The Best Gym in Brighton
The Best Gym in Brighton who will take the title?
I’ve worked as personal trainer in Brighton for years, and I’ve pretty much been in every gym at some point in the town. Brighton is an amazing town. It is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the UK and has a hugely diverse community from the obvious LGBT scene to the student culture all of which goes up to make one of the most friendly relaxed cities around.
So I thought I’d sit down, review and place my top three gyms ever in the Brighton area.
The Best Gym in Brighton?
1. Cheetahs Gym Brighton
Cheetah’s gym is a tour de force when it comes to gymnasiums in Brighton and Hove. The heaviest hitter of them all! I’ve lifted weights here for close to 20 years, and it is my spiritual iron home.
It has such a massive selection of free weights, hammer press machines and now a complete functional conditioning room; the gym cannot really be faulted by anyone who actually knows how to train hard. The culture of Cheetahs has changed over the years. Years ago Cheetahs gym had somewhat of a bad rap around the town for being a home solely of the ‘meathead’. Back then this may have been true but the years have been kind to Cheetahs and now you will not find a more diverse, friendly gym in the whole of the Brighton area. The title of the Best Gym in Brighton has to go cheetahs without a doubt. With lack of pretention or the usual ‘selfie’ suspects, Cheetahs is a welcome break from the generic sterile gym chains that you can find across every area.
Each body part earns its complete own room, with enough squat racks to shake a dumbbell at, and dumbbells ranging from 2-75kg apiece. One of the main scoring points is that you literally never have to wait to get on a machine or rack in the gym. It’s literally so vast that you will always be able to keep working that body part. It also has a wealth of knowledge within its doors, from expert personal trainers to Top nutrition coaches such as ‘DD’ who has worked with athletes ranging from the local boxer all the way up to UFC competitors.
Respect to this gym, I hope my ghost after I’m gone is rattling the squat racks!
2.RipTide Gym
Unfortunately, this gym closed when the arches collapsed on Brighton seafront. However, it still makes my top three Best Gyms in Brighton as to me it also really had that Brighton ‘feel’ about it.
The equipment was somewhat limited however, the charm and vibe of the place went some way to compensate for it. When the windows opened to the seafront and it was the height of summer, I used to love coming into train and then go for a swift drink or ten at the Beachcomber bar. I’m not sure the latter still exists either.
The feeling of this place was like 30% health club, 30% gymnasium, 30% club and 10% quirky weirdness. I was never sure if I’d tripped out and was actually in L.A or still pushing weight in sunny Brighton.
3. Sky Gym
Another one that unfortunately has bit the dust! This gym was located at the very, very top of a high-rise building! It had enough free-weights, but again it had a charm all to itself.
It had that Lewes Road vibe, if you live in Brighton you’ll know what I mean! Lewes road is actually becoming pretty gentrified now, but 20 years ago it was rougher around the edges. Something I actually miss.
It was like training at the top of rough council block and felt somewhere between illegal rave and random office stuffed with exercise stuff. It had some kit I’ve not seen anywhere else, like a spinal decompression machine that hung you upside down like a butchers pig and some really old school Nautilus machines to train your neck that was great. Again it was a sad closure when this went as it felt rough, ready and honest.
Anyway, that’s my top three! Don’t forget to hit me up on contact page if you’re looking for a personal trainer in the area and feel free to share using the buttons below!