From £24 a month: racks, rowers, a turf lane and a quiet corner, with an induction included
The gym floor
Twelve thousand square feet of converted ironworks: six squat racks, four platforms, dumbbells to 50kg, a cable row of twelve stations, rowers, bikes, skiers and treadmills under the big windows, a turf lane for sleds, and a quiet corner with mats and kettlebells for people who want to be left alone.
The Pattern Shop was where the ironworks made its wooden moulds, which is why it has the high windows and the long floor. We kept both. The floor is laid out so the racks are at the far end, the cardio is under the windows, and the first thing you see when you walk in is the quiet corner, because that is where most new members start.
Strength: six squat racks with safeties, four lifting platforms with bumper plates, a deadlift platform, dumbbells from 2kg to 50kg in two racks so nobody waits, benches, a leg press, a hack squat, a glute-ham raise, and a twelve-station cable row. Cardio under the windows: six rowers, four skiers, four assault bikes, eight treadmills, four cross-trainers and a stair climber, none of them with a television. The turf lane is thirty metres with two sleds and a yoke. The boxing corner has three heavy bags and a speed bag.
The quiet corner is the thing people mention: a carpeted area with mats, kettlebells, bands, a few light dumbbells and no racks, where someone who has never been in a gym can do their first programme without feeling watched. Every new member gets an hour's induction with a trainer and a written eight-week programme, renewed every eight weeks at no charge, and the trainers are on the floor from seven to nine on weekdays to answer the question you were going to Google.
What is included
- Six racks, four platforms, dumbbells to 50kg
- Cardio under the windows, no televisions
- Turf lane with sleds and a yoke
- The quiet corner for beginners
- An hour's induction with a trainer
- A written programme every eight weeks, free
What it costs
Off-peak £24 a month (9 to 4 weekdays and all weekend), full £34 a month (any time). Induction and an eight-week programme included. Day pass £8. The membership page has the three memberships side by side, personal training prices and every extra. No contract, no joining fee.
Questions about gym floor
Is it busy?
Six to eight in the morning and five to seven in the evening on weekdays are the busy hours, and even then there has never been a wait for a rack since we added the fifth and sixth. Off-peak members get the quietest floor in Merthyr at the cheapest price.
I have never lifted a weight. Where do I start?
The induction. An hour with a trainer, the quiet corner, and a programme that starts where you are. About half our members started exactly there and most of them are on the racks within three months, if they want to be.
A free week. All of it. No card details.
Seven days of the floor, every class on the timetable and an induction with a trainer, booked with a name and an email. Join afterwards at the website price with no joining fee, or do not, and nobody rings you. About six in ten people join.