The Body Bar gym sits down Jawatte Avenue (Jawatte Road) in Colombo 5. It seems to be quite quite popular with folks in Colombo – it’s clean and there’s a sense of homeliness that you look for in a gym. The trainers speak pretty good English and were kind enough to give me a tour of the entire place.
The Body Bar gym is actually separated into two sections; the upstairs section is for cardio – they’ve got about 6 treadmills, 4 cross trainers, 2 rowing machines, a few exercise bikes and a stretching cage. And downstairs is the weight training area – you find your dumbbells, free weights, bench press and machine weights here. The cardio section is quite spacious but I can’t say the same for the weight training area – there are walls and pillars which divide the floor up into 4 or 5 smaller rectangles.
The most important part of a gym is how comfortable you feel when you’re inside, the more comfortable you are the more you’ll enjoy your workout. Body Bar is well air conditioned and brings in a good, diverse crowd, but I think it’s most popular with the older generation. The trainers are pretty friendly, and more importantly, the gym is well designed – the equipment is in good condition (looks new) and the changing rooms have a welcoming appeal.
They have cable TV, which is pretty standard nowadays, a water fountain next to the reception and a convenient, dodgy looking juice bar outside in the car park. They also sell supplements so if you’re looking for whey protein or creatine (they’ve got nitro-tech, muscle-tech, creatine monohydrate, etc.), you can find it here .
The reason Body Bar attracts so many people is because they also host dance classes, yoga, zumba and martial arts lessons (visit their Facebook page for more information). I happened to see a group of guys trying to kill a punching bag while I was there. You have to pay for these classes separately, but members get a special discount.
Like I said the changing rooms are nice, they have clean showers if you want to wash up after your workout. They’re nice and tidy so that’s a big big plus point.
The membership fees are quite similar to other gyms in Colombo, an individual annual membership will be about Rs.50,000 (see image for full rates). There’s also a Rs. 2,000 joining fee, no idea what that’s about.
All in all it’s a good gym. It’s clean and homely, but if you want better value for your money check out Fitness First. It’s not as nice but you gain access to a swimming pool, sauna and jacuzzi. Food for thought.
