worth pointing out that Keiser Training has branches Swiss & Worldwide. A membership taken out anywhere in the world is also valid for use in Switzerland.