Anytime Fitness is a gym franchise that allows you to gym anytime (literally a 24/7 gym) as long as you have their key fob with you. It is one of the most popular 24/7 gyms in Hong Kong as they have a relatively low membership fee with no requirement to do lump sum payment! Anytime Fitness has 25 branches in Hong Kong and their locations are quite convenient too.
How does their membership work?
- How much is it?
If you are new, the gym may charge you a “joining” or “starting” fee for the application process. Another fee you should expect is their key fob fee, which is around 500 dollars. These are all one-time payments. After agreeing to their terms and conditions, you will also be paying the first monthly fee. In my own experience, because I was an old member, I did not have to pay the starting fee. In total, my first payment was around 1k HKD for my key fob and first month’s membership.
According to my knowledge, you will be able to use masters and visas for recurring payments. (Sorry, no UnionPay available) If you settled a payment late, they would charge an administrative fee ($80 in 2022) after notifying you through WhatsApp or email. If you wish to pay your fees through eps or fps, that option is available after communicating with staff too.
- How to join?
Joining the gym is relatively simple. You can book an appointment on their website and schedule a visit. After the visit, the staff would introduce the plans or packages. When you agree to join the gym, they would ask for your credit card information, a picture of your ID to confirm your identity, then take a picture of you for your membership. With the payments settled, you will get your key fob and gain access to the home gym (the branch you signed up in). 30 days later, you will be able to hop around their other branches in Hong Kong and overseas.
- International gym passport
An advantage with an Anytime Fitness membership is that you have access to all their gym locations after 30 days of signing, including their branches overseas. However, if you signed with Anytime Fitness from another country, your membership will be transferred to the most frequented branch after one month. If you joined Anytime Fitness from another country and used the Hong Kong branch for over a month, your membership will be transferred to Hong Kong and you will be paying the Hong Kong membership price.
Yuen Long Branch
The Yuen Long Anytime branch is moderate in size, but it has most of the gym equipment a basic gym goer would look for. There are three major areas, the weights zone, cardio machines and the “activities room”.
Cardio
There are 5 treadmill machines, 2 cross trainers (elliptical machines) and a stationary bike for cardio bunnies. The treadmill machines allow you to connect to other media like YouTube and have Bluetooth to connect to your smartphone. I personally enjoy doing HIIT on the treadmill as the machine is right in front of large windows, allowing me to watch people while burning the extra calories.
Currently, there are plastic board divisions between machines. Even though they are transparent, I think they are quite nice to establish boundaries and personal space for non-social gym goers like me!
Weights
There are two racks in the weights zone. It felt like an unspoken rule that one rack was specifically used for benching and another rack with the platform was used for other lifts. There is also one smith machine that is quite popular. A feature of the branch is that there are many machines for you to do back exercises. The center is occupied by a 4-in-1 machine, allowing you to do lat pulldowns, cable rows, assisted pull-ups and dips and a random cable machine. There are attachments to spice up your lat pulldown day. There is also a sturdy cable machine. Of course, there are dumbbells. Gym bro’s favorite leg press machine is present but carrying the weights around might be a pain in the ass.
My dissatisfaction
The gym has some funny warnings stuck on walls and mirrors. Apparently, if you do not put your weights back, they would charge a flat fee of $500 HKD. They also have a warning sign stating that if you drop the weights, you should lift lighter and get bigger before trying. Very unfriendly for ego-lifters.
A major downside of the weight zone is that you cannot do deadlifts without laying mats down. I tried doing a deadlift without it and a staff member approached me mid set. He told me that there were complaints from residents upstairs so people have to deadlift with mats if they can’t drop the weights quietly. As a powerlifter, it was not in my head to do my deadlifts elevated, so I had to put mats under my feet as well. However, as I pull sumo, when I exert force to push off the ground, the mats were also pushed apart. In other words, I almost did a split while doing a 115 kg deadlift lockout. I tried using other setups like putting weights below my feet but the same issue occurred. SO, if you are serious about deadlifting, I highly discourage you to visit Anytime Fitness Yuen Long.
Activities room
This branch organizes Yoga Classes from time to time. When there are no classes, the room is free for members to do stretching, TRX… Basically you can lay a mat down and do whatever you desire. There are medicine balls, kettlebells, mini dumbbells, abs roller and a lot of yoga mats. There are mirrors and you are able to check yourself out, take a selfie and just enjoy the free space.
Toilets, changing rooms and lockers
The toilet cubicles are unisex. Obviously, you can lock your doors. But if you are used to one big changing room for females and males, most Anytime branches don’t really have that to save space. There are 2 changing rooms (with full-length mirrors and a bench) if you need absolute privacy. There are cabinets for members to use. That means you just shove a bag in and hope no one steals your stuff. I’ve never had a problem with my stuff being out in the open and with CCTVs installed, I believe it is generally a safe area. Warnings are stuck to each cube. It reminds members to never put our shoes in the cubes for sanitation’s sake.
Members can also rent a locker if that is what you prefer! But of course, remember to bring your own lock.
Vibe
Anytime Fitness Yuen Long is quite quiet. Occasionally, I’d hear some inappropriate grunting and moaning, but it is subjective. Members here are mostly locals and they do not interrupt your workout. Everyone waits patiently for equipment and machines. People are busy doing their own stuff and tend not to disturb others. There are a couple of girls that lift weights as well, so I do not think it is an intimidating space for females.
However, I do notice that when I squat or deadlift over 100kg, which is nothing as a powerlifter, the members and personal trainer tend to stare. It was quite mentally taxing to get over the fact that I was being watched and it did mess up with my bracing a couple of times.
Ratings
| Price | 7/10 |
| Location | 8/10 |
| Toilet | 8/10 |
| Weights zone | 2/10 |
| Cardio zone | 7/10 |
| Vibez | 5/10 |
| Overall | 4/10 |
Final thoughts on Anytime Fitness Yuen Long
I personally don’t dislike Anytime Fitness. When I was a college student doing amateur bodybuilding, Anytime Fitness was enough for my needs. But as I transition into powerlifting, doing the big 3s, I start to feel like I was growing out of this gym. As most people are not into powerlifting, and I do not see people lift more than me, I also feel less encouraged than going to a community gym.
Putting my powerlifting background aside, I do think it is an okay gym for most people! It sits in the heart of Yuen Long, it has most of the machines one would need, and it is not expensive. Sales pitches do not happen that often and you can work out without interruption. If you want a simple, get-it-done kind of gym, Anytime Fitness Yuen Long should be alright for your needs!
Anytime Fitness Sai Ying Pun
Anytime Fitness Sai Ying Pun is a basement gym that is not too far away from the Sai Ying Pun station. The Sai Ying Pun branch is not so different from the other branches as they also sectioned their gyms into cardio and free weights zones. The gym is relatively small in size, but I think it is quite nice for expats as the staff spoke fluent English. The members are quite diversified, probably due to the fact that Sai Ying Pun is a popular district for expats to live in.
Cardio zone
There is a row of treadmills with a TV hanging above to entertain runners/walkers. I personally do not enjoy doing cardio here as there is no view. The elliptical machines are aged (approx. 5+ years old) so some of them do not have a phone compartment. I dropped my phone once and was discouraged to get on them again. No iPad and cross training for me!
Weights zone
As Anytime Fitness SYP is a basement gym, members can deadlift! This branch has 2 squat racks and 1 smith machine. The dumbbells go up to 80 lbs. There are three benches in front of the dumbbells. You can find a cable machine, a row/lat-pulldown machine and assisted dip/pull-up machine for back exercise lovers. There is another room filled with machines that are very beginner-friendly and straightforward.
I noticed that there are bars with varying weights. You can try them out if you are just starting and cannot lift 20 kg. No shame, everyone starts somewhere! Personal trainers also do not approach you normally.
Weird zone.
There is a zone sectioned next to the free weights with some space. You can do some calisthenics as there are monkey bars (I’m sorry to offend athletes but I am dating a kindergarten teacher). A sandbag is permanently up but I have never seen anyone throw punches at it. Mini dumbbells, rows of bars with different weights, medicine balls and yoga mats occupy the same space. The free space is relatively limited, and it feels like it was trying to be everything at once. Hence, I called it the weird zone.
Toilet, changing room and lockers
Like most Anytime Fitness branches, the toilets are unisex and some cubicles have a shower for you to use. They are mostly clean and I can see that cleaners come multiple times a day to ensure good hygiene. There is no general changing room but as the toilets are always free, there seems to be no issue with people using the toilets to change clothes.
Most people put their belongings in the cabinets right across the staff room. But there are lockers available next to the toilets if you wish for more safety. There is a clothing rack for you to put your jacket on as well. Remember to never put your shoes in the cabinet as it is very frowned upon in Anytime Fitness for some reason.
Vibe:
I’d say that most powerlifters will face the same situation as I do when we step foot in a commercial gym. I get stared at a lot for squatting 120 kg+ or deadlifting. But nothing beats my arch setup which makes people stare until from setup to rack to rerack. I’ve had 3 men stopping and full-on judging my 125kg squats then laughing among themselves. People also gaze from the mirror due to curiosity. Personally, I think the environment is not super female-friendly as guys do approach females here.
But, I do think Sai Ying Pun branch is not very populated even during peak hours. And people are generally not intimidating.
Overall thoughts:
I think Sai Ying Pun Anytime Fitness is your typical small commercial gym, but it has all the basic equipment a leisure gym goer would need. They have more than enough isolation machines and weights for you to carry out a workout that can keep you fit. As people normally don’t socialize with others, and there are just less people in the gym compared to others, you can easily do a quick workout without interruption. However, I do notice that throughout the years, there are very few members who became bigger or stronger. This is something to deal with the fact that most 24/7 commercial gyms provide little incentive or help for members to be fitter.