Tailor-Made Training
We’re sure your PT is friendly, punctual and knows exactly what they’re talking about, but they’ve got nothing on the kind of treatment you’ll receive at a luxury gym. Places such as London’s Embody Fitness, which specialises in total body transformations, will offer one-on-one sessions (in a gym that you’re never sharing with more than a couple of other people) as well as devising a bespoke nutrition plan, recommending supplements and always being available on the phone or email to answer any questions.
Beautiful People
If you’ve got the money to splash on a super-expensive gym then chances are you care about your appearance more than the average person. Of course, there’ll still be a few rich people who assume that just by joining they’ll magically get in shape, but the rest of the members are usually hitting Adonis and Aphrodite beauty standards. Think perfectly flat stomachs, Kardashian-level arses, and pins that must not realise there’s even an option to skip leg day. Remember: models need to train to look so good, and they ain’t doing it at your local spit and sawdust establishment.
Cutting-Edge Tech
You don’t just get shiny new barbells and yoga mats that look as if they’ve never even heard of sweat – high-end gyms boast equipment most of us plebs will never have the chance to use. Spin studios are virtual reality simulators that take you on journeys through space, you’ll be hooked up to heart rate monitors for classes that don’t let anyone slack off for a second, and some even use full-body electro stimulators (think all-over Slendertones) to engage your muscles even more during bodyweight circuits. Actually, this is one area where you don’t need to feel too jealous. As cool as some of this tech is, nothing will ever beat a chin-up bar, a barbell and a few free weights for getting in optimum shape.
Insane Views
Rich people have a tendency to do things higher than the rest of us, whether that’s restaurants up The Shard or skyscraper rooftop swimming pools. Gyms aren’t exempt from this “taller = cooler” rule of thumb and some of the world’s priciest have breathtaking views as a result. Most major cities have at least one gym in the clouds but the most impressive is Wellness Sky in Belgrade, Serbia. An architectural marvel in itself, the spaceship-esque building sits pretty above the entire city with window facing treadmills letting you pretend to run across the sky like a Looney Tunes character that hasn’t realised the ground’s no longer there.
Classy Changing Rooms
Towels in exclusive gyms are better than the ones we have at home, even when they’re brand new. The showerhead’s bigger than your head, the free toiletries are more expensive than anything we’ve got at home, and the lockers are more spacious than some flats. In fact, everything described above is incredible, but if you gag at the sight of used plasters or hate crowded changing rooms where you’re always in danger of having sweat dripped on you, the opulent changing facilities are probably the best reason to re-mortgage your house and join the world’s richest gym-goers.
