Posted on 26 Aug 2014
5 min read
For the second post in our new gym review series, Will Kennard takes a look at Fight City, a state-of-the-art haven in the centre of London for fight training and all things strength and conditioning.
Fight City, as the name would suggest, is a gym geared predominately towards fight training, with a variety of mixed martial arts training facilities and classes on offer.
It also has an impressive athlete section in addition to all the fighting stuff, which is what I will be focusing on for this review.
Located in the Old Street area of London, about a five minute walk from Moorgate station, Fight City boasts a decent central location.
The gym is independently run by three guys, Mani, Leon and Ross (below), all of whom are passionate about sports and participate and teach at the gym themselves.
The atmosphere at Fight City gym is very welcoming, particularly because the staff are so friendly, and you really get a good vibe from them from the moment you walk in.
It’s got a really serious vibe to it too; you can tell that a lot of the people who train at Fight City are extremely dedicated and really know their stuff.
The facilities also really reflect this professional mindset, but more on that later.
When it comes to equipment, Fight City is a truly exceptional gym.
It’s brilliant (and rare) to see a fight specific gym catering so well to other sports, particularly bodybuilding and powerlifting.
There’s a 25 metre sprint track in the middle, a full sized boxing ring to the side, a fight training area, a full training rig, three power racks, some machines, and a ton of dumbbells.
Yep, it’s got it all!
The thing I like most about the Fight City gym is that the power racks are fully equipped and amazing quality.
They have chains, bands, and a shit ton of weights – plus the weights are the colourful Olympic style plates that are all the same diameter.
They’re just an absolute pleasure to train with!
There’s also a ton of dumbbells that go up to as heavy a weight as 80kg and a few good, solid benches.
Machines consist of proper plate loaded machines and a couple of cable rigs, again all excellent quality.
There’s also plenty of room to move around everywhere – especially in the power racks – so you’re never in someone’s way.
And not forgetting the leaderboard of lifts on the wall – a good sign that you’re encouraged to go heavy!
Indeed, Fight City is not the kind of gym where you’re going to be escorted off the premises for deadlifting so much weight that other gym users become intimidated and cry to management.
The facilities at Fight City gym are top-notch.
As I said earlier, you get a real serious vibe from the gym the moment you walk in, and the facilities reflect this.
They are ruthlessly clean and high quality, making it obvious that you are in a high-end central London gym.
There’s also plenty of places to grab some water too, and just all round the gym is kitted out really well.
The owners are all really friendly to members and this rubs off well on the crowd at Fight City.
I’ve been to a lot of independent gyms which sometimes almost seem hostile to new faces, but there’s none of that crap at Fight City.
Everyone is welcoming and friendly.
The way the facilities are presented and the cost of the gym means that a lot of the crowd are young professionals.
There’s a few big guys knocking about, and if you’re around at different times throughout the day you’ll even see fitness models and powerlifters who are in great shape.
It’s always good motivation to have guys like this around when you’re training!
More importantly, I just really enjoy training at Fight City.
There’s something about the gym that just makes me work harder when I’m there, something I’ve never found to be true about the big plastic chain gyms.
As you would expect, the classes available at Fight City are mainly focused on fighting, and you can choose from Krav Manga, BJJ, MMA, Muay Thai, Judo, Boxing, and Wrestling, all of which boast elite level instruction.
However, there’s also some classes for Kettlebell and Strongman training thrown into the mix too.
All classes are free for Fight City members and £15 for non-members.
For a timetable and further information go to fightcitygym.co.uk/classes/timetable/.
The standard membership at Fight City is £65 per month with a 12 month contract.
This may seem expensive to some, but you really do pay for what you get.
A cheaper gym won’t be equipped anywhere near as well as this, and chances are if you’re as serious about training as most guys who go to Fight City are, £65 per month is a pretty damn good price.
Plus the location is brilliant and the facilities and equipment are all excellent.
So for me the value is a no-brainer.
If you’re looking for a real high-end gym in the centre of London that isn’t ridiculously expensive yet extremely well equipped, then look no further than Fight City.
It has some of the best – and most diverse – equipment I’ve ever seen, elite level instructors, a true gain-encouraging environment, and none of that fannying around in the sauna bollocks.
Ultimately if you’re serious about training, Fight City is for you.
| Monday | 06.00 – 21.00 |
| Tuesday | 06.00 – 21.00 |
| Wednesday | 06.00 – 21.00 |
| Thursday | 06.00 – 21.00 |
| Friday | 06.00 – 21.00 |
| Saturday | 09.00 – 16.00 |
| Sunday | Closed |
| Bank Holidays | 10.00 – 15.00 |
Telephone: 020 7043 6032
Email: info@fightcitygym.co.uk
Address: 15 Worship St, London, EC2A 2DT
Are you a past or present member of Fight City gym?
Thinking of joining up?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
Also, if there are any gyms which you would like us to review, or if you would like to contribute your own gym review, drop us an email or a tweet and we’ll get back to you.
Will lives in London and is a Digital Marketing Executive by day. He first started going to the gym because being weedy and ginger doesn't really get the girls. Now he is muscly and ginger he still doesn't get the girls, but at least he can bench more than their boyfriends. You can find him blogging over at willkennard.com.
Hi,
What time are the zumba classes