Gyms in Berkhamsted: How to Choose the Right One

Berkhamsted is a small town with a surprising number of places to train. If you're searching for a gym here, the hard part isn't finding one – it's working out which type suits the way you actually behave.

We run a coached gym in the town, so we're not a neutral party. What follows is still the advice we'd give a friend, including the cases where somewhere else is the better answer.

The four kinds of gym in Berkhamsted

• The leisure centre – the cheapest option, with a pool and plenty of machines. Best if you already know exactly what you're doing and want to come and go unnoticed.
• Private pods and studios – you hire a small space, often alone or with a trainer. Excellent for privacy and flexibility, less good for meeting anyone.
• Personal training studios – one-to-one attention and the fastest progress, at the highest cost per hour.
• Coached group gyms, like ours – a scheduled class, a coach in the room, and the same faces each week. Best if you need the session to be decided for you and someone to notice when you don't turn up.

The question that actually matters

Almost everyone picks a gym on price and location. The people who are still training a year later picked on something else: whether they will genuinely go.

If you have never enjoyed training alone, a cheap membership you don't use is the most expensive option on the list. If you love your own company and a pair of headphones, paying for coaching you don't want is just as wasteful. Be honest about which one you are.

Practical things worth checking

• Parking – Berkhamsted parking is tight, and a five-minute hunt for a space kills a 6am session
• Session times that fit your actual week, not your ideal one
• Whether there's a contract, and how easy it is to pause or leave
• Whether a coach will teach you how to lift, or whether you're expected to already know
• Whether you can try it properly before you commit

Where we fit

Grand Union CrossFit is on Northbridge Road, a few minutes from the high street with free parking on site. Every session is coached and scaled to the person doing it, classes run from 06:00 on weekdays plus weekend mornings, and there's no long contract. Most of our members had never done CrossFit before they walked in, and a good number hadn't trained at all for years.

We also run personal training, a strength-focused Functional Physique class, Forever Fit for over 50s, and CrossFit Kids and Teens – so the whole family can generally find something.

“Nobody is expected to arrive fit. That's the entire point of coming.”

Try before you decide

Whichever gym in Berkhamsted you're weighing up, go and stand in it first. Ours starts with a free No Sweat Intro – a relaxed chat about what you want, a look around, and no obligation whatsoever afterwards.