Lifestyle Fitness Cockermouth (Lifestyle Fitness and Shapers)
Mayo Courtyard, behind 64 Main Street, Cockermouth, CA13 9LU
Opening Hours: Mon-Fri: 7:00 – 21:30, Sat-Sun : 9:00 – 17:00
Cost: £5 per day, or reduced price of £4 from 11:00-14:00.
Or £30 per month / buy 10 sessions for £32.
See website for further details and membership options.
Location and Entry
Lifestyle Fitness Cockermouth is located on the main street, aptly called Main Street, in the centre of Cockermouth. Look for the sign and walk down the short alleyway. The gym will be straight in front of you, with a big signpost on the door. (Shapers is a separate room, stick to Lifestyle Fitness if you want the gym)
Note that this is not part of the Lifestyle Fitness Chain which I went to in Carlisle; Lifestyle Fitness Cockermouth is an independent family-run gym.
Facilities
This medium-sized gym is a great little find in the centre of town. It has a more homely feel than some of the bigger (more clinical-feeling) gyms, but still had most key pieces of equipment. This facility divided itself into a cardio room, weights area, and a small functional training room. You’ll find changing rooms upstairs.
The gym was a cool temperature when I attended in June (Northern England is not known for its heat waves!) and I saw plenty of fans around for the rare occasions that the sun makes an appearance.
Cardio
I found a great range of cardio equipment here, all of which looked modern and in excellent condition in an attractive room. This consisted of 4 treadmills, 5 upright bikes, 4 spin bikes, 5 ellipticals, 5 rowers, 3 steppers and 1 stair-climber.
Whilst it was easy to get on equipment when I attended at 14:00, I can imagine popular equipment like treadmills might be trickier during peak periods; train off peak to avoid waits.
Weights
Lifestyle Fitness Cockermouth offers a wide range of semi-modern resistance equipment. It might not quite be top of the range but it’s well-kept and works. There’s also plenty of it, for those who are not so keen on free-weights.
Free-weight dumbbells go up to 50kg and you’ll see several benches around for use. This area is found at the back of the long and fairly slim building, so although there was plenty of space when I went, it had the potential to feel a bit cramped if more people had been training. You’ll find a Smith machine, bench press rack, preacher curls rack, some slightly low pull up bars, an assisted pull-ups machine and a lat pulldown. I couldn’t see a squat rack anywhere, which was the only thing I missed. Nor were there any fixed weight barbells. However I found plenty of adjustable barbells around.
In terms of resistance equipment, you’ll also find leg press machines, an inclined abs bench, chest press, bench press, shoulder presses and a range of leg equipment. There is quite a lot of it, given the size of the gym!
Functional Training
You’ll see a great little room near the front of the building, sectioned off from the rest of the gym. I always welcome a little privacy for floor work (though I guess the looks of awe when I knock out burpees are ok too!), and this room is mostly out of sight from the rest of the gym.
In it you’ll find lightweight dumbbells from 1-10kg, a hoop, 5 kettlebells going up to 16kg, medicine balls from 1-5kg, some abs rollers and foam rollers. There’s also a few Swiss balls, battleropes and a handful of mats.
If you like boxing, there’s a punchbag, gloves and pads too!
Just outside of the functional training room by the main gym are several abs cradles, something I haven’t seen for a while in gyms!! You’ll also spot a BOSU and Corebags ranging from 10 – 25kg.
Summary
A great value gym for the price and ideally located. Sure, it’s not as big as the larger chains, however it’s got a more homely relaxed atmosphere and the guy at reception was really friendly and welcoming. Well worth getting a free pass or taking advantage of one of their membership deals (go for £4 at lunchtime!).
Note: The Shapers part of Lifestyle Fitness and Shapers is a ladies only facility containing toning tables, toning chairs, a power plate and a few cardio machines. The website states it is aimed at older people who cannot train traditionally. See more info here.
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