If you always struggle to get a workout in during the day, there’s some good news—a small, but increasing, number of gyms are beginning to accommodate late-night fitness buffs.
US-based chain Anytime Fitness opened its first 24-hour gym here last October at Woodlands’s ACE The Place Community Club, and has just launched another 24/7 branch at Macpherson Community Club. The group also has grand ambitions to open a whopping 100(!) franchised outlets in Singapore by 2019.
We paid a visit to Anytime Fitness Macpherson, and liked what we found. While it’s a compact, no-frills gym, it features a decent range of basic equipment—there’s a number of treadmills, stationary bikes, and exercise machines that will provide an effective workout for the average gym-goer. (However, if you’re looking for more luxe facilities like pools and steam rooms, you’ll be left disappointed.) Members are each given security keys that enable them to access the gym at any time of the day, as well as the other 2,400 Anytime Fitness gyms worldwide.
According to Ming Koh, one of Anytime Fitness Macpherson’s franchisees, “the response has been amazing. Many people are excited about the 24-hour access, as this allows them to exercise whenever they want.” Ming and his partner, Joanne, were inspired to bring Anytime Fitness here, as they feel that “Singaporeans tend to finish work later, making it hard for them to work out at conventional gyms.”
While Anytime Fitness Macpherson is already attracting a decent number of late-night gym goers, it seems that early hours workouts have yet to catch on islandwide. Some Gymmboxx outlets operate till 11pm on weekdays; but, says, Gymmboxx’s Marketing Manager, Ikram Kalil, “the peak period is between 5 to 9pm. Thereafter, the crowd will either be finishing their last reps, or washing up”. However, he says that they still choose to extend their operating hours to accommodate “a small group of gym goers who work late, or have to tuck their kids into bed before enjoying some ‘me time’.”
Fitness First Singapore’s Managing Director, Anthony Tottman, agrees. The majority of Fitness First outlets operate till 10pm, as they currently don’t see a demand for an extension of operating hours. “Based on our observations, we find that the busiest periods of the day are usually in the mornings and evenings—before and after work,” Tottman says. “However, we’d be happy to work out how we can potentially extend our operating hours if the need arises.”
As fitness trends go, it looks like this one has more legs in it than most.
Here’s a list of gyms that open till late, so you can squeeze in that extra bit of workout time.
